overlord SI Chapter 2: 2, a maquia - when the promised flower blooms/さよならの朝に約束の花をかざろう fanfic

You know what you must do now.
You will use your resources and efforts together to search for other players.
You have an obligation to do so since you canât help but feel that this situation may be your fault. Your game...Yggdrasil did something. Youâre stuck in your avatar so it's only reasonable to assume such. You canât be the only one. If you do find themâwhat then? Apologize? They may be scared, pissed, or all the above...they might blame you for this predicament...but youâre sure no one would want to be alone at a time like this. You feel that way...Yeah, that seems to be the right thing to do. You wouldnât hold it against them if they lashed out at you either. They may have lives that they need to get back to. You too have a life of your own as well but first, you want to find others before you start searching for a way to go back to the real world.
Yes, you know your mission now. This web of information gathering will start once youâve found grounding and you will spread across the globe to find the answers you desire.
Clenching your fists you look up with a burning in your chest, âœI will find you, donât worry. Youâre not alone...I will find you all! This I promise!!!â
What meets your outcry is an echo of your strange, lone voice as you stare out at the horizon slightly to your right.
A beautiful sky. A sky that is no longer present on your world, covered with smog, but here?
You smile.
The sight gives you hope...the hope that you will succeed.
âœI promiseââ You shift your gaze outward again to continue your search-A tinkling of a knowing...an awareness of something ahead makes its way across your skin and your body jolts to a stop to face the said direction.
This...this feels different. Much larger than what other creatures there had been. Fixing your focus to hone in on the one...it seems like one? Hmm... Yes, one being.
Looking off ahead by sitting up on Jewelsâ back, stretching your body as far as you believe you can to catch a glimpse of what you think youâre feeling.
No. No. Hmmm...this doesnât feel like rabbits or anything of that size...though theyâre not larger than Jewels...or you...but hmmm...theyâre close to your size...wait.
âœWait! Could it a person?!â You say out loud as you try to look higher to see if that is the case by raising your hand, copying the trick you learned in the barn.
It does slightly increase the distance which you can see and to that, you take notice a speck on the horizon.
The sixth sense is informing you that the feeling of the figure is stagnant, so that means that theyâre remaining where they are.
Itâd be wise, before you get closer, to decide on a form to uphold. You donât want to repeat the scenario of âOh no! A monster!â
You hum almost in an agitated manner but it sounds sadder than anything. You donât like the idea of you being seen as a monster...despite that technically being the case. So, to avoid future complications between...hmm, race(?)...the people of this world, you'll need to appear as somewhat familiar and trustworthy.
Itâs an easy fix with magic. You have a couple of spells that can do just the trick!
But, for this all to work, you obviously need to change your appearance to appear like a human again. Not just any human, however. You need to fit in so you have to choose a form that has similarities to the natives of this world. If you appear too foreign, youâll draw eyes which means that youâll need to replicate what youâve seen in that one village as reference. Youâve only seen men so far but thatâs more than enough. You would have loved to appear as yourself but you also donât want to use your actual identity in this world as it could endanger you. You have to make a new look. This way, your interactions with the natives of this...new...world? Yggdrasil? Whatever! NEW SITUATION will run a bit more smoothlyâ
What will you choose to look like?
Iâll look like a male.
Iâll look like a female.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
1â†'2â†'4â†'9â†'20â†'103
OOoo, I wonder what's up ahead~ Also, the choice left at the end of this chapter doesn't necessarily mean much. All it will affect is what gender you'll appear as when you're not SÅsaku-sha, how others will treat you, and other small differences. This is all so you can relate to your character more or immerse yourself in roleplay!
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LOST ROUTE 5:18
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shut down. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to avoid confrontation and flee the scene. With a horse at your side you venture off into the unknown...
Chapter Notes
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœMmm...I shouldnât leave any trace.â Jewels stops, as if compelled by your will, while you keep your arm firm in the direction youâve come from. Puzzling through which spell to make do you ultimately call out âŸªBlightâŸ« to wither away the growthsâ
â.
Only they donât wither away. They resist the cast.
âœEh-What the? âŸªBlight!âŸ«â
Again, the patch remains resilient.
âœPsh! How?!â You focus on the colorful wildflowers, stupefied.
It resisted two âŸªBlightâŸ« spells?! From your avatar?! SÅsaku-sha is maxed out! Their level cap exceeds 100! Additionally, plants canât resist blight unless theyâre magical! But even if these are magical, theyâre at a disadvantage!
So why didnât they wither?! Are you out of range? Thereâs no way! Youâre only six meters away!
Jewels turns around and carries you back over until two meters separates you from the flowers, your intrigue now focused on them.
âœThis has to be close enough. âŸªBlight!âŸ«â
When they remain as healthy as ever your hand lowers in defeat.
âœWhy?â Itâs not the distance thenâ You know youâre casting it right since you feel the dip MP everytime you cast on the plant. So whatâs the issue? âœSo weirdââŸªMana EssenceâŸ«.â
Your vision darkens with the new cast, as if a shadow has captured your sight. However, with the spell, a gateway is opened for you to see the mana leaking from the plants. Itâs like the ground is on fire wherever you have touched, with blue and purple wisps of energy flowing fourth from the Earth. You can distinctly see each patch of mana flowing from the ground where youâve walked and lain.
It confirms that the plants are magical in nature...but not why they resisted your casts.
Is it because of the level of mana they exude? If theyâre releasing this much mana...they may be high level growths? A five star-Ha! What are you saying? No way! Thereâs no way plants that grow from your touch could be Legendary growths. Thatâs absurd.
It is absurd...but they are producing a lot of manaâMmmâ. Youâre just going to assume theyâre a rare spawn and leave it at that.
Though, this isnât the issue you should be focusing on. How do you get rid of them?!
If theyâre able to resist three of your âŸªBlightâŸ« spells, then they must have some sort of resistance to the Wither statusâ so youâll have to use something that doesnât drain energy. You didnât want to do something like this initially because it's destructive but youâre left with little options.
Ascend wills your body up and forward so Jewels is out of the way and, with newfound determination, you call forth âœâŸªMinimize Magic Scorching Ray!âŸ«â
Your moss cape flaps in the air while both your hands spark and blaze with heat as the attack is activated. With astounding accuracy, thin fiery beams launch at the many spaces which contain the magical growths. The fire roars as it consumes everything in its wake but youâre disheartened when Jewels shrieks, startled by the flames, and the empty feeling that washes over you as butterflies are caught in the crossfire.
Once the spell is over, you make sure to float over to Jewels where she eyes the flames wearily with a fearful whine. âœHey, hey. Itâs okay, Jewels.â Gently, you grab hold of her snout and pet gently to soothe her fear. To your surprise, it seems to do wonders as she melts into your menstrations, her breathing slowing to a calm rhythm as she relaxes. Encouraged by her reaction, you keep it up and continue to speak in a soft tone. âœYouâre fine. Everythingâs fine. It's just a little fire. Iâd never hurt you. You see? Youâre okay.â
You hug her head closer to yourself as you observe your work.
Yeeeahp, itâs all gone.
Itâs one of the reasons you didnât want to use any destructive spells in the first place. Even with Minimizing, your avatar is still above level cap, causing destructive spells they have to be overkill in most cases. So, despite âŸªScorching RayâŸ« being a second tier spell, itâs amplified by the higher level slots, perks, and OP stats.
The reason you settled on this spell though is not only because it's one of the lowest tier spells you have with a low slash radius if used right, fire is a natural weakness to most plants. Youâre glad itâs the same here as you no longer see any trace of the patches. Plus, fire is a natural element in nature according to the documentaries youâve seen. Youâve even heard that fire makes the Earth more nutritious for the plants thatâll grow back over. You donât know what the long term effects of acid classed spells would have done to the ground so you tried the next best thing. Choosing the lesser of two evils seemed like the best course.
Thankfully, the damage is not as bad as it could be. The Earth surrounding the place you took camp has been reduced to nothing but scorched black Earth like it had been whipped by the sun. Orange spurts of fire still flicker here and there within the smoke but theyâre nothing compared to the attack you unleashed. Even so, you didnât destroy everything. The only unintentional casualties are the insects and the grass surrounding the patches. The tree, and bushes are a little singed but nothing too fatal.
Overall, you think youâve successfully gotten rid of the flowers. Now itâs time to fix the damage sought.
If you left this place as it is then itâd be no better than leaving those patches as they were. Besides, they may be able to puzzle together which direction you cast the spell in and follow you off of that.
A last rub is sent down the length of Jewelsâ snout before you maneuver back to where you were and start to cast various Druid healing spells to patch up the burns, regrowing the greenery that was once there before you came across this place.
Thereâs no way youâd feel right leaving damage behind like this to the Earth when you have the power to heal it. Youâd be no better than those garbage excuses for human beings who selfishly do what they like to the Earth and donât do anything to rectify it. One problem after another piling up due to their neglect until it's too late. Best do your part and fix while you can, for you know every little action takes its toll on the grand scheme of things.
The grass is now healthy looking again, no longer there being black lashes against the green. The tree and bushes are also fixed from what you see.
Yes, it looks like youâve completely covered your tracks.
You canât bring back the butterflies you roasted but you can do your best to make sure that the ones remaining donât suffer the same fate. Watching the butterflies flutter around and trail your retreat back to Jewelsâ back, she turns and continues off where she left to carry you in the direction youâd chosen in the first place. With a sigh at the small accomplishment to your safety and finally being able to set out, you hum to yourself, âœI should live in the moment for a bit. Maybe enjoying what I have now is the refresher I need to focus on finding answers.â
With that last outward comment you let your mind wander off into a mindless buzz as you are escorted farther and farther by Jewels into the unknownâ
â—
The sun is much lower now than it was when you first started out on your excursion but itâs not quite evening yet. Despite the light of day still being available for what you suspect to be a few more hours, the sky has noticeably shifted in palette as it had marched across the sky to rest behind you. Fascinated by the fundamentals of the sunâs effect on the climate of this world you had remained somewhat in a numb trance as Jewels and you had continued on your way.
The sun had made it considerably warmer as the hours had passed but, what you can only guess after three oâclock, it started to cool off. The temperature fluctuations had been noticeable but despite you being naked youâre not sensitive to the change, a surprise to you. You assume that it has to do with SÅsaku-shaâs tolerance to such things.
Back on Earth, there were only clouds of smog. There was no sun. Global warming was constant so it was always hot. That irritating heat...however...there were a few things that produced pleasant heat. The sun is one of them. You donât think that you had ever felt the sun before going on a plane to your first gaming convention and that was...a mind-blowing experience. You remember how warm it felt on your skin as you stared out the window at it. It felt just like how all those romance poems and movies depicted it as. Itâs a warmth that feels like hot chocolate and kisses. So bright it had been but all you had wanted to do was stare at it despite it causing you to see weird spots afterward.
However, all you have done today is stare at the sun and bask in its embrace...and none of the pain nor the spots appeared. You can only guess that itâs a natural thing that is supposed to occur and Earthâs pollution made it so you canât see the sun without burning your eyes...or itâs because of this alien body.
Another blissful noise rumbles in your chest as you continue to be hypnotized by the star that is starting to dye the sky a calming orange color. You thought that the sky would look brown before the sunset since the orange and blue colors would meld to make such a color...but no...the orange is so subtle. Only because you had been watching the descent had you become aware of the shift. It had dawned on you a while back that youâll be able to experience your first ever genuine sunset after so many years of being alive.
How youâre not going to let anything get in the way of this.
You continue to watch the falling sky, thankful that your extended vision allows you to focus on it as you keep half the mind to continue looking out for anything different.
Everything starts to look the same with no signs of landmarks across the plains. Itâs all grass. Grass here, grass there...though there are the occasional bush and tree. However not much else changes. The only obscurities that you catch are the weeds that take the place of grass. It truly feels that you are a passenger on a vessel that is drifting across a green ocean by how flat and alive it is...and it fills you with awe.
The closest thing you got to these wondrous plains were the ones in Yggdrasil that were developed with the help of your crew of graphic artists.
You must say, man-made things cannot measure up to what mother nature can produce.
Strange concept though, that this may still be Yggdrasil and these are elements that you had implemented in the game but you hardly think that is so now. Nothing, except the fact that youâre stuck in your avatar and the magic system being generally the same, is like your game.
Youâve been going on for what you know has been hours yet nothing sticks out to you. You seem to have gone to a very remote location.
You shift your vision to your rear, once again, still paranoid about being followed. Nothing blocked the way behind but nothing stood out either, making it very challenging to tell which direction one came from unless they keep in mind where the sun is. Although thereâs nowhere you could hide, you feel that you have some advantage if you were in danger.
For one, you can just fly away if youâre ambushed, although youâre still hesitant on the idea of heights in fear of falling again. Plus, you donât want to abandon Jewels so you might just use magic to get away if anything bad happens.
Also, your senses seem to be amplified by an extraordinary amount when you focus on them.
Your sense of smell, which is one of your strangest, allows you to smell what you suspect dogs or even bears to be able to smell. The strongest scents come from the animals of course but you try not to focus on them because they arenât releasing pleasant odors. You gag a couple of times upon smelling some of them, such as Jewels, but overall the plains smell relatively good. The grass reminds you of tea by the tangy richness it releases. You also enjoy the occasional smell of herbs, flowers, and foreign sweet odors that litter the landscape. Itâs like...itâs what you think flower shops would have smelled like if there were any more around back on Earthâ. Flowers are such a rarity. It's so nice to see and experience them in their natural environment. You've seen documentaries of them but the closest you've gotten to them in the real world were the vases of flowers at those parties your parents would take you to...though you never got to tell if they were real or not since you weren't allowed anywhere near them as a child...
You hope they were fake.
There's already so little flora left on Earth that you think it's a tragic waste for them to be mutilated for design in some rich snob's mansion. Just one way they flaught their power in front of others...
You pray that they were fake...
...enough. You're not there. You're here. Focus on the now...
You enjoy the scents that come your way, holding onto this moment while keeping your vision wide and your ears open. You technically donât have ears but you feel as though you have ones larger than an elephant because of how much sound you pick up. The wind canât even penetrate through the thicket without it catching your attention, even when it seems to approach from miles away. The fact that you feel that you can hear that far and you hear nothing out of the ordinary is both comforting and disappointing.
Your sense of touch doesnât do much but tell you when a bug decides to hitchhike on you, how Jewels feels, and which way the breeze is coming from. You donât know if you have a sense of taste but you will yourself to keep it off if you do. You donât want to accidentally taste something youâd regret. Itâd be a bad choice to activate it if taste now works similarly to how your other senses work. Youâll see how to make it work later.
In addition to that...thereâs something...odd that you had noticed when you started to search your surroundings. You know that you have at least four out of five of your natural senses but...
You seem to have a sixth sense now.
You canât describe it in any other way than you somehow being acutely aware of living creatures around you. You thought you were being paranoid at first when you started to expand your available senses to stay alert and you...just felt like something was...there...even when you couldnât see, hear, or smell it. You slowly realized that wasnât the case, though. You were proven that youâre not, in fact, going crazy when youâd feel things inside the ground or in the passing trees only for them to pop out. It is mainly insects that prove that they were the ones hiddenâ.but it still creeps you out. The feeling of knowing somethingâs there is like worms wriggling and buzzing under your skin. It especially feels the most intense when you focus on particular organisms like Jewels. Sensing her is the weirdest feeling, almost as if youâre sitting on a battery or that your bottom half is enveloped in static. You canât describe it in any other way than that.
Despite the uncomfortable feeling, you reluctantly keep it up because it was and still is very helpful pinpointing the things that escape your other senses. It reassures you that nothing is watching you out from behind a bush. The only living things that are currently watching you are the ones you donât mind. As long as that doesnât change, youâll be happy...or if something does start following you...you know that you could handle it now that your magic is working and youâd be able to start interrogating whatever it could be. If it comes to it, you could all kill it-
What-woah...hold on now. I-is that you talking?! Is that really you?!â
Woah, holy shit... is your mind affected?
Are you actually prepared to kill whatever may threaten you. Even if itâs a human?!
The fact that you feel that the answer would be a solid yes hardly comes as a shock to you, but the fact that you feel nonplussed at the idea is what startles you.
Wow. You might need to make a rule book or a list of how you should act. Murder isnâtâit isnât right in certain circumstances-No! NO! It shouldnât be right under any circumstance! It is wrong! Itâs-
á›'ášášá›á›ášâá›‹á›ášášá›ášášá›
Glittery golden light fills your vision and your mind blanks.
You freeze in place on Jewels back, trying to figure out what you were just thinking aboutâ
â.
*sigh*...No matter how hard you try to remember what it was you canât seem to recall the seconds prior.
Scratching your neck you hum. âœHuh. I must have had a brain fart or something..." Welp, thatâs something future you can have a problem with. Right now, however...you need to focus on finding information.
So far youâve found absolutely nothing.
âœ... I suspect that nothing will be a common factor in my life for the time beingââ
So, until you arrive at your destination, if there is any, you believe thinking up a game plan would be wise.
â.
â.
â.
â.
â.
â.
â.
Soooooâ.
â.
What do you want to do?
âœI want to get out of this messâ, *sigh* but you know thatâs off the table.
So what else do you want to do?
âœMaybe get a roof over my head? Someplace safe and comfortable that I can hold out in until I can get back home.â You nod at the fair idea.
How do you expect to do that?
âœWell...Depends on what happens. If I can find a way to integrate myself back into human society then Iâd try to get a job to support myself...though...heh, I donât think that they have a demand for programmers just yet.â You shake your head lamentably, âœSeems like Iâm stuck in some kind of fantasy medieval world. No technology yet...augh. Theyâre so dated. If I were a technician Iâd get the ball rolling in that department but...I only know a little bit about that kind of stuff. Metal conducts electricity, I know that. And there are more ways to conduct electricity than flying a kite to be struck by lightning.â
Yeah, water, solar, wind, geothermal, so much knowledge just at your fingertips...wait.
You look down at your colorful hands as an idea strikes you. âœCan I start a new form of producing electricity by magic?â
You have thousands upon thousands of spells at your disposal. Maybe with enough practice, you can start a whole new revolution of technological advancements in this new world. Magic is obviously a thing in this world.
You rub your neck and ponder over the words of the villagers.
That means that there are others that have magical abilities, typical for a fantasy world. But...even if you could produce electricity in this world, how would you power it? Would you have mages and wizards constantly power a light bulb for you? And how would you explain it to the masses? If your memory serves you right, history shows how people react to new things. The churches, for example, would lynch people they thought to be associated with the devil and condemned them as witches. How about having your throat slit in the middle of the night when someone wants to steal your ideas?
Maybe sticking out in the crowd would be a bad thing. Youâre already trying to hide from that one village, why should you risk your safety again?
âœ*Sigh, itâd make many peopleâs lives much easier.â
There is so much you could do to improve this world actually. Medicine and simple hygiene would be a profound step forward. It could save countless lives. You could start your own clinic. Start off easy and work your way up from there by gaining apprentices who also practice magic. You could start a whole line of doctors. Cure Disease and Light Healing are only a small portion of what you can doâ
Then again, youâd stick outâ
Mmmâ
You also know of many recipes from Earth. You may not be the best cook but you have more knowledge than Basics. Are salads a thing yet? That would be easy. With your Beast Taming skills you could gather all sorts of creatures to harvest off of easily. Not to mention your Druid skills. You got a couple of other spells that could help you like Create Water for some freshwater. A couple of fire oriented spells can help you cook. Temperature Change could also help you with heating water, maybe for tea? Ice-type spells to preserve your food, maybe even to serve desserts such as ice cream? You would have the freshest produce to cook and experiment with. You...you've never have had most of the things that start to rain across your mind as you brainstorm. Meats and fruits! All considered to be extravagant. Only the sickenly rich could afford them since the ingredients are so rare...but here, you have no limit! You could do anything in this new world. You could finally have the chance to eat such foods!
But that would make you stick outâ.
â.
Mmmm...
Maybe you should do simple jobs. A servant? People donât pay attention to servants...
You make a face at the sick feeling that makes itself known by a gag.
Wow. You really donât want to do that. Itâs almost as if you had asked yourself to become dirt! You know that those things were completely unrelated yet your entire being feels like it spits at the idea. Whatâs so wrong with servant work?
The thought of being a mere servant slaving under some lower life form makes your stomach turn-
What-what...what's this? W-why are you thinking that way?!âyou didnât realize your pride came before your life! And lower life form?! Humans?! Not even a day ago you were a human! It is wrong to be thinking this way! Do I really think I am of higher status or even a higher being than people?!
Yep.
No! NO! You are not above other people! What is wrong with you?! What have you become?! What has happened to your mind?! This-
á›'ášášá›á›ášâá›‹á›ášášá›ášášá›
Glittery golden light fills your vision once again and your mind blanks.
â.
âœUh...what...was I just thinking of again?...â You spend another few moments trying to puzzle together what you might have been mulling about but nothing comes up. âœMan...I must be too stressed out if Iâm forgetting stuff that easily..." Scratching your temple you continue to focus on making a game plan.
Hmmmâ.
How about a hmm...a mercenary of sorts? Someone hired to help around with odd jobs that normal people wouldnât be able to do? Mmmâ
Seems hard and dangerous...huh...actually, that doesnât sound that ba-Now wait! Hold on, were you okay with danger?! No! Thatâs the reason youâre wandering off into the middle of nowhere to get away from dangerâ
â.
âYou went...into the middle of nowhere...in a fantasy world that holds the possibility of monsters...far away from any human civilization... where thereâs no one to help you if something bad happened...and youâre worried about working as a hired mercenary?
You slap yourself hard in the face, causing the butterflies on your shoulders to flutter off.
âœOw.â The sting resides pretty quickly as the fluttery insects return to take perch on you.
Youâre so stupid. *Sigh, but at least you have ways to protect yourself now if you do end up in trouble.
Maybe thereâs no avoiding getting noticed.
âœI mean,â You laugh aridly, âœIâm not exactly from this world...or from a time close to this period.â
Youâre going to stick out no matter what you do to change your appearance and how you act. Youâll still sound off, not to mention the conflicting feelings you have with your bodyâ*sigh*
â.
â.
Kaah...you have no idea what is happeningâ
You know that you should be freaking out at a time like this...but you feel that you have an obligation to remain collected, especially now that youâre in the thick of the unknownâ
Huhâ
You havenât thought of that yet.
Is there a possibility...that your mind has been changed, along with your body?
You should have been afraid after seeing what had become of you in the pond, but...you didnât feel out of place...nor unnatural. Just confused and worried that you wonât be able to be yourself again. Another thing that youâve noticed is that youâre no longer tired. You had stayed up very late to watch the servers shut off and even after you had appeared in this weird place, you had wondered for hours. You had only slept because you felt like that would help you wake up from this nightmare. You hadnât felt tired at all before you slept. To be ready for player raids, you had made SÅsaku-sha with racial traits to prevent the need for rest, not to mention that SÅsaku-sha has immunity to most mind-affecting effects...so is this a result of that? The spell Sleep and other similar status attacks are still effective on your avatar but why hadnât you felt tired? You still donât.
What else is different then? Will these changes affect who you are?... Who you are as a person? Your mentality?
If these mental changes have a large effect or are erasing how you, yourself, see the world youâll need to quickly make a...some sort of list of how to properly act so you donât stray morally. Your will may be your own but that doesn't mean that it canât be affected. You want to cling on to your humanity.
You nod to yourself as you continue to watch the sunset merrily.
Has this pep talk really accomplished anything?
âœNothing. Iâm still fucking lost.â Your shoulders slump, âœ... I suspect that nothing will be a common factor in my life for the time beingââ
Well, even if youâre all not able to get anything from this at least youâve taken steps. Baby steps but thatâs still progress. That progress means that youâll be able to start making moves of sorts, ones thought upon and well planned out.
You can think about getting a job after youâve settled into a society and learned some of the basics of their culture. Who knows? You might find a possible job that is perfect for you.
But that does raise a question. Why do you want to integrate back into human society so badly? Well, frankly, you donât know anything about completely living on your own.
âœI did live in an apartment on my own back home.â
That doesnât count. You donât know how to hunt your own food...if you even need to eat...and magic can solve thatâ
You donât know how to build a shelter...well, you do have a couple of spells that could assist you like Create Fortress or Natureâs Shelter.
...hmmm...you donât know how youâd be able to clean it on your own?...summoning spells...Beast Tamer skillsâ
â.
Well...it might not be so bad of an idea then...
Hell, maybe you even start colonizing this area. Start building a...a...a functioning society of sorts on your own, near the stream as you thought of doing earlier. Yeah, and the more that you spread the more ways you can get information that will be gatheredâ
Butâ
What are you even expecting to find?
You donât think that there is an answer in the world that could describe what has happened to you. Not unless thereâs anyone else here like youâ
Wait. Is there a possibility of other players here? In this world?! You had thought the mob might have been but you were quickly proved wrong...but...
What if there are other players from Yggdrasil here?! T-that is a possibility. Youâre here...so itâs only reasonable to assume such.
You got it.
You know what you must do now.
You will use your resources and efforts together to search for other players.
You have an obligation to do so since you canât help but feel that this situation may be your fault. Your game...Yggdrasil did something. Youâre stuck in your avatar so it's only reasonable to assume such. You canât be the only one. If you do find themâwhat then? Apologize? They may be scared, pissed, or all the above...they might blame you for this predicament...but youâre sure no one would want to be alone at a time like this. You feel that way...Yeah, that seems to be the right thing to do. You wouldnât hold it against them if they lashed out at you either. They may have lives that they need to get back to. You too have a life of your own as well but first, you want to find others before you start searching for a way to go back to the real world.
Yes, you know your mission now. This web of information gathering will start once youâve found grounding and you will spread across the globe to find the answers you desire.
Clenching your fists you look up with a burning in your chest, âœI will find you, donât worry. Youâre not alone...I will find you all! This I promise!!!â
What meets your outcry is an echo of your strange, lone voice as you stare out at the horizon ahead.
A beautiful sky. A sky that is no longer present on your world, covered with smog, but here?
You smile.
The sight gives you hope...the hope that you will succeed.
"I promiseââ You shift your gaze outward again to continue your search but it's merely thirty minutes later when Jewels lets you know she needs to rest. Fine by you. It didn't seem like anything was changing or appearing for you to find. Additionally, you don't want to run Jewels to death. You've made sure to give her breaks every few hours throughout the day; repeating the task of utilizing your abilities to make a watering hole for her since you're no longer near that stream from this morning.
The air is filled with the sound of Jewels drinking the pool and munching on grass and the new patch that surrounds where you sit. Itâs much in contrast to the soft breeze that has never left you since you've come to. It carries a vernal feel, coming from the North West. You can assume, at least from what you've observed thus far, that the season for the part of the...globe...hemisphereâerr, part of the world you're in at the moment is either spring or fall. You haven't witnessed the iconic fall leaves you've seen in documentaries, just flowers and green...must be spring then... Though, you have a hunch that it's late in the season. You sum up the gut feeling to being a Druid, not lingering on the whys and why nots. You're starting to learn that all it does is bring about a spiral of doubts and you're getting sick and tired of it.
You don't know how late into the season it is but if you've learned anything from historical and scientific programs, this is the best time to be stranded in the medieval era. You know winter is a bitch in this time period, not even covering the fantastical worlds of fiction where seasons can be put to the extremes. With this world being a combination of both, you can only imagine what type of outcome that means for the season of frost. Thank goodness you were blessed with the season perfect for you and your avatar's abilities.
...Yet...mmm... Although this weather is perfect for your Druid class, relying on magic to solve all your problems may be inefficient in the long run.
What if you run out of mana?
Yes, you have, at most, three hundred MP which, to be fair, is an ungodly amount. There are a few ways players that have exceeded the level cap but there is no way any one player can equal that. Maybe half. Itâs possible to achieve half but just maybe. As in the one thousandths percentage of players have. But two-thirds? No way. Legitimately impossible even if all of the XP collected is put into MP. The only, and you mean it, the only reason you have that stupidly high level of MP is because youâre a character meant to face possibly hundreds of level one hundred players at once, which you have.
Just being the âœCreator of the world treeâ wouldnât have cut it, nor the fact that the avatar is a magic oriented being. It only got a stamp of approval when the alpha simulations were tested and the damage output SÅsaku-sha could place wasnât equivalent enough to survive the onslaught of bots once they ran out of the MP they had initially.
So your avatar has three hundred MPâor at least in the game. That might not be the case any longer. Additionally, that's when you haven't been casting at all and you've been using magic all throughout the day. Youâve been counting, as it is a habit from pvp, how much mana youâve been burning through and what you have left. There should be two hundred sixty three MP left if there were no restoration periods.
You don't have a menu to view to confirm your stats and there's no spells for self evaluations because that's what the menu functioned for... How much do you have left? Do spells require different levels of mana to cast than what youâre accustomed to? Your counting would be meaningless then. How long does it take for your bar to replenish? If the bar was empty, it'd take players six hours for mana to be restored in full, if Yggdrasil's rules still apply. Your perk, Life, cuts that time in half though, so every three hours your MP should be refilled. Not to mention you hadnât burned through your entire bar of MP, only a few spurts every other hour, so it shouldnât take that long to be full again. Maybe...twenty minutes if it hadnât been restored throughout the day. Has that changed though? Does MP replenish anymore?
You feel like it's okay...your MP that is. It feels like it's there. A presence or a knowing. Like an extra sense...but the dread of losing something that could be vital to your survivalâ. Well...that would just mean you'd be no diffrent than a human... Your normal self...
Letâs wait and see how youâre feeling laterâ. If you recall the first time you used magic today, then the next time your MP will fill up is in two hours and forty-two minutes. But thatâs if youâd run empty. Only counting the spells you used now...five minutes max...
â.
How the heck do you know all that?
â.
Nevermind, thereâs something more important.
You flex your fingers in unease, gaze remaining transfixed on the fiery sky.
The sun's sandy yellow color has mellowed out, a vigorous tangerine ember burns in place; the kindling fire loses its heat as the night settles in. But that ember burns strong, casting its retreating glow across the land. The grass has turned to a dark gold, the shadow in matrimony to the vibrant sky above. It's more colors than ever thought imaginable. Pinks, yellows, oranges, reds, greens, violets, blues... Your very vision is filled with nature's kaleidoscope, the rainbow lights dancing beautifully... Grace and power... How beautiful, framed perfectly by clouds withholding what light is given until they too are overcome by twilight. The butterflies' wings shimmer, catching the glittery light as they flit about in the evening air, sparkling... shining like stars of their own...
Magical.
A noise escapes you... One that you can't place the source for but it may have to do with the way your body begins to tremble.
Wrapping quivering arms around yourself does little to settle your muscles, only emphasizing how impacted you are by the sight. It's not the crisp of the glade, your avatar is immune to freezing. Besides, the warmth of the star grips you in the most homely feeling, as if you're a babe coddled in the welcoming hold of a guardian... The fetal position you find yourself in doesn't help refute the imagery...and you're okay with that.
Another shuttering noise rumbles out, wet in pitch as pressure coils over your face and chest, warm and feels of jelly...
You've only felt this way a handful of times. Being nominated as the most innovative game designer of the decade? Those few times you've been in real battles with players? Recieving your first game as a kid? The genuine smiles you've brought to others...
Yes...you're feeling bliss. A pure joy.
"Ha...ha ha... And here I thought the rendition in Midgard was the best sunset. How presumptuous..." The mutter can hardly be called such, warped in tone by your overwhelming emotions. No one would have been able to understand you if they were listening. "My...first sunset... I wish I could share it with you all..."
Jewels, having her fill, settles behind you in the grass. Seeing the opportunity, you lean back so you rest against her side. It's hard but warm, a buzz of life energy; her breathing lulls you as it steadily rocks you up and down. Jewels even sees to it to lay her head nearest to you so that your dominant arm can cradle and fiddle playfully with her straw-felt hair.
All is nice...
All is good...
You want to cry...and...for the first time since this ordeal...not for a bad reason...
Continue
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
1â†'2â†'4â†'9â†'107â†'104
A calm evening's end...
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LOST ROUTE 5:19
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shut down. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to avoid confrontation and flee the scene. With a horse at your side you venture off into the unknown...
Chapter Notes
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœMmm...I shouldnât be worried about the possibilities.â You shake your head with a drop of your hand, watching the butterflies flutter around and trail you as Jewels continues to walk. Theyâd be able to follow the footprints Jewels left the night prior to this location so thereâs no point ridding the evidence of your stay. As long as you donât allow any more prints to be made, the flowers are fine. Besides...you hate the idea of killing the flora when thereâs so little of them left on Earth...âœI should live in the moment for a bit. Maybe enjoying what I have now is the refresher I need to focus on finding answers.â
With that last outward comment you let your mind wander off into a mindless buzz as you are escorted farther and farther by Jewels into the unknownâ
â—
The sun is much lower now than it was when you first started out on your excursion but itâs not quite evening yet. Despite the light of day still being available for what you suspect to be a few more hours, the sky has noticeably shifted in palette as it had marched across the sky to rest behind you. Fascinated by the fundamentals of the sunâs effect on the climate of this world you had remained somewhat in a numb trance as Jewels and you had continued on your way.
The sun had made it considerably warmer as the hours had passed but, what you can only guess after three oâclock, it started to cool off. The temperature fluctuations had been noticeable but despite you being naked youâre not sensitive to the change, a surprise to you. You assume that it has to do with SÅsaku-shaâs tolerance to such things.
Back on Earth, there were only clouds of smog. There was no sun. Global warming was constant so it was always hot. That irritating heat...however...there were a few things that produced pleasant heat. The sun is one of them. You donât think that you had ever felt the sun before going on a plane to your first gaming convention and that was...a mind-blowing experience. You remember how warm it felt on your skin as you stared out the window at it. It felt just like how all those romance poems and movies depicted it as. Itâs a warmth that feels like hot chocolate and kisses. So bright it had been but all you had wanted to do was stare at it despite it causing you to see weird spots afterward.
However, all you have done today is stare at the sun and bask in its embrace...and none of the pain nor the spots appeared. You can only guess that itâs a natural thing that is supposed to occur and Earthâs pollution made it so you canât see the sun without burning your eyes...or itâs because of this alien body.
Another blissful noise rumbles in your chest as you continue to be hypnotized by the star that is starting to dye the sky a calming orange color. You thought that the sky would look brown before the sunset since the orange and blue colors would meld to make such a color...but no...the orange is so subtle. Only because you had been watching the descent had you become aware of the shift. It had dawned on you a while back that youâll be able to experience your first ever genuine sunset after so many years of being alive.
How youâre not going to let anything get in the way of this.
You continue to watch the falling sky, thankful that your extended vision allows you to focus on it as you keep half the mind to continue looking out for anything different.
Everything starts to look the same with no signs of landmarks across the plains. Itâs all grass. Grass here, grass there...though there are the occasional bush and tree. However not much else changes. The only obscurities that you catch are the weeds that take the place of grass. It truly feels that you are a passenger on a vessel that is drifting across a green ocean by how flat and alive it is...and it fills you with awe.
The closest thing you got to these wondrous plains were the ones in Yggdrasil that were developed with the help of your crew of graphic artists.
You must say, man-made things cannot measure up to what mother nature can produce.
Strange concept though, that this may still be Yggdrasil and these are elements that you had implemented in the game but you hardly think that is so now. Nothing, except the fact that youâre stuck in your avatar and the magic system being generally the same, is like your game.
Youâve been going on for what you know has been hours yet nothing sticks out to you. You seem to have gone to a very remote location.
You shift your vision to your rear, once again, still paranoid about being followed. Nothing blocked the way behind but nothing stood out either, making it very challenging to tell which direction one came from unless they keep in mind where the sun is. Although thereâs nowhere you could hide, you feel that you have some advantage if you were in danger.
For one, you can just fly away if youâre ambushed, although youâre still hesitant on the idea of heights in fear of falling again. Plus, you donât want to abandon Jewels so you might just use magic to get away if anything bad happens.
Also, your senses seem to be amplified by an extraordinary amount when you focus on them.
Your sense of smell, which is one of your strangest, allows you to smell what you suspect dogs or even bears to be able to smell. The strongest scents come from the animals of course but you try not to focus on them because they arenât releasing pleasant odors. You gag a couple of times upon smelling some of them, such as Jewels, but overall the plains smell relatively good. The grass reminds you of tea by the tangy richness it releases. You also enjoy the occasional smell of herbs, flowers, and foreign sweet odors that litter the landscape. Itâs like...itâs what you think flower shops would have smelled like if there were any more around back on Earthâ. Flowers are such a rarity. It's so nice to see and experience them in their natural environment. You've seen documentaries of them but the closest you've gotten to them in the real world were the vases of flowers at those parties your parents would take you to...though you never got to tell if they were real or not since you weren't allowed anywhere near them as a child...
You hope they were fake.
There's already so little flora left on Earth that you think it's a tragic waste for them to be mutilated for design in some rich snob's mansion. Just one way they flaught their power in front of others...
You pray that they were fake...
...enough. You're not there. You're here. Focus on the now...
You enjoy the scents that come your way, holding onto this moment while keeping your vision wide and your ears open. You technically donât have ears but you feel as though you have ones larger than an elephant because of how much sound you pick up. The wind canât even penetrate through the thicket without it catching your attention, even when it seems to approach from miles away. The fact that you feel that you can hear that far and you hear nothing out of the ordinary is both comforting and disappointing.
Your sense of touch doesnât do much but tell you when a bug decides to hitchhike on you, how Jewels feels, and which way the breeze is coming from. You donât know if you have a sense of taste but you will yourself to keep it off if you do. You donât want to accidentally taste something youâd regret. Itâd be a bad choice to activate it if taste now works similarly to how your other senses work. Youâll see how to make it work later.
In addition to that...thereâs something...odd that you had noticed when you started to search your surroundings. You know that you have at least four out of five of your natural senses but...
You seem to have a sixth sense now.
You canât describe it in any other way than you somehow being acutely aware of living creatures around you. You thought you were being paranoid at first when you started to expand your available senses to stay alert and you...just felt like something was...there...even when you couldnât see, hear, or smell it. You slowly realized that wasnât the case, though. You were proven that youâre not, in fact, going crazy when youâd feel things inside the ground or in the passing trees only for them to pop out. It is mainly insects that prove that they were the ones hiddenâ.but it still creeps you out. The feeling of knowing somethingâs there is like worms wriggling and buzzing under your skin. It especially feels the most intense when you focus on particular organisms like Jewels. Sensing her is the weirdest feeling, almost as if youâre sitting on a battery or that your bottom half is enveloped in static. You canât describe it in any other way than that.
Despite the uncomfortable feeling, you reluctantly keep it up because it was and still is very helpful pinpointing the things that escape your other senses. It reassures you that nothing is watching you out from behind a bush. The only living things that are currently watching you are the ones you donât mind. As long as that doesnât change, youâll be happy...or if something does start following you...you know that you could handle it now that your magic is working and youâd be able to start interrogating whatever it could be. If it comes to it, you could all kill it-
What-woah...hold on now. I-is that you talking?! Is that really you?!â
Woah, holy shit... is your mind affected?
Are you actually prepared to kill whatever may threaten you. Even if itâs a human?!
The fact that you feel that the answer would be a solid yes hardly comes as a shock to you, but the fact that you feel nonplussed at the idea is what startles you.
Wow. You might need to make a rule book or a list of how you should act. Murder isnâtâit isnât right in certain circumstances-No! NO! It shouldnât be right under any circumstance! It is wrong! Itâs-
á›'ášášá›á›ášâá›‹á›ášášá›ášášá›
Glittery golden light fills your vision and your mind blanks.
You freeze in place on Jewels back, trying to figure out what you were just thinking aboutâ
â.
*sigh*...No matter how hard you try to remember what it was you canât seem to recall the seconds prior.
Scratching your neck you hum. âœHuh. I must have had a brain fart or something..." Welp, thatâs something future you can have a problem with. Right now, however...you need to focus on finding information.
So far youâve found absolutely nothing.
âœ... I suspect that nothing will be a common factor in my life for the time beingââ
So, until you arrive at your destination, if there is any, you believe thinking up a game plan would be wise.
â.
â.
â.
â.
â.
â.
â.
Soooooâ.
â.
What do you want to do?
âœI want to get out of this messâ, *sigh* but you know thatâs off the table.
So what else do you want to do?
âœMaybe get a roof over my head? Someplace safe and comfortable that I can hold out in until I can get back home.â You nod at the fair idea.
How do you expect to do that?
âœWell...Depends on what happens. If I can find a way to integrate myself back into human society then Iâd try to get a job to support myself...though...heh, I donât think that they have a demand for programmers just yet.â You shake your head lamentably, âœSeems like Iâm stuck in some kind of fantasy medieval world. No technology yet...augh. Theyâre so dated. If I were a technician Iâd get the ball rolling in that department but...I only know a little bit about that kind of stuff. Metal conducts electricity, I know that. And there are more ways to conduct electricity than flying a kite to be struck by lightning.â
Yeah, water, solar, wind, geothermal, so much knowledge just at your fingertips...wait.
You look down at your colorful hands as an idea strikes you. âœCan I start a new form of producing electricity by magic?â
You have thousands upon thousands of spells at your disposal. Maybe with enough practice, you can start a whole new revolution of technological advancements in this new world. Magic is obviously a thing in this world.
You rub your neck and ponder over the words of the villagers.
That means that there are others that have magical abilities, typical for a fantasy world. But...even if you could produce electricity in this world, how would you power it? Would you have mages and wizards constantly power a light bulb for you? And how would you explain it to the masses? If your memory serves you right, history shows how people react to new things. The churches, for example, would lynch people they thought to be associated with the devil and condemned them as witches. How about having your throat slit in the middle of the night when someone wants to steal your ideas?
Maybe sticking out in the crowd would be a bad thing. Youâre already trying to hide from that one village, why should you risk your safety again?
âœ*Sigh, itâd make many peopleâs lives much easier.â
There is so much you could do to improve this world actually. Medicine and simple hygiene would be a profound step forward. It could save countless lives. You could start your own clinic. Start off easy and work your way up from there by gaining apprentices who also practice magic. You could start a whole line of doctors. Cure Disease and Light Healing are only a small portion of what you can doâ
Then again, youâd stick outâ
Mmmâ
You also know of many recipes from Earth. You may not be the best cook but you have more knowledge than Basics. Are salads a thing yet? That would be easy. With your Beast Taming skills you could gather all sorts of creatures to harvest off of easily. Not to mention your Druid skills. You got a couple of other spells that could help you like Create Water for some freshwater. A couple of fire oriented spells can help you cook. Temperature Change could also help you with heating water, maybe for tea? Ice-type spells to preserve your food, maybe even to serve desserts such as ice cream? You would have the freshest produce to cook and experiment with. You...you've never have had most of the things that start to rain across your mind as you brainstorm. Meats and fruits! All considered to be extravagant. Only the sickenly rich could afford them since the ingredients are so rare...but here, you have no limit! You could do anything in this new world. You could finally have the chance to eat such foods!
But that would make you stick outâ.
â.
Mmmm...
Maybe you should do simple jobs. A servant? People donât pay attention to servants...
You make a face at the sick feeling that makes itself known by a gag.
Wow. You really donât want to do that. Itâs almost as if you had asked yourself to become dirt! You know that those things were completely unrelated yet your entire being feels like it spits at the idea. Whatâs so wrong with servant work?
The thought of being a mere servant slaving under some lower life form makes your stomach turn-
What-what...what's this? W-why are you thinking that way?!âyou didnât realize your pride came before your life! And lower life form?! Humans?! Not even a day ago you were a human! It is wrong to be thinking this way! Do I really think I am of higher status or even a higher being than people?!
Yep.
No! NO! You are not above other people! What is wrong with you?! What have you become?! What has happened to your mind?! This-
á›'ášášá›á›ášâá›‹á›ášášá›ášášá›
Glittery golden light fills your vision once again and your mind blanks.
â.
âœUh...what...was I just thinking of again?...â You spend another few moments trying to puzzle together what you might have been mulling about but nothing comes up. âœMan...I must be too stressed out if Iâm forgetting stuff that easily..." Scratching your temple you continue to focus on making a game plan.
Hmmmâ.
How about a hmm...a mercenary of sorts? Someone hired to help around with odd jobs that normal people wouldnât be able to do? Mmmâ
Seems hard and dangerous...huh...actually, that doesnât sound that ba-Now wait! Hold on, were you okay with danger?! No! Thatâs the reason youâre wandering off into the middle of nowhere to get away from dangerâ
â.
âYou went...into the middle of nowhere...in a fantasy world that holds the possibility of monsters...far away from any human civilization... where thereâs no one to help you if something bad happened...and youâre worried about working as a hired mercenary?
You slap yourself hard in the face, causing the butterflies on your shoulders to flutter off.
âœOw.â The sting resides pretty quickly as the fluttery insects return to take perch on you.
Youâre so stupid. *Sigh, but at least you have ways to protect yourself now if you do end up in trouble.
Maybe thereâs no avoiding getting noticed.
âœI mean,â You laugh aridly, âœIâm not exactly from this world...or from a time close to this period.â
Youâre going to stick out no matter what you do to change your appearance and how you act. Youâll still sound off, not to mention the conflicting feelings you have with your bodyâ*sigh*
â.
â.
Kaah...you have no idea what is happeningâ
You know that you should be freaking out at a time like this...but you feel that you have an obligation to remain collected, especially now that youâre in the thick of the unknownâ
Huhâ
You havenât thought of that yet.
Is there a possibility...that your mind has been changed, along with your body?
You should have been afraid after seeing what had become of you in the pond, but...you didnât feel out of place...nor unnatural. Just confused and worried that you wonât be able to be yourself again. Another thing that youâve noticed is that youâre no longer tired. You had stayed up very late to watch the servers shut off and even after you had appeared in this weird place, you had wondered for hours. You had only slept because you felt like that would help you wake up from this nightmare. You hadnât felt tired at all before you slept. To be ready for player raids, you had made SÅsaku-sha with racial traits to prevent the need for rest, not to mention that SÅsaku-sha has immunity to most mind-affecting effects...so is this a result of that? The spell Sleep and other similar status attacks are still effective on your avatar but why hadnât you felt tired? You still donât.
What else is different then? Will these changes affect who you are?... Who you are as a person? Your mentality?
If these mental changes have a large effect or are erasing how you, yourself, see the world youâll need to quickly make a...some sort of list of how to properly act so you donât stray morally. Your will may be your own but that doesn't mean that it canât be affected. You want to cling on to your humanity.
You nod to yourself as you continue to watch the sunset merrily.
Has this pep talk really accomplished anything?
âœNothing. Iâm still fucking lost.â Your shoulders slump, âœ... I suspect that nothing will be a common factor in my life for the time beingââ
Well, even if youâre all not able to get anything from this at least youâve taken steps. Baby steps but thatâs still progress. That progress means that youâll be able to start making moves of sorts, ones thought upon and well planned out.
You can think about getting a job after youâve settled into a society and learned some of the basics of their culture. Who knows? You might find a possible job that is perfect for you.
But that does raise a question. Why do you want to integrate back into human society so badly? Well, frankly, you donât know anything about completely living on your own.
âœI did live in an apartment on my own back home.â
That doesnât count. You donât know how to hunt your own food...if you even need to eat...and magic can solve thatâ
You donât know how to build a shelter...well, you do have a couple of spells that could assist you like Create Fortress or Natureâs Shelter.
...hmmm...you donât know how youâd be able to clean it on your own?...summoning spells...Beast Tamer skillsâ
â.
Well...it might not be so bad of an idea then...
Hell, maybe you even start colonizing this area. Start building a...a...a functioning society of sorts on your own, near the stream as you thought of doing earlier. Yeah, and the more that you spread the more ways you can get information that will be gatheredâ
Butâ
What are you even expecting to find?
