AN: New story lol, hope you enjoy this rat's ascent to rathood at this point I have no fucking clue what I'm on about so yeah, hope you enjoy.
Discord link: discord .gg/wd3tUYWVCd
I don't own anything you recognize.
WARNING! At some point this story might feature some not so ethical experiments, I'll probably warn about them ahead of time. But general violence is also to be expected.
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Character creation loading 45%…
What's that? Character creation? I was just about to finish my new drug as well, Would have finally been able to start selling it for a huge profit, a nice change of pace after decades in debt. Actually, where the fuck am I? Except for this text in front of me the entire world is… empty.
Character creation:
Name:
Joey Argent
Okay I guess it knows my name immediately. I might as well play along with whatever it is doing.
Race:
Human | Random
I was never much of a biology guy but the scientist in me is making a very convincing argument in seeing a never before seen race.
Race:
Caseus Rattus
Uh, that isn't quite what I was expecting. I recognize the second name which is the scientific name for a common rat. The first I have no idea about. Still a rat based race is what I'm getting, interesting.
Class type:
Fighter | Mage | Rogue | Utility
Considering the race I got I should probably go for the stealth option, as much as I'm curious how magic interacts with modern day science.
Choose your class:
Ranger | Thief | Assassin
I suppose I can pick Ranger as the first one, the ability to fight from a distance is always one worth while. Especially with how versatile firearms get.
Choose your specialization:
Alchemist | Sniper | Machine Gunner | Handgunner
The first one seems tailor made for me so I suppose there is only one correct choice here. Though the location of this specialization confuses me. I'd expect it to be in the Utility class type. Instead it's buried deep in the Rogue type under the Ranger category, perhaps it has some involvement with firearms? Guess I'll see later.
Roll for one positive and one negative trait:
Y | N
Can I get rid of the negative one later on?
If you work hard enough.
Well I guess it doesn't hurt to gamble then. Especially if it's something that can disappear later on.
Trait gained:
Veteran Addict - Passive
Negative effects of drugs are reduced, while the positive are strengthened.
Trait gained:
Ancient Hunger - Passive
An ancient lust for fulfillment resides in you.
When hungry you are willing to consume anything.
The feast shall never end.
Trait Modified by Caseus Rattus:
Ancient Hunger - Passive
An ancient lust for fulfillment resides in you.
When hungry you are willing to consume anything.
The feast shall never end. There is only one thing that can satisfy it for longer, the blessed food of god, cheese.
Roll again:
Y | N
No thanks, apparently being better at taking drugs made an eldritch being out of my digestion system. At least my race provides me with a cure of sorts, until I figure out how to get rid of this trait. What's next?
Character creation is over, would you like to roll for your starting world:
Y | N
Yes, I don't think I have any other options after all.
World chosen:
Fallout New Vegas
Can't say I heard of it before, unless it was thrown around at college. So I suppose I'm about to begin my… what is this? I haven't died as far as I'm aware, I just showed up here as I was finishing my best invention thus far.
Quest added:
What led to this?
Find out the truth of your untimely demise.
Rewards:
Awesome, at least I know I did die. My surroundings suddenly changed from the empty void to an empty desert? I was standing on the side of a hill overlooking what looked to be a desert with a ruined road leading through it. Not that far away I saw a small town, which probably wasn't the best place for me to go considering my race.
Before I finished my train of thought however I heard something behind me. I turned to see it was two wild dogs with very little fur left on them, their mouths watering as they got ready to lunge at me. Then… I suppose you can call it my instincts kicked in as I shifted my stance from bipedal to quadrupedal.
I rushed to meet them in the middle of the way. My long and seemingly sharp claws pierced cleanly through the throat of my attacker, swatting it away. The second one nearly reached my neck, however I managed to catch him, biting into its torso.
The ancient hunger soon took over as I began devouring the creature as fast as I could. It didn't end with just one either. I could hear the other dog whimpering in pain as it bled out. That however didn't seem to affect the hunger in any way. Still unsatiated I began tearing the dog apart with my claws, consuming anything I found inside.
As I finished my nose picked up a scent similar to the one of the dog corpses coming from inside the cave. My arms and legs moved on their own rushing into the cave on all fours. Inside I found four more dogs similar to the ones I killed earlier. Using the element of surprise I jumped one of them, tearing it's head off then swallowing it whole.
The other three soon tried to avenge their comrade. I dispatched them relatively quickly, a spin combined with a whack of my long tail sent them crashing against the wall where they were easy pickings. Thankfully the hunger seemed satisfied after two and a half dogs, so I could explore this cave in peace.
It wasn't that big of a cave, a few stalagmites and stalactites, a stream dirtied with blood leading from one wall to the other. At the deepest part of the cave I found two corpses which remained mostly intact, in contrast to the many body parts and bones scattered around the cave.
On them I found a pistol, some ammunition and a weirdly large amount of bottle caps from a 'nuka cola' company. Their clothes were mostly useless as they were made to fit humans not rat people, but I could still tear the cloth to use it as a temporary solution.