You donât think that there is an answer in the world that could describe what has happened to you. Not unless thereâs anyone else here like youâ
Wait. Is there a possibility of other players here? In this world?! You had thought the mob might have been but you were quickly proved wrong...but...
What if there are other players from Yggdrasil here?! T-that is a possibility. Youâre here...so itâs only reasonable to assume such.
You got it.
You know what you must do now.
You will use your resources and efforts together to search for other players.
You have an obligation to do so since you canât help but feel that this situation may be your fault. Your game...Yggdrasil did something. Youâre stuck in your avatar so it's only reasonable to assume such. You canât be the only one. If you do find themâwhat then? Apologize? They may be scared, pissed, or all the above...they might blame you for this predicament...but youâre sure no one would want to be alone at a time like this. You feel that way...Yeah, that seems to be the right thing to do. You wouldnât hold it against them if they lashed out at you either. They may have lives that they need to get back to. You too have a life of your own as well but first, you want to find others before you start searching for a way to go back to the real world.
Yes, you know your mission now. This web of information gathering will start once youâve found grounding and you will spread across the globe to find the answers you desire.
Clenching your fists you look up with a burning in your chest, âœI will find you, donât worry. Youâre not alone...I will find you all! This I promise!!!â
What meets your outcry is an echo of your strange, lone voice as you stare out at the horizon ahead.
A beautiful sky. A sky that is no longer present on your world, covered with smog, but here?
You smile.
The sight gives you hope...the hope that you will succeed.
"I promiseââ You shift your gaze outward again to continue your search but it's merely thirty minutes later when Jewels lets you know she needs to rest. Fine by you. It didn't seem like anything was changing or appearing for you to find. Additionally, you don't want to run Jewels to death. You've made sure to give her breaks every few hours throughout the day; repeating the task of utilizing your abilities to make a watering hole for her since you're no longer near that stream from this morning.
The air is filled with the sound of Jewels drinking the pool and munching on grass and the new patch that surrounds where you sit. Itâs much in contrast to the soft breeze that has never left you since you've come to. It carries a vernal feel, coming from the North West. You can assume, at least from what you've observed thus far, that the season for the part of the...globe...hemisphereâerr, part of the world you're in at the moment is either spring or fall. You haven't witnessed the iconic fall leaves you've seen in documentaries, just flowers and green...must be spring then... Though, you have a hunch that it's late in the season. You sum up the gut feeling to being a Druid, not lingering on the whys and why nots. You're starting to learn that all it does is bring about a spiral of doubts and you're getting sick and tired of it.
You don't know how late into the season it is but if you've learned anything from historical and scientific programs, this is the best time to be stranded in the medieval era. You know winter is a bitch in this time period, not even covering the fantastical worlds of fiction where seasons can be put to the extremes. With this world being a combination of both, you can only imagine what type of outcome that means for the season of frost. Thank goodness you were blessed with the season perfect for you and your avatar's abilities.
...Yet...mmm... Although this weather is perfect for your Druid class, relying on magic to solve all your problems may be inefficient in the long run.
What if you run out of mana?
Yes, you have, at most, three hundred MP which, to be fair, is an ungodly amount. There are a few ways players that have exceeded the level cap but there is no way any one player can equal that. Maybe half. Itâs possible to achieve half but just maybe. As in the one thousandths percentage of players have. But two-thirds? No way. Legitimately impossible even if all of the XP collected is put into MP. The only, and you mean it, the only reason you have that stupidly high level of MP is because youâre a character meant to face possibly hundreds of level one hundred players at once, which you have.
Just being the âœCreator of the world treeâ wouldnât have cut it, nor the fact that the avatar is a magic oriented being. It only got a stamp of approval when the alpha simulations were tested and the damage output SÅsaku-sha could place wasnât equivalent enough to survive the onslaught of bots once they ran out of the MP they had initially.
So your avatar has three hundred MPâor at least in the game. That might not be the case any longer. Additionally, that's when you haven't been casting at all and you've been using magic all throughout the day. Youâve been counting, as it is a habit from pvp, how much mana youâve been burning through and what you have left. There should be two hundred sixty three MP left if there were no restoration periods.
You don't have a menu to view to confirm your stats and there's no spells for self evaluations because that's what the menu functioned for... How much do you have left? Do spells require different levels of mana to cast than what youâre accustomed to? Your counting would be meaningless then. How long does it take for your bar to replenish? If the bar was empty, it'd take players six hours for mana to be restored in full, if Yggdrasil's rules still apply. Your perk, Life, cuts that time in half though, so every three hours your MP should be refilled. Not to mention you hadnât burned through your entire bar of MP, only a few spurts every other hour, so it shouldnât take that long to be full again. Maybe...twenty minutes if it hadnât been restored throughout the day. Has that changed though? Does MP replenish anymore?
You feel like it's okay...your MP that is. It feels like it's there. A presence or a knowing. Like an extra sense...but the dread of losing something that could be vital to your survivalâ. Well...that would just mean you'd be no diffrent than a human... Your normal self...
Letâs wait and see how youâre feeling laterâ. If you recall the first time you used magic today, then the next time your MP will fill up is in two hours and forty-two minutes. But thatâs if youâd run empty. Only counting the spells you used now...five minutes max...
â.
How the heck do you know all that?
â.
Nevermind, thereâs something more important.
You flex your fingers in unease, gaze remaining transfixed on the fiery sky.
The sun's sandy yellow color has mellowed out, a vigorous tangerine ember burns in place; the kindling fire loses its heat as the night settles in. But that ember burns strong, casting its retreating glow across the land. The grass has turned to a dark gold, the shadow in matrimony to the vibrant sky above. It's more colors than ever thought imaginable. Pinks, yellows, oranges, reds, greens, violets, blues... Your very vision is filled with nature's kaleidoscope, the rainbow lights dancing beautifully... Grace and power... How beautiful, framed perfectly by clouds withholding what light is given until they too are overcome by twilight. The butterflies' wings shimmer, catching the glittery light as they flit about in the evening air, sparkling... shining like stars of their own...
Magical.
A noise escapes you... One that you can't place the source for but it may have to do with the way your body begins to tremble.
Wrapping quivering arms around yourself does little to settle your muscles, only emphasizing how impacted you are by the sight. It's not the crisp of the glade, your avatar is immune to freezing. Besides, the warmth of the star grips you in the most homely feeling, as if you're a babe coddled in the welcoming hold of a guardian... The fetal position you find yourself in doesn't help refute the imagery...and you're okay with that.
Another shuttering noise rumbles out, wet in pitch as pressure coils over your face and chest, warm and feels of jelly...
You've only felt this way a handful of times. Being nominated as the most innovative game designer of the decade? Those few times you've been in real battles with players? Recieving your first game as a kid? The genuine smiles you've brought to others...
Yes...you're feeling bliss. A pure joy.
"Ha...ha ha... And here I thought the rendition in Midgard was the best sunset. How presumptuous..." The mutter can hardly be called such, warped in tone by your overwhelming emotions. No one would have been able to understand you if they were listening. "My...first sunset... I wish I could share it with you all..."
Jewels, having her fill, settles behind you in the grass. Seeing the opportunity, you lean back so you rest against her side. It's hard but warm, a buzz of life energy; her breathing lulls you as it steadily rocks you up and down. Jewels even sees to it to lay her head nearest to you so that your dominant arm can cradle and fiddle playfully with her straw-felt hair.
All is nice...
All is good...
You want to cry...and...for the first time since this ordeal...not for a bad reason...
Continue
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
1â†'2â†'4â†'9â†'107â†'105
A calm evening's end...
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Chapter Notes
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Looking off to the South East, your eyes trail across the horizon as you see nothing in sight except the commonalities.
Well...the village that you fled from was situated on the stream that flowed all the way here. You know for you had followed it up to this point. So...if you continue down South West along with the stream itâll be easier for a mob to follow you if they're trying to. So best not to go that way.
Youâre sure youâll run into another human civilization or...some place you can settle down at as long as you keep to areas where life exists. Civilization cannot exist if life cannot exist in the same area. If this is a fantasy world where magic is prevalent, guessing by how the mob had mentioned magic casters, youâre going to assume this world has stuff like castles or noble provinces. And If thereâs anywhere in the world where a castle will be present itâll be near locations that can provide ample resources. Places such as those are hubs for knowledge since they can afford more, provide more, and contain more information about surrounding locations and on general commonalities. If there isnât then youâre going to take steps to increase this worldâs prosperity.
However, this is the best lead you have.
âœI guess thereâs no time to waste.â You pick yourself off the ground, opting to stand rather than fly as you look off to the South East horizon. âœThere are only so many hours within one day and I donât want the mob to catch up to us if theyâre trying to find us.â
Butterflies trail you as you turn away to walk up to Jewels who looks like a peaceful giant from where she lays. Although youâre pretty huge yourself as your avatar, you just canât compare to the overall size of the horse. Not to mention that she is healthy and muscular which only adds to her overall width.
âœHey, girl.â You scratch behind one of her ears and you swear that the horse tilts its head into your touch. âœWe need to go now. Can you get up, Jewels...please?â
With a snort, the horse does as you ask and stands up upon its four legs causing you to let out a sigh of relief.
âœThank god for Beast Tamer skills.â The relieved ramble makes itself known as you float up to gently place yourself on the back of the horse, clutching onto your butterfly infested moss cloak as you try to get comfortable. Your Beast Tamer skills are the only exclamation for why creatures seem lax around you and how they are able to listen to your requests despite them not understanding you. You had these skills for the purpose of being the creator of Yggdrasil as they are the âœLife Giverâ and that would mean that creatures would be friendly with their creator to some extent, not to mention that you used it to rule over the vast variety of NPCs in your realm. âœLet's go South East. We might find something that way.â
Jewels does as you ask and starts to walk slowly away from the pond.
You have no idea where you are headed. Off to the middle of nowhere? Someplace mystical? You have no clue...but youâre hopeful as you enjoy the pleasant crisp breeze that keeps this green planet alive and breathing. You understand that if you change your mind on your choice or if you canât find anything else to gain from going East you can just use Gate to come back here. However...there may be an issue in that.
You take a second to shift your gaze to the trail the horse leaves from the bunch of flowers.
Those farmers, if theyâre determined to find you, can still follow where youâre headed because of the hoof prints Jewels leaves in her wake. So, you lift your hand and utter âŸªErase TraceâŸ« to rid the issue. At the release of some mana, any imprints left in the soil around your resting spot as well as any new ones produced by Jewels dissolves away as if neither of you were there. The only indicator remaining that youâve existed at that place are the flowers that remain resilient to the spell.
Hmmâ
Should you do anything about the flowers?
Get rid of them.
Leave them.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
1â†'2â†'4â†'9â†'106
Will those flowers be a problem? Surely those villagers haven't taken kindly to you nabbing a horse of theirs and are out to reclaim what's theirs? Call me stupid or bold, I'd leave the flowers. As long as I don't make anymore then there should be no other issue... Right?
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LOST ROUTE 4:8
Chapter Notes
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
Looking off to the West, your eyes trail across the horizon as you see nothing in sight except the commonalities.
Well...the village that you fled from was situated on the stream that flowed all the way here. You know for you had followed it up to this point. So...if you continue down South West along with the stream itâll be easier for a mob to follow you if they're trying to. So best not to go that way.
Youâre sure youâll run into another human civilization or...some place you can settle down at as long as you keep to areas where life exists. Civilization cannot exist if life cannot exist in the same area. If this is a fantasy world where magic is prevalent, guessing by how the mob had mentioned magic casters, youâre going to assume this world has stuff like castles or noble provinces. And If thereâs anywhere in the world where a castle will be present itâll be near locations that can provide ample resources. Places such as those are hubs for knowledge since they can afford more, provide more, and contain more information about surrounding locations and on general commonalities. If there isnât then youâre going to take steps to increase this worldâs prosperity.
However, this is the best lead you have.
âœI guess thereâs no time to waste.â You pick yourself off the ground, opting to stand rather than fly as you look off to the West horizon. âœThere are only so many hours within one day and I donât want the mob to catch up to us if theyâre trying to find us.â
Butterflies trail you as you turn away to walk up to Jewels who looks like a peaceful giant from where she lays. Although youâre pretty huge yourself as your avatar, you just canât compare to the overall size of the horse. Not to mention that she is healthy and muscular which only adds to her overall width.
âœHey, girl.â You scratch behind one of her ears and you swear that the horse tilts its head into your touch. âœWe need to go now. Can you get up, Jewels...please?â
With a snort, the horse does as you ask and stands up upon its four legs causing you to let out a sigh of relief.
âœThank god for Beast Tamer skills.â The relieved ramble makes itself known as you float up to gently place yourself on the back of the horse, clutching onto your butterfly infested moss cloak as you try to get comfortable. Your Beast Tamer skills are the only exclamation for why creatures seem lax around you and how they are able to listen to your requests despite them not understanding you. You had these skills for the purpose of being the creator of Yggdrasil as they are the âœLife Giverâ and that would mean that creatures would be friendly with their creator to some extent, not to mention that you used it to rule over the vast variety of NPCs in your realm. âœLet's go West to the sunset. We might find something that way.â
Jewels does as you ask and starts to walk slowly around the pond until the water is shallow enough to cross to the other side.
You have no idea where you are headed. Off to the middle of nowhere? Someplace mystical? You have no clue...but youâre hopeful as you enjoy the pleasant crisp breeze that keeps this green planet alive and breathing. You understand that if you change your mind on your choice or if you canât find anything else to gain from going East you can just use Gate to come back here. However...there may be an issue in that.
You take a second to shift your gaze to the trail the horse leaves from the bunch of flowers.
Those farmers, if theyâre determined to find you, can still follow where youâre headed because of the hoof prints Jewels leaves in her wake. So, you lift your hand and utter âŸªErase TraceâŸ« to rid the issue. At the release of some mana, any imprints left in the soil around your resting spot as well as any new ones produced by Jewels dissolves away as if neither of you were there. The only indicator remaining that youâve existed at that place are the flowers that remain resilient to the spell.
Hmmâ
Should you do anything about the flowers?
Get rid of them.
Leave them.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
1â†'2â†'4â†'9â†'107
Will those flowers be a problem? Surely those villagers haven't taken kindly to you nabbing a horse of theirs and are out to reclaim what's theirs? Call me stupid or bold, I'd leave the flowers. As long as I don't make anymore then there should be no other issue... Right?
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LOST ROUTE 6:22
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shut down. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to avoid confrontation and flee the scene. With a horse at your side you venture off into the unknown East. You take on the appearance of a young man when you encounter...
Chapter Notes
Yo, BBS here! I almost didn't make it to this update for a number of reasons but I bested the tides!!!
I was going to give you readers full customization over the appearance of your human form. Hair, eyes, skin tone, body shape, identifying marks, all that and more...and it added up to over 15,000 character designs. That would have meant I'd have to write 15k chapters and link them all together. That's not even the brunt of it. That many character designs were only for 1 path...and there are 12 paths so far for looks... I don't think A03 could handle 180k chapters in one update, not to mention being impossible for me to accomplish, despite my awesomeness.
I had to back pedal and have it so that the reader chose a form based solely off of what they've seen of people thus far. I believe it fits their goal: camouflaging into society as they try to grasp it. Hope your new appearance is satisfactory!
Additionally, this chapter was meant to be longer but the page count became too great and I had to cut it in half due to time constraints. Not to mention I did art work for these chapters! Applaud my supreme power and I hope y'all enjoy dis chapter!!!
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âœIâll go for a more masculine look.â You hum excitedly, eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new. Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to look like is the first step? To do that you need to draw inspiration from what you have seen from the men in the village you ran from.
They were all Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want to appear? Those men all had variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation. Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... That boy named Nate was tan and he seemed fine...even taking the lead in trying to find you.
You shouldnât make assumptions. He could have a very tough time being of a different tone than those he was with.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin? Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks of other races. It was more so humanoid NPCs who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether if it was of skin or class.
This left the majority of the remaining racist NPCs (the ones who couldnât respawn once killed) to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and vice versa. You guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother. Maybe they saw it as comical? You have no idea what went through some of their minds. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoid being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, exp, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you were slandered for not doing enough to help.
It was a hard time and it was impossible to stop all the players from PKing since it was a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into the game like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have an issue with non-humanoids to a certain degree, considering how those villagers were seeking to kill you if you were a monsterâ. Or was it just that village?
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you saw from that village...Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No, you canât be you. Yes, you do want to look like yourself but you canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more, it could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity.
The five figures you sense are still approaching your way so itâs only a matter of time before they reach you. You need to settle in soon before they catch sight of you.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you went as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are during this period.
An old man on his own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain here. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are forty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any men during this time period are near your current towering seven feet. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot sounds...reasonable? Six feet is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. This is good.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV of bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar.
Next is hair. None of the men were bald. Yes, some of the older men had bald spots but none were completely bald. That means you need hair. Most people there had brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and the one with black hairâ. None of them seemed to have long hair beyond the door to the barn so you suspect that short hair might be the norm. The longest their hair had been was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of their locks was either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, it was the longest you saw of the menâs hair in the village but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later.
Should you have facial hair? Some of the older men had mustaches and beards...but youâre aiming to appear as an early twenty-year-old. All of the younger men had clean-shaven complectionsâso youâll stick to that code.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they are available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural hair colors like the ones you saw until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only color youâre drawn to have now is gold blond or stark white.
Very oddâ.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold or white, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too.
This leaves you with golden hair-BLond hair, not gold. Blond as your choice.
âœAugh, okay. I should finish up envisioning the form Iâll take up. Iâm sure they can see my silhouette on the horizon by now. Hopefully, they donât have any item or spell that could extend their sight.â
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âœShut up. I need to finish up.â The grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections were jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait was their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, varied greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consisted of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders.
You reach up an arm to scratch your neck, nodding as you decide your eye color should be-âœEh?â
What isâ
You twirl your fingers and you feel more of the stringy texture.
Hair...you feel hair!
Your eyes widen as you tug a strand of wavy hair out for you to blink at, your rosy lips forming an o.
Golden.
âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so proves that casting is different now. Then again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something youâve learned to become acquainted with throughout the day when youâd stop to make pools of water for Jewels to drink. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how you learned spells workâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, but not impossible. If it is fact, however, that can pose issues later down the line.
What if you do something you want to do that you shouldnât do? Lashing out for one is an impulse that you find hard to maintain for some reason and it scares you, especially when you feel threatened. Your mind goes someplace during those times and something...vile, hot, and...sick takes its place. Your mind is your own enemy.
What if one day something tips you over the edge or something brushes you wrong?
Will you become a monster then? Will you truly lose your humanity?
Youâll do everything in your power to prevent the worst from occurring. You just hope that the day never comes that the impulse outways your logic.
God have mercy on all the day that occurs.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Disguise Self, Alter Self, Transmutation, and so on. You hadnât picked one yet.
You at least know that this isnât an illusion spell, like Disguise Self. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either.
So that doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre here for the ride it seems. Youâre going to have to make the best with what you have and be a quick learner. Youâre a human now...so you can try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly how you envisioned it to become...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isnât thin and soft.
You twist your arms around and flex your muscles, watching the minimal amount that is exposed out from under the moss cloak shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
Your fingers trail along your face to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally feels like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head.
What does your face look like? WAIT, WHAT DO YOU LOOK LIKE?!!
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how you can manipulate it into your hands.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still peaking at the sun through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât a perk you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was only so it could help you during PvPs. Any player could do that.
Either way, you know you can use your vision to look through your dominant hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
Your voice! Itâs only masculine now! The second feminine voice is absent from your vocals! And when was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over a decade ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village but itâs not a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so you donât see the need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both to want this new form to keep hold.
As your hand hoovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth. Rather, it riverates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
So, technically, youâre not human but rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
You drop your hands to pull your moss cloak securely back on your shoulders, looking out ahead of you to the approaching party.
The figures are more so distinguishable now and youâre no doubt the same to them, noting their hand gestures motioning to each other and to your location as well as muffled noises progressively getting clearer.
The horses the figures ride are majestic beasts, strapped with bags and sacks to their sides. Youâre no horse critic...equestrian...yeah that, but given that their coats gleam against the sunset and their bodies are fine fettle, theyâre likely high breeds.
But Jewels is your horse and the fact that she helped you escape the barn seals your loyalty to her no matter her breed!
Giving her a firm pat against her neck you observe their actions to get a hint of who they may be.
Hopefully they're not a group of bandits but, with the way your luck has been functioning, you wouldnât be surprised. But your...you guess your game smarts is telling you that if they're hostile mobs then they'd be locked on you, charging with ill intent. However, theyâre continuing their measured pace while chatting.
Extending your vision to focus nearer to the figures, honing into their shapes, your vision shutters and zooms in like putting on a pair of binoculars. It makes it hard for you to focus on where you are but thankfully Jewels keeps you steady. Your vision provides you with a clear image of the riders.
Theyâre all men, you collect. A team of four people, equipped to the T with armor and blades specifically. The four mounted men ride in a formation shaped like an isosceles triangle, two on one side and two on the other.
As if youâre back in the Citadel preparing for another raid, you start your habit of evaluating those facing you.
âœâŸªDetect EnemyâŸ«, âŸªMana EssenceâŸ«, âŸªLife EssenceâŸ«.â
The one to the far left looks the least armed, but thatâs not saying he isnât at all. A baby blue bandana sits on his head, pinning back his tofts of dirty blond locks. He withholds a thin beard that wraps around his wise complexion as a glove does. A leather vest protects his upper torso while chainmail covers the rest, a blue sweater vest lays atop. Gloves cover his hands, one resting on the hilt of his blade. Leather covers the rest of him completely from the waist down, boots, pants, and all.
LV 21, MP 4, HP 14. A fighter...possible light rouge, hunter, and or scout. Thief skills? Maybeâ Doesnât have enough mana than to cast a single 1st tier spell, most likely.
In front of him to his left is a man with a slim complexion but strong cheek and jawbones. His eyes speak of curiosity and puzzlement, squinting your direction with a pinch of his brow. He wears dark armor shaped to insinuate his chest. Similar plates of armor cover his hips, shoulders, areas below the knee and elbows. A smoky navy fabric covers the areas between his armor and function as pants. The only areas not covered below his neck are his large biceps.
LV 22, MP 9, HP 15. A fighter. Definitely swordsman but not knighted. Not high enough LV to have a significant job class in the field either. However, higher MP level is noted for possible sub-class categories in the magic arts.
To his left is the third rider. He too is covered in armor but much lighter in tint. Additionally, heâs the only one with a helmet, hiding most of his face but his copper hair and calculating eyes still bore through with an upturned lip. A pea-green gambeson allows the plates of armor to sit comfortably on the wearer along with the leather straps that keep it all together. His trousers are light brown but his boots match that of the leather.
LV 22, MP 0, HP 18. A fighter, likely a tank for the higher HP than their counterpart of the same level? Theyâre dressed like it.
The last rider is behind to the left of the third. He is covered in leather and red fabric, head to toe. Not a peek of skin is open except that of his face but itâs cast in shadow as his headpiece which slopes forward. Itâs a metal band and cap that nearly covers his eyes with its weight. A satchel belt is functioned to sit around his waist over his crimson gambeson, the pouch sitting to his left side with his scabbard.
LV 21, MP 0, HP 14. A fighter. Higher chance of scout than all the others and only potential monk.
A relieved sigh escapes you, shoulders going lax.
No class adjustments, hotbar arrangement, or pre-prep needed. None of them pose a threat to you, even if they tried. The only one youâll have to worry about is Jewels. You donât bother to try and detect any magic items or weapons as you donât see enough threat within them to waste the MP. Their low levels also mean theyâll be easy to manipulate if the need arises-
âœThat's what Iâm saying, why do they have such an aura?â The first manâs voice finally comes clear to you and you note four hundred meters is how far you can pick up a voice from. You also question how you knew the distance as you continue to listen to the man speak, âœI donât see a sigil or uniform on them identifying affiliation this far away.â
âœBut someone who exudes an aura like this has to have hailed from a house or be renowned in title. They may very well be someone in the guild.â The fourth fellow counters but sounds uncertain.
âœA lone adventurer in Re-Estize?... Itâs possible, but would the guild allow it? Tob is half a dayâs ride from here. Monsters could be amok, hardly something a lone adventurer could handle.â
âœThat is if theyâre a normal adventurer, but the feeling theyâre giving off proves naught.â The third murmurs. âœThe hair on my back stood up the moment I laid eyes on them.â
âœSame hereâ.â
A clank of metal sounds off as the second nods. âœI think itâs safe to assume we all did.â
Are...they talking about you? Yeah. Youâre not completely stupid. Theyâre gesturing to you as they speak so itâs safe to assume they are. It doesnât sound positive thoughâor negative. Just skeptical and cautious.
What concerns you is this âœauraâ theyâre so focused on. Sounds important.
You donât have any negative stats that produce fear, intimidation, petrification, or the likeâthough that doesnât sound like what it is either. Theyâd be acting differently if you didâ. Such as the pray for holy intervention, turn tail, and run type...or the belly-up deady-bye-bye type. At your level, most stats like that could be deadly to low-level mobs, such as aura of despair. Thankfully, thatâs not the case for you.
So what are they feeling? Itâs a strong feeling is all you can gatherâ. What do you have strong of?... Is it a power thing? Your LV? Your MP or HP? Your overall base stats? But how would they sense that if thatâs what it is? Thatâs not how Yggdrasil worked, albeit some NPCs would notice your strength...and that players can use spells to detect certain statsâ.
Though this isnât your game! It doesnât seem like it is.
Is it a skill or does everyone feel this âœauraâ from you? Mm...canât be certain. Youâll have to work that info out of them when you have the chance.
Besides that, youâre collecting so much other info just by listening! Tob? Itâs a place near here and dangerous if âœmonstersâ are connected to it. Re-Estize is also a place. A big place from the way it was worded. A kingdom...nation or...a country? Itâs where youâre located. Great to know! You donât know what the fuck that means for you!
Also, there are houses, reasonably referring to noble families and patrons in this Re-Estize place and or outside. Sigils and uniforms back up the theory. The rich typically are the ones who have enough money to pay for such. Theyâre looking for a sign of you being a part of one to justify the âœauraâ coming from you. Is there a reason the aura is tied to those of status? Theyâre suggesting you may be an âœadventurerâ tooâ. Are they who you think they are?
âœWhat do you think theyâre doing out here?â The fourth chirps, turning his head to his fellows as if they magically have the answer. Two shrugs.
âœThey appear to be going East. Business in the Empire?â
An empire? Is it part of Re-Estize or separate all together? Either way, an empire is exactly where a hub of info would be.
âœYeah.â âœGood call.â One and four agree with the secondâs guess but three waves his arm to interrupt.
âœDonât you guys think itâs more important that weâre going to have to pass them? Should we allow ourselves to get near?â
Two counters, âœHow would it look on us to avoid one person because of our paranoia? Theyâre not releasing any blood lust.â
âœYet is the key. Better safe than sorry, I say.â
âœWhat can one person do to us?â
âœDonât say that, Igvarge. Itâs bad luck.â
Crap, were you wrong? Are they scared of you? What the heck is this âœauraâ thing? Itâs ruining your chance to talk to them! At this rate, theyâre going to avoid you like the plague!
How do you appear non-threatening?... A wave? It may ease their paranoia...or at least show you acknowledge them. That could force their obligation to follow through on their current trajectory to you.
You raise a single arm as high as you can and tilt it back and forth to send them the message of greetings.
âœWait, look-â Four spots your movement and, after a second, one clarifies.
âœOh, theyâre waving at us.â
âœShould...we wave back?â
The man named Igvarge huffs at fourâs remark, âœGo ahead. Itâs too late to avoid them now.â
One joins in with a chuckle of his own, âœBesides, itâs rude not to.â
To their collegeâs encouragement, four greets you back in the same manner you had and you smile.
Success!
âœTell me again, Tall, why should we avoid them?â
âœJust because theyâre acting friendly doesnât change the presence they exude. Thatâs...not natural. Have you ever been around a human...or a monster that released an aura like this?â
âœIâm not saying we should throw caution to the wind. If it turns out theyâre trouble, weâll fight them; or if the worst comes to shove, weâll retreat. Thereâs no harm in seeing what we can gain from them. Besides, someone powerfulâ.might be what we need to climb the ranks.â
âœHuh?! Do you honestly think they could do something like that?! Donât make me laugh.â
âœItâs worth a shotâ. They might be an Adamantite adventurer if their aura is anything to go by.â
âœHaah?!â âœReally?â âœYou think so?!â
Adamanite must be an important role in the guild theyâre referring to if their reactions are anything to go byâ. They've compared you to a person of status twice now due to auraâ.
âœHave any of you been in the presence of one?â When each responds in the negative he continues, âœMe neither, but isnât it said that theyâre heroes among the nations, extremely powerful? They look like a man from hereâ. He might be Azuth Aindra.â
Fourâs head does a double-take as if he didnât hear right. âœThat guy from Red Drop?!â
âœOh yeah.â One awes, recalling a memory, âœIâve heard he has blond hair like that Blue Rose chick. Though, I wouldâve guessed heâd be in a brothel rather than out here based on the rumorsâ. Could it be him?â
Adamantites are powerfulâ. They must feel some sort of power from you then. You were right with your guesses! Nice! So which source from you is the power they sense? You have a few spells that can block off detection for all of the possibilities. Though, that is a temporary solution. If you had an item that could cloak the source of the aura indefinitely while wearing it then youâd be golden for future interactions.
However, you donât have anything of the like. They are all back in your-SÅsaku-shaâs Citadel, tucked in chests throughout the levels of the Sky Palace.
Ugh...if only you could make the item you need then you wouldnât need to cast every other hour!
â.
â.
Nevermind. You are stupid.
You can certainly construct any one of those tools with the items currently in your inventory, especially since youâre a Master Craftsman! If you can identify the source of the issue, find a suitable workbench or crafting table, and find out how to fuse the items then you can produce any of them!
The only issue is the limited supply of items you haveâ. If you make the tool, you may not be able to construct any more high-class items with what little data crystals remain stored away.
You can debate about the dilemma later. First and foremost, find out what the source of the aura is!
Besides the issue of you, Red Drop and Blue Rose are Adamantite groups in the guild. You should seek out these Adamantite groups at some point as they could prove useful, especially if these guys think theyâre so and if they're as powerful as described. You already got a description of Azuth...though the gossip about him sleeping around doesnât pass you.
Is he a playboy? Ah-doesn't matter. At least you've learned where he hangs around if you go searching for him.
Igvarge shrugs once more, âœItâs my best bet. It could very well explain the power we feel from the man.â
âœBut thatâs a gamble saying heâs Azuth.â Tall retorts. âœHe may not be him and he might not be an adventurer! What then?â
âœThen weâll play it by ear. Observe and react. He might not end up interacting with us at all, passing on his merry way. If he does engage then weâll entertain him. Maybe heâll put a good word in for us? Who knows?â
âœA good word wonât help us to Orichalcum. It hadnât worked much for our previous ranks.â
âœItâs more so for the job offers that could be opened up. Connections are valuable.â
Orichalcum?... Are they adventurers too? It must be a lower rank than Adamantite if they praised the latter so highly. In turn, theyâre low-level in the guild, much like their stats. There should be a correlation in strength to rank in this guild, much like any foundation. Do they level up if they gain Orichalcum or is their level completely separate from the guild?
Be as it may, you know a goal of theirsâ...a way you can manip-persuade them into helping you.
They grow quiet as the distance between your paths grows short to interception. Guess they donât want you overhearing them even if theyâre still over a hundred meters away.
Youâre bound to talk to them at this point...but what will you say? Your goal is to grab information or to find a place to learn. You could ask them directions to the Empire they mentioned? But could it be beneficial to follow them? Where are they headed anyway? Should you inquire about their destination beforehand?
Rraugh! This is so stressfulâ.
What will you say about yourself? Theyâre curious about you because of your aura. You need to learn what âœitâ is. Theyâre going to ask you questions for sure. And if you say youâre heading to the Empire, what will you say when you ask for directions or if they ask you why youâre heading there?! You can say you have family or work there but that could dig you into a hole if they inquire more detail...tsk!
You need to keep in mind that you know little of this world...so you need to play the part of someone who was sheltered. Ignorantâ.
Not to mention they may question your current dress.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Why doesnât it doesnât...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable?
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseââ You shift your attention down to your nether region, âœI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
Youâre completely bare under the cloak, your privates unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown. Your member is nearly the length of your entire hand, you realize as you try to tuck it awayâ.
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
âœIs this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology?â Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of the men ahead of you.
You wrap your cloak tighter around yourself to cover as much as possible of your exposed skin.
How are you going to explain this?! You certainly canât say youâre traveling for family or work now! Youâll look like a perv! Gahh!
You canât say youâre an adventurer because they know a lot about them and the guild theyâre attached to, way more than the shitty guesses you could pull out of your ass to slap together a story.
How about a traveler?! But then wouldnât you have tons of traveling gear with you?! And wouldnât you know where youâre going if you were a traveler?!
A pilgrim? Is that a bad alibi? But wouldnât you need a religious reason for travel?! Thatâs another rabbit hole of lies and you could still be seen as a perv!
How can you not look like the villain in this scenario?!
...Unless youâre the victim!!
But how could you be a victim?...
â.
A throw-together story! Improv! Itâs a learned skill youâve developed while roleplaying! You could use that to your advantage! Take what youâve gathered and experienced while in this world and spin together a tragedy!
Yes, yes! It could be your origin! It could gain their pity and influence them to be willing to assist you if you play the part.
But what could you throw together thatâs tangible?!
They think youâre strong because of your aura but how can you appear weak?!
Hurmâ. What makes a strong person weak? This is a magical world so anything is possibleâ.
Strong made to weak. Near Tob where monsters layâ. Knows nothing of the world but is now out and about, clueless. Was almost killed in the village and is most likely being hunted. Took one of their horses and fled. Has nothing in their possession but a cloak of flowers and moss. Butterflies follow and plants grow from where they touchâ.
Sounds vaguely familiarâ.
â.
â.
â.
â.
YOU GOT IT!!!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
1â†'2â†'4â†'9â†'19â†'96â†'108
Not a choice this time around I'm afraid but what do you think your story is going to be? And who do you think is ahead?
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LOST ROUTE 6:23
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shut down. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to avoid confrontation and flee the scene. With a horse at your side you venture off into the unknown East. You take on the appearance of a young woman when you encounter...
Chapter Notes
Yo, BBS here! I almost didn't make it to this update for a number of reasons but I bested the tides!!!
I was going to give you readers full customization over the appearance of your human form. Hair, eyes, skin tone, body shape, identifying marks, all that and more...and it added up to over 15,000 character designs. That would have meant I'd have to write 15k chapters and link them all together. That's not even the brunt of it. That many character designs were only for 1 path...and there are 12 paths so far for looks... I don't think A03 could handle 180k chapters in one update, not to mention being impossible for me to accomplish, despite my awesomeness.
I had to back pedal and have it so that the reader chose a form based solely off of what they've seen of people thus far. I believe it fits their goal: camouflaging into society as they try to grasp it. Hope your new appearance is satisfactory!
Additionally, this chapter was meant to be longer but the page count became too great and I had to cut it in half due to time constraints. Not to mention I did art work for these chapters! Applaud my supreme power and I hope y'all enjoy dis chapter!!!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœIâll go for a more feminine look.â You hum excitedly, eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new. Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to look like is the first step? To do that you need to draw inspiration from what you have seen from the men in the village you ran from.
They were all Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want to appear? Those men all had variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation. Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... That boy named Nate was tan and he seemed fine...even taking the lead in trying to find you.
You shouldnât make assumptions. He could have a very tough time being of a different tone than those he was with.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin? Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks of other races. It was more so humanoid NPCs who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether if it was of skin or class.
This left the majority of the remaining racist NPCs (the ones who couldnât respawn once killed) to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and vice versa. You guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother. Maybe they saw it as comical? You have no idea what went through some of their minds. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoid being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, exp, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you were slandered for not doing enough to help.
It was a hard time and it was impossible to stop all the players from PKing since it was a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into the game like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have an issue with non-humanoids to a certain degree, considering how those villagers were seeking to kill you if you were a monsterâ. Or was it just that village?
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you saw from that village...Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No, you canât be you. Yes, you do want to look like yourself but you canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more, it could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity.
The five figures you sense are still approaching your way so itâs only a matter of time before they reach you. You need to settle in soon before they catch sight of you.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you went as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are during this period.
An old woman on her own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain here. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are forty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any women during this time period are near your current towering seven feet, despite you not seeing any women yet. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot and a few inches sounds...reasonable? Five foot six is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. This is good.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV of bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar.
Next is hair. You haven't seen any women yet so you have to guess off of the people who you did see and the historical accounts of your world. None of the men were bald. Yes, some of the older men had bald spots but none were completely bald. That means you need hair. This goes in line with what you know of grooming for women in the dark ages, they kept their hair longer. Most people there had brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and the one with black hairâ. The longest their hair had been was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of their locks was either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, it was the longest you saw of the menâs hair in the village but this is probably the "shortest" that women can have. This gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later once you learn more.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they are available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural hair colors like the ones you saw until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only color youâre drawn to have now is gold blond or stark white.
Very oddâ.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold or white, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too.
This leaves you with golden hair-BLond hair, not gold. Blond as your choice.
âœAugh, okay. I should finish up envisioning the form Iâll take up. Iâm sure they can see my silhouette on the horizon by now. Hopefully, they donât have any item or spell that could extend their sight.â
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âœShut up. I need to finish up.â The grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections were jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait was their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, varied greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult. Is it the same for the women?
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consisted of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders.
You reach up an arm to scratch your neck, nodding as you decide your eye color should be-âœEh?â
What isâ
You twirl your fingers and you feel more of the stringy texture.
Hair...you feel hair!
Your eyes widen as you tug a strand of wavy hair out for you to blink at, your rosy lips forming an o.
Golden.
âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so proves that casting is different now. Then again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something youâve learned to become acquainted with throughout the day when youâd stop to make pools of water for Jewels to drink. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how you learned spells workâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, but not impossible. If it is fact, however, that can pose issues later down the line.
What if you do something you want to do that you shouldnât do? Lashing out for one is an impulse that you find hard to maintain for some reason and it scares you, especially when you feel threatened. Your mind goes someplace during those times and something...vile, hot, and...sick takes its place. Your mind is your own enemy.
What if one day something tips you over the edge or something brushes you wrong?
Will you become a monster then? Will you truly lose your humanity?
Youâll do everything in your power to prevent the worst from occurring. You just hope that the day never comes that the impulse outways your logic.
God have mercy on all the day that occurs.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Disguise Self, Alter Self, Transmutation, and so on. You hadnât picked one yet.
You at least know that this isnât an illusion spell, like Disguise Self. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either.
So that doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre here for the ride it seems. Youâre going to have to make the best with what you have and be a quick learner. Youâre a human now...so you can try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly how you envisioned it to become...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isnât thin and soft.
You twist your arms around and flex your muscles, watching the minimal amount that is exposed out from under the moss cloak shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
Your fingers trail along your face to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally feels like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head.
What does your face look like? WAIT, WHAT DO YOU LOOK LIKE?!!
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how you can manipulate it into your hands.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still peaking at the sun through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât a perk you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was only so it could help you during PvPs. Any player could do that.
Either way, you know you can use your vision to look through your dominant hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
Your voice! Itâs only feminine now! The second masculine voice is absent from your vocals! And when was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over a decade ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village but itâs not a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so you donât see the need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both to want this new form to keep hold.
As your hand hoovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth. Rather, it riverates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
So, technically, youâre not human but rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
You drop your hands to pull your moss cloak securely back on your shoulders, looking out ahead of you to the approaching party.
The figures are more so distinguishable now and youâre no doubt the same to them, noting their hand gestures motioning to each other and to your location as well as muffled noises progressively getting clearer.
The horses the figures ride are majestic beasts, strapped with bags and sacks to their sides. Youâre no horse critic...equestrian...yeah that, but given that their coats gleam against the sunset and their bodies are fine fettle, theyâre likely high breeds.
But Jewels is your horse and the fact that she helped you escape the barn seals your loyalty to her no matter her breed!
Giving her a firm pat against her neck you observe their actions to get a hint of who they may be.
Hopefully they're not a group of bandits but, with the way your luck has been functioning, you wouldnât be surprised. But your...you guess your game smarts is telling you that if they're hostile mobs then they'd be locked on you, charging with ill intent. However, theyâre continuing their measured pace while chatting.
Extending your vision to focus nearer to the figures, honing into their shapes, your vision shutters and zooms in like putting on a pair of binoculars. It makes it hard for you to focus on where you are but thankfully Jewels keeps you steady. Your vision provides you with a clear image of the riders.
Theyâre all men, you collect. A team of four people, equipped to the T with armor and blades specifically. The four mounted men ride in a formation shaped like an isosceles triangle, two on one side and two on the other.
As if youâre back in the Citadel preparing for another raid, you start your habit of evaluating those facing you.
âœâŸªDetect EnemyâŸ«, âŸªMana EssenceâŸ«, âŸªLife EssenceâŸ«.â
The one to the far left looks the least armed, but thatâs not saying he isnât at all. A baby blue bandana sits on his head, pinning back his tofts of dirty blond locks. He withholds a thin beard that wraps around his wise complexion as a glove does. A leather vest protects his upper torso while chainmail covers the rest, a blue sweater vest lays atop. Gloves cover his hands, one resting on the hilt of his blade. Leather covers the rest of him completely from the waist down, boots, pants, and all.
LV 21, MP 4, HP 14. A fighter...possible light rouge, hunter, and or scout. Thief skills? Maybeâ Doesnât have enough mana than to cast a single 1st tier spell, most likely.
In front of him to his left is a man with a slim complexion but strong cheek and jawbones. His eyes speak of curiosity and puzzlement, squinting your direction with a pinch of his brow. He wears dark armor shaped to insinuate his chest. Similar plates of armor cover his hips, shoulders, areas below the knee and elbows. A smoky navy fabric covers the areas between his armor and function as pants. The only areas not covered below his neck are his large biceps.
LV 22, MP 9, HP 15. A fighter. Definitely swordsman but not knighted. Not high enough LV to have a significant job class in the field either. However, higher MP level is noted for possible sub-class categories in the magic arts.
To his left is the third rider. He too is covered in armor but much lighter in tint. Additionally, heâs the only one with a helmet, hiding most of his face but his copper hair and calculating eyes still bore through with an upturned lip. A pea-green gambeson allows the plates of armor to sit comfortably on the wearer along with the leather straps that keep it all together. His trousers are light brown but his boots match that of the leather.
LV 22, MP 0, HP 18. A fighter, likely a tank for the higher HP than their counterpart of the same level? Theyâre dressed like it.
The last rider is behind to the left of the third. He is covered in leather and red fabric, head to toe. Not a peek of skin is open except that of his face but itâs cast in shadow as his headpiece which slopes forward. Itâs a metal band and cap that nearly covers his eyes with its weight. A satchel belt is functioned to sit around his waist over his crimson gambeson, the pouch sitting to his left side with his scabbard.
LV 21, MP 0, HP 14. A fighter. Higher chance of scout than all the others and only potential monk.
A relieved sigh escapes you, shoulders going lax.
No class adjustments, hotbar arrangement, or pre-prep needed. None of them pose a threat to you, even if they tried. The only one youâll have to worry about is Jewels. You donât bother to try and detect any magic items or weapons as you donât see enough threat within them to waste the MP. Their low levels also mean theyâll be easy to manipulate if the need arises-
âœThat's what Iâm saying, why do they have such an aura?â The first manâs voice finally comes clear to you and you note four hundred meters is how far you can pick up a voice from. You also question how you knew the distance as you continue to listen to the man speak, âœI donât see a sigil or uniform on them identifying affiliation this far away.â
âœBut someone who exudes an aura like this has to have hailed from a house or be renowned in title. They may very well be someone in the guild.â The fourth fellow counters but sounds uncertain.
âœA lone adventurer in Re-Estize?... Itâs possible, but would the guild allow it? Tob is half a dayâs ride from here. Monsters could be amok, hardly something a lone adventurer could handle.â
âœThat is if theyâre a normal adventurer, but the feeling theyâre giving off proves naught.â The third murmurs. âœThe hair on my back stood up the moment I laid eyes on them.â
âœSame hereâ.â
A clank of metal sounds off as the second nods. âœI think itâs safe to assume we all did.â
Are...they talking about you? Yeah. Youâre not completely stupid. Theyâre gesturing to you as they speak so itâs safe to assume they are. It doesnât sound positive thoughâor negative. Just skeptical and cautious.
What concerns you is this âœauraâ theyâre so focused on. Sounds important.
You donât have any negative stats that produce fear, intimidation, petrification, or the likeâthough that doesnât sound like what it is either. Theyâd be acting differently if you didâ. Such as the pray for holy intervention, turn tail, and run type...or the belly-up deady-bye-bye type. At your level, most stats like that could be deadly to low-level mobs, such as aura of despair. Thankfully, thatâs not the case for you.
So what are they feeling? Itâs a strong feeling is all you can gatherâ. What do you have strong of?... Is it a power thing? Your LV? Your MP or HP? Your overall base stats? But how would they sense that if thatâs what it is? Thatâs not how Yggdrasil worked, albeit some NPCs would notice your strength...and that players can use spells to detect certain statsâ.
Though this isnât your game! It doesnât seem like it is.
Is it a skill or does everyone feel this âœauraâ from you? Mm...canât be certain. Youâll have to work that info out of them when you have the chance.
Besides that, youâre collecting so much other info just by listening! Tob? Itâs a place near here and dangerous if âœmonstersâ are connected to it. Re-Estize is also a place. A big place from the way it was worded. A kingdom...nation or...a country? Itâs where youâre located. Great to know! You donât know what the fuck that means for you!
Also, there are houses, reasonably referring to noble families and patrons in this Re-Estize place and or outside. Sigils and uniforms back up the theory. The rich typically are the ones who have enough money to pay for such. Theyâre looking for a sign of you being a part of one to justify the âœauraâ coming from you. Is there a reason the aura is tied to those of status? Theyâre suggesting you may be an âœadventurerâ tooâ. Are they who you think they are?
âœWhat do you think theyâre doing out here?â The fourth chirps, turning his head to his fellows as if they magically have the answer. Two shrugs.
âœThey appear to be going East. Business in the Empire?â
An empire? Is it part of Re-Estize or separate all together? Either way, an empire is exactly where a hub of info would be.
âœYeah.â âœGood call.â One and four agree with the secondâs guess but three waves his arm to interrupt.
âœDonât you guys think itâs more important that weâre going to have to pass them? Should we allow ourselves to get near?â
Two counters, âœHow would it look on us to avoid one person because of our paranoia? Theyâre not releasing any blood lust.â
âœYet is the key. Better safe than sorry, I say.â
âœWhat can one person do to us?â
âœDonât say that, Igvarge. Itâs bad luck.â
Crap, were you wrong? Are they scared of you? What the heck is this âœauraâ thing? Itâs ruining your chance to talk to them! At this rate, theyâre going to avoid you like the plague!
How do you appear non-threatening?... A wave? It may ease their paranoia...or at least show you acknowledge them. That could force their obligation to follow through on their current trajectory to you.
You raise a single arm as high as you can and tilt it back and forth to send them the message of greetings.
âœWait, look-â Four spots your movement and, after a second, one clarifies.
âœOh, theyâre waving at us.â
âœShould...we wave back?â
The man named Igvarge huffs at fourâs remark, âœGo ahead. Itâs too late to avoid them now.â
One joins in with a chuckle of his own, âœBesides, itâs rude not to.â
To their collegeâs encouragement, four greets you back in the same manner you had and you smile.
Success!
âœTell me again, Tall, why should we avoid them?â
âœJust because theyâre acting friendly doesnât change the presence they exude. Thatâs...not natural. Have you ever been around a human...or a monster that released an aura like this?â
âœIâm not saying we should throw caution to the wind. If it turns out theyâre trouble, weâll fight them; or if the worst comes to shove, weâll retreat. Thereâs no harm in seeing what we can gain from them. Besides, someone powerfulâ.might be what we need to climb the ranks.â
âœHuh?! Do you honestly think they could do something like that?! Donât make me laugh.â
âœItâs worth a shotâ. They might be an Adamantite adventurer if their aura is anything to go by.â
âœHaah?!â âœReally?â âœYou think so?!â
Adamanite must be an important role in the guild theyâre referring to if their reactions are anything to go byâ. They've compared you to a person of status twice now due to auraâ.
âœHave any of you been in the presence of one?â When each responds in the negative he continues, âœMe neither, but isnât it said that theyâre heroes among the nations, extremely powerful? They look like...a gal from hereâ. She might be lady Lakyus.â
Fourâs head does a double-take as if he didnât hear right. âœThe leader of Blue Rose?!â
âœOh yeah.â One awes, recalling a memory, âœIâve heard she has blond hair like that Red Drop douche. Though, I wouldâve guessed sheâd be in the palace with the other Blue Rose chicks rather than out here. There's no way she'd be out here all on her own... Could it be her?â
Adamantites are powerfulâ. They must feel some sort of power from you then. You were right with your guesses! Nice! So which source from you is the power they sense? You have a few spells that can block off detection for all of the possibilities. Though, that is a temporary solution. If you had an item that could cloak the source of the aura indefinitely while wearing it then youâd be golden for future interactions.
However, you donât have anything of the like. They are all back in your-SÅsaku-shaâs Citadel, tucked in chests throughout the levels of the Sky Palace.
Ugh...if only you could make the item you need then you wouldnât need to cast every other hour!
â.
â.
Nevermind. You are stupid.
You can certainly construct any one of those tools with the items currently in your inventory, especially since youâre a Master Craftsman! If you can identify the source of the issue, find a suitable workbench or crafting table, and find out how to fuse the items then you can produce any of them!
The only issue is the limited supply of items you haveâ. If you make the tool, you may not be able to construct any more high-class items with what little data crystals remain stored away.
You can debate about the dilemma later. First and foremost, find out what the source of the aura is!
Besides the issue of you, Red Drop and Blue Rose are Adamantite groups in the guild. You should seek out these Adamantite groups at some point as they could prove useful, especially if these guys think theyâre so and if they're as powerful as described. You already got a description of Lakyus...though she sounds of royalty.
Can you approach a lady of title? Ah-doesn't matter. At least you've learned where her places of residence lie if you go searching for her.
Igvarge shrugs once more, âœItâs my best bet. It could very well explain the power we feel from the gal.â
âœBut thatâs a gamble saying sheâs lady Lakyus.â Tall retorts. âœShe may not be him and she might not be an adventurer! What then?â
âœThen weâll play it by ear. Observe and react. She might not end up interacting with us at all, passing on his merry way. If she does engage then weâll entertain her. Maybe sheâll put a good word in for us? Who knows? Maybe a good time if we're really nice~â
You gag in repulsion.
âœShut up. A good word wonât help us to Orichalcum. It hadnât worked much for our previous ranks.â
âœItâs more so for the job offers that could be opened up. Connections are valuable.â
Orichalcum?... Are they adventurers too? It must be a lower rank than Adamantite if they praised the latter so highly. In turn, theyâre low-level in the guild, much like their stats. There should be a correlation in strength to rank in this guild, much like any foundation. Do they level up if they gain Orichalcum or is their level completely separate from the guild?
Be as it may, you know a goal of theirsâ...a way you can manip-persuade them into helping you.
They grow quiet as the distance between your paths grows short to interception. Guess they donât want you overhearing them even if theyâre still over a hundred meters away.
Youâre bound to talk to them at this point...but what will you say? Your goal is to grab information or to find a place to learn. You could ask them directions to the Empire they mentioned? But could it be beneficial to follow them? Where are they headed anyway? Should you inquire about their destination beforehand?
Rraugh! This is so stressfulâ.
What will you say about yourself? Theyâre curious about you because of your aura. You need to learn what âœitâ is. Theyâre going to ask you questions for sure. And if you say youâre heading to the Empire, what will you say when you ask for directions or if they ask you why youâre heading there?! You can say you have family or work there but that could dig you into a hole if they inquire more detail...tsk!
You need to keep in mind that you know little of this world...so you need to play the part of someone who was sheltered. Ignorantâ.
Not to mention they may question your current dress.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Why doesnât it doesnât...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable?
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseââ You shift your attention down to your nether region, âœI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
Youâre completely bare under the cloak, your privates unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown, your rosey folds peeking through. Plus, each of your breasts are the size of your entire hand, you realize as you try to tuck them awayâ.
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
âœIs this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology?â Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of the men ahead of you... Nevermind, you don't want to think of the suggestive remark Igvarge made!
You wrap your cloak tighter around yourself to cover as much as possible of your exposed skin.
How are you going to explain this?! You certainly canât say youâre traveling for family or work now! Youâll look like a perv! Gahh!
You canât say youâre an adventurer because they know a lot about them and the guild theyâre attached to, way more than the shitty guesses you could pull out of your ass to slap together a story.
How about a traveler?! But then wouldnât you have tons of traveling gear with you?! And wouldnât you know where youâre going if you were a traveler?!
A pilgrim? Is that a bad alibi? But wouldnât you need a religious reason for travel?! Thatâs another rabbit hole of lies and you could still be seen as a perv!
How can you not look like the villain in this scenario?!
...Unless youâre the victim!!
But how could you be a victim?...
â.
A throw-together story! Improv! Itâs a learned skill youâve developed while roleplaying! You could use that to your advantage! Take what youâve gathered and experienced while in this world and spin together a tragedy!
Yes, yes! It could be your origin! It could gain their pity and influence them to be willing to assist you if you play the part.
But what could you throw together thatâs tangible?!
They think youâre strong because of your aura but how can you appear weak?!
Hurmâ. What makes a strong person weak? This is a magical world so anything is possibleâ.
Strong made to weak. Near Tob where monsters layâ. Knows nothing of the world but is now out and about, clueless. Was almost killed in the village and is most likely being hunted. Took one of their horses and fled. Has nothing in their possession but a cloak of flowers and moss. Butterflies follow and plants grow from where they touchâ.
Sounds vaguely familiarâ.
â.
â.
â.
â.
YOU GOT IT!!!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
1â†'2â†'4â†'9â†'19â†'96â†'108
Not a choice this time around I'm afraid but what do you think your story is going to be? And who do you think is ahead?
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LOST ROUTE 6:24
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shut down. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to avoid confrontation and flee the scene. With a horse at your side you venture off into the unknown East. You take on the appearance of a young man when you encounter...
Chapter Notes
Yo, BBS here! I almost didn't make it to this update for a number of reasons but I bested the tides!!!
I was going to give you readers full customization over the appearance of your human form. Hair, eyes, skin tone, body shape, identifying marks, all that and more...and it added up to over 15,000 character designs. That would have meant I'd have to write 15k chapters and link them all together. That's not even the brunt of it. That many character designs were only for 1 path...and there are 12 paths so far for looks... I don't think A03 could handle 180k chapters in one update, not to mention being impossible for me to accomplish, despite my awesomeness.
I had to back pedal and have it so that the reader chose a form based solely off of what they've seen of people thus far. I believe it fits their goal: camouflaging into society as they try to grasp it. Hope your new appearance is satisfactory!
Additionally, this chapter was meant to be longer but the page count became too great and I had to cut it in half due to time constraints. Not to mention I did art work for these chapters! Applaud my supreme power and I hope y'all enjoy dis chapter!!!
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âœIâll go for a more masculine look.â You hum excitedly, eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new. Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to look like is the first step? To do that you need to draw inspiration from what you have seen from the men in the village you ran from.
They were all Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want to appear? Those men all had variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation. Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... That boy named Nate was tan and he seemed fine...even taking the lead in trying to find you.
You shouldnât make assumptions. He could have a very tough time being of a different tone than those he was with.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin? Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks of other races. It was more so humanoid NPCs who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether if it was of skin or class.
This left the majority of the remaining racist NPCs (the ones who couldnât respawn once killed) to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and vice versa. You guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother. Maybe they saw it as comical? You have no idea what went through some of their minds. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoid being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, exp, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you were slandered for not doing enough to help.
It was a hard time and it was impossible to stop all the players from PKing since it was a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into the game like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have an issue with non-humanoids to a certain degree, considering how those villagers were seeking to kill you if you were a monsterâ. Or was it just that village?
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you saw from that village...Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No, you canât be you. Yes, you do want to look like yourself but you canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more, it could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity.
The five figures you sense are still approaching your way so itâs only a matter of time before they reach you. You need to settle in soon before they catch sight of you.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you went as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are during this period.
An old man on his own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain here. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are forty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any men during this time period are near your current towering seven feet. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot sounds...reasonable? Six feet is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. This is good.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV of bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar.
Next is hair. None of the men were bald. Yes, some of the older men had bald spots but none were completely bald. That means you need hair. Most people there had brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and the one with black hairâ. None of them seemed to have long hair beyond the door to the barn so you suspect that short hair might be the norm. The longest their hair had been was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of their locks was either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, it was the longest you saw of the menâs hair in the village but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later.
Should you have facial hair? Some of the older men had mustaches and beards...but youâre aiming to appear as an early twenty-year-old. All of the younger men had clean-shaven complectionsâso youâll stick to that code.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they are available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural hair colors like the ones you saw until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only color youâre drawn to have now is gold blond or stark white.
Very oddâ.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold or white, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too.
This leaves you with golden hair-BLond hair, not gold. Blond as your choice.
âœAugh, okay. I should finish up envisioning the form Iâll take up. Iâm sure they can see my silhouette on the horizon by now. Hopefully, they donât have any item or spell that could extend their sight.â
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âœShut up. I need to finish up.â The grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections were jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait was their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, varied greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consisted of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders.
You reach up an arm to scratch your neck, nodding as you decide your eye color should be-âœEh?â
What isâ
You twirl your fingers and you feel more of the stringy texture.
Hair...you feel hair!
Your eyes widen as you tug a strand of wavy hair out for you to blink at, your rosy lips forming an o.
Golden.
âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so proves that casting is different now. Then again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something youâve learned to become acquainted with throughout the day when youâd stop to make pools of water for Jewels to drink. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how you learned spells workâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, but not impossible. If it is fact, however, that can pose issues later down the line.
What if you do something you want to do that you shouldnât do? Lashing out for one is an impulse that you find hard to maintain for some reason and it scares you, especially when you feel threatened. Your mind goes someplace during those times and something...vile, hot, and...sick takes its place. Your mind is your own enemy.
What if one day something tips you over the edge or something brushes you wrong?
Will you become a monster then? Will you truly lose your humanity?
Youâll do everything in your power to prevent the worst from occurring. You just hope that the day never comes that the impulse outways your logic.
God have mercy on all the day that occurs.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Disguise Self, Alter Self, Transmutation, and so on. You hadnât picked one yet.
You at least know that this isnât an illusion spell, like Disguise Self. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either.
So that doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre here for the ride it seems. Youâre going to have to make the best with what you have and be a quick learner. Youâre a human now...so you can try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly how you envisioned it to become...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isnât thin and soft.
You twist your arms around and flex your muscles, watching the minimal amount that is exposed out from under the moss cloak shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
Your fingers trail along your face to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally feels like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head.
What does your face look like? WAIT, WHAT DO YOU LOOK LIKE?!!
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how you can manipulate it into your hands.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still peaking at the sun through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât a perk you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was only so it could help you during PvPs. Any player could do that.
Either way, you know you can use your vision to look through your dominant hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
Your voice! Itâs only masculine now! The second feminine voice is absent from your vocals! And when was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over a decade ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village but itâs not a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so you donât see the need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both to want this new form to keep hold.
As your hand hoovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth. Rather, it riverates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
So, technically, youâre not human but rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
You drop your hands to pull your moss cloak securely back on your shoulders, looking out ahead of you to the approaching party.
The figures are more so distinguishable now and youâre no doubt the same to them, noting their hand gestures motioning to each other and to your location as well as muffled noises progressively getting clearer.
The horses the figures ride are majestic beasts, strapped with bags and sacks to their sides. Youâre no horse critic...equestrian...yeah that, but given that their coats gleam against the sunset and their bodies are fine fettle, theyâre likely high breeds.
But Jewels is your horse and the fact that she helped you escape the barn seals your loyalty to her no matter her breed!
Giving her a firm pat against her neck you observe their actions to get a hint of who they may be.
Hopefully they're not a group of bandits but, with the way your luck has been functioning, you wouldnât be surprised. But your...you guess your game smarts is telling you that if they're hostile mobs then they'd be locked on you, charging with ill intent. However, theyâre continuing their measured pace while chatting.
Extending your vision to focus nearer to the figures, honing into their shapes, your vision shutters and zooms in like putting on a pair of binoculars. It makes it hard for you to focus on where you are but thankfully Jewels keeps you steady. Your vision provides you with a clear image of the riders.
Theyâre all men, you collect. A team of four people, equipped to the T with armor and blades specifically. The four mounted men ride in a formation shaped like an isosceles triangle, two on one side and two on the other.
As if youâre back in the Citadel preparing for another raid, you start your habit of evaluating those facing you.
âœâŸªDetect EnemyâŸ«, âŸªMana EssenceâŸ«, âŸªLife EssenceâŸ«.â
The one to the far left looks the least armed, but thatâs not saying he isnât at all. A baby blue bandana sits on his head, pinning back his tofts of dirty blond locks. He withholds a thin beard that wraps around his wise complexion as a glove does. A leather vest protects his upper torso while chainmail covers the rest, a blue sweater vest lays atop. Gloves cover his hands, one resting on the hilt of his blade. Leather covers the rest of him completely from the waist down, boots, pants, and all.
LV 21, MP 4, HP 14. A fighter...possible light rouge, hunter, and or scout. Thief skills? Maybeâ Doesnât have enough mana than to cast a single 1st tier spell, most likely.
In front of him to his left is a man with a slim complexion but strong cheek and jawbones. His eyes speak of curiosity and puzzlement, squinting your direction with a pinch of his brow. He wears dark armor shaped to insinuate his chest. Similar plates of armor cover his hips, shoulders, areas below the knee and elbows. A smoky navy fabric covers the areas between his armor and function as pants. The only areas not covered below his neck are his large biceps.
LV 22, MP 9, HP 15. A fighter. Definitely swordsman but not knighted. Not high enough LV to have a significant job class in the field either. However, higher MP level is noted for possible sub-class categories in the magic arts.
To his left is the third rider. He too is covered in armor but much lighter in tint. Additionally, heâs the only one with a helmet, hiding most of his face but his copper hair and calculating eyes still bore through with an upturned lip. A pea-green gambeson allows the plates of armor to sit comfortably on the wearer along with the leather straps that keep it all together. His trousers are light brown but his boots match that of the leather.
LV 22, MP 0, HP 18. A fighter, likely a tank for the higher HP than their counterpart of the same level? Theyâre dressed like it.
The last rider is behind to the left of the third. He is covered in leather and red fabric, head to toe. Not a peek of skin is open except that of his face but itâs cast in shadow as his headpiece which slopes forward. Itâs a metal band and cap that nearly covers his eyes with its weight. A satchel belt is functioned to sit around his waist over his crimson gambeson, the pouch sitting to his left side with his scabbard.
LV 21, MP 0, HP 14. A fighter. Higher chance of scout than all the others and only potential monk.
A relieved sigh escapes you, shoulders going lax.
No class adjustments, hotbar arrangement, or pre-prep needed. None of them pose a threat to you, even if they tried. The only one youâll have to worry about is Jewels. You donât bother to try and detect any magic items or weapons as you donât see enough threat within them to waste the MP. Their low levels also mean theyâll be easy to manipulate if the need arises-
âœThat's what Iâm saying, why do they have such an aura?â The first manâs voice finally comes clear to you and you note four hundred meters is how far you can pick up a voice from. You also question how you knew the distance as you continue to listen to the man speak, âœI donât see a sigil or uniform on them identifying affiliation this far away.â
âœBut someone who exudes an aura like this has to have hailed from a house or be renowned in title. They may very well be someone in the guild.â The fourth fellow counters but sounds uncertain.
âœA lone adventurer in Re-Estize?... Itâs possible, but would the guild allow it? Tob is half a dayâs ride from here. Monsters could be amok, hardly something a lone adventurer could handle.â
âœThat is if theyâre a normal adventurer, but the feeling theyâre giving off proves naught.â The third murmurs. âœThe hair on my back stood up the moment I laid eyes on them.â
âœSame hereâ.â
A clank of metal sounds off as the second nods. âœI think itâs safe to assume we all did.â
Are...they talking about you? Yeah. Youâre not completely stupid. Theyâre gesturing to you as they speak so itâs safe to assume they are. It doesnât sound positive thoughâor negative. Just skeptical and cautious.
What concerns you is this âœauraâ theyâre so focused on. Sounds important.
You donât have any negative stats that produce fear, intimidation, petrification, or the likeâthough that doesnât sound like what it is either. Theyâd be acting differently if you didâ. Such as the pray for holy intervention, turn tail, and run type...or the belly-up deady-bye-bye type. At your level, most stats like that could be deadly to low-level mobs, such as aura of despair. Thankfully, thatâs not the case for you.
So what are they feeling? Itâs a strong feeling is all you can gatherâ. What do you have strong of?... Is it a power thing? Your LV? Your MP or HP? Your overall base stats? But how would they sense that if thatâs what it is? Thatâs not how Yggdrasil worked, albeit some NPCs would notice your strength...and that players can use spells to detect certain statsâ.
Though this isnât your game! It doesnât seem like it is.
Is it a skill or does everyone feel this âœauraâ from you? Mm...canât be certain. Youâll have to work that info out of them when you have the chance.
Besides that, youâre collecting so much other info just by listening! Tob? Itâs a place near here and dangerous if âœmonstersâ are connected to it. Re-Estize is also a place. A big place from the way it was worded. A kingdom...nation or...a country? Itâs where youâre located. Great to know! You donât know what the fuck that means for you!
Also, there are houses, reasonably referring to noble families and patrons in this Re-Estize place and or outside. Sigils and uniforms back up the theory. The rich typically are the ones who have enough money to pay for such. Theyâre looking for a sign of you being a part of one to justify the âœauraâ coming from you. Is there a reason the aura is tied to those of status? Theyâre suggesting you may be an âœadventurerâ tooâ. Are they who you think they are?
âœWhat do you think theyâre doing out here?â The fourth chirps, turning his head to his fellows as if they magically have the answer. Two shrugs.
âœThey appear to be going East. Business in the Empire?â
An empire? Is it part of Re-Estize or separate all together? Either way, an empire is exactly where a hub of info would be.
âœYeah.â âœGood call.â One and four agree with the secondâs guess but three waves his arm to interrupt.
âœDonât you guys think itâs more important that weâre going to have to pass them? Should we allow ourselves to get near?â
Two counters, âœHow would it look on us to avoid one person because of our paranoia? Theyâre not releasing any blood lust.â
âœYet is the key. Better safe than sorry, I say.â
âœWhat can one person do to us?â
âœDonât say that, Igvarge. Itâs bad luck.â
Crap, were you wrong? Are they scared of you? What the heck is this âœauraâ thing? Itâs ruining your chance to talk to them! At this rate, theyâre going to avoid you like the plague!
How do you appear non-threatening?... A wave? It may ease their paranoia...or at least show you acknowledge them. That could force their obligation to follow through on their current trajectory to you.
You raise a single arm as high as you can and tilt it back and forth to send them the message of greetings.
âœWait, look-â Four spots your movement and, after a second, one clarifies.
âœOh, theyâre waving at us.â
âœShould...we wave back?â
The man named Igvarge huffs at fourâs remark, âœGo ahead. Itâs too late to avoid them now.â
One joins in with a chuckle of his own, âœBesides, itâs rude not to.â
To their collegeâs encouragement, four greets you back in the same manner you had and you smile.
Success!
âœTell me again, Tall, why should we avoid them?â
âœJust because theyâre acting friendly doesnât change the presence they exude. Thatâs...not natural. Have you ever been around a human...or a monster that released an aura like this?â
âœIâm not saying we should throw caution to the wind. If it turns out theyâre trouble, weâll fight them; or if the worst comes to shove, weâll retreat. Thereâs no harm in seeing what we can gain from them. Besides, someone powerfulâ.might be what we need to climb the ranks.â
âœHuh?! Do you honestly think they could do something like that?! Donât make me laugh.â
âœItâs worth a shotâ. They might be an Adamantite adventurer if their aura is anything to go by.â
âœHaah?!â âœReally?â âœYou think so?!â
Adamanite must be an important role in the guild theyâre referring to if their reactions are anything to go byâ. They've compared you to a person of status twice now due to auraâ.
âœHave any of you been in the presence of one?â When each responds in the negative he continues, âœMe neither, but isnât it said that theyâre heroes among the nations, extremely powerful? They look like a man from hereâ. He might be Azuth Aindra.â
Fourâs head does a double-take as if he didnât hear right. âœThat guy from Red Drop?!â
âœOh yeah.â One awes, recalling a memory, âœIâve heard he has blond hair like that Blue Rose chick. Though, I wouldâve guessed heâd be in a brothel rather than out here based on the rumorsâ. Could it be him?â
Adamantites are powerfulâ. They must feel some sort of power from you then. You were right with your guesses! Nice! So which source from you is the power they sense? You have a few spells that can block off detection for all of the possibilities. Though, that is a temporary solution. If you had an item that could cloak the source of the aura indefinitely while wearing it then youâd be golden for future interactions.
However, you donât have anything of the like. They are all back in your-SÅsaku-shaâs Citadel, tucked in chests throughout the levels of the Sky Palace.
Ugh...if only you could make the item you need then you wouldnât need to cast every other hour!
â.
â.
Nevermind. You are stupid.
You can certainly construct any one of those tools with the items currently in your inventory, especially since youâre a Master Craftsman! If you can identify the source of the issue, find a suitable workbench or crafting table, and find out how to fuse the items then you can produce any of them!
The only issue is the limited supply of items you haveâ. If you make the tool, you may not be able to construct any more high-class items with what little data crystals remain stored away.
You can debate about the dilemma later. First and foremost, find out what the source of the aura is!
Besides the issue of you, Red Drop and Blue Rose are Adamantite groups in the guild. You should seek out these Adamantite groups at some point as they could prove useful, especially if these guys think theyâre so and if they're as powerful as described. You already got a description of Azuth...though the gossip about him sleeping around doesnât pass you.
Is he a playboy? Ah-doesn't matter. At least you've learned where he hangs around if you go searching for him.
Igvarge shrugs once more, âœItâs my best bet. It could very well explain the power we feel from the man.â
âœBut thatâs a gamble saying heâs Azuth.â Tall retorts. âœHe may not be him and he might not be an adventurer! What then?â
âœThen weâll play it by ear. Observe and react. He might not end up interacting with us at all, passing on his merry way. If he does engage then weâll entertain him. Maybe heâll put a good word in for us? Who knows?â
âœA good word wonât help us to Orichalcum. It hadnât worked much for our previous ranks.â
âœItâs more so for the job offers that could be opened up. Connections are valuable.â
Orichalcum?... Are they adventurers too? It must be a lower rank than Adamantite if they praised the latter so highly. In turn, theyâre low-level in the guild, much like their stats. There should be a correlation in strength to rank in this guild, much like any foundation. Do they level up if they gain Orichalcum or is their level completely separate from the guild?
Be as it may, you know a goal of theirsâ...a way you can manip-persuade them into helping you.
They grow quiet as the distance between your paths grows short to interception. Guess they donât want you overhearing them even if theyâre still over a hundred meters away.
Youâre bound to talk to them at this point...but what will you say? Your goal is to grab information or to find a place to learn. You could ask them directions to the Empire they mentioned? But could it be beneficial to follow them? Where are they headed anyway? Should you inquire about their destination beforehand?
Rraugh! This is so stressfulâ.
What will you say about yourself? Theyâre curious about you because of your aura. You need to learn what âœitâ is. Theyâre going to ask you questions for sure. And if you say youâre heading to the Empire, what will you say when you ask for directions or if they ask you why youâre heading there?! You can say you have family or work there but that could dig you into a hole if they inquire more detail...tsk!
You need to keep in mind that you know little of this world...so you need to play the part of someone who was sheltered. Ignorantâ.
Not to mention they may question your current dress.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Why doesnât it doesnât...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable?
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseââ You shift your attention down to your nether region, âœI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
Youâre completely bare under the cloak, your privates unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown. Your member is nearly the length of your entire hand, you realize as you try to tuck it awayâ.
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
âœIs this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology?â Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of the men ahead of you.
You wrap your cloak tighter around yourself to cover as much as possible of your exposed skin.
How are you going to explain this?! You certainly canât say youâre traveling for family or work now! Youâll look like a perv! Gahh!
You canât say youâre an adventurer because they know a lot about them and the guild theyâre attached to, way more than the shitty guesses you could pull out of your ass to slap together a story.
How about a traveler?! But then wouldnât you have tons of traveling gear with you?! And wouldnât you know where youâre going if you were a traveler?!
A pilgrim? Is that a bad alibi? But wouldnât you need a religious reason for travel?! Thatâs another rabbit hole of lies and you could still be seen as a perv!
How can you not look like the villain in this scenario?!
...Unless youâre the victim!!
But how could you be a victim?...
â.
A throw-together story! Improv! Itâs a learned skill youâve developed while roleplaying! You could use that to your advantage! Take what youâve gathered and experienced while in this world and spin together a tragedy!
Yes, yes! It could be your origin! It could gain their pity and influence them to be willing to assist you if you play the part.
But what could you throw together thatâs tangible?!
They think youâre strong because of your aura but how can you appear weak?!
Hurmâ. What makes a strong person weak? This is a magical world so anything is possibleâ.
Strong made to weak. Near Tob where monsters layâ. Knows nothing of the world but is now out and about, clueless. Was almost killed in the village and is most likely being hunted. Took one of their horses and fled. Has nothing in their possession but a cloak of flowers and moss. Butterflies follow and plants grow from where they touchâ.
Sounds vaguely familiarâ.
â.
â.
â.
â.
YOU GOT IT!!!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
1â†'2â†'4â†'9â†'19â†'97â†'110
Not a choice this time around I'm afraid but what do you think your story is going to be? And who do you think is ahead?
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LOST ROUTE 6:25
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shut down. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to avoid confrontation and flee the scene. With a horse at your side you venture off into the unknown East. You take on the appearance of a young woman when you encounter...
Chapter Notes
Yo, BBS here! I almost didn't make it to this update for a number of reasons but I bested the tides!!!
I was going to give you readers full customization over the appearance of your human form. Hair, eyes, skin tone, body shape, identifying marks, all that and more...and it added up to over 15,000 character designs. That would have meant I'd have to write 15k chapters and link them all together. That's not even the brunt of it. That many character designs were only for 1 path...and there are 12 paths so far for looks... I don't think A03 could handle 180k chapters in one update, not to mention being impossible for me to accomplish, despite my awesomeness.
I had to back pedal and have it so that the reader chose a form based solely off of what they've seen of people thus far. I believe it fits their goal: camouflaging into society as they try to grasp it. Hope your new appearance is satisfactory!
Additionally, this chapter was meant to be longer but the page count became too great and I had to cut it in half due to time constraints. Not to mention I did art work for these chapters! Applaud my supreme power and I hope y'all enjoy dis chapter!!!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœIâll go for a more feminine look.â You hum excitedly, eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new. Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to look like is the first step? To do that you need to draw inspiration from what you have seen from the men in the village you ran from.
They were all Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want to appear? Those men all had variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation. Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... That boy named Nate was tan and he seemed fine...even taking the lead in trying to find you.
You shouldnât make assumptions. He could have a very tough time being of a different tone than those he was with.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin? Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks of other races. It was more so humanoid NPCs who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether if it was of skin or class.
This left the majority of the remaining racist NPCs (the ones who couldnât respawn once killed) to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and vice versa. You guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother. Maybe they saw it as comical? You have no idea what went through some of their minds. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoid being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, exp, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you were slandered for not doing enough to help.
It was a hard time and it was impossible to stop all the players from PKing since it was a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into the game like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have an issue with non-humanoids to a certain degree, considering how those villagers were seeking to kill you if you were a monsterâ. Or was it just that village?
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you saw from that village...Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No, you canât be you. Yes, you do want to look like yourself but you canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more, it could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity.
The five figures you sense are still approaching your way so itâs only a matter of time before they reach you. You need to settle in soon before they catch sight of you.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you went as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are during this period.
An old woman on her own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain here. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are forty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any women during this time period are near your current towering seven feet, despite you not seeing any women yet. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot and a few inches sounds...reasonable? Five foot six is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. This is good.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV of bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar.
Next is hair. You haven't seen any women yet so you have to guess off of the people who you did see and the historical accounts of your world. None of the men were bald. Yes, some of the older men had bald spots but none were completely bald. That means you need hair. This goes in line with what you know of grooming for women in the dark ages, they kept their hair longer. Most people there had brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and the one with black hairâ. The longest their hair had been was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of their locks was either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, it was the longest you saw of the menâs hair in the village but this is probably the "shortest" that women can have. This gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later once you learn more.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they are available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural hair colors like the ones you saw until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only color youâre drawn to have now is gold blond or stark white.
Very oddâ.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold or white, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too.
This leaves you with golden hair-BLond hair, not gold. Blond as your choice.
âœAugh, okay. I should finish up envisioning the form Iâll take up. Iâm sure they can see my silhouette on the horizon by now. Hopefully, they donât have any item or spell that could extend their sight.â
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âœShut up. I need to finish up.â The grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections were jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait was their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, varied greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult. Is it the same for the women?
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consisted of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders.
You reach up an arm to scratch your neck, nodding as you decide your eye color should be-âœEh?â
What isâ
You twirl your fingers and you feel more of the stringy texture.
Hair...you feel hair!
Your eyes widen as you tug a strand of wavy hair out for you to blink at, your rosy lips forming an o.
Golden.
âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so proves that casting is different now. Then again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something youâve learned to become acquainted with throughout the day when youâd stop to make pools of water for Jewels to drink. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how you learned spells workâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, but not impossible. If it is fact, however, that can pose issues later down the line.
What if you do something you want to do that you shouldnât do? Lashing out for one is an impulse that you find hard to maintain for some reason and it scares you, especially when you feel threatened. Your mind goes someplace during those times and something...vile, hot, and...sick takes its place. Your mind is your own enemy.
What if one day something tips you over the edge or something brushes you wrong?
Will you become a monster then? Will you truly lose your humanity?
Youâll do everything in your power to prevent the worst from occurring. You just hope that the day never comes that the impulse outways your logic.
God have mercy on all the day that occurs.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Disguise Self, Alter Self, Transmutation, and so on. You hadnât picked one yet.
You at least know that this isnât an illusion spell, like Disguise Self. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either.
So that doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre here for the ride it seems. Youâre going to have to make the best with what you have and be a quick learner. Youâre a human now...so you can try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly how you envisioned it to become...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isnât thin and soft.
You twist your arms around and flex your muscles, watching the minimal amount that is exposed out from under the moss cloak shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
Your fingers trail along your face to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally feels like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head.
What does your face look like? WAIT, WHAT DO YOU LOOK LIKE?!!
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how you can manipulate it into your hands.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still peaking at the sun through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât a perk you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was only so it could help you during PvPs. Any player could do that.
Either way, you know you can use your vision to look through your dominant hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
Your voice! Itâs only feminine now! The second masculine voice is absent from your vocals! And when was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over a decade ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village but itâs not a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so you donât see the need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both to want this new form to keep hold.
As your hand hoovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth. Rather, it riverates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
So, technically, youâre not human but rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
You drop your hands to pull your moss cloak securely back on your shoulders, looking out ahead of you to the approaching party.
The figures are more so distinguishable now and youâre no doubt the same to them, noting their hand gestures motioning to each other and to your location as well as muffled noises progressively getting clearer.
The horses the figures ride are majestic beasts, strapped with bags and sacks to their sides. Youâre no horse critic...equestrian...yeah that, but given that their coats gleam against the sunset and their bodies are fine fettle, theyâre likely high breeds.
But Jewels is your horse and the fact that she helped you escape the barn seals your loyalty to her no matter her breed!
Giving her a firm pat against her neck you observe their actions to get a hint of who they may be.
Hopefully they're not a group of bandits but, with the way your luck has been functioning, you wouldnât be surprised. But your...you guess your game smarts is telling you that if they're hostile mobs then they'd be locked on you, charging with ill intent. However, theyâre continuing their measured pace while chatting.
Extending your vision to focus nearer to the figures, honing into their shapes, your vision shutters and zooms in like putting on a pair of binoculars. It makes it hard for you to focus on where you are but thankfully Jewels keeps you steady. Your vision provides you with a clear image of the riders.
Theyâre all men, you collect. A team of four people, equipped to the T with armor and blades specifically. The four mounted men ride in a formation shaped like an isosceles triangle, two on one side and two on the other.
As if youâre back in the Citadel preparing for another raid, you start your habit of evaluating those facing you.
âœâŸªDetect EnemyâŸ«, âŸªMana EssenceâŸ«, âŸªLife EssenceâŸ«.â
The one to the far left looks the least armed, but thatâs not saying he isnât at all. A baby blue bandana sits on his head, pinning back his tofts of dirty blond locks. He withholds a thin beard that wraps around his wise complexion as a glove does. A leather vest protects his upper torso while chainmail covers the rest, a blue sweater vest lays atop. Gloves cover his hands, one resting on the hilt of his blade. Leather covers the rest of him completely from the waist down, boots, pants, and all.
LV 21, MP 4, HP 14. A fighter...possible light rouge, hunter, and or scout. Thief skills? Maybeâ Doesnât have enough mana than to cast a single 1st tier spell, most likely.
In front of him to his left is a man with a slim complexion but strong cheek and jawbones. His eyes speak of curiosity and puzzlement, squinting your direction with a pinch of his brow. He wears dark armor shaped to insinuate his chest. Similar plates of armor cover his hips, shoulders, areas below the knee and elbows. A smoky navy fabric covers the areas between his armor and function as pants. The only areas not covered below his neck are his large biceps.
LV 22, MP 9, HP 15. A fighter. Definitely swordsman but not knighted. Not high enough LV to have a significant job class in the field either. However, higher MP level is noted for possible sub-class categories in the magic arts.
To his left is the third rider. He too is covered in armor but much lighter in tint. Additionally, heâs the only one with a helmet, hiding most of his face but his copper hair and calculating eyes still bore through with an upturned lip. A pea-green gambeson allows the plates of armor to sit comfortably on the wearer along with the leather straps that keep it all together. His trousers are light brown but his boots match that of the leather.
LV 22, MP 0, HP 18. A fighter, likely a tank for the higher HP than their counterpart of the same level? Theyâre dressed like it.
The last rider is behind to the left of the third. He is covered in leather and red fabric, head to toe. Not a peek of skin is open except that of his face but itâs cast in shadow as his headpiece which slopes forward. Itâs a metal band and cap that nearly covers his eyes with its weight. A satchel belt is functioned to sit around his waist over his crimson gambeson, the pouch sitting to his left side with his scabbard.
LV 21, MP 0, HP 14. A fighter. Higher chance of scout than all the others and only potential monk.
A relieved sigh escapes you, shoulders going lax.
No class adjustments, hotbar arrangement, or pre-prep needed. None of them pose a threat to you, even if they tried. The only one youâll have to worry about is Jewels. You donât bother to try and detect any magic items or weapons as you donât see enough threat within them to waste the MP. Their low levels also mean theyâll be easy to manipulate if the need arises-
âœThat's what Iâm saying, why do they have such an aura?â The first manâs voice finally comes clear to you and you note four hundred meters is how far you can pick up a voice from. You also question how you knew the distance as you continue to listen to the man speak, âœI donât see a sigil or uniform on them identifying affiliation this far away.â
âœBut someone who exudes an aura like this has to have hailed from a house or be renowned in title. They may very well be someone in the guild.â The fourth fellow counters but sounds uncertain.
âœA lone adventurer in Re-Estize?... Itâs possible, but would the guild allow it? Tob is half a dayâs ride from here. Monsters could be amok, hardly something a lone adventurer could handle.â
âœThat is if theyâre a normal adventurer, but the feeling theyâre giving off proves naught.â The third murmurs. âœThe hair on my back stood up the moment I laid eyes on them.â
âœSame hereâ.â
A clank of metal sounds off as the second nods. âœI think itâs safe to assume we all did.â
Are...they talking about you? Yeah. Youâre not completely stupid. Theyâre gesturing to you as they speak so itâs safe to assume they are. It doesnât sound positive thoughâor negative. Just skeptical and cautious.
What concerns you is this âœauraâ theyâre so focused on. Sounds important.
You donât have any negative stats that produce fear, intimidation, petrification, or the likeâthough that doesnât sound like what it is either. Theyâd be acting differently if you didâ. Such as the pray for holy intervention, turn tail, and run type...or the belly-up deady-bye-bye type. At your level, most stats like that could be deadly to low-level mobs, such as aura of despair. Thankfully, thatâs not the case for you.
So what are they feeling? Itâs a strong feeling is all you can gatherâ. What do you have strong of?... Is it a power thing? Your LV? Your MP or HP? Your overall base stats? But how would they sense that if thatâs what it is? Thatâs not how Yggdrasil worked, albeit some NPCs would notice your strength...and that players can use spells to detect certain statsâ.
Though this isnât your game! It doesnât seem like it is.
Is it a skill or does everyone feel this âœauraâ from you? Mm...canât be certain. Youâll have to work that info out of them when you have the chance.
Besides that, youâre collecting so much other info just by listening! Tob? Itâs a place near here and dangerous if âœmonstersâ are connected to it. Re-Estize is also a place. A big place from the way it was worded. A kingdom...nation or...a country? Itâs where youâre located. Great to know! You donât know what the fuck that means for you!
Also, there are houses, reasonably referring to noble families and patrons in this Re-Estize place and or outside. Sigils and uniforms back up the theory. The rich typically are the ones who have enough money to pay for such. Theyâre looking for a sign of you being a part of one to justify the âœauraâ coming from you. Is there a reason the aura is tied to those of status? Theyâre suggesting you may be an âœadventurerâ tooâ. Are they who you think they are?
âœWhat do you think theyâre doing out here?â The fourth chirps, turning his head to his fellows as if they magically have the answer. Two shrugs.
âœThey appear to be going East. Business in the Empire?â
An empire? Is it part of Re-Estize or separate all together? Either way, an empire is exactly where a hub of info would be.
âœYeah.â âœGood call.â One and four agree with the secondâs guess but three waves his arm to interrupt.
âœDonât you guys think itâs more important that weâre going to have to pass them? Should we allow ourselves to get near?â
Two counters, âœHow would it look on us to avoid one person because of our paranoia? Theyâre not releasing any blood lust.â
âœYet is the key. Better safe than sorry, I say.â
âœWhat can one person do to us?â
âœDonât say that, Igvarge. Itâs bad luck.â
Crap, were you wrong? Are they scared of you? What the heck is this âœauraâ thing? Itâs ruining your chance to talk to them! At this rate, theyâre going to avoid you like the plague!
How do you appear non-threatening?... A wave? It may ease their paranoia...or at least show you acknowledge them. That could force their obligation to follow through on their current trajectory to you.
You raise a single arm as high as you can and tilt it back and forth to send them the message of greetings.
âœWait, look-â Four spots your movement and, after a second, one clarifies.
âœOh, theyâre waving at us.â
âœShould...we wave back?â
The man named Igvarge huffs at fourâs remark, âœGo ahead. Itâs too late to avoid them now.â
One joins in with a chuckle of his own, âœBesides, itâs rude not to.â
To their collegeâs encouragement, four greets you back in the same manner you had and you smile.
Success!
âœTell me again, Tall, why should we avoid them?â
âœJust because theyâre acting friendly doesnât change the presence they exude. Thatâs...not natural. Have you ever been around a human...or a monster that released an aura like this?â
âœIâm not saying we should throw caution to the wind. If it turns out theyâre trouble, weâll fight them; or if the worst comes to shove, weâll retreat. Thereâs no harm in seeing what we can gain from them. Besides, someone powerfulâ.might be what we need to climb the ranks.â
âœHuh?! Do you honestly think they could do something like that?! Donât make me laugh.â
âœItâs worth a shotâ. They might be an Adamantite adventurer if their aura is anything to go by.â
âœHaah?!â âœReally?â âœYou think so?!â
Adamanite must be an important role in the guild theyâre referring to if their reactions are anything to go byâ. They've compared you to a person of status twice now due to auraâ.
âœHave any of you been in the presence of one?â When each responds in the negative he continues, âœMe neither, but isnât it said that theyâre heroes among the nations, extremely powerful? They look like...a gal from hereâ. She might be lady Lakyus.â
Fourâs head does a double-take as if he didnât hear right. âœThe leader of Blue Rose?!â
âœOh yeah.â One awes, recalling a memory, âœIâve heard she has blond hair like that Red Drop douche. Though, I wouldâve guessed sheâd be in the palace with the other Blue Rose chicks rather than out here. There's no way she'd be out here all on her own... Could it be her?â
Adamantites are powerfulâ. They must feel some sort of power from you then. You were right with your guesses! Nice! So which source from you is the power they sense? You have a few spells that can block off detection for all of the possibilities. Though, that is a temporary solution. If you had an item that could cloak the source of the aura indefinitely while wearing it then youâd be golden for future interactions.
However, you donât have anything of the like. They are all back in your-SÅsaku-shaâs Citadel, tucked in chests throughout the levels of the Sky Palace.
Ugh...if only you could make the item you need then you wouldnât need to cast every other hour!
â.
â.
Nevermind. You are stupid.
You can certainly construct any one of those tools with the items currently in your inventory, especially since youâre a Master Craftsman! If you can identify the source of the issue, find a suitable workbench or crafting table, and find out how to fuse the items then you can produce any of them!
The only issue is the limited supply of items you haveâ. If you make the tool, you may not be able to construct any more high-class items with what little data crystals remain stored away.
You can debate about the dilemma later. First and foremost, find out what the source of the aura is!
Besides the issue of you, Red Drop and Blue Rose are Adamantite groups in the guild. You should seek out these Adamantite groups at some point as they could prove useful, especially if these guys think theyâre so and if they're as powerful as described. You already got a description of Lakyus...though she sounds of royalty.
Can you approach a lady of title? Ah-doesn't matter. At least you've learned where her places of residence lie if you go searching for her.
Igvarge shrugs once more, âœItâs my best bet. It could very well explain the power we feel from the gal.â
âœBut thatâs a gamble saying sheâs lady Lakyus.â Tall retorts. âœShe may not be him and she might not be an adventurer! What then?â
âœThen weâll play it by ear. Observe and react. She might not end up interacting with us at all, passing on his merry way. If she does engage then weâll entertain her. Maybe sheâll put a good word in for us? Who knows? Maybe a good time if we're really nice~â
You gag in repulsion.
âœShut up. A good word wonât help us to Orichalcum. It hadnât worked much for our previous ranks.â
âœItâs more so for the job offers that could be opened up. Connections are valuable.â
Orichalcum?... Are they adventurers too? It must be a lower rank than Adamantite if they praised the latter so highly. In turn, theyâre low-level in the guild, much like their stats. There should be a correlation in strength to rank in this guild, much like any foundation. Do they level up if they gain Orichalcum or is their level completely separate from the guild?
Be as it may, you know a goal of theirsâ...a way you can manip-persuade them into helping you.
They grow quiet as the distance between your paths grows short to interception. Guess they donât want you overhearing them even if theyâre still over a hundred meters away.
Youâre bound to talk to them at this point...but what will you say? Your goal is to grab information or to find a place to learn. You could ask them directions to the Empire they mentioned? But could it be beneficial to follow them? Where are they headed anyway? Should you inquire about their destination beforehand?
Rraugh! This is so stressfulâ.
What will you say about yourself? Theyâre curious about you because of your aura. You need to learn what âœitâ is. Theyâre going to ask you questions for sure. And if you say youâre heading to the Empire, what will you say when you ask for directions or if they ask you why youâre heading there?! You can say you have family or work there but that could dig you into a hole if they inquire more detail...tsk!
You need to keep in mind that you know little of this world...so you need to play the part of someone who was sheltered. Ignorantâ.
Not to mention they may question your current dress.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Why doesnât it doesnât...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable?
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseââ You shift your attention down to your nether region, âœI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
Youâre completely bare under the cloak, your privates unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown, your rosey folds peeking through. Plus, each of your breasts are the size of your entire hand, you realize as you try to tuck them awayâ.
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
âœIs this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology?â Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of the men ahead of you... Nevermind, you don't want to think of the suggestive remark Igvarge made!
You wrap your cloak tighter around yourself to cover as much as possible of your exposed skin.
How are you going to explain this?! You certainly canât say youâre traveling for family or work now! Youâll look like a perv! Gahh!
You canât say youâre an adventurer because they know a lot about them and the guild theyâre attached to, way more than the shitty guesses you could pull out of your ass to slap together a story.
How about a traveler?! But then wouldnât you have tons of traveling gear with you?! And wouldnât you know where youâre going if you were a traveler?!
A pilgrim? Is that a bad alibi? But wouldnât you need a religious reason for travel?! Thatâs another rabbit hole of lies and you could still be seen as a perv!
How can you not look like the villain in this scenario?!
...Unless youâre the victim!!
But how could you be a victim?...
â.
A throw-together story! Improv! Itâs a learned skill youâve developed while roleplaying! You could use that to your advantage! Take what youâve gathered and experienced while in this world and spin together a tragedy!
Yes, yes! It could be your origin! It could gain their pity and influence them to be willing to assist you if you play the part.
But what could you throw together thatâs tangible?!
They think youâre strong because of your aura but how can you appear weak?!
Hurmâ. What makes a strong person weak? This is a magical world so anything is possibleâ.
Strong made to weak. Near Tob where monsters layâ. Knows nothing of the world but is now out and about, clueless. Was almost killed in the village and is most likely being hunted. Took one of their horses and fled. Has nothing in their possession but a cloak of flowers and moss. Butterflies follow and plants grow from where they touchâ.
Sounds vaguely familiarâ.
â.
â.
â.
â.
YOU GOT IT!!!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
1â†'2â†'4â†'9â†'19â†'97â†'111
Not a choice this time around I'm afraid but what do you think your story is going to be? And who do you think is ahead?
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Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what's left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shut down. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to avoid confrontation and flee the scene. With a horse at your side, you venture off into the unknown South East and take on the appearance of a young man when you encounter...
Chapter Notes
Yo, BBS here! I almost didn't make it to this update for a number of reasons but I bested the tides!!!
I was going to give you readers full customization over the appearance of your human form. Hair, eyes, skin tone, body shape, identifying marks, all that and more...and it added up to over 15,000 character designs. That would have meant I'd have to write 15k chapters and link them all together. That's not even the brunt of it. That many character designs were only for 1 path...and there are 12 paths so far for looks... I don't think A03 could handle 180k chapters in one update, not to mention being impossible for me to accomplish, despite my awesomeness.
I had to back pedal and have it so that the reader chose a form based solely off of what they've seen of people thus far. I believe it fits their goal: camouflaging into society as they try to grasp it. Hope your new appearance is satisfactory!
Additionally, this chapter was meant to be longer but the page count became too great and I had to cut it in half due to time constraints. Not to mention I did art work for these chapters! Applaud my supreme power and I hope y'all enjoy dis chapter!!!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœIâll go for a more masculine look.â You hum excitedly, eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new. Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to look like is the first step? To do that you need to draw inspiration from what you have seen from the men in the village you ran from.
They were all Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want to appear? Those men all had variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation. Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... That boy named Nate was tan and he seemed fine...even taking the lead in trying to find you.