Now that you're done with your killing spree I suppose I should give you a bit of a tutorial. Try saying 'menu'.
The text from earlier was replaced by a voice in my head telling me what to do, great. At least it's trying to help I suppose. "Menu." As those words left my mouth a window appeared in front of me displaying options for other menus.
Options
Quests
Skills
Traits
Inventory
Worlds (Locked)
Growth (Locked)
Shop (Locked)
I clicked options first enabling the auto loot setting I found there and leaving everything else as is considering I had no idea what it does. Then I decided to go from top to bottom.
Quests:
What led to this?
Find out the truth of your untimely demise.
Rewards:
?
No new information there, well onto the next.
Skills:
Another useless one. Is the third time the charm?
Traits:
Ancient Hunger - Passive
An ancient lust for fulfillment resides in you.
When hungry you are willing to consume anything.
The feast shall never end. There is only one thing that can satisfy it for longer, the blessed food of god, cheese.
Veteran Addict - Passive
Negative effects of drugs are reduced, while the positive are strengthened.
A survivor's stomach - Racial trait
You have been living as a scavenger for millenia, sometimes you don't exactly get 5 star food.
Your stomach is resistant to poison and can digest anything.
Though life - Racial trait
Being one of the most persevering life forms out there you know how to adapt.
You are resistant to most harsh conditions posed by the environment.
Alchemy Proficiency - Passive
You know your way around a lab.
Skilled in all sorts of alchemical pursuits.
An Alchemist's Dream - Passive
You are blessed by the gods of alchemy.
Any ingredient placed in your inventory has a random chance to multiply.
Firearms Proficiency- Passive
You know how to handle a gun properly.
Skilled in wielding simple firearms.
Finally! Well good to know even if I go on a rampage because of hunger what I consume can't kill me. Glad to know that unlike in my previous life, I can handle a gun. And the piece that intrigues me the most. Alchemy, in real life the precursor to chemistry, known for its goals to create miraculous effects like changing metals into noble ones, creating perfect cures, achieving immortality, creating artificial life and many more, in short playing god.
If in this world alchemy can achieve what it set out to do, which the second ability relating to it leads me to believe, I am glad I chose it. Right now however I have very little in terms of equipment or ingredients necessary to start experimenting with it. Perhaps I could find something of use in that town not too far from here. Something to consider for sure.
Inventory was the last option that wasn't currently locked. Inside it I found a list of all the items I collected along the way, seemingly transferred into a pocket dimension I could access on a whim. Something that will for sure come in handy later on.
For now I decided I should try scavenging for ingredients so they can just start multiplying as I do other things. Time to use all of my ratness to stay hidden while I gather everything I can get.
As I left the cave I noticed that the sun was starting to set, that will certainly come in handy. I began skulking towards the nearest plant I saw, which seemed to be just a weed. Cutting it with my claws and storing it in my inventory. Next was a cactus standing tall near the road. Taking this one was a bit more painful but still manageable.
And that's how most of the night went for me, ooh cool plant, get it, ooh cool plant etc. I was about to start turning back as I heard a weird wet noise behind me. Checking behind me I saw nothing out of the ordinary, but I was convinced I heard something. I swiftly moved back to where I came from gun in hand.
Behind a small rock stood six bipedal lizards. They looked like mutated axolotls gone very wrong. As they started running towards me I turned the safety off and pushed the trigger.
RATATATAT
Two of them dropped immediately while the rest slowed down. Wanting to preserve my ingredients but without enough time to reload I swiftly cut open their throats with my claws managing to hold back my hunger. I loaded the corpses into my inventory and headed to the cave I can call home for now.
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Using the bones I found in the cave I managed to create a makeshift set of containers and such which should allow me to at least make some basic potions, just some help for when I decide to head out to that town.
Putting some of the weed I collected into a skull I began crushing it with a femur bone. After I made it into a powder I added the gills from the geckos which I smashed into a homogenous mixture with the weeds. Time to test the mixture, I left a bit of the powder on the ground adding a drop of blood water from the stream. Nothing happened until I hit it with a bone, which caused it to turn into a green gas, perfect.
I put all of the powder with added water into a bag made from the dog's pelts, noting down what each ingredient did. Next I decided to try and make something that was my specialization before I died, drugs.
Starting with red cap mushrooms, which I crushed up adding cactus juice as the liquid this time. The final thing I added was pollen from a few different flowers. I tasted a bit of this concoction which needed a bit more liquid than just the cactus juice, water from the stream should suffice.
Taking a sip of this potion caused everything to seem a lot more vibrant and easier to see, I could see details I couldn't before when I focused on something. This should do nicely for a bit of focus enhancement.
Time to pay the town a visit.
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AN: And that's it for the first chapter! See you whenever I upload the next one. Cover by Trufanov on DevianArt (at least that's what google images tells me)