You shouldnât make assumptions. He could have a very tough time being of a different tone than those he was with.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin? Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks of other races. It was more so humanoid NPCs who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether if it was of skin or class.
This left the majority of the remaining racist NPCs (the ones who couldnât respawn once killed) to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and vice versa. You guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother. Maybe they saw it as comical? You have no idea what went through some of their minds. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoid being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, exp, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you were slandered for not doing enough to help.
It was a hard time and it was impossible to stop all the players from PKing since it was a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into the game like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have an issue with non-humanoids to a certain degree, considering how those villagers were seeking to kill you if you were a monsterâ. Or was it just that village?
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you saw from that village...Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No, you canât be you. Yes, you do want to look like yourself but you canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more, it could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity.
The three you sense still remain as they are, for reasons you can only guess, so itâs a matter of time before they catch sight of you. You need to be set on a form soon.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you went as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are during this period.
An old man on his own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain here. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are forty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any men during this time period are near your current towering seven feet. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot sounds...reasonable? Six feet is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. This is good.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV of bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar.
Next is hair. None of the men were bald. Yes, some of the older men had bald spots but none were completely bald. That means you need hair. Most people there had brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and the one with black hairâ. None of them seemed to have long hair beyond the door to the barn so you suspect that short hair might be the norm. The longest their hair had been was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of their locks was either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, it was the longest you saw of the menâs hair in the village but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later.
Should you have facial hair? Some of the older men had mustaches and beards...but youâre aiming to appear as an early twenty-year-old. All of the younger men had clean-shaven complectionsâso youâll stick to that code.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they are available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural hair colors like the ones you saw until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only color youâre drawn to have now is gold blond or stark white.
Very oddâ.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold or white, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too.
This leaves you with golden hair-BLond hair, not gold. Blond as your choice.
âœAugh, okay. I should finish up envisioning the form Iâll take up. Iâm sure they can see my silhouette on the horizon by now. Hopefully, they donât have any item or spell that could extend their sight.â
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âœShut up. I need to finish up.â The grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections were jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait was their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, varied greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consisted of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders.
You reach up an arm to scratch your neck, nodding as you decide your eye color should be-âœEh?â
What isâ
You twirl your fingers and you feel more of the stringy texture.
Hair...you feel hair!
Your eyes widen as you tug a strand of wavy hair out for you to blink at, your rosy lips forming an o.
Golden.
âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so proves that casting is different now. Then again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something youâve learned to become acquainted with throughout the day when youâd stop to make pools of water for Jewels to drink. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how you learned spells workâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, but not impossible. If it is fact, however, that can pose issues later down the line.
What if you do something you want to do that you shouldnât do? Lashing out for one is an impulse that you find hard to maintain for some reason and it scares you, especially when you feel threatened. Your mind goes someplace during those times and something...vile, hot, and...sick takes its place. Your mind is your own enemy.
What if one day something tips you over the edge or something brushes you wrong?
Will you become a monster then? Will you truly lose your humanity?
Youâll do everything in your power to prevent the worst from occurring. You just hope that the day never comes that the impulse outways your logic.
God have mercy on all the day that occurs.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Disguise Self, Alter Self, Transmutation, and so on. You hadnât picked one yet.
You at least know that this isnât an illusion spell, like Disguise Self. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either.
So that doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre here for the ride it seems. Youâre going to have to make the best with what you have and be a quick learner. Youâre a human now...so you can try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly how you envisioned it to become...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isnât thin and soft.
You twist your arms around and flex your muscles, watching the minimal amount that is exposed out from under the moss cloak shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
Your fingers trail along your face to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally feels like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head.
What does your face look like? WAIT, WHAT DO YOU LOOK LIKE?!!
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how you can manipulate it into your hands.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still peaking at the sun through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât a perk you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was only so it could help you during PvPs. Any player could do that.
Either way, you know you can use your vision to look through your dominant hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
Your voice! Itâs only masculine now! The second feminine voice is absent from your vocals! And when was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over a decade ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village but itâs not a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so you donât see the need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both to want this new form to keep hold.
As your hand hoovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth. Rather, it riverates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
So, technically, youâre not human but rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
You drop your hands to pull your moss cloak securely back on your shoulders, looking out ahead of you to the small party you approach.
The figures are more so distinguishable now and youâre no doubt the same to them, noting their stances to face your location as well as muffled noises progressively getting clearer. One of the figures breaks away from the other two and speeds away on their steed the opposite direction of you, as if the devil is on their tail...
That's odd... Why are they going the other way like that? You don't think they saw you changing unless you're right about them possessing something to extend their sight! Oh God, what if that's the case?! Then your new look would be worthless if they already know your true nature!!
Your heart drops like your hope in collecting info from the people ahead.
Will you have to convince them with magic from the get go?!...
But then why aren't the other two running? Why would one leave and the rest stay?
Is it because there's one horse among them? Surely, if they were trying to run away, all of them or, at the very least, two could've piled on the horse's back... But no. The two aren't running, remaining in place as you steadily make your way to them.
So why did one run and two stay? Do the two think they can face you? If so, does the facing you mean talking or fighting?
"Tsk!" You roughly pound your chest to simmer the heat that flares up.
NO! You need info. Bite that feeling back. You can't be certain that's their intention...
But if they think they can fight you, wouldn't there be better chances for three to remain instead of two? Why would one leave... What does this remind you of?...
Mobs isolated alone in a pair...out in the middle of nowhere...together until you were spotted...then broke apart-
Wait-WAIT! Are they scouts?!
The one riding away must be reporting to a larger body that you're near!!! What are they reporting though?!
A-are you stumbling onto a place you shouldn't be?! Are they reporting on the sighting of the new you or the avatar you?! Oh fuck. You just wanted some directions at the very least! What will happen if they report on you?! Will they try to capture or kill you?! If they wanted you to leave they could've run up to you and sent you away but instead they're reporting you. That means they intend on interacting if you continue on your path and will likely chase you if you turn to run!
"S-shit!" The hiss is low and rumbles in panic.
What should you do?! Should you stop the rider?! If they're reporting on your avatar's appearance then that could be a huge blow to your cover. You're already trying to run away from a village who despises monsters. You only assume they think the same! Not to mention how fast the rider is making their horse run away! Why else would you force your horse to run that quick unless to report a threat?!
But how would you stop them?! Yes, you have a plethora of choices to choose from to accomplish this but two thirds of the options end up with the three scouts dead. That would be a grave result since your intentions are to learn. You need what they or the group they're working for can offer. You're sure they do rounds as well. If you show up while three scouts go missing, that'll put you in hot water, considering if you're allowed to show up to this group.
Should you cut your losses and flee before they have the chance to react?! It's what you did at the village and, with Jewels, you're certain the two remaining can't chase you on foot to follow.
Giving her a firm pat against her neck you bite your lip.
However, that would mean abandoning the knowledge they carry... No, you can't abandon it. When will you luck out again to find people?! You could flee and return later with some cloaking buffs-but what about Jewels? You can't worry about her while you investigate the group-YOU DON'T HAVE THE TIME TO THINK ABOUT THIS!!!
S-should you continue as you are? Risk it and see where this leads?! T-they may have not seen your avatar and are just reporting you. You can see how this goes...and if it goes sour you can fight or flee. Both sound like a certainty if this group's intentions are hurtful to Jewel's and your well being.
You need to decide now how you'll act. The rider has made a considerable distance ahead and it's a short matter of time before their word reaches other's ears.
What will you do?
Silence them
Flee
Continue forward
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
1â†'2â†'4â†'9â†'106â†'98â†'112
Uh oh, maybe you should have figured out a human form earlier, before you ran into more peopleâ. Is it too late to hide your inhuman form? Who do you think are ahead to need scouts?
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LOST ROUTE 6:27
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what's left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shut down. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to avoid confrontation and flee the scene. With a horse at your side, you venture off into the unknown South East and take on the appearance of a young man when you encounter...
Chapter Notes
Yo, BBS here! I almost didn't make it to this update for a number of reasons but I bested the tides!!!
I was going to give you readers full customization over the appearance of your human form. Hair, eyes, skin tone, body shape, identifying marks, all that and more...and it added up to over 15,000 character designs. That would have meant I'd have to write 15k chapters and link them all together. That's not even the brunt of it. That many character designs were only for 1 path...and there are 12 paths so far for looks... I don't think A03 could handle 180k chapters in one update, not to mention being impossible for me to accomplish, despite my awesomeness.
I had to back pedal and have it so that the reader chose a form based solely off of what they've seen of people thus far. I believe it fits their goal: camouflaging into society as they try to grasp it. Hope your new appearance is satisfactory!
Additionally, this chapter was meant to be longer but the page count became too great and I had to cut it in half due to time constraints. Not to mention I did art work for these chapters! Applaud my supreme power and I hope y'all enjoy dis chapter!!!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœIâll go for a more feminine look.â You hum excitedly, eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new. Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to look like is the first step? To do that you need to draw inspiration from what you have seen from the men in the village you ran from.
They were all Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want to appear? Those men all had variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation. Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... That boy named Nate was tan and he seemed fine...even taking the lead in trying to find you.
You shouldnât make assumptions. He could have a very tough time being of a different tone than those he was with.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin? Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks of other races. It was more so humanoid NPCs who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether if it was of skin or class.
This left the majority of the remaining racist NPCs (the ones who couldnât respawn once killed) to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and vice versa. You guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother. Maybe they saw it as comical? You have no idea what went through some of their minds. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoid being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, exp, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you were slandered for not doing enough to help.
It was a hard time and it was impossible to stop all the players from PKing since it was a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into the game like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have an issue with non-humanoids to a certain degree, considering how those villagers were seeking to kill you if you were a monsterâ. Or was it just that village?
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you saw from that village...Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No, you canât be you. Yes, you do want to look like yourself but you canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more, it could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity.
The three you sense still remain as they are, for reasons you can only guess, so itâs a matter of time before they catch sight of you. You need to be set on a form soon.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you went as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are during this period.
An old woman on her own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain here. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are forty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any women during this time period are near your current towering seven feet, despite you not seeing any women yet. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot and a few inches sounds...reasonable? Five foot six is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. This is good.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV of bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar.
Next is hair. You haven't seen any women yet so you have to guess off of the people who you did see and the historical accounts of your world. None of the men were bald. Yes, some of the older men had bald spots but none were completely bald. That means you need hair. This goes in line with what you know of grooming for women in the dark ages, they kept their hair longer. Most people there had brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and the one with black hairâ. The longest their hair had been was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of their locks was either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, it was the longest you saw of the menâs hair in the village but this is probably the "shortest" that women can have. This gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later once you learn more.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they are available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural hair colors like the ones you saw until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only color youâre drawn to have now is gold blond or stark white.
Very oddâ.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold or white, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too.
This leaves you with golden hair-BLond hair, not gold. Blond as your choice.
âœAugh, okay. I should finish up envisioning the form Iâll take up. Iâm sure they can see my silhouette on the horizon by now. Hopefully, they donât have any item or spell that could extend their sight.â
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âœShut up. I need to finish up.â The grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections were jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait was their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, varied greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult. Is it the same for the women?
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consisted of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders.
You reach up an arm to scratch your neck, nodding as you decide your eye color should be-âœEh?â
What isâ
You twirl your fingers and you feel more of the stringy texture.
Hair...you feel hair!
Your eyes widen as you tug a strand of wavy hair out for you to blink at, your rosy lips forming an o.
Golden.
âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so proves that casting is different now. Then again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something youâve learned to become acquainted with throughout the day when youâd stop to make pools of water for Jewels to drink. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how you learned spells workâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, but not impossible. If it is fact, however, that can pose issues later down the line.
What if you do something you want to do that you shouldnât do? Lashing out for one is an impulse that you find hard to maintain for some reason and it scares you, especially when you feel threatened. Your mind goes someplace during those times and something...vile, hot, and...sick takes its place. Your mind is your own enemy.
What if one day something tips you over the edge or something brushes you wrong?
Will you become a monster then? Will you truly lose your humanity?
Youâll do everything in your power to prevent the worst from occurring. You just hope that the day never comes that the impulse outways your logic.
God have mercy on all the day that occurs.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Disguise Self, Alter Self, Transmutation, and so on. You hadnât picked one yet.
You at least know that this isnât an illusion spell, like Disguise Self. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either.
So that doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre here for the ride it seems. Youâre going to have to make the best with what you have and be a quick learner. Youâre a human now...so you can try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly how you envisioned it to become...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isnât thin and soft.
You twist your arms around and flex your muscles, watching the minimal amount that is exposed out from under the moss cloak shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
Your fingers trail along your face to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally feels like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head.
What does your face look like? WAIT, WHAT DO YOU LOOK LIKE?!!
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how you can manipulate it into your hands.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still peaking at the sun through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât a perk you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was only so it could help you during PvPs. Any player could do that.
Either way, you know you can use your vision to look through your dominant hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
Your voice! Itâs only feminine now! The second masculine voice is absent from your vocals! And when was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over a decade ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village but itâs not a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so you donât see the need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both to want this new form to keep hold.
As your hand hoovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth. Rather, it riverates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
So, technically, youâre not human but rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
You drop your hands to pull your moss cloak securely back on your shoulders, looking out ahead of you to the small party you approach.
The figures are more so distinguishable now and youâre no doubt the same to them, noting their stances to face your location as well as muffled noises progressively getting clearer. One of the figures breaks away from the other two and speeds away on their steed the opposite direction of you, as if the devil is on their tail...
That's odd... Why are they going the other way like that? You don't think they saw you changing unless you're right about them possessing something to extend their sight! Oh God, what if that's the case?! Then your new look would be worthless if they already know your true nature!!
Your heart drops like your hope in collecting info from the people ahead.
Will you have to convince them with magic from the get go?!...
But then why aren't the other two running? Why would one leave and the rest stay?
Is it because there's one horse among them? Surely, if they were trying to run away, all of them or, at the very least, two could've piled on the horse's back... But no. The two aren't running, remaining in place as you steadily make your way to them.
So why did one run and two stay? Do the two think they can face you? If so, does the facing you mean talking or fighting?
"Tsk!" You roughly pound your chest to simmer the heat that flares up.
NO! You need info. Bite that feeling back. You can't be certain that's their intention...
But if they think they can fight you, wouldn't there be better chances for three to remain instead of two? Why would one leave... What does this remind you of?...
Mobs isolated alone in a pair...out in the middle of nowhere...together until you were spotted...then broke apart-
Wait-WAIT! Are they scouts?!
The one riding away must be reporting to a larger body that you're near!!! What are they reporting though?!
A-are you stumbling onto a place you shouldn't be?! Are they reporting on the sighting of the new you or the avatar you?! Oh fuck. You just wanted some directions at the very least! What will happen if they report on you?! Will they try to capture or kill you?! If they wanted you to leave they could've run up to you and sent you away but instead they're reporting you. That means they intend on interacting if you continue on your path and will likely chase you if you turn to run!
"S-shit!" The hiss is low and rumbles in panic.
What should you do?! Should you stop the rider?! If they're reporting on your avatar's appearance then that could be a huge blow to your cover. You're already trying to run away from a village who despises monsters. You only assume they think the same! Not to mention how fast the rider is making their horse run away! Why else would you force your horse to run that quick unless to report a threat?!
But how would you stop them?! Yes, you have a plethora of choices to choose from to accomplish this but two thirds of the options end up with the three scouts dead. That would be a grave result since your intentions are to learn. You need what they or the group they're working for can offer. You're sure they do rounds as well. If you show up while three scouts go missing, that'll put you in hot water, considering if you're allowed to show up to this group.
Should you cut your losses and flee before they have the chance to react?! It's what you did at the village and, with Jewels, you're certain the two remaining can't chase you on foot to follow.
Giving her a firm pat against her neck you bite your lip.
However, that would mean abandoning the knowledge they carry... No, you can't abandon it. When will you luck out again to find people?! You could flee and return later with some cloaking buffs-but what about Jewels? You can't worry about her while you investigate the group-YOU DON'T HAVE THE TIME TO THINK ABOUT THIS!!!
S-should you continue as you are? Risk it and see where this leads?! T-they may have not seen your avatar and are just reporting you. You can see how this goes...and if it goes sour you can fight or flee. Both sound like a certainty if this group's intentions are hurtful to Jewel's and your well being.
You need to decide now how you'll act. The rider has made a considerable distance ahead and it's a short matter of time before their word reaches other's ears.
What will you do?
Silence them
Flee
Continue forward
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
1â†'2â†'4â†'9â†'106â†'98â†'113
Uh oh, maybe you should have figured out a human form earlier, before you ran into more peopleâ. Is it too late to hide your inhuman form? Who do you think are ahead to need scouts?
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Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what's left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shut down. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to avoid confrontation and flee the scene. With a horse at your side, you venture off into the unknown South East and take on the appearance of a young man when you encounter...
Chapter Notes
Yo, BBS here! I almost didn't make it to this update for a number of reasons but I bested the tides!!!
I was going to give you readers full customization over the appearance of your human form. Hair, eyes, skin tone, body shape, identifying marks, all that and more...and it added up to over 15,000 character designs. That would have meant I'd have to write 15k chapters and link them all together. That's not even the brunt of it. That many character designs were only for 1 path...and there are 12 paths so far for looks... I don't think A03 could handle 180k chapters in one update, not to mention being impossible for me to accomplish, despite my awesomeness.
I had to back pedal and have it so that the reader chose a form based solely off of what they've seen of people thus far. I believe it fits their goal: camouflaging into society as they try to grasp it. Hope your new appearance is satisfactory!
Additionally, this chapter was meant to be longer but the page count became too great and I had to cut it in half due to time constraints. Not to mention I did art work for these chapters! Applaud my supreme power and I hope y'all enjoy dis chapter!!!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœIâll go for a more masculine look.â You hum excitedly, eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new. Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to look like is the first step? To do that you need to draw inspiration from what you have seen from the men in the village you ran from.
They were all Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want to appear? Those men all had variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation. Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... That boy named Nate was tan and he seemed fine...even taking the lead in trying to find you.
You shouldnât make assumptions. He could have a very tough time being of a different tone than those he was with.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin? Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks of other races. It was more so humanoid NPCs who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether if it was of skin or class.
This left the majority of the remaining racist NPCs (the ones who couldnât respawn once killed) to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and vice versa. You guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother. Maybe they saw it as comical? You have no idea what went through some of their minds. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoid being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, exp, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you were slandered for not doing enough to help.
It was a hard time and it was impossible to stop all the players from PKing since it was a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into the game like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have an issue with non-humanoids to a certain degree, considering how those villagers were seeking to kill you if you were a monsterâ. Or was it just that village?
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you saw from that village...Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No, you canât be you. Yes, you do want to look like yourself but you canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more, it could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity.
The three you sense still remain as they are, for reasons you can only guess, so itâs a matter of time before they catch sight of you. You need to be set on a form soon.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you went as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are during this period.
An old man on his own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain here. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are forty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any men during this time period are near your current towering seven feet. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot sounds...reasonable? Six feet is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. This is good.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV of bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar.
Next is hair. None of the men were bald. Yes, some of the older men had bald spots but none were completely bald. That means you need hair. Most people there had brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and the one with black hairâ. None of them seemed to have long hair beyond the door to the barn so you suspect that short hair might be the norm. The longest their hair had been was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of their locks was either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, it was the longest you saw of the menâs hair in the village but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later.
Should you have facial hair? Some of the older men had mustaches and beards...but youâre aiming to appear as an early twenty-year-old. All of the younger men had clean-shaven complectionsâso youâll stick to that code.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they are available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural hair colors like the ones you saw until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only color youâre drawn to have now is gold blond or stark white.
Very oddâ.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold or white, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too.
This leaves you with golden hair-BLond hair, not gold. Blond as your choice.
âœAugh, okay. I should finish up envisioning the form Iâll take up. Iâm sure they can see my silhouette on the horizon by now. Hopefully, they donât have any item or spell that could extend their sight.â
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âœShut up. I need to finish up.â The grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections were jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait was their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, varied greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consisted of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders.
You reach up an arm to scratch your neck, nodding as you decide your eye color should be-âœEh?â
What isâ
You twirl your fingers and you feel more of the stringy texture.
Hair...you feel hair!
Your eyes widen as you tug a strand of wavy hair out for you to blink at, your rosy lips forming an o.
Golden.
âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so proves that casting is different now. Then again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something youâve learned to become acquainted with throughout the day when youâd stop to make pools of water for Jewels to drink. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how you learned spells workâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, but not impossible. If it is fact, however, that can pose issues later down the line.
What if you do something you want to do that you shouldnât do? Lashing out for one is an impulse that you find hard to maintain for some reason and it scares you, especially when you feel threatened. Your mind goes someplace during those times and something...vile, hot, and...sick takes its place. Your mind is your own enemy.
What if one day something tips you over the edge or something brushes you wrong?
Will you become a monster then? Will you truly lose your humanity?
Youâll do everything in your power to prevent the worst from occurring. You just hope that the day never comes that the impulse outways your logic.
God have mercy on all the day that occurs.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Disguise Self, Alter Self, Transmutation, and so on. You hadnât picked one yet.
You at least know that this isnât an illusion spell, like Disguise Self. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either.
So that doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre here for the ride it seems. Youâre going to have to make the best with what you have and be a quick learner. Youâre a human now...so you can try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly how you envisioned it to become...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isnât thin and soft.
You twist your arms around and flex your muscles, watching the minimal amount that is exposed out from under the moss cloak shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
Your fingers trail along your face to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally feels like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head.
What does your face look like? WAIT, WHAT DO YOU LOOK LIKE?!!
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how you can manipulate it into your hands.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still peaking at the sun through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât a perk you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was only so it could help you during PvPs. Any player could do that.
Either way, you know you can use your vision to look through your dominant hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
Your voice! Itâs only masculine now! The second feminine voice is absent from your vocals! And when was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over a decade ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village but itâs not a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so you donât see the need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both to want this new form to keep hold.
As your hand hoovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth. Rather, it riverates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
So, technically, youâre not human but rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
You drop your hands to pull your moss cloak securely back on your shoulders, looking out ahead of you to the small party you approach.
The figures are more so distinguishable now and youâre no doubt the same to them, noting their stances to face your location as well as muffled noises progressively getting clearer. One of the figures breaks away from the other two and speeds away on their steed the opposite direction of you, as if the devil is on their tail...
That's odd... Why are they going the other way like that? You don't think they saw you changing unless you're right about them possessing something to extend their sight! Oh God, what if that's the case?! Then your new look would be worthless if they already know your true nature!!
Your heart drops like your hope in collecting info from the people ahead.
Will you have to convince them with magic from the get go?!...
But then why aren't the other two running? Why would one leave and the rest stay?
Is it because there's one horse among them? Surely, if they were trying to run away, all of them or, at the very least, two could've piled on the horse's back... But no. The two aren't running, remaining in place as you steadily make your way to them.
So why did one run and two stay? Do the two think they can face you? If so, does the facing you mean talking or fighting?
"Tsk!" You roughly pound your chest to simmer the heat that flares up.
NO! You need info. Bite that feeling back. You can't be certain that's their intention...
But if they think they can fight you, wouldn't there be better chances for three to remain instead of two? Why would one leave... What does this remind you of?...
Mobs isolated alone in a pair...out in the middle of nowhere...together until you were spotted...then broke apart-
Wait-WAIT! Are they scouts?!
The one riding away must be reporting to a larger body that you're near!!! What are they reporting though?!
A-are you stumbling onto a place you shouldn't be?! Are they reporting on the sighting of the new you or the avatar you?! Oh fuck. You just wanted some directions at the very least! What will happen if they report on you?! Will they try to capture or kill you?! If they wanted you to leave they could've run up to you and sent you away but instead they're reporting you. That means they intend on interacting if you continue on your path and will likely chase you if you turn to run!
"S-shit!" The hiss is low and rumbles in panic.
What should you do?! Should you stop the rider?! If they're reporting on your avatar's appearance then that could be a huge blow to your cover. You're already trying to run away from a village who despises monsters. You only assume they think the same! Not to mention how fast the rider is making their horse run away! Why else would you force your horse to run that quick unless to report a threat?!
But how would you stop them?! Yes, you have a plethora of choices to choose from to accomplish this but two thirds of the options end up with the three scouts dead. That would be a grave result since your intentions are to learn. You need what they or the group they're working for can offer. You're sure they do rounds as well. If you show up while three scouts go missing, that'll put you in hot water, considering if you're allowed to show up to this group.
Should you cut your losses and flee before they have the chance to react?! It's what you did at the village and, with Jewels, you're certain the two remaining can't chase you on foot to follow.
Giving her a firm pat against her neck you bite your lip.
However, that would mean abandoning the knowledge they carry... No, you can't abandon it. When will you luck out again to find people?! You could flee and return later with some cloaking buffs-but what about Jewels? You can't worry about her while you investigate the group-YOU DON'T HAVE THE TIME TO THINK ABOUT THIS!!!
S-should you continue as you are? Risk it and see where this leads?! T-they may have not seen your avatar and are just reporting you. You can see how this goes...and if it goes sour you can fight or flee. Both sound like a certainty if this group's intentions are hurtful to Jewel's and your well being.
You need to decide now how you'll act. The rider has made a considerable distance ahead and it's a short matter of time before their word reaches other's ears.
What will you do?
Silence them
Flee
Continue forward
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
1â†'2â†'4â†'9â†'106â†'99â†'114
Uh oh, maybe you should have figured out a human form earlier, before you ran into more peopleâ. Is it too late to hide your inhuman form? Who do you think are ahead to need scouts?
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LOST ROUTE 6:29
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what's left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shut down. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to avoid confrontation and flee the scene. With a horse at your side, you venture off into the unknown South East and take on the appearance of a young woman when you encounter...
Chapter Notes
Yo, BBS here! I almost didn't make it to this update for a number of reasons but I bested the tides!!!
I was going to give you readers full customization over the appearance of your human form. Hair, eyes, skin tone, body shape, identifying marks, all that and more...and it added up to over 15,000 character designs. That would have meant I'd have to write 15k chapters and link them all together. That's not even the brunt of it. That many character designs were only for 1 path...and there are 12 paths so far for looks... I don't think A03 could handle 180k chapters in one update, not to mention being impossible for me to accomplish, despite my awesomeness.
I had to back pedal and have it so that the reader chose a form based solely off of what they've seen of people thus far. I believe it fits their goal: camouflaging into society as they try to grasp it. Hope your new appearance is satisfactory!
Additionally, this chapter was meant to be longer but the page count became too great and I had to cut it in half due to time constraints. Not to mention I did art work for these chapters! Applaud my supreme power and I hope y'all enjoy dis chapter!!!
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âœIâll go for a more feminine look.â You hum excitedly, eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new. Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to look like is the first step? To do that you need to draw inspiration from what you have seen from the men in the village you ran from.
They were all Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want to appear? Those men all had variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation. Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... That boy named Nate was tan and he seemed fine...even taking the lead in trying to find you.
You shouldnât make assumptions. He could have a very tough time being of a different tone than those he was with.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin? Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks of other races. It was more so humanoid NPCs who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether if it was of skin or class.
This left the majority of the remaining racist NPCs (the ones who couldnât respawn once killed) to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and vice versa. You guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother. Maybe they saw it as comical? You have no idea what went through some of their minds. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoid being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, exp, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you were slandered for not doing enough to help.
It was a hard time and it was impossible to stop all the players from PKing since it was a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into the game like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have an issue with non-humanoids to a certain degree, considering how those villagers were seeking to kill you if you were a monsterâ. Or was it just that village?
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you saw from that village...Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No, you canât be you. Yes, you do want to look like yourself but you canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more, it could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity.
The three you sense still remain as they are, for reasons you can only guess, so itâs a matter of time before they catch sight of you. You need to be set on a form soon.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you went as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are during this period.
An old woman on her own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain here. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are forty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any women during this time period are near your current towering seven feet, despite you not seeing any women yet. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot and a few inches sounds...reasonable? Five foot six is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. This is good.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV of bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar.
Next is hair. You haven't seen any women yet so you have to guess off of the people who you did see and the historical accounts of your world. None of the men were bald. Yes, some of the older men had bald spots but none were completely bald. That means you need hair. This goes in line with what you know of grooming for women in the dark ages, they kept their hair longer. Most people there had brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and the one with black hairâ. The longest their hair had been was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of their locks was either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, it was the longest you saw of the menâs hair in the village but this is probably the "shortest" that women can have. This gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later once you learn more.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they are available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural hair colors like the ones you saw until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only color youâre drawn to have now is gold blond or stark white.
Very oddâ.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold or white, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too.
This leaves you with golden hair-BLond hair, not gold. Blond as your choice.
âœAugh, okay. I should finish up envisioning the form Iâll take up. Iâm sure they can see my silhouette on the horizon by now. Hopefully, they donât have any item or spell that could extend their sight.â
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âœShut up. I need to finish up.â The grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections were jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait was their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, varied greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult. Is it the same for the women?
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consisted of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders.
You reach up an arm to scratch your neck, nodding as you decide your eye color should be-âœEh?â
What isâ
You twirl your fingers and you feel more of the stringy texture.
Hair...you feel hair!
Your eyes widen as you tug a strand of wavy hair out for you to blink at, your rosy lips forming an o.
Golden.
âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so proves that casting is different now. Then again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something youâve learned to become acquainted with throughout the day when youâd stop to make pools of water for Jewels to drink. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how you learned spells workâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, but not impossible. If it is fact, however, that can pose issues later down the line.
What if you do something you want to do that you shouldnât do? Lashing out for one is an impulse that you find hard to maintain for some reason and it scares you, especially when you feel threatened. Your mind goes someplace during those times and something...vile, hot, and...sick takes its place. Your mind is your own enemy.
What if one day something tips you over the edge or something brushes you wrong?
Will you become a monster then? Will you truly lose your humanity?
Youâll do everything in your power to prevent the worst from occurring. You just hope that the day never comes that the impulse outways your logic.
God have mercy on all the day that occurs.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Disguise Self, Alter Self, Transmutation, and so on. You hadnât picked one yet.
You at least know that this isnât an illusion spell, like Disguise Self. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either.
So that doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre here for the ride it seems. Youâre going to have to make the best with what you have and be a quick learner. Youâre a human now...so you can try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly how you envisioned it to become...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isnât thin and soft.
You twist your arms around and flex your muscles, watching the minimal amount that is exposed out from under the moss cloak shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
Your fingers trail along your face to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally feels like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head.
What does your face look like? WAIT, WHAT DO YOU LOOK LIKE?!!
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how you can manipulate it into your hands.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still peaking at the sun through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât a perk you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was only so it could help you during PvPs. Any player could do that.
Either way, you know you can use your vision to look through your dominant hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
Your voice! Itâs only feminine now! The second masculine voice is absent from your vocals! And when was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over a decade ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village but itâs not a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so you donât see the need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both to want this new form to keep hold.
As your hand hoovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth. Rather, it riverates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
So, technically, youâre not human but rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
You drop your hands to pull your moss cloak securely back on your shoulders, looking out ahead of you to the small party you approach.
The figures are more so distinguishable now and youâre no doubt the same to them, noting their stances to face your location as well as muffled noises progressively getting clearer. One of the figures breaks away from the other two and speeds away on their steed the opposite direction of you, as if the devil is on their tail...
That's odd... Why are they going the other way like that? You don't think they saw you changing unless you're right about them possessing something to extend their sight! Oh God, what if that's the case?! Then your new look would be worthless if they already know your true nature!!
Your heart drops like your hope in collecting info from the people ahead.
Will you have to convince them with magic from the get go?!...
But then why aren't the other two running? Why would one leave and the rest stay?
Is it because there's one horse among them? Surely, if they were trying to run away, all of them or, at the very least, two could've piled on the horse's back... But no. The two aren't running, remaining in place as you steadily make your way to them.
So why did one run and two stay? Do the two think they can face you? If so, does the facing you mean talking or fighting?
"Tsk!" You roughly pound your chest to simmer the heat that flares up.
NO! You need info. Bite that feeling back. You can't be certain that's their intention...
But if they think they can fight you, wouldn't there be better chances for three to remain instead of two? Why would one leave... What does this remind you of?...
Mobs isolated alone in a pair...out in the middle of nowhere...together until you were spotted...then broke apart-
Wait-WAIT! Are they scouts?!
The one riding away must be reporting to a larger body that you're near!!! What are they reporting though?!
A-are you stumbling onto a place you shouldn't be?! Are they reporting on the sighting of the new you or the avatar you?! Oh fuck. You just wanted some directions at the very least! What will happen if they report on you?! Will they try to capture or kill you?! If they wanted you to leave they could've run up to you and sent you away but instead they're reporting you. That means they intend on interacting if you continue on your path and will likely chase you if you turn to run!
"S-shit!" The hiss is low and rumbles in panic.
What should you do?! Should you stop the rider?! If they're reporting on your avatar's appearance then that could be a huge blow to your cover. You're already trying to run away from a village who despises monsters. You only assume they think the same! Not to mention how fast the rider is making their horse run away! Why else would you force your horse to run that quick unless to report a threat?!
But how would you stop them?! Yes, you have a plethora of choices to choose from to accomplish this but two thirds of the options end up with the three scouts dead. That would be a grave result since your intentions are to learn. You need what they or the group they're working for can offer. You're sure they do rounds as well. If you show up while three scouts go missing, that'll put you in hot water, considering if you're allowed to show up to this group.
Should you cut your losses and flee before they have the chance to react?! It's what you did at the village and, with Jewels, you're certain the two remaining can't chase you on foot to follow.
Giving her a firm pat against her neck you bite your lip.
However, that would mean abandoning the knowledge they carry... No, you can't abandon it. When will you luck out again to find people?! You could flee and return later with some cloaking buffs-but what about Jewels? You can't worry about her while you investigate the group-YOU DON'T HAVE THE TIME TO THINK ABOUT THIS!!!
S-should you continue as you are? Risk it and see where this leads?! T-they may have not seen your avatar and are just reporting you. You can see how this goes...and if it goes sour you can fight or flee. Both sound like a certainty if this group's intentions are hurtful to Jewel's and your well being.
You need to decide now how you'll act. The rider has made a considerable distance ahead and it's a short matter of time before their word reaches other's ears.
What will you do?
Silence them
Flee
Continue forward
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
1â†'2â†'4â†'9â†'106â†'99â†'115
Uh oh, maybe you should have figured out a human form earlier, before you ran into more peopleâ. Is it too late to hide your inhuman form? Who do you think are ahead to need scouts?
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LOST ROUTE 6:30
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what's left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shut down. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to avoid confrontation and flee the scene. With a horse at your side, you venture off into the unknown Southâ
Chapter Notes
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Eleven AM the previous day
Three riders make their way across the plains, set on a goal of retrieval. A sense of injustice and the need for survival fuels the fire of their anger which pushes them forward on their search.
Itâs been one thing after anotherâ.it always has been since their village is situated near Tob. But now, with the loss of some of their assets and livestock, they canât let this go. They and their loved onesâ lives are at stake from the loss! Their barnhouse, punctured. The goods stored in the location that was torn through, shredded. Worst of all, the black dust sprouts, one of their largest assets for income, eaten by pigs which, in turn, poisoned and killed them. To top it all off, the fucker responsible for the whole ordeal ran off with one of their workhorses while laughing his ass off!
If they canât make up for whatâs destroyed, many members of Bourn will be sold as slaves to make up the gap!
The young man grits his teeth as he leads his close brothers in arms on the path where one who caused all this mess is thought to have gone.
No one was able to see what the shithead looked like, all thanks to the cloak they wore, but heâs determined to find out exactly who the asshole is to make him pay. Better to sell a criminal to the dealers than children. Give them exactly who was responsible for destroying their drugs, sparing the rest of Bourn from their wrath.
âœPsh!â Like thatâd happen! Money is the most important thing to those leeches. Giving dealers the guy responsible wonât match the coin difference. Sure, theyâll have a punching bag, but he knows that wonât cut it. Plus, the more beat up the guy is when they hand him over, the less heâll be worth.
âœTsk!â Heâd love to knock the ever-loving sense into the fucker dragging everyone through this shit until the guyâs nothing but a bloody pulp. Though, thereâs nothing wrong with being a little rough when catching the guy, right? The thief is going to resist anyway. Might as well take his frustration out when heâs given the chance to.
âœThe stream expands ahead. Do you guys think the thief took a rest there?â Liam points out and Vance hums in reply.
âœItâs worth a check. Thereâs foliage to act as proper coverage. We may see more hints to where they went. If thereâs more of those flowers weâll know for sure.â
âœPlus, we need to take a break ourselves. Weâve been riding for hours now at a hurried pace. The horses canât continue like this.â
âœI fucking know!!â Nate curses, âœBut every minute wasted is more time for the asshole to getaway! Thank their stupidity that they stuck to the river and left a trail for us to follow. Otherwise, we may not have this chance to get back some of what we lost. Who knows what else the guy took other than our horse!â
âœDo you think he was after the black dust?â
âœIt doesnât matter if he was or not! We canât risk him spilling the word that Bourn cultivates that shit! Weâd all be as good as dead. Weâd be on the run from not only the dealers and who they work for but the whole Re-Estize militia!! Weâd lose our markers as Adventurers if they grab hold of us! We, and many others, will rot in a cell for the next few years! Hopefully, the fucker who caused this mess was stupid enough not to notice the sprouts if thatâs not what he was after.â
âœI highly doubt that.â Vanceâs eyes drift to his livid friend. âœThey broke into the only area where we hid the sprouts.â
âœI fucking know that!! Itâs why we need to get a hold of this guy!! We need to find out how he knew of it! I highly doubt one of our own spilled the teaâ. What do you guys think?!â
âœCould it have been a passerby or visitor?â Liam suggests. âœWe get them every so often. Maybe one of them noticed us packing them away?â
âœPlausible but unlikelyâ Vance counters. âœWe havenât had that type of company for a while, especially since our village does most of the herb and hunting ourselves. And the crops are hidden in the middle of our fields. No outsider would have seen us harvesting them to know what we were packing away in the first place. Itâs more likely that they overheard a conversation.â
âœBut no oneâs supposed to talk about it openly.â
âœIt might have not been an open one. Private talks can be overheardâhowever, I do know the names of a few within our fold who have issues with their loose lipsâespecially after a drink or so-â
âœAnd look where those fucking gossipers got us! I swear, if I donât get to sink my boot in this thiefâs hide, itâll be them that-â
âœNate, I said itâs more likely that this is what happened, not that it did. No one has been to our village latelyâ. It might not be the fault of anyone in Bourn either. There couldâve been a leak of information on the dealersâ end which led to this. Thereâs no way of telling. Thereâs only one way to resolve this.â
The two young men agree with Vanceâs statement as they slow to a halt near the small cove provided by shrubbery. Immediately, they direct the horses to the pond for a drink before they start looking for clues to the thiefâs presenceâ.
â.
â.
â.
But, after a thorough search, not a single flower was found.
âœGod damn it!â Nate kicks a couple of stones out into the pond, dejected by lack of trail. âœNothingâ.â
âœH-hey, maybe they didnât stop here?â Liam reasons as he picks up a stone to toss into the pond next to his furious friend. âœThey couldâve continued further. They took short breaks before this, telling from the patches of flowers along the stream, s-so they probably didnât need rest.â
âœBut the horse would have needed itâ. Fuck! They could've branched off of the stream at some point! If they have thereâd be no way weâd be able to tell! The prints were near impossible to track with the grass in the way and the speed we were going at! The only thing we could follow were those patches of flowers they leave around! Has anyone heard of a dude leaving flowers around?! So stupidâ. This is stupidâ. Fucking stupidâ.â
âœWe still have the rest of the day to pick up the trail again! A-and hey,â Liam places a hand on Nateâs shoulder, squeezing slightly when he doesnât stop muttering stupid, âœif we canât find a lead weâll put out a report at the guild of a description-â
Nate pushes Liamâs hand away. âœAnd say what?! We donât have a description of the shithead!â
âœH-he has a large figure and a cloak made of plants! Isnât that a unique description enough? Especially considering they leave these around where they go.â With the same hand Nate shoved away, Liam holds up a tussle of colorful wildflowers taken from one of the thiefâs patches.
He takes a sharp step away from the young man with a deepening of his scowl. âœGet those the hell away from me! They attract bugs! Plus, looking at those weeds gets me pissed!â
âœYouâre already pissed.â Vance counters, overlooking their horses as they nibble on the grass underneath the tree excitedly.
âœShut up! Who wouldnât be?! I know you all are! We're all, in more than one way, fucked!!!â
Nate huffs while Liam tucks away the flowers to not bother his friend more than he already has. âœAnd Donny has a unique look too. I havenât seen many horses with eyes like hers. Weâll report her stolen along with the vandal. That way the guild and the guard will be on the lookout for both of them. If they keep heading down the stream theyâll run into E-Rantel after going through Wader. Where else would they be going except the capital if theyâre following the stream?â
âœThat is if they havenât gone another direction! Neither flowers nor prints here.â
âœWeâll continue down the stream for a bit to see if there are any signs of them.â Vance flicks his gaze to the South West. âœIf thereâs nothing weâll backtrack to check for any more signs. If the worst comes to shove and we lose them-â âœThe hell we will!â âœ-then, if we're quick enough to go back to Bourn before the carriage is sent away, weâll do what Liam said and file a formal report on them when we go to E-Rantel for supplies.â Vance continued despite Nateâs interruption. âœIf we say crops were damaged, omitting the sprouts, Bourn may receive some relief aid since weâre a frontier village and one of the only ones that do our own work with Tob. Albeit, it wonât be a lot. Iâd be surprised if they give us enough to replace the roof...â
The three fall into silence, sulking in their hopeless situation but all clinging to their goal, their hopeâ.
That they find their culprit soonâ. And that they make him payâ.
â—
âœThereâs once a maaan, a very strange nâ foreboooding maaan.
Draped with crooked shadow, twisted claw, his eyes beadyyy nâ looong.â
Your singing isnât the best. Hell, you think you're be terrible as you miss certain pitches that the song should have but itâs filling your boring travels with some nostalgia and a little bit of fun. Youâd gotten the idea to start singing nearly two hours ago. And what other songs should you sing other than ones from Yggdrasil since youâre stuck in your avatar?
Players would oftentimes turn off musical ambiance to prevent other sensory noises from escaping their senses, not that that included the bards, one of the few NPCs that had audio voice lines. Maybe you shouldnât sing since youâre technically distracting yourselfâ.
But youâre so boooored. Your brain needs some type of stimulation other than just looking around. Yes, you love the sights, but youâve been doing that almost nonstop for over a day now with nothing new. Besides, you quite enjoy a few of the songs that youâd chosen to sing over the past hours.
âœAnd then one niiight, one tragic night tis where it aaall begaaan,
Of how he parted his maw, baited call, starting this haaunting sooong:â
The current song of choice is titled âœVampire Queen.â Itâs dark but it has an upbeat vibe you quite enjoy. A jazzy feel that you could dance to if you were in the mood. However, you merely stick to exaggerated movements limited by your seated position on Jewelsâ back. Thankfully, it doesnât seem she has any protest to your singing so you continued while sticking to your plans on searching for literally anything new at this point.
A neat thing you learned though, through your singing, is that you can regulate your voices so that one can stand out above the other or continue harmonizing them. With this next chorus, you deepen your pitch so the masculine tone can stand out more.
âœOhhh~ Listen here, ye vile throng oâ ghouls, spirits, nâ dea-heh-head!
For Iâve a taaale! A tale many a sane, scream and hide, to this bloodyyy deliiight!â
A few birds catch your attention for a moment as they flutter by on their merry way.
Birds...huh.
When was the last time you saw a bird flying across the sky so spirited in the real world?... When was the last time youâve seen birds at all? Years ago, it seems. Nothing lives long in the smogâ
These seem like little brown birds, flapping and flowing forth further and free against the bright of the sky as if basking in its brilliance.
âœCast the pints nâ take your fill oâ wine nâ ale, the crimson mea-heh-head!
Ohh~ Take your piiiint, for without, you wonât make it throoough the friiight!â
You watch from below as the little feathery creatures elevate and spiral in the space above...If only you could be that free feeling. You, instead, feel like a...skittish beast. Why is it that birds bring such awe with their very visage while Oh HO! Vicious threats and violence at the mere verbiage of a monster?
âœFor tis the taaale, the horrid tale of the vampire queeeen.
From under her wing, cold and tight, her crown driiips witâ the bliiight!â
You wave your cloak in front of you like a stereotypical vampire would, trying to keep the cheery atmosphere going.
Your appearance will be the cause of many problems in the future if you donât do something about it. You donât know how similar this world is to your game but humans, both there and here, donât seem open to inhuman beings. There are some locations and NPCs that welcome more walks of life but, since youâve only had one encounter with humans so far and one creature, youâre going to assume everywhere in this new world isnât going to be accepting of you.
How similar is this world to other races? Are there demi-humans? Heteromorphs like you? Do they exist here?
Hermmâthose villagers didnât give you any hints if there are. They called you a monster, albeit not directlyâthey mentioned something about Fae but thatâs it.
âœTowns of ash, ye sinners prance, oâ no survivors to be seeeen!
Ohh, something wicked's happeniiing toniiight~â
Whatever the case, this doesnât mean this place is entirely like Earthâs medieval age. Magic only adds to the fact that youâre in a new world and did not time travel to the past. Although there are historical novels that pointed to mythical or supernatural things that had occurred, those were all fairy tales with no solid proof of magic existing in the past. Plus, if you were only brought back in time, youâd still be in Japan. You can tell simply by the geography and the appearance of the village and villagers that this isnât Japanâ
But...that does raise a questionâ
Though youâre not in Japan or Earth...how could they speak the same language as you?
It could be the work of your perk All Tongue.
âœAh, actually, thatâd make sense.â You nod to your mindâs response before continuing with the musical number of the song.
âœDooo-de-dooo, do do-do do de do do-dooo,
Dooo-do-de-do de do-do-de, do-do-de, de do-do-de do dooo~â
All Tongue is a skill your avatar carries that allows you to understand any language in all forms. Itâs a perk thatâs more or less easy to obtain if youâre of the right factions or have enough dedication to put the time into gaining it. Completing mini-games and quests, studying Vernaculums of their type, combining perks of multiple tongues, racial or class perks, etcetera.
As for you, no work was needed on your part as it was designed into SÅsaku-shaâs racial perks as a Creator.
All Tongue must be working to translate this worldâs lexicon for your ears to hearâ You wonder what reading is going to be like for you now? In Yggdrasil, the text for runes, elven, gibberish, and what not would change depending on the settings youâve selected for the perk. You had it so that subtitles would appear because the engine for altering the text straight to your preferred language was sometimes janky, despite the animation being cool to watch.
This makes you want to read something all of a sudden...ah, if only you could only find a place not out to gut you the moment you set foot amongst the people. You want to see how your perk will work in this place.
âœHaha, but what do I sound like to others?â You halt your song for a second, poking your cheek curiously as you speak your mind to fill the sound of nature with your thoughts, âœDialogue within the game was a combination of text bubbles and command phrases. NPCs had more or less no auditory capabilities, except the few non-word quips and maybe an audio extension a player adds to their creations. Songs, however, didnât count for the bard and stationary NPCs implemented throughout the game. So, when speaking to them, it was merely selecting a conversation choice if it was an NPC that could converse. But the people I met earlier had no restraints on dialogue whatsoever and I understood all they said. But could they understand me?
âœAll Tongue would automatically translate the dialogue bubbles for uncommon tongues so that not only could players understand what the NPC was saying but then the response choices would expand for the NPC to understand the player. Essentially, the player and the NPC would be conversing in the NPCâs language.
âœSo, to those humans, if I spoke to them, would it be in their language? In my earsââ You flick the side of your head where they would be if you had ears still. âœ...I sound normal. But what do I sound like to others? Other than my voice being distorted...Herm...I mean...This voice does fit this avatar but why do I have this voice in particular and not my normal voice? I donât even use a voice box to change my voice, so whatâs up with this one? Is it because of the perk or is it because this body has taken a literal form? I think itâs the latterââ
You blow a raspberry with a pivot of your head to look around, not that it does much to help since your vision extends everywhere.
âœNevermind the voice...if I talk to two different people at the same time who speak different languages, what do I sound like to them? Is it the one Iâm directing my attention to who has my words translated or does it translate for both of them at the same time?
âœIf itâs the prior, Iâd have to be careful to be certain who Iâm speaking to...but thatâd be weird. How would I regulate that? What if I say something Iâm not directing toward them and they hear it. How would I explain that? But the latter would be even weirder. Would they both hear different things? What if Iâm speaking to one fellow who shouldnât be able to understand the language the other fellow speaks but understands me anyway. How would the other react to hearing me speak their dialect to someone who shouldnât be able to understand?
âœItâd prove that Iâm not a normal person...but I amââ Color pales on your palette but you soon shake your head to continue forth, âœYes, Iâm a normal person. A good person! Sometimes wacky but Iâm not a monster. I was...just mistakenââ
Why did you run then? Wouldn't an innocent person stay?
They made it clear that they were going to kill you even before you had a chance at possibly negotiating.
Were they? And even if they were, you'd almost acted out as a monster.
Those roaches would've deserved all that and more-
No, no. Letâs not go down that path of thinking again. Youâve been running in circles around the massacre which was last night and your shift of morals since, arguing and fussing about whatâs right and wrongâ. Youâre getting sick of it. Not to mention those relapses in memory undoubtedly caused by the stress of thinking about it.
Letâs focus on something elseâ
â.
â.
â.
âœDooo-de-dooo, do do-do do de do do-dooo,
Dooo-do-de-do de do-do-de, do-do-de, de do-do-de do dooo~â
â.
âœThereâs nothing thoughââ The grumble vibrates your chest in a growl. âœItâs so frustratingâ. Iâve been searching for two days now and still havenât found anything. I canât think about what Iâve found because anything I have found Iâd already evaluated time and time again...for hours now. Thereâs nothing new to add to the pile either since I havenât found anything else of interestâ I might as well be making a map of the world at this point. If only I had some type of utensil to write with then I could put those empty spell scrolls to some good useââ
But you donât have a surface to etch your journey on...plus you shouldnât waste your remaining spell scrolls for a janky map...not to mention strangely remembering everything your vision has collected for your brain to store thus far.
Itâs...odd. Youâre having relapses in your memory when you get too stressed but your memory of everything that has occurred to you since the fall has stayed crisp in your mind as if youâre...currently reliving every moment youâve had since being here.
If someone asked you to direct them back to the rock that has a crack in the form of a lightning bolt lining down its middle, youâd be able to TP them straight to it. The number of times bugs would land on you from the very first one on your trip. One, three, one, three, two, five, three, eight, seven, and so on. You can even recall what type of bugs they each were...what they looked like, where exactly they landed on you...as if they are still there with you.
You remember your wonder as you traveled across the plains...woke up this morning to Jewels kissing you again. The darkness of your dreamless sleep. The sunset the previous day. The number of clouds that passed overhead as the hours droned on. The number of times Jewels would slurp during those water breaks. You can feel the water too, from yesterday morning cool as it flowed over your skinâ.
You scratch at your neck again.
And this weird itch? Why do you keepâfeeling this itch on the back of your neck?...
This doesnât make any sense to you.
âœAugh...Iâm tired of thinking. Iâm going in circles again.â
But all you have is your thoughts. Thereâs nothing else you can do right now except keep looking.
âœUgh.â
â.
â.
â.
âœDaaa-de-daaa, da da-da da de da da-daaa,
Daaa-da-de-da de da-da-de, da-da-de, de da-da-de da daaa~â
â.
â.
âœBeee-da-leee, be be-be be da be be-leee,
Dooo-do-de-do de do-do-de, do-do-de, de do-do-de do dooo~â
â.
â.
âœIs that my only option? Keep looking?â
Well what else can you do?
âœI donât know! Something!â
What is this âsomethingâ then?
âœPsh! I just said I donât know!â
Well, make something up.
âœEasier said than done. I have nothing.â
Not true.
You stop rant just as your mind responds to your outer monologue. âœAH-Nuh durr, why didnât I consider my options better?!!â You throw your arms up in exasperation, flinging your hands in a dramatic flurry. âœI could have been testing out what powers and items I have instead of wasting the entire day reliving the past thirty four hours, forty-four minutes, and twenty-three seconds!!! HOW DO I KNOW EXACTLY HOW LONG ITâS BEEN SINCE IâVE BEEN DAMNED HERE?!!!â
The screech bellows out from your core, causing every living creature near you, besides Jewels who jumps, to suddenly flee as fast as they can from the source.
Youâre suddenly alone with your trusty steed.
âœ...oops...sorry.â You lament, regretful of your outburst, as your form slowly curls in on itself. You pat Jewelsâ side apologetically while you clutch your cloak tighter with your free hand, hanging your head solemnly . Your gaze remains focused on the sun while it basks the sky in its amazing blue.
â.
â.
Youâll never get tired of this worldâs skyâ.
â.
â.
â.
âœWhat do I do?...â Hardly audible, your chest doesnât even vibrate as the words leave you in a murmur. âœWhat...do...I...do?...do-de-do doââ
You could try testing out your skills, magic, or items further as you considered earlier. You had briefly checked what you maintained from Yggdrasil last night but not in-depth, you were too caught up in your thoughts to evaluate in proper detail. Just summarize whatâs available to youâ
Hermâ
What about the other things? Your physical, for one? Your strength and agility? You know you canât always rely on magic, itâd be foolish to think that. Should you instead focus on those factors?
â.
âœ*Sigh, but I should do what I can until my situation is resolved. Thatâs all I can do. So letâs see what we can study or use now before I continue. Maybe this is what I need for a breakthrough on...something.â
Something is better than nothing.
âœDamn straight.â Alright thenâ
What should you focus on?
My skills
My magic
My items
My physicality
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
1â†'2â†'4â†'9â†'21â†'100â†'116
Guess your paranoia paid off, it got hunters off your trailâ.but was it the right choice in the long run? Only time will tell~
As for your end choice, I'd personally choose physicality. I'd be too skittish to rely on something with no guarantee in reliability. I'd be in the mindset of a human and not trust my avatar's abilities since it's no longer a game, that their abilities are too alien for me to put in a real world scenario. What would you do though? Comment your thoughts below if youâd like!
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Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what's left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shut down. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to avoid confrontation and flee the scene. With a horse at your side, you venture off into the unknown Southâ
Chapter Notes
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
Eleven AM the previous day
Three riders make their way across the plains, set on a goal of retrieval. A sense of injustice and the need for survival fuels the fire of their anger which pushes them forward on their search.
Itâs been one thing after anotherâ.it always has been since their village is situated near Tob. But now, with the loss of some of their assets and livestock, they canât let this go. They and their loved onesâ lives are at stake from the loss! Their barnhouse, punctured. The goods stored in the location that was torn through, shredded. Worst of all, the black dust sprouts, one of their largest assets for income, eaten by pigs which, in turn, poisoned and killed them. To top it all off, the fucker responsible for the whole ordeal ran off with one of their workhorses while laughing his ass off!
If they canât make up for whatâs destroyed, many members of Bourn will be sold as slaves to make up the gap!
The young man grits his teeth as he leads his close brothers in arms on the path where one who caused all this mess is thought to have gone.
No one was able to see what the shithead looked like, all thanks to the cloak they wore, but heâs determined to find out exactly who the asshole is to make him pay. Better to sell a criminal to the dealers than children. Give them exactly who was responsible for destroying their drugs, sparing the rest of Bourn from their wrath.
âœPsh!â Like thatâd happen! Money is the most important thing to those leeches. Giving dealers the guy responsible wonât match the coin difference. Sure, theyâll have a punching bag, but he knows that wonât cut it. Plus, the more beat up the guy is when they hand him over, the less heâll be worth.
âœTsk!â Heâd love to knock the ever-loving sense into the fucker dragging everyone through this shit until the guyâs nothing but a bloody pulp. Though, thereâs nothing wrong with being a little rough when catching the guy, right? The thief is going to resist anyway. Might as well take his frustration out when heâs given the chance to.
âœThe stream expands ahead. Do you guys think the thief took a rest there?â Liam points out and Vance hums in reply.
âœItâs worth a check. Thereâs foliage to act as proper coverage. We may see more hints to where they went. If thereâs more of those flowers weâll know for sure.â
âœPlus, we need to take a break ourselves. Weâve been riding for hours now at a hurried pace. The horses canât continue like this.â
âœI fucking know!!â Nate curses, âœBut every minute wasted is more time for the asshole to getaway! Thank their stupidity that they stuck to the river and left a trail for us to follow. Otherwise, we may not have this chance to get back some of what we lost. Who knows what else the guy took other than our horse!â
âœDo you think he was after the black dust?â
âœIt doesnât matter if he was or not! We canât risk him spilling the word that Bourn cultivates that shit! Weâd all be as good as dead. Weâd be on the run from not only the dealers and who they work for but the whole Re-Estize militia!! Weâd lose our markers as Adventurers if they grab hold of us! We, and many others, will rot in a cell for the next few years! Hopefully, the fucker who caused this mess was stupid enough not to notice the sprouts if thatâs not what he was after.â
âœI highly doubt that.â Vanceâs eyes drift to his livid friend. âœThey broke into the only area where we hid the sprouts.â
âœI fucking know that!! Itâs why we need to get a hold of this guy!! We need to find out how he knew of it! I highly doubt one of our own spilled the teaâ. What do you guys think?!â
âœCould it have been a passerby or visitor?â Liam suggests. âœWe get them every so often. Maybe one of them noticed us packing them away?â
âœPlausible but unlikelyâ Vance counters. âœWe havenât had that type of company for a while, especially since our village does most of the herb and hunting ourselves. And the crops are hidden in the middle of our fields. No outsider would have seen us harvesting them to know what we were packing away in the first place. Itâs more likely that they overheard a conversation.â
âœBut no oneâs supposed to talk about it openly.â
âœIt might have not been an open one. Private talks can be overheardâhowever, I do know the names of a few within our fold who have issues with their loose lipsâespecially after a drink or so-â
âœAnd look where those fucking gossipers got us! I swear, if I donât get to sink my boot in this thiefâs hide, itâll be them that-â
âœNate, I said itâs more likely that this is what happened, not that it did. No one has been to our village latelyâ. It might not be the fault of anyone in Bourn either. There couldâve been a leak of information on the dealersâ end which led to this. Thereâs no way of telling. Thereâs only one way to resolve this.â
The two young men agree with Vanceâs statement as they slow to a halt near the small cove provided by shrubbery. Immediately, the sight in front of them brightens their demeanors considerably.
Wildflowers, made from the thief, completely cover the area.
"You were right, Liam! Looks like the bastard spent the night here! We're getting close to his tail!â Hopping off his horse, Nate starts his search for trails indicating which way the asshole went...
Resulting in naught.
"This is peculiar..." Vance hums, perplexed by the lack of horse tracks. "What could this mean? Did he part ways with the horse? He could've done so to get rid off any ties to Bourn..."
"Yes, but isn't it odd that there are only flower prints here? If they walked anywhere else then the flowers would've followed. However, they're isolated to this area" Liam peeps where he's crouched, looking over to the pond where the trail leads. "Is he walking through the water to hide them now?"
"No, that'd be too much work with little payoff. If he thinks we're following him, they wouldn't keep with the stream. Water slows speed. No, something else is amiss here... Could it be possible that he's covering his or the horse's tracks? I believe it may be the ladder. He'd risk being caught up to if he continued on foot and I don't believe he'd be making these flowers if he could prevent them from growing in the first place. It must be something to do with the horse tracks."
"How the fuck would he be able to cover horse tracks while riding it?!"
"W-well, I've heard of there being skills and spells that could do such." Liam answers and Vance continues, "And we are talking about someone who grows flowers where he walks. We're dealing with a magic caster here."
"Then how the hell are we supposed to tell where the bastard went?! He could've gone anywhere!"
"What we do know is that they've been heading away from Bourn, following this stream. If we can go off of that, then we can presume they've gone anywhere but North... We also know that these flower prints are caused by the thief's footsteps. If we can retrace them..."
"Then we can find out where he went!" Liam cheers and, before anyone can act, Nate stomps on the patches to follow Vance's guess.
It is a trial and error process, some paths harder to retrace than others, so it takes some time for the three to guide Nate where he should go next. Finally, after half an hour, Nate reaches a pivot spot and settles his feet where the thief had before looking up.
South.
The three fall into silence, smiling as they find hope in their situation, clinging to their goalâ.
That they find their culprit soonâ. And that they make him payâ.
â—
âœThereâs once a maaan, a very strange nâ foreboooding maaan.
Draped with crooked shadow, twisted claw, his eyes beadyyy nâ looong.â
Your singing isnât the best. Hell, you think you're be terrible as you miss certain pitches that the song should have but itâs filling your boring travels with some nostalgia and a little bit of fun. Youâd gotten the idea to start singing nearly two hours ago. And what other songs should you sing other than ones from Yggdrasil since youâre stuck in your avatar?
Players would oftentimes turn off musical ambiance to prevent other sensory noises from escaping their senses, not that that included the bards, one of the few NPCs that had audio voice lines. Maybe you shouldnât sing since youâre technically distracting yourselfâ.
But youâre so boooored. Your brain needs some type of stimulation other than just looking around. Yes, you love the sights, but youâve been doing that almost nonstop for over a day now with nothing new. Besides, you quite enjoy a few of the songs that youâd chosen to sing over the past hours.
âœAnd then one niiight, one tragic night tis where it aaall begaaan,
Of how he parted his maw, baited call, starting this haaunting sooong:â
The current song of choice is titled âœVampire Queen.â Itâs dark but it has an upbeat vibe you quite enjoy. A jazzy feel that you could dance to if you were in the mood. However, you merely stick to exaggerated movements limited by your seated position on Jewelsâ back. Thankfully, it doesnât seem she has any protest to your singing so you continued while sticking to your plans on searching for literally anything new at this point.
A neat thing you learned though, through your singing, is that you can regulate your voices so that one can stand out above the other or continue harmonizing them. With this next chorus, you deepen your pitch so the masculine tone can stand out more.
âœOhhh~ Listen here, ye vile throng oâ ghouls, spirits, nâ dea-heh-head!
For Iâve a taaale! A tale many a sane, scream and hide, to this bloodyyy deliiight!â
A few birds catch your attention for a moment as they flutter by on their merry way.
Birds...huh.
When was the last time you saw a bird flying across the sky so spirited in the real world?... When was the last time youâve seen birds at all? Years ago, it seems. Nothing lives long in the smogâ
These seem like little brown birds, flapping and flowing forth further and free against the bright of the sky as if basking in its brilliance.
âœCast the pints nâ take your fill oâ wine nâ ale, the crimson mea-heh-head!
Ohh~ Take your piiiint, for without, you wonât make it throoough the friiight!â
You watch from below as the little feathery creatures elevate and spiral in the space above...If only you could be that free feeling. You, instead, feel like a...skittish beast. Why is it that birds bring such awe with their very visage while Oh HO! Vicious threats and violence at the mere verbiage of a monster?
âœFor tis the taaale, the horrid tale of the vampire queeeen.
From under her wing, cold and tight, her crown driiips witâ the bliiight!â
You wave your cloak in front of you like a stereotypical vampire would, trying to keep the cheery atmosphere going.
Your appearance will be the cause of many problems in the future if you donât do something about it. You donât know how similar this world is to your game but humans, both there and here, donât seem open to inhuman beings. There are some locations and NPCs that welcome more walks of life but, since youâve only had one encounter with humans so far and one creature, youâre going to assume everywhere in this new world isnât going to be accepting of you.
How similar is this world to other races? Are there demi-humans? Heteromorphs like you? Do they exist here?
Hermmâthose villagers didnât give you any hints if there are. They called you a monster, albeit not directlyâthey mentioned something about Fae but thatâs it.
âœTowns of ash, ye sinners prance, oâ no survivors to be seeeen!
Ohh, something wicked's happeniiing toniiight~â
Whatever the case, this doesnât mean this place is entirely like Earthâs medieval age. Magic only adds to the fact that youâre in a new world and did not time travel to the past. Although there are historical novels that pointed to mythical or supernatural things that had occurred, those were all fairy tales with no solid proof of magic existing in the past. Plus, if you were only brought back in time, youâd still be in Japan. You can tell simply by the geography and the appearance of the village and villagers that this isnât Japanâ
But...that does raise a questionâ
Though youâre not in Japan or Earth...how could they speak the same language as you?
It could be the work of your perk All Tongue.
âœAh, actually, thatâd make sense.â You nod to your mindâs response before continuing with the musical number of the song.
âœDooo-de-dooo, do do-do do de do do-dooo,
Dooo-do-de-do de do-do-de, do-do-de, de do-do-de do dooo~â
All Tongue is a skill your avatar carries that allows you to understand any language in all forms. Itâs a perk thatâs more or less easy to obtain if youâre of the right factions or have enough dedication to put the time into gaining it. Completing mini-games and quests, studying Vernaculums of their type, combining perks of multiple tongues, racial or class perks, etcetera.
As for you, no work was needed on your part as it was designed into SÅsaku-shaâs racial perks as a Creator.
All Tongue must be working to translate this worldâs lexicon for your ears to hearâ You wonder what reading is going to be like for you now? In Yggdrasil, the text for runes, elven, gibberish, and what not would change depending on the settings youâve selected for the perk. You had it so that subtitles would appear because the engine for altering the text straight to your preferred language was sometimes janky, despite the animation being cool to watch.
This makes you want to read something all of a sudden...ah, if only you could only find a place not out to gut you the moment you set foot amongst the people. You want to see how your perk will work in this place.
âœHaha, but what do I sound like to others?â You halt your song for a second, poking your cheek curiously as you speak your mind to fill the sound of nature with your thoughts, âœDialogue within the game was a combination of text bubbles and command phrases. NPCs had more or less no auditory capabilities, except the few non-word quips and maybe an audio extension a player adds to their creations. Songs, however, didnât count for the bard and stationary NPCs implemented throughout the game. So, when speaking to them, it was merely selecting a conversation choice if it was an NPC that could converse. But the people I met earlier had no restraints on dialogue whatsoever and I understood all they said. But could they understand me?
âœAll Tongue would automatically translate the dialogue bubbles for uncommon tongues so that not only could players understand what the NPC was saying but then the response choices would expand for the NPC to understand the player. Essentially, the player and the NPC would be conversing in the NPCâs language.
âœSo, to those humans, if I spoke to them, would it be in their language? In my earsââ You flick the side of your head where they would be if you had ears still. âœ...I sound normal. But what do I sound like to others? Other than my voice being distorted...Herm...I mean...This voice does fit this avatar but why do I have this voice in particular and not my normal voice? I donât even use a voice box to change my voice, so whatâs up with this one? Is it because of the perk or is it because this body has taken a literal form? I think itâs the latterââ
You blow a raspberry with a pivot of your head to look around, not that it does much to help since your vision extends everywhere.
âœNevermind the voice...if I talk to two different people at the same time who speak different languages, what do I sound like to them? Is it the one Iâm directing my attention to who has my words translated or does it translate for both of them at the same time?
âœIf itâs the prior, Iâd have to be careful to be certain who Iâm speaking to...but thatâd be weird. How would I regulate that? What if I say something Iâm not directing toward them and they hear it. How would I explain that? But the latter would be even weirder. Would they both hear different things? What if Iâm speaking to one fellow who shouldnât be able to understand the language the other fellow speaks but understands me anyway. How would the other react to hearing me speak their dialect to someone who shouldnât be able to understand?
âœItâd prove that Iâm not a normal person...but I amââ Color pales on your palette but you soon shake your head to continue forth, âœYes, Iâm a normal person. A good person! Sometimes wacky but Iâm not a monster. I was...just mistakenââ
Why did you run then? Wouldn't an innocent person stay?
They made it clear that they were going to kill you even before you had a chance at possibly negotiating.
Were they? And even if they were, you'd almost acted out as a monster.
Those roaches would've deserved all that and more-
No, no. Letâs not go down that path of thinking again. Youâve been running in circles around the massacre which was last night and your shift of morals since, arguing and fussing about whatâs right and wrongâ. Youâre getting sick of it. Not to mention those relapses in memory undoubtedly caused by the stress of thinking about it.
Letâs focus on something elseâ
â.
â.
â.
âœDooo-de-dooo, do do-do do de do do-dooo,
Dooo-do-de-do de do-do-de, do-do-de, de do-do-de do dooo~â
â.
âœThereâs nothing thoughââ The grumble vibrates your chest in a growl. âœItâs so frustratingâ. Iâve been searching for two days now and still havenât found anything. I canât think about what Iâve found because anything I have found Iâd already evaluated time and time again...for hours now. Thereâs nothing new to add to the pile either since I havenât found anything else of interestâ I might as well be making a map of the world at this point. If only I had some type of utensil to write with then I could put those empty spell scrolls to some good useââ
But you donât have a surface to etch your journey on...plus you shouldnât waste your remaining spell scrolls for a janky map...not to mention strangely remembering everything your vision has collected for your brain to store thus far.
Itâs...odd. Youâre having relapses in your memory when you get too stressed but your memory of everything that has occurred to you since the fall has stayed crisp in your mind as if youâre...currently reliving every moment youâve had since being here.
If someone asked you to direct them back to the rock that has a crack in the form of a lightning bolt lining down its middle, youâd be able to TP them straight to it. The number of times bugs would land on you from the very first one on your trip. One, three, one, three, two, five, three, eight, seven, and so on. You can even recall what type of bugs they each were...what they looked like, where exactly they landed on you...as if they are still there with you.
You remember your wonder as you traveled across the plains...woke up this morning to Jewels kissing you again. The darkness of your dreamless sleep. The sunset the previous day. The number of clouds that passed overhead as the hours droned on. The number of times Jewels would slurp during those water breaks. You can feel the water too, from yesterday morning cool as it flowed over your skinâ.
You scratch at your neck again.
And this weird itch? Why do you keepâfeeling this itch on the back of your neck?...
This doesnât make any sense to you.
âœAugh...Iâm tired of thinking. Iâm going in circles again.â
But all you have is your thoughts. Thereâs nothing else you can do right now except keep looking.
âœUgh.â
â.
â.
â.
âœDaaa-de-daaa, da da-da da de da da-daaa,
Daaa-da-de-da de da-da-de, da-da-de, de da-da-de da daaa~â
â.
â.
âœBeee-da-leee, be be-be be da be be-leee,
Dooo-do-de-do de do-do-de, do-do-de, de do-do-de do dooo~â
â.
â.
âœIs that my only option? Keep looking?â
Well what else can you do?
âœI donât know! Something!â
What is this âsomethingâ then?
âœPsh! I just said I donât know!â
Well, make something up.
âœEasier said than done. I have nothing.â
Not true.
You stop rant just as your mind responds to your outer monologue. âœAH-Nuh durr, why didnât I consider my options better?!!â You throw your arms up in exasperation, flinging your hands in a dramatic flurry. âœI could have been testing out what powers and items I have instead of wasting the entire day reliving the past thirty four hours, forty-four minutes, and twenty-three seconds!!! HOW DO I KNOW EXACTLY HOW LONG ITâS BEEN SINCE IâVE BEEN DAMNED HERE?!!!â
The screech bellows out from your core, causing every living creature near you, besides Jewels who jumps, to suddenly flee as fast as they can from the source.
Youâre suddenly alone with your trusty steed.
âœ...oops...sorry.â You lament, regretful of your outburst, as your form slowly curls in on itself. You pat Jewelsâ side apologetically while you clutch your cloak tighter with your free hand, hanging your head solemnly . Your gaze remains focused on the sun while it basks the sky in its amazing blue.
â.
â.
Youâll never get tired of this worldâs skyâ.
â.
â.
â.
âœWhat do I do?...â Hardly audible, your chest doesnât even vibrate as the words leave you in a murmur. âœWhat...do...I...do?...do-de-do doââ
You could try testing out your skills, magic, or items further as you considered earlier. You had briefly checked what you maintained from Yggdrasil last night but not in-depth, you were too caught up in your thoughts to evaluate in proper detail. Just summarize whatâs available to youâ
Hermâ
What about the other things? Your physical, for one? Your strength and agility? You know you canât always rely on magic, itâd be foolish to think that. Should you instead focus on those factors?
â.
âœ*Sigh, but I should do what I can until my situation is resolved. Thatâs all I can do. So letâs see what we can study or use now before I continue. Maybe this is what I need for a breakthrough on...something.â
Something is better than nothing.
âœDamn straight.â Alright thenâ
What should you focus on?
My skills
My magic
My items
My physicality
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
1â†'2â†'4â†'9â†'21â†'101â†'117
Uh oh, looks like those hunters are on your trailâ.but maybe this is for the best in the long run? Only time will tell~
As for your end choice, I'd personally choose physicality. I'd be too skittish to rely on something with no guarantee in reliability. I'd be in the mindset of a human and not trust my avatar's abilities since it's no longer a game, that their abilities are too alien for me to put in a real world scenario. What would you do though? Comment your thoughts below if youâd like!
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Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shut down. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to avoid confrontation and flee the scene. With a horse at your side you venture off into the unknown South West. You take on the appearance of a young man when you encounter...
Chapter Notes
Yo, BBS here! I almost didn't make it to this update for a number of reasons but I bested the tides!!!
I was going to give you readers full customization over the appearance of your human form. Hair, eyes, skin tone, body shape, identifying marks, all that and more...and it added up to over 15,000 character designs. That would have meant I'd have to write 15k chapters and link them all together. That's not even the brunt of it. That many character designs were only for 1 path...and there are 12 paths so far for looks... I don't think A03 could handle 180k chapters in one update, not to mention being impossible for me to accomplish, despite my awesomeness.
I had to back pedal and have it so that the reader chose a form based solely off of what they've seen of people thus far. I believe it fits their goal: camouflaging into society as they try to grasp it. Hope your new appearance is satisfactory!
Additionally, this chapter was meant to be longer but the page count became too great and I had to cut it in half due to time constraints. Not to mention I did art work for these chapters! Applaud my supreme power and I hope y'all enjoy dis chapter!!!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœIâll go for a more masculine look.â You hum excitedly, eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new. Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to look like is the first step? To do that you need to draw inspiration from what you have seen from the men in the village you ran from.
They were all Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want to appear? Those men all had variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation. Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... That boy named Nate was tan and he seemed fine...even taking the lead in trying to find you.
You shouldnât make assumptions. He could have a very tough time being of a different tone than those he was with.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin? Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks of other races. It was more so humanoid NPCs who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether if it was of skin or class.
This left the majority of the remaining racist NPCs (the ones who couldnât respawn once killed) to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and vice versa. You guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother. Maybe they saw it as comical? You have no idea what went through some of their minds. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoid being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, exp, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you were slandered for not doing enough to help.
It was a hard time and it was impossible to stop all the players from PKing since it was a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into the game like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have an issue with non-humanoids to a certain degree, considering how those villagers were seeking to kill you if you were a monsterâ. Or was it just that village?
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you saw from that village...Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No, you canât be you. Yes, you do want to look like yourself but you canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more, it could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity.
The lone figure you sense still remains as they are, for reasons you can only guess, so itâs a matter of time before they catch sight of you. You need to be set on a form soon.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you went as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are during this period.
An old man on his own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain here. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are forty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any men during this time period are near your current towering seven feet. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot sounds...reasonable? Six feet is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. This is good-
More buzzing lights up your skin suddenly, like a wave crashing over you.
Wow! T-those are a lot of lifeforms ahead! Almost too many to start differentiating the singular organisms from one another! But the approach of the buzzing was barely slow enough for you to understand itâs more people!
There must be a community ahead! Youâve got to hurry.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV of bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar.
Next is hair. None of the men were bald. Yes, some of the older men had bald spots but none were completely bald. That means you need hair. Most people there had brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and the one with black hairâ. None of them seemed to have long hair beyond the door to the barn so you suspect that short hair might be the norm. The longest their hair had been was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of their locks was either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, it was the longest you saw of the menâs hair in the village but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later.
Should you have facial hair? Some of the older men had mustaches and beards...but youâre aiming to appear as an early twenty-year-old. All of the younger men had clean-shaven complectionsâso youâll stick to that code.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they are available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural hair colors like the ones you saw until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only color youâre drawn to have now is gold blond or stark white.
Very oddâ.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold or white, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too.
This leaves you with golden hair-BLond hair, not gold. Blond as your choice.
âœAugh, okay. I should finish up envisioning the form Iâll take up. Iâm sure they can see my silhouette on the horizon by now. Hopefully, they donât have any item or spell that could extend their sight.â
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âœShut up. I need to finish up.â The grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections were jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait was their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, varied greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consisted of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders.
You reach up an arm to scratch your neck, nodding as you decide your eye color should be-âœEh?â
What isâ
You twirl your fingers and you feel more of the stringy texture.
Hair...you feel hair!
Your eyes widen as you tug a strand of wavy hair out for you to blink at, your rosy lips forming an o.
Golden.
âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so proves that casting is different now. Then again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something youâve learned to become acquainted with throughout the day when youâd stop to make pools of water for Jewels to drink. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how you learned spells workâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, but not impossible. If it is fact, however, that can pose issues later down the line.
What if you do something you want to do that you shouldnât do? Lashing out for one is an impulse that you find hard to maintain for some reason and it scares you, especially when you feel threatened. Your mind goes someplace during those times and something...vile, hot, and...sick takes its place. Your mind is your own enemy.
What if one day something tips you over the edge or something brushes you wrong?
Will you become a monster then? Will you truly lose your humanity?
Youâll do everything in your power to prevent the worst from occurring. You just hope that the day never comes that the impulse outways your logic.
God have mercy on all the day that occurs.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Disguise Self, Alter Self, Transmutation, and so on. You hadnât picked one yet.
You at least know that this isnât an illusion spell, like Disguise Self. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either.
So that doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre here for the ride it seems. Youâre going to have to make the best with what you have and be a quick learner. Youâre a human now...so you can try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly how you envisioned it to become...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isnât thin and soft.
You twist your arms around and flex your muscles, watching the minimal amount that is exposed out from under the moss cloak shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
Your fingers trail along your face to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally feels like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head.
What does your face look like? WAIT, WHAT DO YOU LOOK LIKE?!!
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how you can manipulate it into your hands.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still peaking at the sun through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât a perk you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was only so it could help you during PvPs. Any player could do that.
Either way, you know you can use your vision to look through your dominant hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
Your voice! Itâs only masculine now! The second feminine voice is absent from your vocals! And when was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over a decade ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village but itâs not a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so you donât see the need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both to want this new form to keep hold.
As your hand hoovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth. Rather, it riverates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
So, technically, youâre not human but rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
You drop your hands to pull your moss cloak securely back on your shoulders, looking out ahead of you to the person you approach as well as the village behind them.
The figure and homes are more distinguishable, no doubt youâre the same as you ride along the stream. You canât tell if anyone has spotted you though. The person remains where they are away from the village and no one comes out to where they are either.
Guess youâll be running into the lone person before anyone else. You should try to observe who they are.
Extending your vision to focus nearer to the figures, honing into their shapes, your vision shutters and zooms in like putting on a pair of binoculars. It makes it hard for you to focus on where you are but thankfully Jewels keeps you steady. Your vision provides you with a clear image of-
O-oh. Itâs a young woman completely balling her eyes out. Why is she upset?
â.
Maybe thatâs why sheâs aloneâ. You feel bad that youâll be intruding on someone who likely wants privacyâ M-maybe you can cheer her up-
Youâre a complete stranger. A complete stranger with a lack of dress.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Why doesnât it doesnât...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable?
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseââ You shift your attention down to your nether region, âœI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
Youâre completely bare under the cloak, your privates unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown. Your member is nearly the length of your entire hand, you realize as you try to tuck it awayâ.
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
âœIs this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology?â Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of the lady ahead of you. And the fact that youâre appearing as someone of the opposite genderâ. She may be put off by your appearance even more due to the stigmas between genders during this time period versus your own.
You wrap your cloak tighter around yourself to cover as much as possible of your exposed skin.
How are you going to explain this?! You certainly canât say youâre traveling for family or work! Youâll look like a perv! Gahh!
How about a traveler?! But then wouldnât you have tons of traveling gear with you?! And wouldnât you know where youâre going if you were a traveler?!
A pilgrim? Is that a bad alibi? But wouldnât you need a religious reason for travel?! Thatâs another rabbit hole of lies and you could still be seen as a perv!
How can you not look like the villain in this scenario?!
...Unless youâre the victim!!
But how could you be a victim?...
â.
A throw-together story! Improv! Itâs a learned skill youâve developed while roleplaying! You could use that to your advantage! Take what youâve gathered and experienced while in this world and spin together a tragedy!
Yes, yes! It could be your origin! It could gain their pity and influence them to be willing to assist you if you play the part.
But what could you throw together thatâs tangible?!
They think youâre strong because of your aura but how can you appear weak?!
Hurmâ. What makes a strong person weak? This is a magical world so anything is possibleâ.
Strong made to weak. Near Tob where monsters layâ. Knows nothing of the world but is now out and about, clueless. Was almost killed in the village and is most likely being hunted. Took one of their horses and fled. Has nothing in their possession but a cloak of flowers and moss. Butterflies follow and plants grow from where they touchâ.
Sounds vaguely familiarâ.
â.
â.
â.
â.
YOU GOT IT!!!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
1â†'2â†'4â†'9â†'20â†'102â†'118
Not a choice this time around I'm afraid but what do you think your story is going to be? And who do you think is ahead?
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Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shut down. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to avoid confrontation and flee the scene. With a horse at your side you venture off into the unknown South West. You take on the appearance of a young woman when you encounter...
Chapter Notes
Yo, BBS here! I almost didn't make it to this update for a number of reasons but I bested the tides!!!
I was going to give you readers full customization over the appearance of your human form. Hair, eyes, skin tone, body shape, identifying marks, all that and more...and it added up to over 15,000 character designs. That would have meant I'd have to write 15k chapters and link them all together. That's not even the brunt of it. That many character designs were only for 1 path...and there are 12 paths so far for looks... I don't think A03 could handle 180k chapters in one update, not to mention being impossible for me to accomplish, despite my awesomeness.
I had to back pedal and have it so that the reader chose a form based solely off of what they've seen of people thus far. I believe it fits their goal: camouflaging into society as they try to grasp it. Hope your new appearance is satisfactory!
Additionally, this chapter was meant to be longer but the page count became too great and I had to cut it in half due to time constraints. Not to mention I did art work for these chapters! Applaud my supreme power and I hope y'all enjoy dis chapter!!!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœIâll go for a more feminine look.â You hum excitedly, eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new. Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to look like is the first step? To do that you need to draw inspiration from what you have seen from the men in the village you ran from.
They were all Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want to appear? Those men all had variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation. Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... That boy named Nate was tan and he seemed fine...even taking the lead in trying to find you.
You shouldnât make assumptions. He could have a very tough time being of a different tone than those he was with.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin? Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks of other races. It was more so humanoid NPCs who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether if it was of skin or class.
This left the majority of the remaining racist NPCs (the ones who couldnât respawn once killed) to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and vice versa. You guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother. Maybe they saw it as comical? You have no idea what went through some of their minds. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoid being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, exp, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you were slandered for not doing enough to help.
It was a hard time and it was impossible to stop all the players from PKing since it was a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into the game like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have an issue with non-humanoids to a certain degree, considering how those villagers were seeking to kill you if you were a monsterâ. Or was it just that village?
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you saw from that village...Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No, you canât be you. Yes, you do want to look like yourself but you canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more, it could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity.
The lone figure you sense still remains as they are, for reasons you can only guess, so itâs a matter of time before they catch sight of you. You need to be set on a form soon.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you went as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are during this period.
An old woman on her own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain here. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are forty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any women during this time period are near your current towering seven feet, despite you not seeing any women yet. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot and a few inches sounds...reasonable? Five foot six is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. This is good.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV of bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar.
Next is hair. You haven't seen any women yet so you have to guess off of the people who you did see and the historical accounts of your world. None of the men were bald. Yes, some of the older men had bald spots but none were completely bald. That means you need hair. This goes in line with what you know of grooming for women in the dark ages, they kept their hair longer. Most people there had brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and the one with black hairâ. The longest their hair had been was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of their locks was either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, it was the longest you saw of the menâs hair in the village but this is probably the "shortest" that women can have. This gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later once you learn more.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they are available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural hair colors like the ones you saw until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only color youâre drawn to have now is gold blond or stark white.
Very oddâ.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold or white, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too.
This leaves you with golden hair-BLond hair, not gold. Blond as your choice.
âœAugh, okay. I should finish up envisioning the form Iâll take up. Iâm sure they can see my silhouette on the horizon by now. Hopefully, they donât have any item or spell that could extend their sight.â
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âœShut up. I need to finish up.â The grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections were jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait was their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, varied greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult. Is it the same for the women?
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consisted of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders.
You reach up an arm to scratch your neck, nodding as you decide your eye color should be-âœEh?â
What isâ
You twirl your fingers and you feel more of the stringy texture.
Hair...you feel hair!
Your eyes widen as you tug a strand of wavy hair out for you to blink at, your rosy lips forming an o.
Golden.
âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so proves that casting is different now. Then again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something youâve learned to become acquainted with throughout the day when youâd stop to make pools of water for Jewels to drink. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how you learned spells workâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, but not impossible. If it is fact, however, that can pose issues later down the line.
What if you do something you want to do that you shouldnât do? Lashing out for one is an impulse that you find hard to maintain for some reason and it scares you, especially when you feel threatened. Your mind goes someplace during those times and something...vile, hot, and...sick takes its place. Your mind is your own enemy.
What if one day something tips you over the edge or something brushes you wrong?
Will you become a monster then? Will you truly lose your humanity?
Youâll do everything in your power to prevent the worst from occurring. You just hope that the day never comes that the impulse outways your logic.
God have mercy on all the day that occurs.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Disguise Self, Alter Self, Transmutation, and so on. You hadnât picked one yet.
You at least know that this isnât an illusion spell, like Disguise Self. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either.
So that doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre here for the ride it seems. Youâre going to have to make the best with what you have and be a quick learner. Youâre a human now...so you can try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly how you envisioned it to become...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isnât thin and soft.
You twist your arms around and flex your muscles, watching the minimal amount that is exposed out from under the moss cloak shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
Your fingers trail along your face to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally feels like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head.
What does your face look like? WAIT, WHAT DO YOU LOOK LIKE?!!
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how you can manipulate it into your hands.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still peaking at the sun through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât a perk you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was only so it could help you during PvPs. Any player could do that.
Either way, you know you can use your vision to look through your dominant hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
Your voice! Itâs only feminine now! The second masculine voice is absent from your vocals! And when was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over a decade ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village but itâs not a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so you donât see the need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both to want this new form to keep hold.
As your hand hoovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth. Rather, it riverates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
So, technically, youâre not human but rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
You drop your hands to pull your moss cloak securely back on your shoulders, looking out ahead of you to the person you approach as well as the village behind them.
The figure and homes are more distinguishable, no doubt youâre the same as you ride along the stream. You canât tell if anyone has spotted you though. The person remains where they are away from the village and no one comes out to where they are either.
Guess youâll be running into the lone person before anyone else. You should try to observe who they are.
Extending your vision to focus nearer to the figures, honing into their shapes, your vision shutters and zooms in like putting on a pair of binoculars. It makes it hard for you to focus on where you are but thankfully Jewels keeps you steady. Your vision provides you with a clear image of-
O-oh. Itâs a young woman completely balling her eyes out. Why is she upset?
â.
Maybe thatâs why sheâs aloneâ. You feel bad that youâll be intruding on someone who likely wants privacyâ M-maybe you can cheer her up-
Youâre a complete stranger. A complete stranger with a lack of dress.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Why doesnât it doesnât...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable?
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseââ You shift your attention down to your nether region, âœI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
Youâre completely bare under the cloak, your privates unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown. Your member is nearly the length of your entire hand, you realize as you try to tuck it awayâ.
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
âœIs this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology?â Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of the lady ahead of you. And the fact that youâre appearing as someone of the opposite genderâ. She may be put off by your appearance even more due to the stigmas between genders during this time period versus your own.
You wrap your cloak tighter around yourself to cover as much as possible of your exposed skin.
How are you going to explain this?! You certainly canât say youâre traveling for family or work! Youâll look like a perv! Gahh!
How about a traveler?! But then wouldnât you have tons of traveling gear with you?! And wouldnât you know where youâre going if you were a traveler?!
A pilgrim? Is that a bad alibi? But wouldnât you need a religious reason for travel?! Thatâs another rabbit hole of lies and you could still be seen as a perv!
How can you not look like the villain in this scenario?!
...Unless youâre the victim!!
But how could you be a victim?...
â.
A throw-together story! Improv! Itâs a learned skill youâve developed while roleplaying! You could use that to your advantage! Take what youâve gathered and experienced while in this world and spin together a tragedy!
Yes, yes! It could be your origin! It could gain their pity and influence them to be willing to assist you if you play the part.
But what could you throw together thatâs tangible?!
They think youâre strong because of your aura but how can you appear weak?!
Hurmâ. What makes a strong person weak? This is a magical world so anything is possibleâ.
Strong made to weak. Near Tob where monsters layâ. Knows nothing of the world but is now out and about, clueless. Was almost killed in the village and is most likely being hunted. Took one of their horses and fled. Has nothing in their possession but a cloak of flowers and moss. Butterflies follow and plants grow from where they touchâ.
Sounds vaguely familiarâ.
â.
â.
â.
â.
YOU GOT IT!!!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
1â†'2â†'4â†'9â†'20â†'102â†'119
Not a choice this time around I'm afraid but what do you think your story is going to be? And who do you think is ahead?
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Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shut down. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to avoid confrontation and flee the scene. With a horse at your side you venture off into the unknown South West. You take on the appearance of a young man when you encounter...
Chapter Notes
Yo, BBS here! I almost didn't make it to this update for a number of reasons but I bested the tides!!!
I was going to give you readers full customization over the appearance of your human form. Hair, eyes, skin tone, body shape, identifying marks, all that and more...and it added up to over 15,000 character designs. That would have meant I'd have to write 15k chapters and link them all together. That's not even the brunt of it. That many character designs were only for 1 path...and there are 12 paths so far for looks... I don't think A03 could handle 180k chapters in one update, not to mention being impossible for me to accomplish, despite my awesomeness.
I had to back pedal and have it so that the reader chose a form based solely off of what they've seen of people thus far. I believe it fits their goal: camouflaging into society as they try to grasp it. Hope your new appearance is satisfactory!
Additionally, this chapter was meant to be longer but the page count became too great and I had to cut it in half due to time constraints. Not to mention I did art work for these chapters! Applaud my supreme power and I hope y'all enjoy dis chapter!!!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœIâll go for a more masculine look.â You hum excitedly, eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new. Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to look like is the first step? To do that you need to draw inspiration from what you have seen from the men in the village you ran from.
They were all Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want to appear? Those men all had variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation. Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... That boy named Nate was tan and he seemed fine...even taking the lead in trying to find you.
You shouldnât make assumptions. He could have a very tough time being of a different tone than those he was with.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin? Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks of other races. It was more so humanoid NPCs who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether if it was of skin or class.
This left the majority of the remaining racist NPCs (the ones who couldnât respawn once killed) to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and vice versa. You guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother. Maybe they saw it as comical? You have no idea what went through some of their minds. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoid being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, exp, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you were slandered for not doing enough to help.
It was a hard time and it was impossible to stop all the players from PKing since it was a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into the game like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have an issue with non-humanoids to a certain degree, considering how those villagers were seeking to kill you if you were a monsterâ. Or was it just that village?
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you saw from that village...Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No, you canât be you. Yes, you do want to look like yourself but you canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more, it could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity.
The lone figure you sense still remains as they are, for reasons you can only guess, so itâs a matter of time before they catch sight of you. You need to be set on a form soon.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you went as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are during this period.
An old man on his own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain here. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are forty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any men during this time period are near your current towering seven feet. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot sounds...reasonable? Six feet is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. This is good-
More buzzing lights up your skin suddenly, like a wave crashing over you.
Wow! T-those are a lot of lifeforms ahead! Almost too many to start differentiating the singular organisms from one another! But the approach of the buzzing was barely slow enough for you to understand itâs more people!
There must be a community ahead! Youâve got to hurry.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV of bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar.
Next is hair. None of the men were bald. Yes, some of the older men had bald spots but none were completely bald. That means you need hair. Most people there had brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and the one with black hairâ. None of them seemed to have long hair beyond the door to the barn so you suspect that short hair might be the norm. The longest their hair had been was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of their locks was either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, it was the longest you saw of the menâs hair in the village but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later.
Should you have facial hair? Some of the older men had mustaches and beards...but youâre aiming to appear as an early twenty-year-old. All of the younger men had clean-shaven complectionsâso youâll stick to that code.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they are available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural hair colors like the ones you saw until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only color youâre drawn to have now is gold blond or stark white.
Very oddâ.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold or white, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too.
This leaves you with golden hair-BLond hair, not gold. Blond as your choice.
âœAugh, okay. I should finish up envisioning the form Iâll take up. Iâm sure they can see my silhouette on the horizon by now. Hopefully, they donât have any item or spell that could extend their sight.â
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âœShut up. I need to finish up.â The grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections were jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait was their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, varied greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consisted of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders.
You reach up an arm to scratch your neck, nodding as you decide your eye color should be-âœEh?â
What isâ
You twirl your fingers and you feel more of the stringy texture.
Hair...you feel hair!
Your eyes widen as you tug a strand of wavy hair out for you to blink at, your rosy lips forming an o.
Golden.
âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so proves that casting is different now. Then again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something youâve learned to become acquainted with throughout the day when youâd stop to make pools of water for Jewels to drink. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how you learned spells workâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, but not impossible. If it is fact, however, that can pose issues later down the line.
What if you do something you want to do that you shouldnât do? Lashing out for one is an impulse that you find hard to maintain for some reason and it scares you, especially when you feel threatened. Your mind goes someplace during those times and something...vile, hot, and...sick takes its place. Your mind is your own enemy.
What if one day something tips you over the edge or something brushes you wrong?
Will you become a monster then? Will you truly lose your humanity?
Youâll do everything in your power to prevent the worst from occurring. You just hope that the day never comes that the impulse outways your logic.
God have mercy on all the day that occurs.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Disguise Self, Alter Self, Transmutation, and so on. You hadnât picked one yet.
You at least know that this isnât an illusion spell, like Disguise Self. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either.
So that doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre here for the ride it seems. Youâre going to have to make the best with what you have and be a quick learner. Youâre a human now...so you can try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly how you envisioned it to become...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isnât thin and soft.
You twist your arms around and flex your muscles, watching the minimal amount that is exposed out from under the moss cloak shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
Your fingers trail along your face to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally feels like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head.
What does your face look like? WAIT, WHAT DO YOU LOOK LIKE?!!
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how you can manipulate it into your hands.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still peaking at the sun through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât a perk you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was only so it could help you during PvPs. Any player could do that.
Either way, you know you can use your vision to look through your dominant hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
Your voice! Itâs only masculine now! The second feminine voice is absent from your vocals! And when was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over a decade ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village but itâs not a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so you donât see the need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both to want this new form to keep hold.
As your hand hoovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth. Rather, it riverates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
So, technically, youâre not human but rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
You drop your hands to pull your moss cloak securely back on your shoulders, looking out ahead of you to the person you approach as well as the village behind them.
The figure and homes are more distinguishable, no doubt youâre the same as you ride along the stream. You canât tell if anyone has spotted you though. The person remains where they are away from the village and no one comes out to where they are either.
Guess youâll be running into the lone person before anyone else. You should try to observe who they are.
Extending your vision to focus nearer to the figures, honing into their shapes, your vision shutters and zooms in like putting on a pair of binoculars. It makes it hard for you to focus on where you are but thankfully Jewels keeps you steady. Your vision provides you with a clear image of-
O-oh. Itâs a young woman completely balling her eyes out. Why is she upset?
â.
Maybe thatâs why sheâs aloneâ. You feel bad that youâll be intruding on someone who likely wants privacyâ M-maybe you can cheer her up-
Youâre a complete stranger. A complete stranger with a lack of dress.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Why doesnât it doesnât...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable?
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseââ You shift your attention down to your nether region, âœI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
Youâre completely bare under the cloak, your privates unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown. Your member is nearly the length of your entire hand, you realize as you try to tuck it awayâ.
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
âœIs this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology?â Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of the lady ahead of you. And the fact that youâre appearing as someone of the opposite genderâ. She may be put off by your appearance even more due to the stigmas between genders during this time period versus your own.
You wrap your cloak tighter around yourself to cover as much as possible of your exposed skin.
How are you going to explain this?! You certainly canât say youâre traveling for family or work! Youâll look like a perv! Gahh!
How about a traveler?! But then wouldnât you have tons of traveling gear with you?! And wouldnât you know where youâre going if you were a traveler?!
A pilgrim? Is that a bad alibi? But wouldnât you need a religious reason for travel?! Thatâs another rabbit hole of lies and you could still be seen as a perv!
How can you not look like the villain in this scenario?!
...Unless youâre the victim!!
But how could you be a victim?...
â.
A throw-together story! Improv! Itâs a learned skill youâve developed while roleplaying! You could use that to your advantage! Take what youâve gathered and experienced while in this world and spin together a tragedy!
Yes, yes! It could be your origin! It could gain their pity and influence them to be willing to assist you if you play the part.
But what could you throw together thatâs tangible?!
They think youâre strong because of your aura but how can you appear weak?!
Hurmâ. What makes a strong person weak? This is a magical world so anything is possibleâ.
Strong made to weak. Near Tob where monsters layâ. Knows nothing of the world but is now out and about, clueless. Was almost killed in the village and is most likely being hunted. Took one of their horses and fled. Has nothing in their possession but a cloak of flowers and moss. Butterflies follow and plants grow from where they touchâ.
Sounds vaguely familiarâ.
â.
â.
â.
â.
YOU GOT IT!!!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
1â†'2â†'4â†'9â†'20â†'103â†'120
Not a choice this time around I'm afraid but what do you think your story is going to be? And who do you think is ahead?
RESET
RELOAD
PREVIOUS
LOST ROUTE 6:35
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shut down. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to avoid confrontation and flee the scene. With a horse at your side you venture off into the unknown South West. You take on the appearance of a young woman when you encounter...
Chapter Notes
Yo, BBS here! I almost didn't make it to this update for a number of reasons but I bested the tides!!!
I was going to give you readers full customization over the appearance of your human form. Hair, eyes, skin tone, body shape, identifying marks, all that and more...and it added up to over 15,000 character designs. That would have meant I'd have to write 15k chapters and link them all together. That's not even the brunt of it. That many character designs were only for 1 path...and there are 12 paths so far for looks... I don't think A03 could handle 180k chapters in one update, not to mention being impossible for me to accomplish, despite my awesomeness.
I had to back pedal and have it so that the reader chose a form based solely off of what they've seen of people thus far. I believe it fits their goal: camouflaging into society as they try to grasp it. Hope your new appearance is satisfactory!
Additionally, this chapter was meant to be longer but the page count became too great and I had to cut it in half due to time constraints. Not to mention I did art work for these chapters! Applaud my supreme power and I hope y'all enjoy dis chapter!!!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœIâll go for a more feminine look.â You hum excitedly, eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new. Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to look like is the first step? To do that you need to draw inspiration from what you have seen from the men in the village you ran from.
They were all Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want to appear? Those men all had variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation. Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... That boy named Nate was tan and he seemed fine...even taking the lead in trying to find you.
You shouldnât make assumptions. He could have a very tough time being of a different tone than those he was with.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin? Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks of other races. It was more so humanoid NPCs who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether if it was of skin or class.
This left the majority of the remaining racist NPCs (the ones who couldnât respawn once killed) to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and vice versa. You guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother. Maybe they saw it as comical? You have no idea what went through some of their minds. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoid being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, exp, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you were slandered for not doing enough to help.
It was a hard time and it was impossible to stop all the players from PKing since it was a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into the game like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have an issue with non-humanoids to a certain degree, considering how those villagers were seeking to kill you if you were a monsterâ. Or was it just that village?
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you saw from that village...Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No, you canât be you. Yes, you do want to look like yourself but you canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more, it could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity.
The lone figure you sense still remains as they are, for reasons you can only guess, so itâs a matter of time before they catch sight of you. You need to be set on a form soon.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you went as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are during this period.
An old woman on her own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain here. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are forty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any women during this time period are near your current towering seven feet, despite you not seeing any women yet. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot and a few inches sounds...reasonable? Five foot six is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. This is good.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV of bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar.
Next is hair. You haven't seen any women yet so you have to guess off of the people who you did see and the historical accounts of your world. None of the men were bald. Yes, some of the older men had bald spots but none were completely bald. That means you need hair. This goes in line with what you know of grooming for women in the dark ages, they kept their hair longer. Most people there had brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and the one with black hairâ. The longest their hair had been was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of their locks was either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, it was the longest you saw of the menâs hair in the village but this is probably the "shortest" that women can have. This gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later once you learn more.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they are available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural hair colors like the ones you saw until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only color youâre drawn to have now is gold blond or stark white.
Very oddâ.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold or white, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too.
This leaves you with golden hair-BLond hair, not gold. Blond as your choice.
âœAugh, okay. I should finish up envisioning the form Iâll take up. Iâm sure they can see my silhouette on the horizon by now. Hopefully, they donât have any item or spell that could extend their sight.â
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âœShut up. I need to finish up.â The grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections were jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait was their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, varied greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult. Is it the same for the women?
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consisted of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders.
You reach up an arm to scratch your neck, nodding as you decide your eye color should be-âœEh?â
What isâ
You twirl your fingers and you feel more of the stringy texture.
Hair...you feel hair!
Your eyes widen as you tug a strand of wavy hair out for you to blink at, your rosy lips forming an o.
Golden.
âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so proves that casting is different now. Then again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something youâve learned to become acquainted with throughout the day when youâd stop to make pools of water for Jewels to drink. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how you learned spells workâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, but not impossible. If it is fact, however, that can pose issues later down the line.
What if you do something you want to do that you shouldnât do? Lashing out for one is an impulse that you find hard to maintain for some reason and it scares you, especially when you feel threatened. Your mind goes someplace during those times and something...vile, hot, and...sick takes its place. Your mind is your own enemy.
What if one day something tips you over the edge or something brushes you wrong?
Will you become a monster then? Will you truly lose your humanity?
Youâll do everything in your power to prevent the worst from occurring. You just hope that the day never comes that the impulse outways your logic.
God have mercy on all the day that occurs.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Disguise Self, Alter Self, Transmutation, and so on. You hadnât picked one yet.
You at least know that this isnât an illusion spell, like Disguise Self. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either.
So that doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre here for the ride it seems. Youâre going to have to make the best with what you have and be a quick learner. Youâre a human now...so you can try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly how you envisioned it to become...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isnât thin and soft.
You twist your arms around and flex your muscles, watching the minimal amount that is exposed out from under the moss cloak shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
Your fingers trail along your face to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally feels like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head.
What does your face look like? WAIT, WHAT DO YOU LOOK LIKE?!!
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how you can manipulate it into your hands.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still peaking at the sun through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât a perk you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was only so it could help you during PvPs. Any player could do that.
Either way, you know you can use your vision to look through your dominant hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
Your voice! Itâs only feminine now! The second masculine voice is absent from your vocals! And when was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over a decade ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village but itâs not a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so you donât see the need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both to want this new form to keep hold.
As your hand hoovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth. Rather, it riverates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
So, technically, youâre not human but rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
You drop your hands to pull your moss cloak securely back on your shoulders, looking out ahead of you to the person you approach as well as the village behind them.
The figure and homes are more distinguishable, no doubt youâre the same as you ride along the stream. You canât tell if anyone has spotted you though. The person remains where they are away from the village and no one comes out to where they are either.
Guess youâll be running into the lone person before anyone else. You should try to observe who they are.
Extending your vision to focus nearer to the figures, honing into their shapes, your vision shutters and zooms in like putting on a pair of binoculars. It makes it hard for you to focus on where you are but thankfully Jewels keeps you steady. Your vision provides you with a clear image of-
O-oh. Itâs a young woman completely balling her eyes out. Why is she upset?
â.
Maybe thatâs why sheâs aloneâ. You feel bad that youâll be intruding on someone who likely wants privacyâ M-maybe you can cheer her up-
Youâre a complete stranger. A complete stranger with a lack of dress.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Why doesnât it doesnât...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable?
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseââ You shift your attention down to your nether region, âœI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
Youâre completely bare under the cloak, your privates unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown. Your member is nearly the length of your entire hand, you realize as you try to tuck it awayâ.
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
âœIs this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology?â Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of the lady ahead of you. And the fact that youâre appearing as someone of the opposite genderâ. She may be put off by your appearance even more due to the stigmas between genders during this time period versus your own.
You wrap your cloak tighter around yourself to cover as much as possible of your exposed skin.
How are you going to explain this?! You certainly canât say youâre traveling for family or work! Youâll look like a perv! Gahh!
How about a traveler?! But then wouldnât you have tons of traveling gear with you?! And wouldnât you know where youâre going if you were a traveler?!
A pilgrim? Is that a bad alibi? But wouldnât you need a religious reason for travel?! Thatâs another rabbit hole of lies and you could still be seen as a perv!
How can you not look like the villain in this scenario?!
...Unless youâre the victim!!
But how could you be a victim?...
â.
A throw-together story! Improv! Itâs a learned skill youâve developed while roleplaying! You could use that to your advantage! Take what youâve gathered and experienced while in this world and spin together a tragedy!
Yes, yes! It could be your origin! It could gain their pity and influence them to be willing to assist you if you play the part.
But what could you throw together thatâs tangible?!
They think youâre strong because of your aura but how can you appear weak?!
Hurmâ. What makes a strong person weak? This is a magical world so anything is possibleâ.
Strong made to weak. Near Tob where monsters layâ. Knows nothing of the world but is now out and about, clueless. Was almost killed in the village and is most likely being hunted. Took one of their horses and fled. Has nothing in their possession but a cloak of flowers and moss. Butterflies follow and plants grow from where they touchâ.
Sounds vaguely familiarâ.
â.
â.
â.
â.
YOU GOT IT!!!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
1â†'2â†'4â†'9â†'20â†'103â†'121
Not a choice this time around I'm afraid but what do you think your story is going to be? And who do you think is ahead?
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Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what's left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shut down. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to avoid confrontation and flee the scene. With a horse at your side, you venture off into the unknown Westâ
Chapter Notes
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
Eleven AM the previous day
Three riders make their way across the plains, set on a goal of retrieval. A sense of injustice and the need for survival fuels the fire of their anger which pushes them forward on their search.
Itâs been one thing after anotherâ.it always has been since their village is situated near Tob. But now, with the loss of some of their assets and livestock, they canât let this go. They and their loved onesâ lives are at stake from the loss! Their barnhouse, punctured. The goods stored in the location that was torn through, shredded. Worst of all, the black dust sprouts, one of their largest assets for income, eaten by pigs which, in turn, poisoned and killed them. To top it all off, the fucker responsible for the whole ordeal ran off with one of their workhorses while laughing his ass off!
If they canât make up for whatâs destroyed, many members of Bourn will be sold as slaves to make up the gap!
The young man grits his teeth as he leads his close brothers in arms on the path where one who caused all this mess is thought to have gone.
No one was able to see what the shithead looked like, all thanks to the cloak they wore, but heâs determined to find out exactly who the asshole is to make him pay. Better to sell a criminal to the dealers than children. Give them exactly who was responsible for destroying their drugs, sparing the rest of Bourn from their wrath.
âœPsh!â Like thatâd happen! Money is the most important thing to those leeches. Giving dealers the guy responsible wonât match the coin difference. Sure, theyâll have a punching bag, but he knows that wonât cut it. Plus, the more beat up the guy is when they hand him over, the less heâll be worth.
âœTsk!â Heâd love to knock the ever-loving sense into the fucker dragging everyone through this shit until the guyâs nothing but a bloody pulp. Though, thereâs nothing wrong with being a little rough when catching the guy, right? The thief is going to resist anyway. Might as well take his frustration out when heâs given the chance to.
âœThe stream expands ahead. Do you guys think the thief took a rest there?â Liam points out and Vance hums in reply.
âœItâs worth a check. Thereâs foliage to act as proper coverage. We may see more hints to where they went. If thereâs more of those flowers weâll know for sure.â
âœPlus, we need to take a break ourselves. Weâve been riding for hours now at a hurried pace. The horses canât continue like this.â
âœI fucking know!!â Nate curses, âœBut every minute wasted is more time for the asshole to getaway! Thank their stupidity that they stuck to the river and left a trail for us to follow. Otherwise, we may not have this chance to get back some of what we lost. Who knows what else the guy took other than our horse!â
âœDo you think he was after the black dust?â
âœIt doesnât matter if he was or not! We canât risk him spilling the word that Bourn cultivates that shit! Weâd all be as good as dead. Weâd be on the run from not only the dealers and who they work for but the whole Re-Estize militia!! Weâd lose our markers as Adventurers if they grab hold of us! We, and many others, will rot in a cell for the next few years! Hopefully, the fucker who caused this mess was stupid enough not to notice the sprouts if thatâs not what he was after.â
âœI highly doubt that.â Vanceâs eyes drift to his livid friend. âœThey broke into the only area where we hid the sprouts.â
âœI fucking know that!! Itâs why we need to get a hold of this guy!! We need to find out how he knew of it! I highly doubt one of our own spilled the teaâ. What do you guys think?!â
âœCould it have been a passerby or visitor?â Liam suggests. âœWe get them every so often. Maybe one of them noticed us packing them away?â
âœPlausible but unlikelyâ Vance counters. âœWe havenât had that type of company for a while, especially since our village does most of the herb and hunting ourselves. And the crops are hidden in the middle of our fields. No outsider would have seen us harvesting them to know what we were packing away in the first place. Itâs more likely that they overheard a conversation.â
âœBut no oneâs supposed to talk about it openly.â
âœIt might have not been an open one. Private talks can be overheardâhowever, I do know the names of a few within our fold who have issues with their loose lipsâespecially after a drink or so-â
âœAnd look where those fucking gossipers got us! I swear, if I donât get to sink my boot in this thiefâs hide, itâll be them that-â
âœNate, I said itâs more likely that this is what happened, not that it did. No one has been to our village latelyâ. It might not be the fault of anyone in Bourn either. There couldâve been a leak of information on the dealersâ end which led to this. Thereâs no way of telling. Thereâs only one way to resolve this.â
The two young men agree with Vanceâs statement as they slow to a halt near the small cove provided by shrubbery. Immediately, they direct the horses to the pond for a drink before they start looking for clues to the thiefâs presenceâ.
â.
â.
â.
But, after a thorough search, not a single flower was found.
âœGod damn it!â Nate kicks a couple of stones out into the pond, dejected by lack of trail. âœNothingâ.â
âœH-hey, maybe they didnât stop here?â Liam reasons as he picks up a stone to toss into the pond next to his furious friend. âœThey couldâve continued further. They took short breaks before this, telling from the patches of flowers along the stream, s-so they probably didnât need rest.â
âœBut the horse would have needed itâ. Fuck! They could've branched off of the stream at some point! If they have thereâd be no way weâd be able to tell! The prints were near impossible to track with the grass in the way and the speed we were going at! The only thing we could follow were those patches of flowers they leave around! Has anyone heard of a dude leaving flowers around?! So stupidâ. This is stupidâ. Fucking stupidâ.â
âœWe still have the rest of the day to pick up the trail again! A-and hey,â Liam places a hand on Nateâs shoulder, squeezing slightly when he doesnât stop muttering stupid, âœif we canât find a lead weâll put out a report at the guild of a description-â
Nate pushes Liamâs hand away. âœAnd say what?! We donât have a description of the shithead!â
âœH-he has a large figure and a cloak made of plants! Isnât that a unique description enough? Especially considering they leave these around where they go.â With the same hand Nate shoved away, Liam holds up a tussle of colorful wildflowers taken from one of the thiefâs patches.
He takes a sharp step away from the young man with a deepening of his scowl. âœGet those the hell away from me! They attract bugs! Plus, looking at those weeds gets me pissed!â
âœYouâre already pissed.â Vance counters, overlooking their horses as they nibble on the grass underneath the tree excitedly.
âœShut up! Who wouldnât be?! I know you all are! We're all, in more than one way, fucked!!!â
Nate huffs while Liam tucks away the flowers to not bother his friend more than he already has. âœAnd Donny has a unique look too. I havenât seen many horses with eyes like hers. Weâll report her stolen along with the vandal. That way the guild and the guard will be on the lookout for both of them. If they keep heading down the stream theyâll run into E-Rantel after going through Wader. Where else would they be going except the capital if theyâre following the stream?â
âœThat is if they havenât gone another direction! Neither flowers nor prints here.â
âœWeâll continue down the stream for a bit to see if there are any signs of them.â Vance flicks his gaze to the South West. âœIf thereâs nothing weâll backtrack to check for any more signs. If the worst comes to shove and we lose them-â âœThe hell we will!â âœ-then, if we're quick enough to go back to Bourn before the carriage is sent away, weâll do what Liam said and file a formal report on them when we go to E-Rantel for supplies.â Vance continued despite Nateâs interruption. âœIf we say crops were damaged, omitting the sprouts, Bourn may receive some relief aid since weâre a frontier village and one of the only ones that do our own work with Tob. Albeit, it wonât be a lot. Iâd be surprised if they give us enough to replace the roof...â
The three fall into silence, sulking in their hopeless situation but all clinging to their goal, their hopeâ.
That they find their culprit soonâ. And that they make him payâ.
â—
âœThereâs once a maaan, a very strange nâ foreboooding maaan.
Draped with crooked shadow, twisted claw, his eyes beadyyy nâ looong.â
Your singing isnât the best. Hell, you think you're be terrible as you miss certain pitches that the song should have but itâs filling your boring travels with some nostalgia and a little bit of fun. Youâd gotten the idea to start singing nearly two hours ago. And what other songs should you sing other than ones from Yggdrasil since youâre stuck in your avatar?
Players would oftentimes turn off musical ambiance to prevent other sensory noises from escaping their senses, not that that included the bards, one of the few NPCs that had audio voice lines. Maybe you shouldnât sing since youâre technically distracting yourselfâ.
But youâre so boooored. Your brain needs some type of stimulation other than just looking around. Yes, you love the sights, but youâve been doing that almost nonstop for over a day now with nothing new. Besides, you quite enjoy a few of the songs that youâd chosen to sing over the past hours.
âœAnd then one niiight, one tragic night tis where it aaall begaaan,
Of how he parted his maw, baited call, starting this haaunting sooong:â
The current song of choice is titled âœVampire Queen.â Itâs dark but it has an upbeat vibe you quite enjoy. A jazzy feel that you could dance to if you were in the mood. However, you merely stick to exaggerated movements limited by your seated position on Jewelsâ back. Thankfully, it doesnât seem she has any protest to your singing so you continued while sticking to your plans on searching for literally anything new at this point.
A neat thing you learned though, through your singing, is that you can regulate your voices so that one can stand out above the other or continue harmonizing them. With this next chorus, you deepen your pitch so the masculine tone can stand out more.
âœOhhh~ Listen here, ye vile throng oâ ghouls, spirits, nâ dea-heh-head!
For Iâve a taaale! A tale many a sane, scream and hide, to this bloodyyy deliiight!â
A few birds catch your attention for a moment as they flutter by on their merry way.
Birds...huh.
When was the last time you saw a bird flying across the sky so spirited in the real world?... When was the last time youâve seen birds at all? Years ago, it seems. Nothing lives long in the smogâ
These seem like little brown birds, flapping and flowing forth further and free against the bright of the sky as if basking in its brilliance.
âœCast the pints nâ take your fill oâ wine nâ ale, the crimson mea-heh-head!
Ohh~ Take your piiiint, for without, you wonât make it throoough the friiight!â
You watch from below as the little feathery creatures elevate and spiral in the space above...If only you could be that free feeling. You, instead, feel like a...skittish beast. Why is it that birds bring such awe with their very visage while Oh HO! Vicious threats and violence at the mere verbiage of a monster?
âœFor tis the taaale, the horrid tale of the vampire queeeen.
From under her wing, cold and tight, her crown driiips witâ the bliiight!â
You wave your cloak in front of you like a stereotypical vampire would, trying to keep the cheery atmosphere going.
Your appearance will be the cause of many problems in the future if you donât do something about it. You donât know how similar this world is to your game but humans, both there and here, donât seem open to inhuman beings. There are some locations and NPCs that welcome more walks of life but, since youâve only had one encounter with humans so far and one creature, youâre going to assume everywhere in this new world isnât going to be accepting of you.
How similar is this world to other races? Are there demi-humans? Heteromorphs like you? Do they exist here?
Hermmâthose villagers didnât give you any hints if there are. They called you a monster, albeit not directlyâthey mentioned something about Fae but thatâs it.
âœTowns of ash, ye sinners prance, oâ no survivors to be seeeen!
Ohh, something wicked's happeniiing toniiight~â
Whatever the case, this doesnât mean this place is entirely like Earthâs medieval age. Magic only adds to the fact that youâre in a new world and did not time travel to the past. Although there are historical novels that pointed to mythical or supernatural things that had occurred, those were all fairy tales with no solid proof of magic existing in the past. Plus, if you were only brought back in time, youâd still be in Japan. You can tell simply by the geography and the appearance of the village and villagers that this isnât Japanâ
But...that does raise a questionâ
Though youâre not in Japan or Earth...how could they speak the same language as you?
It could be the work of your perk All Tongue.
âœAh, actually, thatâd make sense.â You nod to your mindâs response before continuing with the musical number of the song.
âœDooo-de-dooo, do do-do do de do do-dooo,
Dooo-do-de-do de do-do-de, do-do-de, de do-do-de do dooo~â
All Tongue is a skill your avatar carries that allows you to understand any language in all forms. Itâs a perk thatâs more or less easy to obtain if youâre of the right factions or have enough dedication to put the time into gaining it. Completing mini-games and quests, studying Vernaculums of their type, combining perks of multiple tongues, racial or class perks, etcetera.
As for you, no work was needed on your part as it was designed into SÅsaku-shaâs racial perks as a Creator.
All Tongue must be working to translate this worldâs lexicon for your ears to hearâ You wonder what reading is going to be like for you now? In Yggdrasil, the text for runes, elven, gibberish, and what not would change depending on the settings youâve selected for the perk. You had it so that subtitles would appear because the engine for altering the text straight to your preferred language was sometimes janky, despite the animation being cool to watch.
This makes you want to read something all of a sudden...ah, if only you could only find a place not out to gut you the moment you set foot amongst the people. You want to see how your perk will work in this place.
âœHaha, but what do I sound like to others?â You halt your song for a second, poking your cheek curiously as you speak your mind to fill the sound of nature with your thoughts, âœDialogue within the game was a combination of text bubbles and command phrases. NPCs had more or less no auditory capabilities, except the few non-word quips and maybe an audio extension a player adds to their creations. Songs, however, didnât count for the bard and stationary NPCs implemented throughout the game. So, when speaking to them, it was merely selecting a conversation choice if it was an NPC that could converse. But the people I met earlier had no restraints on dialogue whatsoever and I understood all they said. But could they understand me?
âœAll Tongue would automatically translate the dialogue bubbles for uncommon tongues so that not only could players understand what the NPC was saying but then the response choices would expand for the NPC to understand the player. Essentially, the player and the NPC would be conversing in the NPCâs language.
âœSo, to those humans, if I spoke to them, would it be in their language? In my earsââ You flick the side of your head where they would be if you had ears still. âœ...I sound normal. But what do I sound like to others? Other than my voice being distorted...Herm...I mean...This voice does fit this avatar but why do I have this voice in particular and not my normal voice? I donât even use a voice box to change my voice, so whatâs up with this one? Is it because of the perk or is it because this body has taken a literal form? I think itâs the latterââ
You blow a raspberry with a pivot of your head to look around, not that it does much to help since your vision extends everywhere.
âœNevermind the voice...if I talk to two different people at the same time who speak different languages, what do I sound like to them? Is it the one Iâm directing my attention to who has my words translated or does it translate for both of them at the same time?
âœIf itâs the prior, Iâd have to be careful to be certain who Iâm speaking to...but thatâd be weird. How would I regulate that? What if I say something Iâm not directing toward them and they hear it. How would I explain that? But the latter would be even weirder. Would they both hear different things? What if Iâm speaking to one fellow who shouldnât be able to understand the language the other fellow speaks but understands me anyway. How would the other react to hearing me speak their dialect to someone who shouldnât be able to understand?
âœItâd prove that Iâm not a normal person...but I amââ Color pales on your palette but you soon shake your head to continue forth, âœYes, Iâm a normal person. A good person! Sometimes wacky but Iâm not a monster. I was...just mistakenââ
Why did you run then? Wouldn't an innocent person stay?
They made it clear that they were going to kill you even before you had a chance at possibly negotiating.
Were they? And even if they were, you'd almost acted out as a monster.
Those roaches would've deserved all that and more-
No, no. Letâs not go down that path of thinking again. Youâve been running in circles around the massacre which was last night and your shift of morals since, arguing and fussing about whatâs right and wrongâ. Youâre getting sick of it. Not to mention those relapses in memory undoubtedly caused by the stress of thinking about it.
Letâs focus on something elseâ
â.
â.
â.
âœDooo-de-dooo, do do-do do de do do-dooo,
Dooo-do-de-do de do-do-de, do-do-de, de do-do-de do dooo~â
â.
âœThereâs nothing thoughââ The grumble vibrates your chest in a growl. âœItâs so frustratingâ. Iâve been searching for two days now and still havenât found anything. I canât think about what Iâve found because anything I have found Iâd already evaluated time and time again...for hours now. Thereâs nothing new to add to the pile either since I havenât found anything else of interestâ I might as well be making a map of the world at this point. If only I had some type of utensil to write with then I could put those empty spell scrolls to some good useââ
But you donât have a surface to etch your journey on...plus you shouldnât waste your remaining spell scrolls for a janky map...not to mention strangely remembering everything your vision has collected for your brain to store thus far.
Itâs...odd. Youâre having relapses in your memory when you get too stressed but your memory of everything that has occurred to you since the fall has stayed crisp in your mind as if youâre...currently reliving every moment youâve had since being here.
If someone asked you to direct them back to the rock that has a crack in the form of a lightning bolt lining down its middle, youâd be able to TP them straight to it. The number of times bugs would land on you from the very first one on your trip. One, three, one, three, two, five, three, eight, seven, and so on. You can even recall what type of bugs they each were...what they looked like, where exactly they landed on you...as if they are still there with you.
You remember your wonder as you traveled across the plains...woke up this morning to Jewels kissing you again. The darkness of your dreamless sleep. The sunset the previous day. The number of clouds that passed overhead as the hours droned on. The number of times Jewels would slurp during those water breaks. You can feel the water too, from yesterday morning cool as it flowed over your skinâ.
You scratch at your neck again.
And this weird itch? Why do you keepâfeeling this itch on the back of your neck?...
This doesnât make any sense to you.
âœAugh...Iâm tired of thinking. Iâm going in circles again.â
But all you have is your thoughts. Thereâs nothing else you can do right now except keep looking.
âœUgh.â
â.
â.
â.
âœDaaa-de-daaa, da da-da da de da da-daaa,
Daaa-da-de-da de da-da-de, da-da-de, de da-da-de da daaa~â
â.
â.
âœBeee-da-leee, be be-be be da be be-leee,
Dooo-do-de-do de do-do-de, do-do-de, de do-do-de do dooo~â
â.
â.
âœIs that my only option? Keep looking?â
Well what else can you do?
âœI donât know! Something!â
What is this âsomethingâ then?
âœPsh! I just said I donât know!â
Well, make something up.
âœEasier said than done. I have nothing.â
Not true.
You stop rant just as your mind responds to your outer monologue. âœAH-Nuh durr, why didnât I consider my options better?!!â You throw your arms up in exasperation, flinging your hands in a dramatic flurry. âœI could have been testing out what powers and items I have instead of wasting the entire day reliving the past thirty four hours, forty-four minutes, and twenty-three seconds!!! HOW DO I KNOW EXACTLY HOW LONG ITâS BEEN SINCE IâVE BEEN DAMNED HERE?!!!â
The screech bellows out from your core, causing every living creature near you, besides Jewels who jumps, to suddenly flee as fast as they can from the source.
Youâre suddenly alone with your trusty steed.
âœ...oops...sorry.â You lament, regretful of your outburst, as your form slowly curls in on itself. You pat Jewelsâ side apologetically while you clutch your cloak tighter with your free hand, hanging your head solemnly . Your gaze remains focused on the sun while it basks the sky in its amazing blue.
â.
â.
Youâll never get tired of this worldâs skyâ.
â.
â.
â.
âœWhat do I do?...â Hardly audible, your chest doesnât even vibrate as the words leave you in a murmur. âœWhat...do...I...do?...do-de-do doââ
You could try testing out your skills, magic, or items further as you considered earlier. You had briefly checked what you maintained from Yggdrasil last night but not in-depth, you were too caught up in your thoughts to evaluate in proper detail. Just summarize whatâs available to youâ
Hermâ
What about the other things? Your physical, for one? Your strength and agility? You know you canât always rely on magic, itâd be foolish to think that. Should you instead focus on those factors?
â.
âœ*Sigh, but I should do what I can until my situation is resolved. Thatâs all I can do. So letâs see what we can study or use now before I continue. Maybe this is what I need for a breakthrough on...something.â
Something is better than nothing.
âœDamn straight.â Alright thenâ
What should you focus on?
My skills
My magic
My items
My physicality
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
1â†'2â†'4â†'9â†'107â†'104â†'122
Guess your paranoia paid off, it got hunters off your trailâ.but was it the right choice in the long run? Only time will tell~
As for your end choice, I'd personally choose physicality. I'd be too skittish to rely on something with no guarantee in reliability. I'd be in the mindset of a human and not trust my avatar's abilities since it's no longer a game, that their abilities are too alien for me to put in a real world scenario. What would you do though? Comment your thoughts below if youâd like!
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Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what's left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shut down. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to avoid confrontation and flee the scene. With a horse at your side, you venture off into the unknown Westâ
Chapter Notes
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
Eleven AM the previous day
Three riders make their way across the plains, set on a goal of retrieval. A sense of injustice and the need for survival fuels the fire of their anger which pushes them forward on their search.
Itâs been one thing after anotherâ.it always has been since their village is situated near Tob. But now, with the loss of some of their assets and livestock, they canât let this go. They and their loved onesâ lives are at stake from the loss! Their barnhouse, punctured. The goods stored in the location that was torn through, shredded. Worst of all, the black dust sprouts, one of their largest assets for income, eaten by pigs which, in turn, poisoned and killed them. To top it all off, the fucker responsible for the whole ordeal ran off with one of their workhorses while laughing his ass off!
If they canât make up for whatâs destroyed, many members of Bourn will be sold as slaves to make up the gap!
The young man grits his teeth as he leads his close brothers in arms on the path where one who caused all this mess is thought to have gone.
No one was able to see what the shithead looked like, all thanks to the cloak they wore, but heâs determined to find out exactly who the asshole is to make him pay. Better to sell a criminal to the dealers than children. Give them exactly who was responsible for destroying their drugs, sparing the rest of Bourn from their wrath.
âœPsh!â Like thatâd happen! Money is the most important thing to those leeches. Giving dealers the guy responsible wonât match the coin difference. Sure, theyâll have a punching bag, but he knows that wonât cut it. Plus, the more beat up the guy is when they hand him over, the less heâll be worth.
âœTsk!â Heâd love to knock the ever-loving sense into the fucker dragging everyone through this shit until the guyâs nothing but a bloody pulp. Though, thereâs nothing wrong with being a little rough when catching the guy, right? The thief is going to resist anyway. Might as well take his frustration out when heâs given the chance to.
âœThe stream expands ahead. Do you guys think the thief took a rest there?â Liam points out and Vance hums in reply.
âœItâs worth a check. Thereâs foliage to act as proper coverage. We may see more hints to where they went. If thereâs more of those flowers weâll know for sure.â
âœPlus, we need to take a break ourselves. Weâve been riding for hours now at a hurried pace. The horses canât continue like this.â
âœI fucking know!!â Nate curses, âœBut every minute wasted is more time for the asshole to getaway! Thank their stupidity that they stuck to the river and left a trail for us to follow. Otherwise, we may not have this chance to get back some of what we lost. Who knows what else the guy took other than our horse!â
âœDo you think he was after the black dust?â
âœIt doesnât matter if he was or not! We canât risk him spilling the word that Bourn cultivates that shit! Weâd all be as good as dead. Weâd be on the run from not only the dealers and who they work for but the whole Re-Estize militia!! Weâd lose our markers as Adventurers if they grab hold of us! We, and many others, will rot in a cell for the next few years! Hopefully, the fucker who caused this mess was stupid enough not to notice the sprouts if thatâs not what he was after.â
âœI highly doubt that.â Vanceâs eyes drift to his livid friend. âœThey broke into the only area where we hid the sprouts.â
âœI fucking know that!! Itâs why we need to get a hold of this guy!! We need to find out how he knew of it! I highly doubt one of our own spilled the teaâ. What do you guys think?!â
âœCould it have been a passerby or visitor?â Liam suggests. âœWe get them every so often. Maybe one of them noticed us packing them away?â
âœPlausible but unlikelyâ Vance counters. âœWe havenât had that type of company for a while, especially since our village does most of the herb and hunting ourselves. And the crops are hidden in the middle of our fields. No outsider would have seen us harvesting them to know what we were packing away in the first place. Itâs more likely that they overheard a conversation.â
âœBut no oneâs supposed to talk about it openly.â
âœIt might have not been an open one. Private talks can be overheardâhowever, I do know the names of a few within our fold who have issues with their loose lipsâespecially after a drink or so-â
âœAnd look where those fucking gossipers got us! I swear, if I donât get to sink my boot in this thiefâs hide, itâll be them that-â
âœNate, I said itâs more likely that this is what happened, not that it did. No one has been to our village latelyâ. It might not be the fault of anyone in Bourn either. There couldâve been a leak of information on the dealersâ end which led to this. Thereâs no way of telling. Thereâs only one way to resolve this.â
The two young men agree with Vanceâs statement as they slow to a halt near the small cove provided by shrubbery. Immediately, the sight in front of them brightens their demeanors considerably.
Wildflowers, made from the thief, completely cover the area.
"You were right, Liam! Looks like the bastard spent the night here! We're getting close to his tail!â Hopping off his horse, Nate starts his search for trails indicating which way the asshole went...
Resulting in naught.
"This is peculiar..." Vance hums, perplexed by the lack of horse tracks. "What could this mean? Did he part ways with the horse? He could've done so to get rid off any ties to Bourn..."
"Yes, but isn't it odd that there are only flower prints here? If they walked anywhere else then the flowers would've followed. However, they're isolated to this area" Liam peeps where he's crouched, looking over to the pond where the trail leads. "Is he walking through the water to hide them now?"
"No, that'd be too much work with little payoff. If he thinks we're following him, they wouldn't keep with the stream. Water slows speed. No, something else is amiss here... Could it be possible that he's covering his or the horse's tracks? I believe it may be the ladder. He'd risk being caught up to if he continued on foot and I don't believe he'd be making these flowers if he could prevent them from growing in the first place. It must be something to do with the horse tracks."
"How the fuck would he be able to cover horse tracks while riding it?!"
"W-well, I've heard of there being skills and spells that could do such." Liam answers and Vance continues, "And we are talking about someone who grows flowers where he walks. We're dealing with a magic caster here."
"Then how the hell are we supposed to tell where the bastard went?! He could've gone anywhere!"
"What we do know is that they've been heading away from Bourn, following this stream. If we can go off of that, then we can presume they've gone anywhere but North... We also know that these flower prints are caused by the thief's footsteps. If we can retrace them..."
"Then we can find out where he went!" Liam cheers and, before anyone can act, Nate stomps on the patches to follow Vance's guess.
It is a trial and error process, some paths harder to retrace than others, so it takes some time for the three to guide Nate where he should go next. Finally, after half an hour, Nate reaches a pivot spot and settles his feet where the thief had before looking up.
West.
The three fall into silence, smiling as they find hope in their situation, clinging to their goalâ.
That they find their culprit soonâ. And that they make him payâ.
â—
âœThereâs once a maaan, a very strange nâ foreboooding maaan.
Draped with crooked shadow, twisted claw, his eyes beadyyy nâ looong.â
Your singing isnât the best. Hell, you think you're be terrible as you miss certain pitches that the song should have but itâs filling your boring travels with some nostalgia and a little bit of fun. Youâd gotten the idea to start singing nearly two hours ago. And what other songs should you sing other than ones from Yggdrasil since youâre stuck in your avatar?
Players would oftentimes turn off musical ambiance to prevent other sensory noises from escaping their senses, not that that included the bards, one of the few NPCs that had audio voice lines. Maybe you shouldnât sing since youâre technically distracting yourselfâ.
But youâre so boooored. Your brain needs some type of stimulation other than just looking around. Yes, you love the sights, but youâve been doing that almost nonstop for over a day now with nothing new. Besides, you quite enjoy a few of the songs that youâd chosen to sing over the past hours.
âœAnd then one niiight, one tragic night tis where it aaall begaaan,
Of how he parted his maw, baited call, starting this haaunting sooong:â
The current song of choice is titled âœVampire Queen.â Itâs dark but it has an upbeat vibe you quite enjoy. A jazzy feel that you could dance to if you were in the mood. However, you merely stick to exaggerated movements limited by your seated position on Jewelsâ back. Thankfully, it doesnât seem she has any protest to your singing so you continued while sticking to your plans on searching for literally anything new at this point.
A neat thing you learned though, through your singing, is that you can regulate your voices so that one can stand out above the other or continue harmonizing them. With this next chorus, you deepen your pitch so the masculine tone can stand out more.
âœOhhh~ Listen here, ye vile throng oâ ghouls, spirits, nâ dea-heh-head!
For Iâve a taaale! A tale many a sane, scream and hide, to this bloodyyy deliiight!â
A few birds catch your attention for a moment as they flutter by on their merry way.
Birds...huh.
When was the last time you saw a bird flying across the sky so spirited in the real world?... When was the last time youâve seen birds at all? Years ago, it seems. Nothing lives long in the smogâ
These seem like little brown birds, flapping and flowing forth further and free against the bright of the sky as if basking in its brilliance.
âœCast the pints nâ take your fill oâ wine nâ ale, the crimson mea-heh-head!
Ohh~ Take your piiiint, for without, you wonât make it throoough the friiight!â
You watch from below as the little feathery creatures elevate and spiral in the space above...If only you could be that free feeling. You, instead, feel like a...skittish beast. Why is it that birds bring such awe with their very visage while Oh HO! Vicious threats and violence at the mere verbiage of a monster?
âœFor tis the taaale, the horrid tale of the vampire queeeen.
From under her wing, cold and tight, her crown driiips witâ the bliiight!â
You wave your cloak in front of you like a stereotypical vampire would, trying to keep the cheery atmosphere going.
Your appearance will be the cause of many problems in the future if you donât do something about it. You donât know how similar this world is to your game but humans, both there and here, donât seem open to inhuman beings. There are some locations and NPCs that welcome more walks of life but, since youâve only had one encounter with humans so far and one creature, youâre going to assume everywhere in this new world isnât going to be accepting of you.
How similar is this world to other races? Are there demi-humans? Heteromorphs like you? Do they exist here?
Hermmâthose villagers didnât give you any hints if there are. They called you a monster, albeit not directlyâthey mentioned something about Fae but thatâs it.
âœTowns of ash, ye sinners prance, oâ no survivors to be seeeen!
Ohh, something wicked's happeniiing toniiight~â
Whatever the case, this doesnât mean this place is entirely like Earthâs medieval age. Magic only adds to the fact that youâre in a new world and did not time travel to the past. Although there are historical novels that pointed to mythical or supernatural things that had occurred, those were all fairy tales with no solid proof of magic existing in the past. Plus, if you were only brought back in time, youâd still be in Japan. You can tell simply by the geography and the appearance of the village and villagers that this isnât Japanâ
But...that does raise a questionâ
Though youâre not in Japan or Earth...how could they speak the same language as you?
It could be the work of your perk All Tongue.
âœAh, actually, thatâd make sense.â You nod to your mindâs response before continuing with the musical number of the song.
âœDooo-de-dooo, do do-do do de do do-dooo,
Dooo-do-de-do de do-do-de, do-do-de, de do-do-de do dooo~â
All Tongue is a skill your avatar carries that allows you to understand any language in all forms. Itâs a perk thatâs more or less easy to obtain if youâre of the right factions or have enough dedication to put the time into gaining it. Completing mini-games and quests, studying Vernaculums of their type, combining perks of multiple tongues, racial or class perks, etcetera.
As for you, no work was needed on your part as it was designed into SÅsaku-shaâs racial perks as a Creator.
All Tongue must be working to translate this worldâs lexicon for your ears to hearâ You wonder what reading is going to be like for you now? In Yggdrasil, the text for runes, elven, gibberish, and what not would change depending on the settings youâve selected for the perk. You had it so that subtitles would appear because the engine for altering the text straight to your preferred language was sometimes janky, despite the animation being cool to watch.
This makes you want to read something all of a sudden...ah, if only you could only find a place not out to gut you the moment you set foot amongst the people. You want to see how your perk will work in this place.
âœHaha, but what do I sound like to others?â You halt your song for a second, poking your cheek curiously as you speak your mind to fill the sound of nature with your thoughts, âœDialogue within the game was a combination of text bubbles and command phrases. NPCs had more or less no auditory capabilities, except the few non-word quips and maybe an audio extension a player adds to their creations. Songs, however, didnât count for the bard and stationary NPCs implemented throughout the game. So, when speaking to them, it was merely selecting a conversation choice if it was an NPC that could converse. But the people I met earlier had no restraints on dialogue whatsoever and I understood all they said. But could they understand me?
âœAll Tongue would automatically translate the dialogue bubbles for uncommon tongues so that not only could players understand what the NPC was saying but then the response choices would expand for the NPC to understand the player. Essentially, the player and the NPC would be conversing in the NPCâs language.
âœSo, to those humans, if I spoke to them, would it be in their language? In my earsââ You flick the side of your head where they would be if you had ears still. âœ...I sound normal. But what do I sound like to others? Other than my voice being distorted...Herm...I mean...This voice does fit this avatar but why do I have this voice in particular and not my normal voice? I donât even use a voice box to change my voice, so whatâs up with this one? Is it because of the perk or is it because this body has taken a literal form? I think itâs the latterââ
You blow a raspberry with a pivot of your head to look around, not that it does much to help since your vision extends everywhere.
âœNevermind the voice...if I talk to two different people at the same time who speak different languages, what do I sound like to them? Is it the one Iâm directing my attention to who has my words translated or does it translate for both of them at the same time?
âœIf itâs the prior, Iâd have to be careful to be certain who Iâm speaking to...but thatâd be weird. How would I regulate that? What if I say something Iâm not directing toward them and they hear it. How would I explain that? But the latter would be even weirder. Would they both hear different things? What if Iâm speaking to one fellow who shouldnât be able to understand the language the other fellow speaks but understands me anyway. How would the other react to hearing me speak their dialect to someone who shouldnât be able to understand?
âœItâd prove that Iâm not a normal person...but I amââ Color pales on your palette but you soon shake your head to continue forth, âœYes, Iâm a normal person. A good person! Sometimes wacky but Iâm not a monster. I was...just mistakenââ
Why did you run then? Wouldn't an innocent person stay?
They made it clear that they were going to kill you even before you had a chance at possibly negotiating.
Were they? And even if they were, you'd almost acted out as a monster.
Those roaches would've deserved all that and more-
No, no. Letâs not go down that path of thinking again. Youâve been running in circles around the massacre which was last night and your shift of morals since, arguing and fussing about whatâs right and wrongâ. Youâre getting sick of it. Not to mention those relapses in memory undoubtedly caused by the stress of thinking about it.
Letâs focus on something elseâ
â.
â.
â.
âœDooo-de-dooo, do do-do do de do do-dooo,
Dooo-do-de-do de do-do-de, do-do-de, de do-do-de do dooo~â
â.
âœThereâs nothing thoughââ The grumble vibrates your chest in a growl. âœItâs so frustratingâ. Iâve been searching for two days now and still havenât found anything. I canât think about what Iâve found because anything I have found Iâd already evaluated time and time again...for hours now. Thereâs nothing new to add to the pile either since I havenât found anything else of interestâ I might as well be making a map of the world at this point. If only I had some type of utensil to write with then I could put those empty spell scrolls to some good useââ
But you donât have a surface to etch your journey on...plus you shouldnât waste your remaining spell scrolls for a janky map...not to mention strangely remembering everything your vision has collected for your brain to store thus far.
Itâs...odd. Youâre having relapses in your memory when you get too stressed but your memory of everything that has occurred to you since the fall has stayed crisp in your mind as if youâre...currently reliving every moment youâve had since being here.
If someone asked you to direct them back to the rock that has a crack in the form of a lightning bolt lining down its middle, youâd be able to TP them straight to it. The number of times bugs would land on you from the very first one on your trip. One, three, one, three, two, five, three, eight, seven, and so on. You can even recall what type of bugs they each were...what they looked like, where exactly they landed on you...as if they are still there with you.
You remember your wonder as you traveled across the plains...woke up this morning to Jewels kissing you again. The darkness of your dreamless sleep. The sunset the previous day. The number of clouds that passed overhead as the hours droned on. The number of times Jewels would slurp during those water breaks. You can feel the water too, from yesterday morning cool as it flowed over your skinâ.
You scratch at your neck again.
And this weird itch? Why do you keepâfeeling this itch on the back of your neck?...
This doesnât make any sense to you.
âœAugh...Iâm tired of thinking. Iâm going in circles again.â
But all you have is your thoughts. Thereâs nothing else you can do right now except keep looking.
âœUgh.â
â.
â.
â.
âœDaaa-de-daaa, da da-da da de da da-daaa,
Daaa-da-de-da de da-da-de, da-da-de, de da-da-de da daaa~â
â.
â.
âœBeee-da-leee, be be-be be da be be-leee,
Dooo-do-de-do de do-do-de, do-do-de, de do-do-de do dooo~â
â.
â.
âœIs that my only option? Keep looking?â
Well what else can you do?
âœI donât know! Something!â
What is this âsomethingâ then?
âœPsh! I just said I donât know!â
Well, make something up.
âœEasier said than done. I have nothing.â
Not true.
You stop rant just as your mind responds to your outer monologue. âœAH-Nuh durr, why didnât I consider my options better?!!â You throw your arms up in exasperation, flinging your hands in a dramatic flurry. âœI could have been testing out what powers and items I have instead of wasting the entire day reliving the past thirty four hours, forty-four minutes, and twenty-three seconds!!! HOW DO I KNOW EXACTLY HOW LONG ITâS BEEN SINCE IâVE BEEN DAMNED HERE?!!!â
The screech bellows out from your core, causing every living creature near you, besides Jewels who jumps, to suddenly flee as fast as they can from the source.
Youâre suddenly alone with your trusty steed.
âœ...oops...sorry.â You lament, regretful of your outburst, as your form slowly curls in on itself. You pat Jewelsâ side apologetically while you clutch your cloak tighter with your free hand, hanging your head solemnly . Your gaze remains focused on the sun while it basks the sky in its amazing blue.
â.
â.
Youâll never get tired of this worldâs skyâ.
â.
â.
â.
âœWhat do I do?...â Hardly audible, your chest doesnât even vibrate as the words leave you in a murmur. âœWhat...do...I...do?...do-de-do doââ
You could try testing out your skills, magic, or items further as you considered earlier. You had briefly checked what you maintained from Yggdrasil last night but not in-depth, you were too caught up in your thoughts to evaluate in proper detail. Just summarize whatâs available to youâ
Hermâ
What about the other things? Your physical, for one? Your strength and agility? You know you canât always rely on magic, itâd be foolish to think that. Should you instead focus on those factors?
â.
âœ*Sigh, but I should do what I can until my situation is resolved. Thatâs all I can do. So letâs see what we can study or use now before I continue. Maybe this is what I need for a breakthrough on...something.â
Something is better than nothing.
âœDamn straight.â Alright thenâ
What should you focus on?
My skills
My magic
My items
My physicality
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
1â†'2â†'4â†'9â†'107â†'105â†'123
Uh oh, looks like those hunters are on your trailâ.but maybe this is for the best in the long run? Only time will tell~
As for your end choice, I'd personally choose physicality. I'd be too skittish to rely on something with no guarantee in reliability. I'd be in the mindset of a human and not trust my avatar's abilities since it's no longer a game, that their abilities are too alien for me to put in a real world scenario. What would you do though? Comment your thoughts below if youâd like!
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DEAL OF GOLD 2:1
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold.
Chapter Notes
Itâs been four months, hasnât it? How time flies when youâre busy! I ment to update way sooner but when you work 50 hours every week, time to sit and write becomes sparse. Nevertheless, I never quit! I got de largest chapter yet for y'all ere! 45 pages in doc, youâre welcome! I hope y'all enjoy!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœNoâI havenât.â You conclude to Vance and with yourself.
Youâre not a murderer. Your avatar may be, in a way, but you shouldnât blame yourself for things out of your control. Thatâd be overly critical to hold yourself accountable for every little action that may have contributed to someone elseâs demise. If you did, youâd have to blame yourself for living since your breath took away valuable air others couldâve had. Just plain unreasonable to think that way.
And you canât truly say your avatar killed humans. Err-wellâitâs complicated. Yes, SÅsaku-sha has definitely obliterated humans but none of those were real people. They and all the others youâve faced as your avatar were avatars to other players. Simply code. Not flesh and blood. And none of them stayed dead-a-ahâwell, the players would respawn eventuallyâbut some of the NPCs theyâd bring along with them were more so unfortunate. Youâre certain that at least one of them wasn't resurrected out of the many raids youâve partaken in. Still, none of them were real people. Simply parts of your game.
Vance tries to keep stone-faced but your alien focus picks up on how the muscles around his temples flex like heâs grinding his teeth.
âœ...Is something the matter?â You urge him to respond when he remains quiet, likely mulling over what you said was true or not.
Thankfully, your query seems to give him the courage to say whatâs on his mind. âœYou hesitated in answering me.â
âœAh, I see.â There are a couple of reasons whyââ Whatâs a believable excuse that doesnât give away too much of your real life? âœ...Iâm old and had to scrape the bottom of the olâ cauldron to see if I could recall ever doing such a thing. Not to mention my mind being a tad bit foggy after falling on my skull.â A jovial jab at your fall is followed by a couple of airy chuckles, your way of trying to lighten the mood. âœPlusâI will not lie and say Iâve never killed anything in my life. Iâve lived for a long time, during which I've had many whoâve tried to take my head because of the name I had built up. Sometimes protecting myself and the things I care about meant taking the lives of those whose will was to destroy. I had to think back for a second to recall if any of those whoâve fought me were human since I donât necessarily take note of raceâbut no. None of the humans I fought were killed by my hands.â
âœ...Didnât you say you were well-liked?â
âœNo matter how beautiful a flower may be, isnât there always someone who wants to pluck its petals?â You gesture to the flower patch below your feet as you slowly guide yourself closer to Vance but still keeping your distance. âœEven if they may not have the intent to be so cruelâmaybe itâs to give the flower to a loved oneâthey still destroy it in the process. No matter how liked one can be, once youâre seen in a light above others there will always be those who want to take or snuff out that light.â
âœIâseeâ.â
âœHey, itâs not all that bad! Sure, Iâve had plenty of attempts on my life,â you roll your shoulders jokingly, still trying to deviate from the dark nature of the conversation, âœbut Iâm still alive! A perk to being strong.â
His eyes narrow. âœStrong in magic orâ?â
âœI guess, but enough of that.â You gloss over the point he was trying to reach and move straight to what you wanted to ask before. âœAre we staying here or are we allowed outside?â
âœIâd believe it would be wise for us to stay indoors. Bourn isnât fond of monsters.â
The sensation of muscle-flexing on your blank facade reminds you what eye twitches feel like. âœAm I a monster?â
âœ...You look like one.â
âœBut am I a monster?â You wait for his response for a couple of secondsâa few secondsâa handfulâmanyâa minuteâtwo and more but he keeps silent. You donât know whether or not heâs refusing to answer, doesnât want to say you are one to avoid angering you, or if he doesnât know the answer himself; so you ask a slightly different one. âœ...Do I act like a monster?â
âœ...â
You narrow your focus on him, trying to read his body for a reply since heâs refusing to give you one. âœVance, do I act like a monster?â
That breaks his spell of silence, âœ...Not really.â
Youâd arch your brow if you had one. âœI donât?â
âœ...Noââ
âœTruly?â
âœYes.â
âœ...â
âœ...â
âœThen Iâm called a monster solely because of my appearance?â
âœItâs not-â Vance starts but cuts himself off to swallow. âœYou do look like oneâitâs a part of it.â
âœ...part?â
âœ...The othersâitâs easier to believe youâre a monster than something more, soâwe are prepared if we ever have to treat you like one.â
Splotches like ink, warm and murky in mix, splash across your chest and throat at the bitter lump that settles there. âœSoâdespite how I act, I wonât be anything but a monster? Doesnât that sound unfair? Would you treat a child like a criminal if they have the possibility of growing up to be a murderer?â
âœYou admitted youâre a murderer. Maybe not humans but you said it yourself you donât see the difference. Arenât we justified in mistrusting you?â
âœThose were all acts of self-defense.â You grow warm but having felt the flare so many times at stronger intensities, you swallow it down without issue. âœHave you not killed to defend those you care about? Have you ever fought for your life?â
âœ...YesâI have.â
You stop your retort, having expected him to say no.
He has? To what extent? Is that why heâs assigned to watch you? Butâwhat about all those other menâwhy a boy?
âœ...how old are you?â
âœTwenty.â
âœTwentyââ Echoing in a mumble. Thatâs so young. Maybe not as young as some children you know whoâve had to kill or fight due to conscription, poor Earthly conditions, abuse, and whatnotâ. Still, since itâs not something youâve had to do as a human even after decades of being aroundâsomeone so young telling you theyâve had to bloody their handsâ. âœIâm sorry youâve had to experience something like that so early on.â
His eyes widen a fraction, probably not expecting that type of response from you either.
Despite that knowledge, you continue. âœWhy arenât you treated as I am if we are both killers?â
âœAh.â Now that seems to be what he expected you to say as his expression reverts to the way it was before. âœBecause I protect Bourn and earn a living doing similar.â
Your head reels back. âœWaitâso youâre saying you kill people as a job?â
âœNot people. Not yet. Just monsters.â
âœWha-monsters are people!â
âœNo, they arenât!â He snaps back, growing in frustration as you are. âœAll the monsters Iâve met have been nothing but beasts.â
âœMaybe the ones youâve met but thatâs not the case for all. We are alive just as much as you are. Take me for an example. Am I not a person?â
âœ...No, you are.â
âœIâm a person?â
âœI believe so.â
âœBut you also call me a monster.â
âœ...Yes.â
âœ...â Clenching and unclenching your fists, you whisper, âœThen what makes me a monster?â
âœ...not being human.â
âœNot being human.â An echo again as you let that statement sit in the air for a moment. âœHow am I not human?â
He looks at you oddly, opening and closing his mouth a few times like a fish but no words come out. He must be arguing with himself if every answer he means to say is beat down by his logic. After a moment, though, he settles with, âœYou werenât born one.â
If only you knew, boy.
âœSo thatâs it? Itâs my fault for being born the way I am?â
"Didn't you say you created yourself?"
"Yes, but I'm making an example here. Would it be my fault if I was born a monster?"
âœNo thatâsâitâs not.â
âœ...â
âœ*Sigh* Itâs what weâve learned to hate. Itâs what keeps us alive-â
âœCareful.â You hiss. âœHate and greed are the worst traits man can have.â
You see his throat bob despite him trying to appear nonplussed but his eyes do darken. âœIf we didnât kill every monster that came here, all of us would be either dead or raped. Most likely both. Just ask a few of us what weâve witnessed from monsters, though I highly doubt anyone would answer even if you were human.â
It feels as if cold water has been poured over you.
âœW-wait. Every monster that has come here has come to do those things?â
âœYes. Itâs what weâve all been sayingââ
Itâs your turn to be quiet. You had guessed some horrible things have happened between this village and the monsters from Tob but to be straight out told that rape occursâ.
People from Earth may have a different view of morals than you, listing rape as a crime punishable by a few years or none at all due to the fudged up court systemâbut youâve always seen rape as one of the unforgivable crimes. Itâs a fate worse than death. Torture in all forms and can completely ruin someoneâs life. Way worse than just being murdered.
Murders may be bad but rapists always hit a sore spot above in your book. Thereâs never a good reason for it. Not in a million-no, infinite years! None. The only close thing to a near stupid excuse is that they wanted children but could never get a spouse to continue their bloodline. Fucking selfish and demented. Trash that should die and hell be invented for. There are so many ways to have children with science as it is that isnât a viable excuse at all. With overpopulation and the fact that theyâd resort to something so despicable is the cherry on top as to why they shouldnât have children. All the other excuses youâve heard are sociopathic and blow your mind how theyâre not labeled as confessions.
"Itâs their fault for being attractive."
"Itâs their fault for drinking too much."
"Itâs their fault for wearing revealing clothing."
"Itâs their fault for acting slutty"
"I couldnât help myself, my desire was too strong."
"Theyâre stronger than me so if they wanted to stop me they couldâve done so."
"They wouldnât say yes so I had to use force."
"They eventually said yes so itâs not technically rape"
"They have no right to deny me as their spouse."
You may not be a very aggressive person but youâve always wished for the worst for those slimeballs.
So to hear that rape goes onâ. To even bring it up means it has happened beforeâ.
Heat flares up not in anger at the boy but rage for the acts carried out by some of these monsters youâre being compared to.
Vance notices the red that consumes all the other pigment on your skin and he backs further away into the doorway, placing his hands to his sides. He doesnât have the opportunity to speak, a noise indecipherable and guttural rolls out in a solemn tone.
âœIâhad reasoned these monsters kill you all for food. Am I right?â
âœTheyâyes. They do.â
Your head nods slightly with a low hum. âœSometimes, when food is scarce, creatures and people alike can be pushed to devour one another, despite their morals on the matter. Iâd only guessed monsters would attack you all because they donât want to resort to eating their kinâ. Doesnât make it right but uhâcircle of life and whatnotâ.â Huh? And whatnot? Why arenât you appalled by monsters eating humans? Itâs almost as if youâre talking about wolves eating sheep or sharks eating fish. Something completely natural in occurrence. Is this you or your avatar?... âœHowever, I do not tolerate rape. I wonât say all those monsters that have attacked you are the same. Some most likely had to act out as a means of survival but I do share your hate for those that deviate from necessity to cruelty. Justârealize that Iâm not them. Iâm my own personâ.â
âœ...Iâd like to think you are.â He looks away from you so that heâs looking further into the house where the walkway leads outside. âœThough, whatever I hope you to be doesnât make it different for anyone else here.â
âœThatâs because they donât know me. They only know that a monster, called SÅ, destroyed their barn but, somehow, the chief was able to get gold from it! Who knows where it got its gold! Likely from pillaging villages like all the others, psh! More blood money!â
Vance turns back to you to make a weird expression as if heâs asking âWhat?â
âœItâs not my words. Youâre all loudmouths and I have better hearing than you all give me credit for.â The shrug that follows is an attempt to lighten the mood again since you failed the first time around. âœLook, I know that your village is afraid of meâbut what good will it do anyone if we stay here? Were you all expecting me to stay in this house so no one has to see me?â
âœ...â
âœ...Seriously? Youâre all okay with treating me like a caged animal?â
âœItâs not like that. Youâre a guest of Barryâs.â
âœSome guests I am if Iâm not allowed outside. Iâd almost say itâs kidnappingâor-err, holding me hostage? One of those things. Probably the latter.â You attempt to sit cross-legged in the air but you realize, unlike how easy it looks in media, you have to continuously strain your legs to remain crossed. Your legsâ weight isnât the issue, PHY stats in play and Ascend making it so that youâre suspended in similar fashion to zero gravity, but the lack of surface to lean your weight on. With no support in the air, you do an odd fumble of limbs for a moment as you try to set your form right. Vance gives no response while you squirm but his eyes follow your every movement. It only stretches for a moment, no more than five seconds, but itâs enough time to embarrass you into shyly untangling yourself to curl into a ball instead, pink overtaking the muddy reds.
âœ...I havenât seen you change to that color beforeââ He notes but thankfully doesnât mention your air dance.
âœY-yeah. The color changes with how Iâm feeling.â Thatâs most likely the case since the colors would follow emotes of
âœ...Iâve never heard of a creature whose color changes on mood. I know of some animals that change their color to match the season or environment.â
âœItâs not a common trait, thatâs for sure, especially for the variety I produce. But there are lizards and sea life that can do the same... Ever heard of a squid or an octopus?â
He tilts his head in question watching your skin shift with more interest now that he knows the colors have meaning, wondering what the green and yellow spots blooming express.
âœNo.â
âœThey are one of those sea creatures I mentioned about changing color. There are multiple different types of squidbuds and octodudes, coming in many shapes and sizes but all have a similar build.â Cupping the air in your hands you make a clutching motion with your fingers. âœTheyâre sort of squishy in build since they have no bonesâI think? They do have beaks though as far as Iâm awareâ. Here, they look like this-â You point to your dominant hand which is turned down limp-like but you move your fingers to mimic the way youâve seen them and jellyfish move in the documentaries- âœbut they have two eyes and eight tentacles-err well the octopuses have eight of them. Squid are the oddballs.â
âœ...Tentacles?â
âœAh, sorry. Instead of arms or legs, they have..." How do you describe tentacles accurately? "...limbs similar to noodlesâ. Do you know what noodles are?â
âœNo.â
âœNever mind then." You scratch your neck before coming up with a more accurate visual. "Their limbs are like sticky wet ropesâor like long tongues that act like fingers.â
Nailed it. Completely butchered the image.
His neutral expression slips with the corner of his lips shifting, barely hinting that heâs perturbed by the description. âœ...Are they a type of monster?â
âœHa, noâwell, not really but theyâre harmless as long as theyâre not threatened in some way. Theyâre intelligent and can be kept as pets, though my hom-errâa region I resided in used to have a tradition of eating them. Iâve never partaken but I heard that they tasted quite nice, a bit on the chewy side, howeverâ.â At least thatâs what youâve heard from food documentaries and from the top folkâbut you couldnât imagine eating meat with how strained the industry is. Chicken is the most common source of meat out of all others, available at almost every party youâve ever been forced to attend. Though, in those rare extravagant partiesâyouâve seen a wider varietyâ.
You hope none of it was wasted.
âœI donât think Iâd want to eat something with tentacles.â
âœTo each their own, though I think I described them poorly. Some of them can be rather cute or beautiful. Nevertheless, you got me off-topic.â You point an accusatory finger his way. âœNo good comes from locking me away. Doing so is a temporary solution, delaying the inevitable.â
âœAnd?â
âœAnd itâs doing more harm than it is good. In a way, youâre admitting to your village that I am something that they should fear and stay away from. It will cause that mindset to worsen, in affect, cause their reactions to be more severe when I inevitably show my lack of face.â
âœHow is that harmful? They should be afraid.â
âœNo! Itâs-ugh! Itâs not healthy. Sure, fear may keep you alive but it always holds you back from living. Theyâre going to be constantly on edge and stress causes health problems. I donât think you know this since youâre not a doctor but humans can die from extensive stress. Plus, people act irrationally when theyâre afraid. They may try to kill me the moment they see me if you let their thoughts fester for too long.â
âœ...â
âœThink of it this wayâ. What will put them more at ease? Knowing a ferocious monster is in Mr. Longâs house or seeing for themselves that the monster isnât as ferocious as initially thought when it is walking side by side with a young man?â
He stays silent in the doorway, blocking your one way out other than the window behind you. You donât know if heâs decided to give you the silent treatment or if heâs just being himself.
With a huff you plead. âœVance, please? You donât know how much I want this-need this. Last night was the first time for me to see stars and being outside withoutâ. *sigh* I hear, smell, feel so many new things from here, and itâs-tsk! Itâs killing me not being able to explore them! I need to know! I need to! We donât even have to be near anyone! I just-IâI-I need this, Vance! Hide me if you need to I want to see the sky agai-â
You abruptly stop when you realize-
In the window, between the shutters, light blue light is filtering in!
THE SKY!
THE FUCKING SKY! YOUâLL BE ABLE TO SEE THE SKY-
W-whu-WAIT! WaitwaitwaitwaitwAIT!! WHAT TIME IS IT?!
THE SUN-
âœVANCE!â Your screech of excitement shocks the boy but youâre too quick, Ascend sending you like a bolt in the air and you slip right past him over his head and through the house before he could stop you.
Screw trying to get permission to leave, youâre not missing this!
âœSÅ! SÅŒ!â You hear Vance call out to you as he tries to catch up to you but you already have your hand on the handle of the front door.
âœKeep up! Weâre going to miss it if we wait any longer!â
The door is thrown open and you dart out into the open air and immediately register your surroundings.
The air is crisp as a slight breeze flows gently from the direction of the North where the Azerlisia Mountains reside. Itâs light in scent but spry with earthen wafts. The sounds surround you just the same, enveloping your whole form once you hit the outdoors, no longer muffled by walls.
Nothing looks different other than the lighting, less navy and much lighter in tint. The sky too is waking up from its slumber, becoming lighter in pigmentation to the sunâs approach.
The sky! Blue! Itâs so blue! HAHA!
Your wide vision provides you the sight to see villagers already mulling about, getting to whatever chores or jobs they need to before the day gets started. Thankfully they havenât spotted you yet, wrapped up in their mullings, but youâre sure they will in a moment so best to act swiftly!
Vance is fast approaching according to the sounds you hear coming from inside the house but you wait for him to catch up so heâll know which way youâll be headed now that youâve noticed a yellowing of hue to the East~
âœSÅŒ! Stop!â Once he bursts through the door youâre on the move again, not letting up on your goal.
âœQuickly, Vance! Follow me!â Is your only warning to him before youâre on the move again. Your voices did draw pairs of eyes but you had already made it around a corner before your presence was registered.
Youâre grateful that Barryâs home is situated near the Eastern outskirts of Bourn so you hadnât the need to maneuver through the streets where people are now starting to filter into and that Vance can chase you with more ease.
You giggle excitedly as you pick up speed when more of the yellow light is made apparent through the last few homes. Just a few yards to the East of the village is a hilly countryside, scattered with shrubbery and the very thing the village is named after, a bourn that flows out from the forest. Youâve been informed that the stream goes out and around the houses to the fields where their crops are placed.
You could stop where you are still within the bounds of the village and watch the sky from where you are but something catches your eye.
Vance no longer calls after you, opting to conserve his energy into sprinting after you seeing as to how none of his words worked thus far. You swoop over the pastures, closing the distance between the shallow flowing water and you.
Wahh! Itâs so clear! And it smells so fresh and sounds so soothing! Youâd love to take a bath in the bourn! Play, drink, lay, sleep in it! It looks too inviting not to! But not now-
You glide right over the gap, feet dangling above the calm currents, not a single drop of water lands on you at the act and you turn back with an ecstatic wave. âœCome on, Vance! Youâre supposed to keep an eye on me!â You canât help but tease the boy as he slides to a halt in front of the water, hurriedly spotting some rocks sticking out of the slow current and works quickly to start hopping across. âœAt that pace, youâll never catch up with me!â
He stays silent but his expression is more telling how aggravated heâs getting due to your actions, a frown morphing to a heavy scowl paired with a glare.
He can be mad at you all he needs to be for your slip, youâre not going to skip this!
Your goal isnât far off the stream. In the grass field, a huge boulder lies serenely with moss inching over its surface like a green blanket. You donât know why or how a rock this big came to make its home here but itâs the perfect place for you to sit and watch it occur.
You more or less gracefully ascend the face of the rock and giddily place yourself down at the top.
Cold is the first thing that comes to mind when your skin makes contact. The next is how wet it is, dew from the morning having collected on its surface to transfer onto your form. Itâs hard, as to be expected, but the moss cushions your weightâreminding you of a zaisu! Giggles escape as you cross your legs to sit on your makeshift chair properly.
Mmm, nostalgia~ Way better than that creaky old chair!
Vance finally jogs up, you barely give him any mind as youâre tuned in on the springy moss smell and the goldening horizon as he looks up at you with a glower. He doesnât say anything for a moment as if waiting for you to explain yourself but you donât. At that, he mutters your name.
âœHm?â
âœWhat are we doing here?â
âœIsnât it obvious? Weâre watching the sunrise!â
âœ...all thatââ
âœFor the view? Absolutely! You canât fathom how important this is to me. I wouldnât miss this for the world.â
Heâs frustrated still at your actions, thatâs apparent, but he softens his frown a tad with a silent sigh, settling down to watch the horizon with you.
Your conversation ended at the perfect time you suspect, honing onto the scenery.
The dark blue and purple shadows stretch against the countryside in contrast to the orange spritz sky and fluffy yellow clouds to the rising dawn. Dew and ripe flowers surround you in a kind bubble, cradling your form in welcome. Itâs when the shadows of the plains get darkest when the golden orb of light readies to breach the endless blue.
âœWhoah!â A gasp escapes you when, finally, a sparkle of light peaks its way above the tree line in the distance, casting its warm glow on your features. The sky noticeably shifts in palette as it marches across the sky to rest ahead of you. Fascinated by the fundamentals of the sunâs effect on the climate of this world you remain somewhat in a numb trance.
The sunâs flirtations on your skin are considerably warmer than the breeze that flows down from the mountains of the North, holding promise that summer is on its way. The temperature fluctuations had been noticeable but despite you being naked youâre not sensitive to the change, a surprise to you. You assume that it has to do with SÅsaku-shaâs tolerance of such things.
Back on Earth, there were only clouds of smog. There was no sun. Global warming was constant so it was always hot. That irritating heat...however...there were a few things that produced pleasant heat. The sun is one of them. You donât think that you had ever felt the sun before going on a plane to your first gaming convention and that was...a mind-blowing experience. You remember how warm it felt on your skin as you stared out the window at it. It felt just like how all those romance poems and movies depicted it as. Itâs a warmth that feels like hot chocolate and kisses. So bright it had been but all you had wanted to do was stare at it despite it causing you to see weird spots afterward.
However, you stare at the sun and bask in its embrace for minutes...and no pain nor spots appear. Is thisâa natural thing? Is this whatâs supposed to occur and Earthâs pollution made it so you canât see the sun without burning your eyes?
Allowing your vision to expand just enough so that you can check on Vance, you see that he squints in the direction you're facing, obviously blinded by the growing light.
Nope. Pollution isnât the verdict. This must be an alien-body thing going onâwhich youâre grateful for.
Another blissful noise rumbles in your chest as you continue to be hypnotized by the star that is starting to dye the sky a calming variety of warm hues. You thought that the sky would look brown before the sunrise since the orange and blue colors would meld to make such a color...but no...the orange is so bold and it comes with its compliments of pinks, greens, and yellows.
Absolutely breathtakingâ.
A noise escapes you... One that you can't place the source for but it may have to do with the way your body begins to tremble.
Vance side-eyes your form as you wrap quivering arms around yourself. It does little to settle your muscles, only emphasizing how impacted you are by the sight. It's not the crisp of the glade, your avatar is immune to freezing. Besides, the warmth of the star grips you in a homely feel, as if you're a babe coddled in the welcoming hold of a guardian... The fetal position you find yourself in doesn't help refute the imagery...and you're okay with that.
Another shuttering noise rumbles out, wet in pitch as pressure coils over your face and chest, warm and feels like jelly...
âœAreâyou okay?â
âœMmhm! This is better than Iâve ever imagined!â Your voice is shaky but you know itâs for good reason.
You've only felt this way a handful of times. Being nominated as the most innovative game designer of the decade? Those few times you've been in real battles with players? Receiving your first game as a kid? The genuine smiles you've brought to others...
Yes...you're feeling bliss. A pure joy.
"Ha...haha... And here I thought the rendition in Midgard was the best area to watch the sunrise and sunset. How presumptuous..." The mutter can hardly be called such, warped in tone by your overwhelming emotions. No one would understand you if they were listening. "My...first sun... I wish I could share it with you all..."
âœI didnât catch that. Are you trying to tell me something?â
âœItâs nothing important. Donât mind me. Though, hmm...Iâm jealous of you, Vance.â
He quirks his head. âœ...What for?â
âœYou get the chance to watch this every morning. You get to withhold a masterpiece crafted by nature itself. All the time. Everyday. Heh, I never got the chance to sit and watch a sunrise like this back where I lived.â
âœ...Is there a reason for that?â
âœUhââ Great. Youâd wanted to make small talk. Instead, a dark hole into your recent reality is being prodded at, one that may be too revealing of Earth. âœErr, that isâuhâa little privy uhâ. Nothing for you to concern yourself with. Some sad junk with a long story. I simply wanted to point out somethingâvery precious you may take for granted, not realizing its true value. Your world is so...alive and green. Donât let anything take that away.â
âœOkay.â He lets it be but you can tell heâs trying to be courteous of you to some extent which you appreciate.
All is nice...
All is good...
You want to cry...and...for the first time since this ordeal...not for a bad reason.
Haha! How youâre not going to let anything get in the way of this habit. Youâll use your weird new senses to enjoy it to the full, every morning if you can-WA-WAIT! YOUâLL BE ABLE TO SEE YOUR FIRST SUNSET TONIGHT!!! Youâll have to wait until then, of course, but a REAL SUNSET!!!
You completely vibrate with excitement at the opportunity, Vance all the while is fixated on the array of your skin. Two individuals fascinated by something new in two different ways.
You can explore and work until then! So much to do and so much to see! How many other things are here which you donât have on Earth?! Wahh! Probably more than you can come up with! Youâre stuck here so might as well enjoy the sights! The flowers, grass, river, hehehe! How long can you mess around? You have no ideaâyou may be pulled back any momentâ.
â.
No. You shouldnât encourage the idea that youâre here permanently. Although you love this moment more than you can mentally comprehend, your situation is less than favorable. You have a life back on Earth, family, friends, and responsibilities with itâ. If you stay here, who's going to help those who youâre leaving behind? Whoâs going to fill the hole which you leave?
What difference does that make? Are you so important to the world that a gap would be left behind?
â.Mmmâ You donât know how to feel about thatâ. Do youâor did you matter in the long run? You want to think that you will be missed or that you played a big role in helping fix things, but if you are then the longer you stay here the more harm itâs doing back home. Is that selfish of you to want to be wanted, knowing that if you are youâre only causing pain being here? It nearly makes you wish that, if you truly are stuck here, you donât mean anything so that your close friends and family can move on without any hassleâ. But what would that say about all youâve contributed to world health and entertainment? That it meant nothing?
â.
*Sigh, like you concluded with yourself earlier. If it meant nothing, so be it. At least you didn't contribute to the bad.
Twirling a finger around the moss on the side Vance isnât at, you ingrain the sensation into your memory as you contemplate your place.
You donât know how permanent this is but you need to prepare yourself for that case. Try not to become too attached but grounded enough to get by. Youâll appreciate what you have now for you donât know when itâll be the lastâ. Ah, thatâs the same mindset as the one you had on Earth. Wonder if you're actually here or your mind is here?â If your body has turned into your avatar or your body and avatar are still separate beings? Your mind seems fused with some of the traits your avatar would haveâ.
*Sigh, too much to considerâ. Youâre going to blow a fuse with all of the questions scrambled in your head. You already seem to space out and forget every now and thenâdespite your memory being crystal clear otherwiseâ
Itâs...odd. Youâre having relapses in your memory when you get too stressed but your memory of everything that has occurred to you since the fall has stayed crisp in your mind as if youâre...currently reliving every moment youâve had since being here.
If someone asked you to recite the discussion you had with Barry on the New World, youâd be able to say word for word all the hours worth that was said. All the names of every person youâve heard since coming here are noted: Frank, Hyatt, Joseph, Raleigh, Seth, Mat, Barry, Nate, Liam, Vance, Ethan, Kite, Trade, Nan, Bella, Tinna, Flock, Viva, Ignis, Saga, Tifa, and so on. You remember your intense fluctuations of wrath during the creation of the deal. Tea vaper across your chin. The wonder that came with this worldâs lore. The starry night sky. The smell of muck and the scratchy texture of the straw. The rush of wind and your panic as you fellâ.
You scratch at your neck again.
And this weird itch? Why do you keepâfeeling this itch on the back of your neck?...
This doesnât make any sense to you.
âœAugh...Iâm tired of thinking. I keep going in circles.â
âœWhat are you thinking about?â
âœMy situation. Iâm confused about how I ended up here but thereâs more to it than that.â
âœDidnât you say you flew here?â
âœI was flying but thatâs not what got me here. Itâs like I was teleported. One moment I was there,â You wave one hand before the other to display to the young man what occurred, âœand then I appeared here. Itâs something impossible, yet here I am. Iâm lost not just physically but my mind is too. I canâtâIâm troubled as this situation has many dangers and issues that arise with it.â
âœAny that we should be concerned about?â
âœEhhâIâll let you know if it does. âComplicatedâ is a small descriptor of whatever this is that Iâm a part of. Nothing is certain yet and I need time to sort out my thoughts.â
He doesnât have anything to say to that but he does pivot his head to look back at Bourn. You too can see with your extended vision what heâs looking for and when he lets out a ragged sigh you understand immediately why.
A few eyes are poking their way around the corners of some houses, watching Vance and you all while they grumble and fret under their breadths. Theyâve been doing so for a while but Vance didnât seem to realize their presence till now and is huffing in complaint that youâre caught out in the open like this. His tongue remains still though, keeping his thoughts to himself either by the reasoning you gave him back at Barryâs or due to his own reserved nature.
You hum in appreciation, wanting a break from arguing and not wanting to be brought back to a musty room now that youâve gotten a taste of nature-
Something fluttering with a light buzz catches your attention to your left and the moment you hone in on it youâre jumping up from your spot.
âœOI!! Is that what I think it is?!â Youâre across the grass within a moment to get a better look, giving Vance hardly any heads up to react as you squeal, âœItâs a butterfly!!â
Itâs of similar orange to the sunrise, with brown and white speckles across its wings. It hardly disturbs the air at how light it is flying around. Itâs mesmerizing to watch it bob in the air, giggling at its odd movements.
âœHeheh! Hey there, little guy! Youâre so pretty! Wow! Look at that! Are you trying to get warmed up in the sun like me? Uwah! Itâs been decades since Iâve seen one of you!â You reach out a tentative hand with your palm up, almost like you want to reach out and pet it.
Much to your surprise, however, it flutters right up to you, curiously circling your form a couple of times before landing on your palm!
You lose it.
âœVance! Vance! Look! It chose me!â You point excitedly to your hand where you cup the small bug to your chest. âœIts legs feel weird and ticklish! I didnât know theyâre so brittle like they have little hooks on their feet!â You donât mention your sixth sense to him but the contact youâre having with the insect leaves a pleasant buzz on your palm.
An odd expression is hardly masked by indifference while he walks up to your beaming presentation. âœItâsâneatâ.â
âœItâs not just neat! This is amazing!!! Iâve been chosen!â You raise your small companion as if theyâre a newly discovered sacred relic. âœIâm now crowned ruler over the butterflies! Kneel before my supreme power!â
âœPsh!-â His muffled laugh is cut short as he tries to cover it up with a comment of his own, âœItâs just one butterfly.â
âœA flapping of a butterflyâs wing can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world. Itâs just a saying but it means to never overlook the small things. Usually, they have the largest impact in the long run. So despite it being on its own, it still changed meâand made me its RULER!!! We need to find more subjects under my domain! Vance! Lead me to my peopleâplease?â
He quirks a brow at your antics but nods nevertheless, turning to lead you out across the meadows with your butterfly buddy in towâ.
â—
âœLiam! Grab ahold of this will you!â Struggling under the weight of a sack, Nate pleads with his friend for assistance. Thankfully, Liam is quick to assist and alleviates the load from his grasp before storing it securely within the cart.
When the young man straightens back out, Liam observes what has been stored so far within the small carriage. Although there isnât much to say about crops since they're not necessarily in season, many of the stock placed within are goods that Bourn is popular for. Furs, bones, wild meats, herbs, specialty wood, mushrooms, and a small portion of fruits, nuts, and berries. Itâs nearly summer now so the time to harvest from the forest is open. Itâs a short period so many of the residents in Bourn, mostly the retired adventurers and soldiers, are the ones tasked to seek these goods out.
It leaves manpower stretched but itâs not necessarily a problem at this time of the season. Summer means that thereâs less work needed to be done to the fields. Checkups and maintenance are still a must but overall work is needed elsewhere.
Tending to the livestock for one is big, especially for the females that are carrying young. Predators are also an increasing issue, now that the warm weather is back, as wildlife leaves Tob. This can bring monsters along but isnât a rampant issue for Bourn due to the surplus of food elsewhere. The cold months are the time of year to be most wary, however, this doesnât dispute the fact that theyâre still an issueâ.
Especially since thereâs one present in their village-
âœLiam! Stop daydreaming and take this!â Nate scolds him again, voice strained as he holds out the last sack to him.
âœS-sorry!â He hurriedly pulls the bag out of his arms without as much as a grunt and lays it beside the previous one.
âœFor gracious sake shit head! Where are you right now?! We need to finish this up but you keep drifting off!â
âœI said Iâm sorry!-â
âœYou may have super strength but some of us canât dangle seventy pounds above our heads waiting on an idiot to get their head out of their ass!â
âœNate!-â
âœEspecially the same idiot who beat me with a wand!â He interrupts to point out a darkening spot on the back of his right arm before leaning down to pick up a crate with dried herbs delicately lined up within.
âœYou were acting crazy! I had to st-â
âœYou didnât have to nothing!â Nate shoves the small box to Liam with a grimace. âœI had it under control!â
âœNo you didnât!â
âœShut up! I did!â
âœYou didnât! You really didnât!â
âœHow would you know-â
âœI watched as you about got your head popped off by a monster because you canât keep your damn mouth shut!â Liam shoots back with an exasperated sigh. âœHonestly, canât you ever bite your tongue whenever youâre angry?! You always say stupid stuff that gets us in trouble!â
âœI didnât say anything wrong!â
âœYou were antagonizing SÅ-â
âœDonât say its name like itâs a person!â
âœWhatever! Even if you were or werenât wrong, the way you spoke was a great way to get us all killed! Iâm sure that if I didnât intervene, Vance would have. Barry may have had you escorted out too. Heck! Lure, Jackie, or any of the others wouldâve hauled you out! Youâre lucky it was me but youâre too oblivious to the way people help you!â
âœShut up!â
âœNate! Listen for once?! You were letting your anger get the best of you again.â
âœSo what? Canât I be pissed that weâre catering to a monster?!â He grits his teeth at the mention of their visitor. âœThereâs no reason to keep it here!â
âœYou know very well why we are.â
âœAnd we shouldnât! Never trust monsters.â He grunts as he picks up the next crate to continue their task. The last few items they have left for the trip are being brought over by Kip and Garb to load into the cart with the remaining pile.
Liam watches them approach as he takes the next box from Nate. âœI know. But we donât have much of a choice, do we?â
âœWell!...â He started but couldnât find a validated excuse beyond his frustrations and what has already been said. âœ...Fuck! I justâI canât stand it. I hate this!â
âœIâm sure many share the same thoughts. IâmâI have a horrible feeling about it too.â He admits. âœDidâNate?â
âœWhat?â
âœDid you also feelâoff when you first saw them?â
âœ...Yeah.â His voice lowers as he accepts the last of the shipment from the two others with a nod. When they walk away Nate continues. âœItâs not even that threatening looking. No claws or fangs but the moment I saw it I felt shivers cover my entire body.â
Liam nods. âœMe too. If I could describe it in any wayâjust the sight of them made me feel small. Why do you think that happened?â
âœIt could be a trick. The freak is a magic user for fuckâs sake.â He angrily huffs with the next crateâs passage. âœOr it could be our minds telling us how evil that creature is.â
âœAs in how dangerous it is?â
âœThat too. Iâd like to confirm what the feeling was with one of the retirees but our hands have been full since it has caused a ruckus. So hurry up with taking this shit out of my hands so we can do so!â
âœI am!â Liam jerks the felts and tosses them in a crevice between the weighted items. âœIf the feeling is due to how dangerous SÅ is, what does that say about what we can do? Weâve never faced a creature that has caused my hair to stand on end like that.â
âœTsk! What we normally do when we deal with monsters.â
âœWe canât fight it if itâs incredibly dangerou-â
âœI donât care!â
âœNate! It could get us killed-â
âœI know! But we canât let a monster live-â
âœYouâre going to risk our lives over your vendetta?!â
âœNo! You all have to run when it attacks but I refuse to flee from a monster!â
âœThatâs incredibly stupid-â
âœAnd thatâs my fucking choice!â
âœNate, no! You may have that trick but you only have one of those! What if you miss?!â
Nateâs eyes darken as they level with Liam, âœI never have. And donât bring that up while that freak is in the village.â
Liam shakes his head with a huff, disregarding the importance of Nateâs statement, âœDoesnât mean you never will! And do you honestly think that weâd leave you to fend for yourself?!â
Nateâs expression lets on a little panic, âœDonât any of you dare!â
âœFor goodness sake, Nate!â He throws his arms up in exasperation. âœWe canât leave you to some suicide mis-â
âœIâll protect us! Donât any of you, I mean it, not you, not Vance, not Mat, Seth or Loster, Hugh, especially not Barry, none of you be beside me! Just stay back! Tsk! I should just kill it the moment I see it so we can avoid the issue!â
âœAre you not hearing how ridiculous you sound?! Youâre being unreasonable-â
âœBeing unreasonable is letting the freak risk the safety of our families-â
âœShut up! Shut up and stop interrupting me while I try to talk sense into your thick donkey skull-NO! Donât you dare stop me from talking!â Liam raises his voice when Nate starts to open his lips. âœI swear Iâll beat more bruises into you if you so much as make a peep before Iâm done talking!â
His teeth snap shut with a click as he waits for his friend to continue.
âœNate. We will not be risking our lives by attempting to kill something we donât understand and are on neutral terms with. You will not pick a fight by attacking them or running your mouth, especially when that will certainly rope us into it. Donât deny it! As much as youâre trying to protect us, you know that wonât stop us from providing aid. Heck! Youâre putting us in more danger than the monster is on their own! I probably saved the lives of everyone in Bourn when I dragged you out of Barryâs house because you couldnât keep your damn mouth shut! Iâm surprised the chieftain hasnât scolded you yet, probably more focused on maintaining peace and stability than starting conflict like a certain dickhead!â
There is a moment of silence, words being processed before Nate spits a wad into the grass at his side.
âœWhatever. Let's finish this task already.â
He starts collecting the remainder of the supplies, stacking them together roughly with unsaid frustration, Liam watching with a frown of his own.
âœWe care about you, you know.â
âœ...â
âœNate.â
âœI know.â
âœAll of us do.â
"I know."
A few more moments of silence inch on while they tidy up the cart, lifting the last of the items into it. The carriage isnât stocked full but itâs enough for the offseason. This is a spontaneous preparation after all.
âœLetâs wrap this up.â Nate concludes while unfolding a large tarp blanket but Liam hums in worry, looking to the East sector of Bourn.
âœDo you think Vance is okay? Didnât they say heâs watching SÅ on his own?â
âœI think so. Heâs the most perspective out of us three, good at reading the enemy. If anything, Iâm sure heâs trying to learn as much as he can about it so he can inform us what to look out for. He still needs to tell us what he got from the ridiculous story it tried spouting to us earlier this morning. Tsk! Havenât gotten enough sleep as it is!â
Liam hums in mild agreement while Nate tosses a corner of the sheet to him. He catches it but also catches a glimpse of the bruises left behind on the young manâs arms. He wants to feel guilty but knows itâs a small price that had to be paid to avoid bloodshed. âœDo they hurt?â
âœWhat?â
âœThe bruises?â
âœItâs nothing. Just donât fucking go hitting me no more.â
âœ... Do you want me to heal them-â
âœSHH!!â He harshly shushes with a glare. âœDonât reveal abilities while the monster is in the village!â
âœTheyâre nowhere near us.â
âœThat we know of! Itâs a magic user so it has all sorts of tricks! It could be listening in on us for all we know!â
âœ*Sigh* okay. Still, do you want them fixed or not?â
âœNo. Donât waste theâyou know. The cost or whatnotâ.â He straightens his side of the tarp as Liam swings over the other side to do the same. âœYouâll need it when we get in a real fight.â
âœOkay.â Liam side-eyes the steady return of Garb and Kip as they lead one of their workhorses, Donny, to get set up with the cart.
âœThat reminds me. Did you damage your wand whacking me as hard as you did? I swore I heard cracking.â
âœIt was your imagination. Itâs fine. Iâve already checked it.â
âœHuh. Maybe the cracking was the sound of my bones shattering.â
âœCome on, I didnât hit you that hard! Youâre delusional.â
âœI donât know. Felt fucking hard, you cunt.â
âœNot hard enough to knock some sense into you if youâre still talking crap. I bet your thick skull has something to do with it.â
âœFuck you!â He shouts after no comeback comes to mind. Once the tarp is laid over the goods Liam tosses the rope belts with hooks at the ends for the boy to attach to the other side, securing the wrap. âœYou sure the wand wasnât damaged?â
âœYes. Itâs fine. I can show you it if youâre so worried.â
âœIâm notâpsh, you know your twig better than I can anyway. I hate to suggest this, but next time you go about whacking me over the head try not to use your only tool that assists with your m-word.â
âœI agree, but I could have hurt you more if I had used my fists instead.â
âœBullshit! You could have held back your punches.â
âœYouâd think Iâd be going easy on you. I couldnât risk you fighting back.â
âœI probably should have!â
âœYou two still arguing like an old couple?â Garb grunts as they finally get close enough to add in his own comment.
Liam nods his head over in Nateâs direction, âœCould you guess why?â
Nate blushes angrily, âœShut the hell up! None of you say a damn word!â The laughter that follows from the three causes his blush to deepen. âœI donât always start arguments! All of you are cumrags!â
âœSpeaking of saying a wordââ Kip brushes off Nateâs crude speech with a message of his own, âœBarry would like to have one with you, turdwad, after youâre done with the carriage. Seeing as you two are done strapping, itâs best you get your ass over to him so he doesnât chew your ear off for being late too.â
âœD-damn it!â Nate continues to curse while he trudges his way to the barn, leaving the three behind.
âœTold you he was focused on other things. You had this coming!â
âœBe quiet, Liam!â Is the last audible thing that is heard from Nate before heâs too far out of earshot.
âœAlso, Liam.â
âœHm?â The blond shifts his attention to Kip as the older man points Eastward.
âœSince the cart is finished, they want you to assist Vance with watching over the monster and to inform him youâre all set. Once we have some guys take your places watching the beast, then you two can wrap up whatever you need for the trip to the capital. Weâll finish getting Donny secured, it shouldnât take too long.â
âœAh okay! Thank you two!â Liam starts to set out into a jog but Garb calls out.
âœA few more things, Liam!â
âœHuh-oh yes?â
âœA few of our folks have told us they spotted Vance and the monster out in the fields past the stream.â
The news takes him back for a second, âœTheyâre out in the open?!â
âœIt seems so.â Garb doesnât look happy with the news either. âœI was told Vance was to keep it out of sight to avoid panic, or thatâs what Barry had Seth pass as a message onto him. No one has reported any visual struggle or conflict between the two so we canât say for certain the monster forced Vance to let it out.â
Liam bites his lip in concern for his friend.
Why are they outside? Did SÅ use some sort of trick? Hopefully, Vance is alright.
âœThank you for letting me know!â
âœNot at all. And Liam?â
âœYes?â
The man sends him a small smile. âœThank you for all the work you do and for stepping up last night.â Kip nods in agreement. âœYou boys do a lot of hard work, all you adventurers do.â
Liam responds with a goofy smile, appreciative of the complement but also still worried for his brother in arms.
With a wave, Liam doesnât resort back to a jog but starts to run instead. He nods to everyone he passes, more focused on getting to Vance than chatting.
Bourn isnât a large village, a curse and a blessing at times. Thankfully, itâs one of the good instances because it only takes a good two to three minutes until heâs running past the last row of houses.
âœLiam!â A strained voice catches his attention for a moment, seeing Saga pointing in a general direction not far off from where heâs headed. âœItâs in the flower patches that way.â
He thanks the young woman as he rounds a corner and heads out into the open field where Saga directed him. It takes a second or two but he spots the unmistakable dark figure of Vance in shin-high pastures just as she told him, but no monster in sight. His stomach drops, raking his eyes across the plains while keeping the same continuous pace, searching for the creature.
Had they run off?! Where are they?! Why is he standing there?! Shouldnât he be with SÅ?! Is something wrong with him?! And why are there so many butterflies around?
âœ*Huff* Vance!â He hollers just as he crosses the waters to run up to his friend. Heâs still a great distance away but Vance picks up on the sound of Liamâs voice and perks up considerably. He doesnât call back, simply watching as the blond catches up to him, short on breath. âœAre you okay?! *wheeze* Whereâs SÅ?!â
âœIâm right here, hehe!â
His eyes widen a tad at the out-of-the-blue voices and a colorful arm swinging out from within the grass in front of Vance, covered in butterflies.
âœWhat?â Liam slows to investigate whatâs going on, curious because of the butterflies' surplus in the air and SÅâs hidden position within the weeds. When he reaches Vanceâs side he leans forward to peek, letting out a surprised laugh.
Lain out in a bed of flowers, both native and of their own doing, with spread-out limbs is the said monster. SÅâs skin camouflages into the underbrush as greens, yellows, and pinks sparkle across. Itâs hard to make out their form, however, nearly blanketed with all sorts of insects and small rodents.
âœH-how?!â Liam is too amazed to form a proper question, mind going haywire at the sudden change in mood heâs found himself in. Just a moment ago he was worried about Vanceâs welfare. Now heâs greeted with this bizarre position
âœI had been nominated as the supreme ruler of the butterflies!â
âœHa-what?!â
âœVance saw everything! That lil guy-â SÅ points to the air above where many of the butterflies are fluttering, so many that Liam canât tell which is being singled out- âœchose me, and now all of them have!â
âœWhy?! How?! I donât understand!â His head pivots back and forth between his friend and theâ.monster? Can a monsterâact this way? How can he call them a monster when theyâre petting a rat at their side?! âœIsnât that uncomfortable?!â
âœYes but itâs awesome!â They giggle again. âœI feel like an anthill, with all of their little legs crawling over me, but when will I ever experience this again?!â
âœI guess...but I donât understand! Vance?! What is this?!â Liam seeks an answer from his colleague but he appears as lost as he is, albeit in a way less expressive. That doesnât mean he isnât expressive at all, he's more so now than he usually is as heâs faced with the predicament as well.
âœI had led them over here since they wanted to see more butterflies. The moment I brought them over here everything started to swarm to them. SÅ said they donât know why this happened either.â
âœBut I did say it could be because Iâm a Beast Tamer!â You interject getting Liamâs eyes back on your prone form.
âœA beast tamer? Is that a part of your magic?â
A hardy chuckle leaves you but you shrug, still cautious of revealing too many of your avatarâs abilities. Especially since youâve been listening in on every conversation going on within Bourn, not omitting the one he and Nate had. A little ironic that Nate had been right about you listening in on them, despite the paranoia being unfounded at first glance. That had been informative, to say the least, a few things you plan to poke and prod them about later. Subtly though. Super hearing isnât something you want to be known, especially if it means you can keep listening in on discussions like that.
âœYouâreâvery gigglyââ
âœWell, ah, I am covered in bugs, hehe. Itâs ticklish.â A believable excuse, not false anyway. But youâre giggling more so at the new asshole being ripped into Nate by the sound of the scolding and beating he's getting.
Ah, karma~ You got to love her work!
âœI-I seeââ Liam pivots back to Vance. âœUmâis there a reason why you two areââ
âœOut here?â He finishes Liamâs question.
âœYes. Some are worried that something happenedââ He twists his hands together nervously but is still pretty flustered at the scene theyâre near, butterflies now taking perch on him similar to Vance but not nearly as much as SÅ. âœI was too for a second.â
âœ...No. Nothing happened. They wanted to watch the sunrise so I accompanied them.â Vance states a matter of factly and the simplicity of the answer has Liam seeking reassurance.
âœThatâs it?â When Vance nods, he knows he wonât get any more answers while SÅ is nearby. Something else may have happened but he doesnât want to bring up the fact that Vance was told to keep SÅ indoors while theyâre right there listening to them. Vance is very good at obeying instructions so itâs odd that itâs not the case here. He must have good reasoning for deviatingâ. It canât be because SÅ wanted to see the sunrise. Something either forced his hand or gave him a reason to let them out. Is it because of something SÅ didâor is it the story he was told? Was it movingâor does he know something important?!
While Liam thinks over what little Vance had let on, you on the other hand appreciate Vance not outright ratting you out. He may tell them later that you flew past him and made a getawayâbut maybe not. Is he the proud type or is he being considerate of you? You canât tell but you know that heâs not entirely happy that you were able to evade him with such ease when he was supposed to keep you at Barryâs.
If you hadnât heard it beforehand, it still wouldnât have been hard to guess that he was told to do so. Itâs not like you could bring it up to Vance back at the house. How would you explain knowing such a thing? A guess? A little on the nose thereâ. Plus, it may have given him a certain reason to keep you settled there. Nah, youâll keep that info to yourselfâthough itâs a smidge miffing that Barry is the one that had the order sent. You can understand it, yes. Completely reasonable and you probably would have done the same in his shoes. He probably would have been asked to do so if he didnât make the decision initially.
Nevertheless, it sucks that youâre on the receiving end and it was made by Barry no less. Heâs one of if not the only person youâre okay with here. Though, you have to admit Vance and Liam are growing on you a smidge. Theyâre one of the few that arenât referring to you as an it but a they, with the addition of your new nickname. Theyâre treating you pretty decently compared to the crowd back in the villageâthough not human likely due to their views and outside pressures. Maybe your standards are too low? Hmmmâweâllâdo you have any options? The only other people that sound-uhâ. Not okay but alright are the children, older couples, and a very small gap of random individuals youâve been listening to. You havenât personally interacted with any of those who youâre audibly learning about but they sound nice? Many of them havenât said anything good about you but the way they speak builds a decent character for them.
Thoughâthe children sound to be the most friendly out of the bunchâwell, thatâs a lie but you find their life threats amusing, to say the least. You still feel a twinge of heat but your human side, you assume, is overpowering the wrathful feeling with the absurdity of an army of babies coming to stab your shins.
âœHehehe!â Another spill of giggles at the combination of the visual, the sound of Nate yelping at a particularly loud wamp, and the sensation covering your body.
âœOh, Vance!â Liam pops out in a hurried tone. âœWeâre the ones going to E-Rantel, though Iâm sure youâre already aware since weâre the ones usually sent on these types of things.â Vance nods to show heâs listening to his friend. âœSince the cart has been finished, I was told weâll be heading out soon. Theyâll be sending over some of the others to take our place with SÅ.â
âœSeniors?â
âœEither that or one of the current in arms.â He assumes. âœSo after they come we are to wrap up whatever we need to before we head out. I need to get my things since Iâm still in my nightclothes.â
His meekness to his dress wear shifts when you make a noise similar to clearing your throat, reeling both of the young menâs attention.
âœUh, you know Iâm going with you all, right?â
âœH-huh?!â Liam sputters out while Vance squints silently.
âœYou said youâre going to E-Rantel. Thatâs where the coin will be appraised, right?â
âœThatâs rightââ
âœAnd the coin will be taken there by you few?â
âœYes. We plan to get it confirmed while weâre there.â
Steadily, careful of the creatures on and around you, you start to lean up to a sitting position. A fume of insects react to this and take to the air to avoid falling. âœThat means Iâm coming with.â
In slight panic while swatting a roach away from him, Liam shouts, âœYou canât! You have to stay here.â
âœThatâs not part of our deal.â Tone lowering while you clarify.
âœWhat?â
âœDonât either of you remember? I said that the coin is my tether. And the very first thing I asked? The very first words of my deal were, âHow about I remain in your village until you go to get this coin appraised?ââ
Their eyes widen, realizing the reality of the deal.
Heh, the devil is always in the details~ Thereâs a reason why itâs the first thing you said. Itâs the small detail theyâre the least likely to remember by the end, especially while they were distracted drooling over your coin. Business always has a seedy side and youâve learned to live with it, especially for oral agreements. Thereâs a reason why anything legally binding should be documented one way or another to avoid scenarios like this one since it relies heavily on memory, the integrity of word, and trust. Itâs what you had to do for them when they gave you the price.
âœGet it? Until the coin is taken to be appraised, I have every right to watch the proceedings as agreed upon. If any of you prevent me from following then youâll be betraying your honor to follow what was shaken upon.â
âœNoâyou didnât say that!â
Your skin flashes a murky tone at the accusation, âœI did. Over fifteen people heard it. So if you forgot, someone else will remember.â
Liam and Vance share an ever-growing distressed look before they look back at you, âœYou tricked us!â
âœI did no such thing.â Leaning your weight forward, you take your time shifting onto your feet to stand. Like before, a cloud of various insects bursts off of your form before taking perch again. However, the few rodents that came to your side before scurry away into the thicket.
Vance keeps his gaze on you while Liam strains his head to look up at your towering form, swallowing a wad of saliva to unsuccessfully clear his nerves. âœEven if you didnât, you didnât make it clear enough that this was your intention! We agreed to the deal thinking youâd stay here!â
âœHow is it my fault that many of you didnât pay close enough attention to my words or didnât seek to clarify what you were agreeing to beforehand? Additionally, you all assumed the plan of keeping me here without clearing it with me first. Really, who is tricking who? At least I said my intentions straight to your faces. You all decided, without my consent, to keep me chained here. Behind my back, no less. Iâm no animal. Any of you couldâve told me at any time what you all thought of doing. You intentionally left me in the dark because you were afraid of my reaction and that Iâd disagree." You cross your arms, careful not to crush anything on you before finishing. "Itâs childish."
âœWe- all of us assumed youâd be fine! We didnât think itâd be offensive to keep you here, especially since part of the deal is that you stay here if youâre right. Isnât that what you wanted?â
You shake your head, a rumble sitting low in your chest as a simple âœNo.â leaves you.
The wrinkles of Liamâs scowl shift from one of betrayal to incredulous at the response. âœW-what? Thenâwhyââ
He fails to form a proper sentence to express his confusion at the revelation while Vance remains a bystander in all of this. Seeing the standstill at both standpoints, you sigh, âœWhy donât we go clear up this issue with Mr. Long? I know neither of you has the authority to make a judgment call like this. Itâs better I explain my views to the man I shook hands with anyhow.â
âœWe canât just take you to Barry. Heâs busy and-â Liam shoots a panicked glance toward Bourn- âœwe canât exactly bring you to him. We donât know where he is at this moment and we canât lead you through the town. Many are still wary of you, SÅ.â
âœIsnât the barn I fell into located in the Southernmost part of Bourn?â A single finger points in the direction youâre referring to, without uncrossing your arms, and Liam nods to confirm. âœThen weâll walk around the village. No need to walk me through it if you want to avoid people coming into contact with me.â
âœYes, but why do you want us to bring you to the barn?â
âœBecause thatâs where Mr. Long is.â
The two boys pull their heads back slightly at your words. âœHowâdo you know that?â
âœAh-wellâa guess. A lot of work needs to be done with what I destroyed so Iâm sure heâs nearby directing efforts. Iâm sure the hole is drawing a lot of onlookers too, curious about what I had done. So Iâd say heâs there quelling the crowds like he said he wouldâso itâs the most likely spot in which heâd be.â
âœOh, I see. Thatâs where I know he was last too.â
Nailed it! Itâs not like you could say you can feel and hear his presence there.
âœRight? And if heâs no longer there, someone will know where he went and they can go find him for us. But the longer we stay here the more likely that will happen. Letâs hurry up and clear this misunderstanding before then.â
They both nod and Liam runs forward to lead your small trio. Vance remains behind you as you start to move, sandwiching you between them. Itâs a pleasant walk, especially with the insects attached to your form, either by skin contact or by air, and the feeling of grass between your toes as your legs move. Presently, youâre captivated by a spider with a fuzzy and clear exterior maneuvering through the gaps in your fingers while you listen out, Vance and Liamâs small talk being one of many but the only one youâre present for.
âœSo what did you two do while I was away?â
âœSÅ and I talked for a bit before we went out to watch the sunrise. One thing led to another and we ended up in the patches as you saw us.â
âœThatâs niceâ. Talk about anything interesting?â
âœQuite.â Vance is curt but proceeds. âœAnd something about some sea creatures called squids and octopuses. Their body is their head and they have tongues for limbs called tentacles, eight of those they have.â
âœHuh?! That sounds awful!â
âœVance said the same thing, but theyâre not.â You interject. âœI just did a poor job explaining them.â
âœSÅ also said that theyâd eat them.â
âœBleahk! Nasty! I couldnât imagine! Why would you want to eat something that is nothing but tongues and a head? I already don't like cow tounge!â
âœAs I said, without the visuals, it sounds badâ.â You shake your head knowing full well that if you were still in Yggdrasil you could summon one to show them what you meanâ. Could you still summon here? You havenât investigated your avatarâs abilities yet. You need to do that soon but you keep getting distracted or the moment isnât right. Going away from those repetitive thoughts thoughâ. âœWhat about you? What did you and Nate do while you were away?â
âœA-ahâwellââ He scratches his chin meekly. âœ...after I pulled him from the house, two others along with me had to keep him from going back and uhâbeing how he was around you. After the meeting was over, we were escorted back to the barn to help with cleaning efforts and packing for the trip to E-Rantel. When we finished, Nate went to Barry while I came to you two.â
âœMaybe, if we canât find Barry, Nate will be able to assist.â The suggestion made on your part is more of a passive remark than an actual plan since your awareness of the two individuals' locations provides knowledge that the idea isnât necessary. âœThe only issue would be getting him to help.â
âœLeave that to me. You can stay with Vance while I handle it. There will be less issue that way.â
âœSounds goodâthough I do want to ask something.â
âœWhat is it?â
âœIt may not be my place to pry but Iâm certain Nate wonât-uhâentertain isnât the right wordâNate wonât cooperate with me if I asked him this. Is there a special reason why heâs so aggressive towards meâor to monsters in general?â
You canât see Liamâs expression since his back is turned to you but his rigid body language speaks words as to what face he wears. âœY-yeah, uh, definitely not something I am open to share. Thatâs all for him to tell if he ever doesâbut I do suggest not asking him about it. Maybe if you werenât a m-ah! Oo-uh, sorry, uhâif you ask him, compared to a human, he may try and beâmurderyâ.â
âœ...Thatâs no different than how he's been around me?â
âœNo, thereâs a difference.â Liam peaks pleadingly over his shoulder. âœHeâs been aggressive to you, I will not deny that. So far the worst heâs done is try to provoke you to start a fight so that he could have an excuse to kill you. Itâs indirect but he hasnât tried to outright kill you yet. If you bring up-â He swallows his line- âœwhy heâs hateful of you, he will attack you with no regard for you or his life. Please, do not seek out his past.â
âœ...I understand.â You lower your head with the affirmation. âœI assumed as much, which is why I had asked you two first as it appears youâre close friends of his. Thank you for the warning.â Nods are shared between you three and before silence could settle you continue. âœIâm not trying to be nosy for asking such a thing. Iâm being genuinely cautious and concerned. As you said it yourself, heâs trying to kill me one way or anotherâbut the method heâs doing it is destructive. Itâs not only hurting him but those around him.â
Sighs are released on both ends as if the two have heard that point too many times.
âœYesâbut all we can do is help him mitigate that damage.â
âœIsnâtâthat very toxic?â
âœWhy do you keep describing things as toxic?â
âœItâs a word of phraseâa slang word, err, a descriptor used back home to describe something or someone harmful whether intentionally or not, usually the prior. Being around something toxic or poisonous can be harmful so people picked up that phrase to describe such things.â
âœAh, I seeâitâs a little clever.â Liam admits but he shakes his head. âœIt probably is âtoxicâ but we love him. Heâs family and you canât abandon family.â
âœI understand that and all but what kind of family does things to put their members in danger?â
âœHeâs not doing it on purpose.â
âœHe is if heâs aware that what he does can hurt those around him even if he doesnât mean it to.â
âœ...in his eyes he sees it as helping-â
âœWhen itâs not?â
He falls to glare before turning away. âœIt does in a way. Most of the time it helps and he means the bestâbut IâVance and everyone else know that it can be the opposite. Thatâs why we are here as he can be stubborn.â
âœ...*sigh, itâs not my place to judge. Especially since I hardly know anything. I justâhmmâI may be in the wrong to give adviceâIâm worried about his aggressiveness proceeding since Iâll be traveling with you three.â
âœMay be traveling.â Vance hums before Liam clarifies-
âœWe still need to have a discussion with Barry on whatâs to go.â
âœRightââ Oh, you will be going. âœThough itâs not wrong to consider the issues that arise if I come along so that we can prepare.â
âœIf you do end up coming alongâIâd say try not to talk much to Nate or be close to him.â
âœAnything I can do to lessen his aggression?â
âœN-not much. Leave that to Vance and me. If he gets too heated weâll handle it.â
âœVery well. Thank you.â
Thereâs not much more to be said besides small talk so you choose to mull over what you know of Nate since Vance and Liam start to chat amongst themselves about something chore-like.
Frankly, you wouldnât be giving the asshole the mind of thought if your situation was different but the fact that you will be stuck near Nate for the next few days does raise someânot so kid-friendly thoughts. Some involve minor body dismemberment but you try to stomp down those particular ones as swiftly as you can, knowing that they shouldnât be entertained lest you abandon your morals.
You wouldnât be thinking of him either if he was equally as hateful of you as most in the village if he wasnât so hostile. But he is and that can pose an issue due to the aggro you receive when threatened. No one has attacked you yet butâif itâs as hard as it is to hold back when youâre only verbally attackedâyou know that itâll be near impossible to force your hand back. You need to avoid anyone or anything that can tip you off.
You canât tell these people that you have an aggro. It will reinforce what they already think of you. An uncontained monster. Yes, they may be true in a wayâbut youâre not your avatar. Youâre just stuck in your avatarâ. Wahhh! What a conundrum! A stink hole is what this isâ.
You wish you had gotten a little more out of Liam though. He confirmed what youâre already aware of and thatâs it. Vance was more informative than Liam was and he hadnât even said anything while the two of you were talking. Itâs what he said back in Barryâs house that gives you a bit of insight as to what may have and does occur around here.
Seeing as how these three young men, still boys in your eyes, havenât been visited by any parental figures since your appearanceâis a little self-explanatory. Maybe they do have families and theyâve seen them before you started expanding your sensesâbut as for Nateâ. The fact that he isnât being punished by a parent but rather Barry speaks some levels as to how his family life is. You could make a guess and say monsters had something to do with it but it may be a different scenario. With that thought, youâre to make sure not to bring up family around him either.
Hmmâwell, as long as youâre careful with what you say and stay away from him you think youâll be fine.
Besides the issue with Nate, thereâs another thing that you want to know about but canât ask outright.
What is the thing Liam and Nate said they felt from you?
You can hear similar discussions throughout Bourn from others about a presence you exude. You donât have any negative stats that produce fear, intimidation, petrification, or the likeâthough that doesnât sound like what everyone is describing it as. They would have and still be acting differently if you didâ. Such as praying for holy intervention, turning tail and running for the mountains...or being belly-up dead. At your level, most stats like that could be deadly to low-level mobs, such as aura of despair. Thankfully, thatâs not the case for you.
So what are they feeling? Itâs a strong feeling is all you can gatherâ. What do you have strong of?... Is it a power thing? Your LV? Your MP or HP? Your overall base stats? But how would they sense that if thatâs what it is? Thatâs not how Yggdrasil worked, albeit some NPCs would notice your strength...and that players can use spells to detect certain statsâ.
Though this isnât your game! It doesnât seem like it is. There are similarities but there are key differences.
Is it a skill or does everyone feel this âœpresenceâ from you? Mm...canât be certain. Youâll have to work that info out of them when you have the chance or listen in to what everyone inquires of one another.
The figures who speak in depth with one another as to the feeling you give off are part of the few who are called retireesâat least from what various people have called them. You donât know much about why theyâre called so but when you had left the barn for the first time most of the people who you could see that made up the village were older men. Yes, there are women and children but the majority youâve seen are men around your age irl.
Is this a retirement village? You donât think thereâs such a thing as retirement in this time period, not to mention you can hear these people doing work along with others. Hmmm. That doesnât change what theyâre being called. There must be a reason why things are going on like this around hereâis it a military thing? They served the king of this land and now they spend the rest of their days off in a village in the countryside? Maybe. Besides that, the only thing youâre getting from them as to the identity of the feeling you give off is âDangerous.â
It might be a level thing. If theyâre anything like basic farmer NPCs, their levels are going to range from 1 to 5. Even if theyâre a little higher on the LV scale, compared to them your avatar is on an ungodly level. Is it because they can feel the level gap?...
*Sigh, only time can tell at this rate. You canât speed run here.
Besides, now that the barn is insight there are greater matters than to mull the what-ifs.
âœIâll run ahead. You two can wait by the fence while I grab Barry and some others.â Liam nods as he speeds off, leaving you and Vance to watch him jog away to the slightly crowded space ahead.
As you arenât presently falling to your death or making deals with an angry mob, you can finally observe the structure of the building you fell into. To you, it appears like a huge log cabin. Unlike the stone houses that make up most of the buildings here in Bourn, the barn is completely made out of wood only exempting the tiles that make up its roof. It has a few rectangular windows lining the middle, long but no taller than a head. You assume they are there to allow air circulation within the stank place. Much needed as your upgraded smelling capacity agrees to the shit hole the place reeks of.
What keeps a large center of your focus, however, is the evident gaping hole in the roof of the structure. Itâs larger than what you guessed it was. The entire surface wasnât destroyed but it looks like you took out a support beam when you broke through it, causing a cave-in around the general area. You can only guess what that says for the state of the second-floor flooring and the items packed there.
Despite the damage, many are gathered about making an effort to clear the debris and clean up. No one is on the roof yet as stability isnât assured but you can make out a few heads popping out of the gap as they collect tiles. Itâs good that theyâre right on top of this. If they let it sit they can risk further damage caused by natural elements.
âœUh, I guessâI did a number over there.â
No response follows so you look elsewhere to where Vanceâs eyes flow.
Not surprising, itâs the gazes of the villagers as you two approach. Youâre still off a way but you could guess itâs hard to miss a naked rainbow anomaly walking around with bugs swarming them. They call each other's names and point your way as you approach. Slurs spew, similar to the night priorâ
âœItâs thereâ
âœItâs the monster!â
âœWe should go-â
âœWhat are those things around them?â
âœBugs, it looks it. Disgustingâ
âœWhy is it coming over here?! Isnât it supposed to be locked away somewhere?!
Some flee the scene at the mere sight, those mostly being bystanders whoâve come to look at the hole. Others stand and watch or mind their own business with work but fervent talk continues nevertheless as word spreads of your coming.
âœIs it true that itâs friendly? Itâs walking with Vance.â
âœI heard it has a sack of gold. Where does it keep it?â
âœIsnât someone going to take it away?! Why isnât anyone doing anything about it wandering around?!â
âœIâd feel better if it was bound some wayââ
âœA leash would be nice, I agree.â
âœCome this way-â
âœWhat do you think it is? Everyone is saying itâs a fairyâ
âœI got shivers again. It has to be evil.â
âœStay in hereâ
âœWhy didnât Vance listen?!â
âœI heard it can fly so why isnât it flying away?â
âœUgh, damn itâ
âœLetâs ask Liam heâs headed this wayââ
Mmmâyeah. Not so different from last night. But itâs what you told Vance. If they donât see you it could cause problems further down the line. Might as well rip off the band-aidâbut is the wound too fresh? Itâs not like you did anything disastrousâthough a few conversations you overheard do cause issues for concern.
Money must be extremely tight if thereâs talk of selling their children into slavery.
Your stomach turns uncomfortably.
You have all the gold in the worldâyou can end their poverty for generations to comeâ. But itâs all that you have. If you give away your belongings before you can secure a place for yourself, youâll be catering to disaster. You could die if you make a mistake like that. Plus, this isnât the only village in this kingdom, youâre sure. Many others could be suffering in poverty. If you give away what you have now, you wonât be able to help others down the line. You need a source of income before that. And giving away gold like that could cause an inflation, making the coin worthless. You could crash the market economy essentially. Many more issues come off of the act of pouring out your wallet willy-nilly, therefore, you cast the idea aside.
So if this deal works, Bourn can receive help from you if they want. But this means that they need to let you go first.
âœSÅ, this way.â A hushed tone comes from behind as the dark archer gestures for you to follow him, stepping around you before directing you to a rickety fence adjacent to the barn. Beyond the fence is the cropsâor would be crops.
Since itâs late spring, most of the tillage is just that. Soft soil being weeded and watered periodically by those tending the land. However, you can make out little green sprouts starting to make their way out of the dirt and in the middle pastures of the fields are older crops, likely preserved from the year(s) prior. They stand tall, over the heads of all those who pass and go in.
Hmmâwithin those plants must be the black dust. Obviously, the ones youâre looking at arenât the said plant. What do those grow? How do they know how to grow them? Itâs fascinating to see in person.
Civilians werenât allowed near croplands as they were very governmentally mandated due to their value and rarity. Good land to farm on was hard to come by. Not an understatement in any sense. Theyâre treasured similar to the little national parks left around. Itâs a global crime for a nation of any kind to harm croplands in any sort of way, even those whose land the farms reap from. Itâs cause enough for war to be waged and punishable by death of the individual(s) responsible and that of their families too.
However, as far as youâre aware, there are no crops present in Japan due to the amount of pollution your land faces, that itâs prone to natural disasters, and has very little land suitable for cultivation. Even a hundred years ago, before the ice caps melted and rose the sea level by seventy meters, merely twelve percent of the land was used for cultivation.
History proves that there were efforts made to expand this percentile. Altering mountainsides into paddy fields. Higher pay and better conditions for farmers. Upgraded supply chains to better distribute their produce. All to improve the overall food self-sufficiency rate of the islands. Japan still had to and still does rely on imported goods but the percentile of crops did go up.
All that effort was taken away in less than a century and Japan lost its entire agricultural industry.
There are likely hidden underground plantations on the continent somewhere. You wouldnât doubt some of those with limitless wallets have farms as such stationed around so they can sustain themselves while the world dies. You wouldnât know. Youâre just a game designer. A successful one all because Japan is currently the greatest technologically innovative country in the world, giving you access to technology to make your ideas real.
You continue to follow Vance off to the side of the fence as you draw ever closer to the barn and you understand why heâs leading you like this. It puts distance between you and the people of Bourn and displays a direct path which you two will head down so people could stay away.
You donât mind, more inquisitive of the crops. âœWhat are you growing?â
âœHere?â Vance turns his head to the left to the ones closest to where you two pass by.
âœWell, these and anything that is further out.â
âœNearest to us are veggies, gourdes, and roots, a few fruits as well. Further out, along the stream, is our wheat and barley. They make out the largest portion of crops we grow but they wonât be coming for a while. Out there, the crops that remain there, are a mixture of corn, beans, and other towering stocks. They can survive winter if tended to, so they remain there. Everything else either dies in winter or is harvested in full.â
âœNeat! What will be ready first?â
âœThe fruits. The end of summer is when they are ready for picking.â
âœWhat type of fruits do you have?â
âœA few types of tomatoes. Green, globe, and Campari as far as Iâm aware.â
A swallow is your immediate response.
Tomatoes?! Uwah~ Youâd love to try one! Youâve had tomato-flavored consumables before but what does a tomato taste like on its own? Is it anything like what youâve had before? Whatâs the difference between the preservatives you had and the raw ones? Not to mention the texture. Whatâs that like?
You know a small portion of recipes due to the food system in various games and the documentaries youâve watched. Could you make something? Hmmm, you never really cooked before since most of everything was either premade, preserved, pills, or were sustenance packets. Not to mention you never really had the timeâbut that doesnât mean you donât know the Basics.
Should you take the time to learn to cook in this new world? Thatâwould be awesome.
Are salads a thing yet? That would be easy. If you have access to manipulate your classes and abilities, it could be easy! With your Beast Taming skills, you could gather all sorts of creatures to harvest off of easily. Not to mention your Druid skills. You got a couple of other spells that could help you like Create Water for some fresh water if you arenât in access to it already. A couple of fire-oriented spells can help you cook. Temperature Change could also help you with heating water, maybe for tea? Ice-type spells to preserve your food, maybe even to serve desserts such as ice cream? You would have the freshest produce to cook and experiment with. And if you can swap your classes as you could in Yggdrasil, you could take advantage of other Job perks such as Expert, Farmer, Craftsman, Chef, Alchemist, Summoner, and possibly a few others!
You...you've never had most of the things that start to rain across your mind as you brainstorm. Meats and plants! All are considered to be extravagant. Only the sickenly rich could afford them since the ingredients are so rare...but here, you have no limit! You could do anything in this new world. You could finally have the chance to eat such foods! Share it with others! Noodles arenât a thing here! You could explore and invent new recipes and flavor combinations! You can fulfill your small dream of tasting such things!
â.
â.
But can your avatar eat?
It was never specified whether or not SÅsaku-sha could eat or not since, technically, the avatar isnât your player personaâbut an NPC that could be inhabited via you.
You still refer to them as your avatar or your player model but it doesnât deny the fact of what they were programmed as.
When you werenât logged into Yggdrasil, SÅ would still be active doing the basic command of patroling. Thatâs about it. It canât pick up items while in this dormant state as you would have to worry about things being displaced and trying to rearrange your inventory before a raid. Although this meant you couldnât have SÅ do menial tasks like farming or maintenance while logged off, it didnât pose any issue in the long run. There were already NPCs whose sole job was to do such and SÅsaku-sha could assist in such matters in other ways that donât have them collecting items on your off time.
Logging back in would always be a surprise for you as you never knew where you were or what you were about to spawn into. In SÅâs room. The sky arena. The baths. The stables. In front of an NPC like you were in mid-conversation. An office meeting. In the middle of a black-jack match. Etcetera. Though, sometimes your default spawn would be the arena since SÅsaku-sha will despawn if any Players enter your realm. This is to avoid the raiders attacking your avatar without you in the pilot seat.
However, when that wasnât the case, youâd finish whatever SÅ would be doing to not let the task be left hanging for you to forget about. You found it to be quite exciting at times as you as it was always a surprise. You once spawned in during the middle of a wedding reception between a Satyr and an Alseid of yours. It was quite a pleasant surprise, especially since you had a bad day that day. Enjoying the occasion to the fullest left you on a good note.
A pleased sigh escapes your chest as you come to a stop beside Vance, leaning up against the fence nearly adjacent to the farm doors, waiting for the chieftain to make his way to you.
Uwah~ Recalling that memory puts butterflies in your stomachâ. N-not literally though, despite all of them fluttering near you. Though youâre getting distracted easily by your own doing. You were debating if you could eat or notâ.
Mmmmâ
Honestlyâyou donât think SÅ can.
It didnât work earlier and you donât know the first thing about the biology of your avatar. And itâs not like you can do anything to figure it out. You donât feel hungry and you donât want to ask for food. Youâd be put in larger debt. And who would be willing to give you food just so you can play around with it? These people need it and youâre not sure if you doâ.
But what if you do need to eat?
Ahhhâthat puts a sudden pit uncomfortably below your chest.
Great, another thing to worry aboutâcould you starve? Despite your doubt about the existence of SÅâs digestive system, it doesnât dispute the ratio of it being there. Yes, nearly three-fourths of you are sure this body canât eatâgahh! But what if youâre wrong?!
This is more important than your magic issue!
You can live without magic, for sure. That wonât kill you right off unlike the danger of starvation, something youâre too familiar with.
How can you resolve this issue?! You need something to consume first-URk! Can you eat the same things as humans can?! What if you feed off of blood or souls or something alien to you?! Your avatar already does something similar to absorbing souls! Is that what you have to do?!
Your skin shifts to a tone it hasnât before at the petrifying concept, a light grey with squiggles of varying muddy cool hues.
Vance turns his gaze your way when the swift shift of colors was enough to be caught in his peripherals. âœSÅ?â
âœMmm.â
âœYour skin.â
âœIâm aware.â
He lets the silence sit for a moment but does inquire more. âœWhat does it mean?â
âœ...Not goodâW-wait-â You cut in realizing how that can be taken out of context into a bad light- âœWhat I mean isâuh, I was thinking ofâhow I could die.â
Yeah, no way were you going to bring up the soul eater concept you may be.
âœ...Fear?â
âœU-uahânoânoâI donât think so. This is something similar but not that. I look very muddy and dark when Iâm fearful. Thisâmay be a combination of a few thingsâhorror I can straight up confirm as well as disgust. It may be a few other things but Iâm repulsed and terrified by my thoughts.â
You donât want to consider if souls taste good or not. You just wanted to try a tomato, waahâ
An odd shadow befalls his brow as they furrow. âœ...What kind of deathâmakes you that terrified?â
âœ...â What can you say to that? You werenât even thinking of explicit deaths though starvation is one. What would you look like if you starved in this body? Would it be like a human? Boney, shriveled, and bloated stomach? Do you have bone or muscle mass?
The young man watches as you start to rub the side of your chest awaiting your answer, a thought passing through his mind that he stores away for later as to why youâre moving as such. You, on the other hand, do this to explore your avatarâs structure.
â.No ribs. You don't feel any bone structure at all. However, youâre still hard to a point. You can only press so hard until it starts to hurt but thereâs give to your fleshâif it even is flesh.
You grab your bicep next to find the muscleâ.only to have the same result. No definitive muscle mass underneath your hard skin, only little give to the surface.
Whatâthe hell are you made of? You know you have blood. Itâs in your avatarâs lore. Do you have a heart then?
You grip your neck slightly to find a pulseâ.
Nothing.
Nothing?!
Do you have any internal organs?! You have pain receptors, you know that much, but are they nerves?
Wahhh! Why did you think it was okay to make your avatar like this?!
Theyâre an otherworldly being for goodness sake! Of course, SÅ isnât going to have a biology humans can comprehend.
But now youâre a human trapped in an alien body!!
You bury your hands in your palms followed by a groan. Seeing your distressed state, Vance turns away to leave you be, no longer invested in conversation having come to his own conclusions.
Gahh! This is stupid! You hate this! You fucking hate this! RraAAUGHhâhaaaâ. Whatâs the point?
Your hands drag agonizingly slow down your blank face, pulling on the hard skin to stimulate some kind of reliever to the stress youâre experiencing.
Thereâs no point in worrying. Itâll get you nowhereâexcept to a new problem. But you can only handle one at a time right now. Soâfocus on what you can do.
See if SÅsaku-sha needs to eat human food. If not, move on.
But how can you retrieve food?
â.
Thereâare seeds and plants in your inventory, or should be. They are for your Druid capabilities when you need to grow a foreign plant you canât with typical growth or summon spells. You can try something with those since you know your inventory worksâ
You only have so many of those seeds though. You shouldnât take from a limited resource of yours when you can use it later to make moreânot to mention you donât think theyâd taste goodâ
You can try growing one of them with a spellâ. If you can figure out your magic you could eat what you can harvest from it.
But you only have a very small amount of non-combative or non-harmful seedlings with you, such as those listed in the healer category. If you grow it, you wonât have the time to harvest the seeds from it if the carriage is leaving for E-Rantel soon. Not to mention leaving the plant here in Bourn. What would the villagers do with an unknown plant grown from a monster? Burn it likely. Thatâd piss you off. And if you lose this bet, you canât come back. Youâd be abandoning a limited and rare resource of yours. Would the villagers be okay with you growing an unknown plant in the first place? What would they do?
Yeah, terrible idea. You canât use your growths for this. So what can you try to snack on without asking for food? Hmmmâ
Looking around doesnât stick much out to your flavor palette. Youâre behind a dirty barn. Anything edible surrounding you consists of dirt, some grass, ingrown sprouts in the fields, the wildflowers beneath your feet, the bugs swarming you, and humans; more than half you donât consider.
This leaves the flowers and ingrown sprouts. You know insects carry a lot ofânutrients(?) but you donât take it into account when you have other options. Howeverâitâs a choice between an unknown flower or an edible plant youâre more acquainted withâ.
SÅsaku-sha should be immune to poisoning and disease if these flowers have that effect, but youâre not certain if they still do. Youâd risk making yourself sick even though the flowers appear harmless. However, youâre positive theyâre not poisonous. The animals around you are drawn to the flowers and love them. On top of that, none of them have died. Theyâve appeared more vigorous after consuming them in a way. Not to mention that the flowers are letting off a pleasantly sweet smell, comparatively honey-like or similar to candy. All in all, they may not be bad to tryâ
Then again...behind the fence youâre leaning against is a small little sprout of either a fruit or a vegetable. You can have something considered actual food. Yes, youâre aware of flowers that can be used as ingredients for foodsâbut to have something youâve always wanted to try out? A real fruit or vegetable? Uwah~
You swallow instinctively.
But none of the crops are near ready for harvest. You wonât be able to get anything from the one behind you unless you use magic to grow the sprout to maturityâand would the villagers be mad if you took a bit of their harvest? Mmmmâthoughâthis could be a good chance for you to try out your magic. When will you have the next opportunity? Youâre not doing anything but waiting anyhow? Why not kill two birds with one stone? See if you can use magic and if you can eat.
But what if you mess up your magic? If you can still use it, how can you control the spell you put out? Do you have your spell slots still?
You can hear Liam talking to Barry, Nate, and a few others and itâs only a matter of time before they comeâ. Should you do this? Hmmmâwhat the heck. Why not? This is important to your survival anyhow.
Okay thenâ.
What should you try out?
The flowers.
The sprout.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'124
Weâre getting personalized now. I mean, does it really matter which you choose? Do you think it matters in the long run? Why would I give you a choice like this if it didnât matter? Itâs not like I put double meanings to everything, do I? Itâs up to you~
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DEAL OF GOLD 2:2
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold.
Chapter Notes
Itâs been four months, hasnât it? How time flies when youâre busy! I ment to update way sooner but when you work 50 hours every week, time to sit and write becomes sparse. Nevertheless, I never quit! I got de largest chapter yet for y'all ere! 45 pages in doc, youâre welcome! I hope y'all enjoy!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœYesâI have.â You conclude to Vance and with yourself.
You havenât killed anyone with your bare hands but thatâs not an excuse. Youâre accountable for the affects of your choices which have contributed to others' demise. If youâre not, then whatâs to say of the actions of businessmen or politicians whose decisions caused displacement, health issues, death? Should you be free of blame? No. Not completely. Itâs an issue youâre aware of. There is a charity you support which aids those getting the ports installed so the surgery is safer and those hurt from the operations can get a chance for aid. Itâs all you can do. Everything else is down to the individual choice.
And SÅsaku-sha has definitely obliterated humans. They may not have been real people, sure. They and all the others youâve faced as your avatar were avatars to other players. Simply code. Not flesh and blood. Parts of your game. But they were just as real as your avatar.
Vance tries to keep stone-faced but your alien focus picks up on how the muscles around his temples flex like heâs grinding his teeth.
âœ...Is something the matter?â You urge him to respond when he remains quiet, likely mulling over what you said was true or not.
Thankfully, your query seems to give him the courage to say whatâs on his mind albit quietly. âœI shouldnât have gotten my hopes up.â
âœ...What?â Voice airy with dismay and indignation, you retort with another question of your own. âœDo you think Iâm proud of the blood on my hands?â
The soft tone you takeâheavy with the weight of such an action, and the hurt within the sound of your voices has Vance swallow. He had no answer.
âœVance. I could have lied and said I hadnât. Couldâve painted me in a better light if Iâd done so. ButâI donât want to dismiss the guilt that I carry. Iâve lived for a long time, during which I've had many whoâve tried to take my head because of the name I had built up. Sometimes protecting myself and the things I care about meant taking the lives of those whose will was to destroy. It wasnât just humans. All sorts of races have fallen by my hand so that I could preserve what I hold dear.â
âœ...Didnât you say you were well-liked?â
âœNo matter how beautiful a flower may be, isnât there always someone who wants to pluck its petals?â You gesture to the flower patch below your feet as you slowly guide yourself closer to Vance but still keeping your distance. âœEven if they may not have the intent to be so cruelâmaybe itâs to give the flower to a loved oneâthey still destroy it in the process. No matter how liked one can be, once youâre seen in a light above others there will always be those who want to take or snuff out that light.â
âœIâseeâ.â
âœHey, itâs not all bad. Sure, Iâve had plenty of attempts on my life,â you roll your shoulders jokingly, trying to deviate from the dark nature of the conversation, âœbut Iâm still alive! A perk to being strong.â
His eyes narrow. âœStrong in magic orâ?â
âœI guess, but enough of that.â You gloss over the point he was trying to reach and move straight to what you wanted to ask before. âœAre we staying here or are we allowed outside?â
âœIâd believe it would be wise for us to stay indoors. Bourn isnât fond of monsters, especially one that has killed humans.â
The sensation of muscle-flexing on your blank facade reminds you what eye twitches feel like. âœAm I a monster?â
âœ...You look like one.â
âœBut am I a monster?â You wait for his response for a couple of secondsâa few secondsâa handfulâmanyâa minuteâtwo and more but he keeps silent. You donât know whether or not heâs refusing to answer, doesnât want to say you are one to avoid angering you, or if he doesnât know the answer himself; so you ask a slightly different one. âœ...Do I act like a monster?â
âœ...â
You narrow your focus on him, trying to read his body for a reply since heâs refusing to give you one. âœVance, do I act like a monster?â
That breaks his spell of silence, âœ...Not really.â
Youâd arch your brow if you had one. âœI donât?â
âœ...Noââ
âœTruly?â
âœYes.â
âœ...â
âœ...â
âœThen Iâm called a monster solely because of my appearance?â
âœItâs not-â Vance starts but cuts himself off to swallow. âœYou do look like oneâitâs a part of it.â
âœ...part?â
âœ...The othersâitâs easier to believe youâre a monster than something more, soâwe are prepared if we ever have to treat you like one.â
Splotches like ink, warm and murky in mix, splash across your chest and throat at the bitter lump that settles there. âœSoâdespite how I act, I wonât be anything but a monster? Doesnât that sound unfair? Would you treat a child like a criminal if they have the possibility of growing up to be a murderer?â
âœYou admitted youâre a murderer. Arenât we justified in mistrusting you?â
âœThose were all acts of self-defense.â You grow warm but having felt the flare so many times at stronger intensities, you swallow it down without issue. âœHave you not killed to defend those you care about? Have you ever fought for your life?â
âœ...YesâI have.â
You stop your retort, having expected him to say no.
He has? To what extent? Is that why heâs assigned to watch you? Butâwhat about all those other menâwhy a boy?
âœ...how old are you?â
âœTwenty.â
âœTwentyââ Echoing in a mumble. Thatâs so young. Maybe not as young as some children you know whoâve had to kill or fight due to conscription, poor Earthly conditions, abuse, and whatnotâ. Still, since itâs not something youâve had to do as a human even after decades of being aroundâsomeone so young telling you theyâve had to bloody their handsâ. âœIâm sorry youâve had to experience something like that so early on.â
His eyes widen a fraction, probably not expecting that type of response from you either.
Despite that knowledge, you continue. âœWhy arenât you treated as I am if we are both killers?â
âœAh.â Now that seems to be what he expected you to say as his expression reverts to the way it was before. âœBecause I protect Bourn and earn a living doing similar.â
Your head reels back. âœWaitâso youâre saying you kill people as a job?â
âœNot people. Not yet. Just monsters.â
âœWha-monsters are people!â
âœNo, they arenât!â He snaps back, growing in frustration as you are. âœAll the monsters Iâve met have been nothing but beasts.â
âœMaybe the ones youâve met but thatâs not the case for all. We are alive just as much as you are. Take me for an example. Am I not a person?â
âœ...No, you are.â
âœIâm a person?â
âœI believe so.â
âœBut you also call me a monster.â
âœ...Yes.â
âœ...â Clenching and unclenching your fists, you whisper, âœThen what makes me a monster?â
âœ...not being human.â
âœNot being human.â An echo again as you let that statement sit in the air for a moment. âœHow am I not human?â
He looks at you oddly, opening and closing his mouth a few times like a fish but no words come out. He must be arguing with himself if every answer he means to say is beat down by his logic. After a moment, though, he settles with, âœYou werenât born one.â
If only you knew, boy.
âœSo thatâs it? Itâs my fault for being born the way I am?â
"Didn't you say you created yourself?"
"Yes, but I'm making an example here. Would it be my fault if I was born a monster?"
âœNo thatâsâitâs not.â
âœ...â
âœ*Sigh* Itâs what weâve learned to hate. Itâs what keeps us alive-â
âœCareful.â You hiss. âœHate and greed are the worst traits man can have.â
You see his throat bob despite him trying to appear nonplussed but his eyes do darken. âœIf we didnât kill every monster that came here, all of us would be either dead or raped. Most likely both. Just ask a few of us what weâve witnessed from monsters, though I highly doubt anyone would answer even if you were human.â
It feels as if cold water has been poured over you.
âœW-wait. Every monster that has come here has come to do those things?â
âœYes. Itâs what weâve all been sayingââ
Itâs your turn to be quiet. You had guessed some horrible things have happened between this village and the monsters from Tob but to be straight out told that rape occursâ.
People from Earth may have a different view of morals than you, listing rape as a crime punishable by a few years or none at all due to the fudged up court systemâbut youâve always seen rape as one of the unforgivable crimes. Itâs a fate worse than death. Torture in all forms and can completely ruin someoneâs life. Way worse than just being murdered.
Murders may be bad but rapists always hit a sore spot above in your book. Thereâs never a good reason for it. Not in a million-no, infinite years! None. The only close thing to a near stupid excuse is that they wanted children but could never get a spouse to continue their bloodline. Fucking selfish and demented. Trash that should die and hell be invented for. There are so many ways to have children with science as it is that isnât a viable excuse at all. With overpopulation and the fact that theyâd resort to something so despicable is the cherry on top as to why they shouldnât have children. All the other excuses youâve heard are sociopathic and blow your mind how theyâre not labeled as confessions.
"Itâs their fault for being attractive."
"Itâs their fault for drinking too much."
"Itâs their fault for wearing revealing clothing."
"Itâs their fault for acting slutty"
"I couldnât help myself, my desire was too strong."
"Theyâre stronger than me so if they wanted to stop me they couldâve done so."
"They wouldnât say yes so I had to use force."
"They eventually said yes so itâs not technically rape"
"They have no right to deny me as their spouse."
You may not be a very aggressive person but youâve always wished for the worst for those slimeballs.
So to hear that rape goes onâ. To even bring it up means it has happened beforeâ.
Heat flares up not in anger at the boy but rage for the acts carried out by some of these monsters youâre being compared to.
Vance notices the red that consumes all the other pigment on your skin and he backs further away into the doorway, placing his hands to his sides. He doesnât have the opportunity to speak, a noise indecipherable and guttural rolls out in a solemn tone.
âœIâhad reasoned these monsters kill you all for food. Am I right?â
âœTheyâyes. They do.â
Your head nods slightly with a low hum. âœSometimes, when food is scarce, creatures and people alike can be pushed to devour one another, despite their morals on the matter. Iâd only guessed monsters would attack you all because they donât want to resort to eating their kinâ. Doesnât make it right but uhâcircle of life and whatnotâ.â Huh? And whatnot? Why arenât you appalled by monsters eating humans? Itâs almost as if youâre talking about wolves eating sheep or sharks eating fish. Something completely natural in occurrence. Is this you or your avatar?... âœHowever, I do not tolerate rape. I wonât say all those monsters that have attacked you are the same. Some most likely had to act out as a means of survival but I do share your hate for those that deviate from necessity to cruelty. Justârealize that Iâm not them. Iâm my own personâ.â
âœ...Iâd like to think you are.â He looks away from you so that heâs looking further into the house where the walkway leads outside. âœThough, whatever I hope you to be doesnât make it different for anyone else here.â
âœThatâs because they donât know me. They only know that a monster, called SÅ, destroyed their barn but, somehow, the chief was able to get gold from it! Who knows where it got its gold! Likely from pillaging villages like all the others, psh! More blood money!â
Vance turns back to you to make a weird expression as if heâs asking âWhat?â
âœItâs not my words. Youâre all loudmouths and I have better hearing than you all give me credit for.â The shrug that follows is an attempt to lighten the mood again since you failed the first time around. âœLook, I know that your village is afraid of meâbut what good will it do anyone if we stay here? Were you all expecting me to stay in this house so no one has to see me?â
âœ...â
âœ...Seriously? Youâre all okay with treating me like a caged animal?â
âœItâs not like that. Youâre a guest of Barryâs.â
âœSome guests I am if Iâm not allowed outside. Iâd almost say itâs kidnappingâor-err, holding me hostage? One of those things. Probably the latter.â You attempt to sit cross-legged in the air but you realize, unlike how easy it looks in media, you have to continuously strain your legs to remain crossed. Your legsâ weight isnât the issue, PHY stats in play and Ascend making it so that youâre suspended in similar fashion to zero gravity, but the lack of surface to lean your weight on. With no support in the air, you do an odd fumble of limbs for a moment as you try to set your form right. Vance gives no response while you squirm but his eyes follow your every movement. It only stretches for a moment, no more than five seconds, but itâs enough time to embarrass you into shyly untangling yourself to curl into a ball instead, pink overtaking the muddy reds.
âœ...I havenât seen you change to that color beforeââ He notes but thankfully doesnât mention your air dance.
âœY-yeah. The color changes with how Iâm feeling.â Thatâs most likely the case since the colors would follow emotes of
âœ...Iâve never heard of a creature whose color changes on mood. I know of some animals that change their color to match the season or environment.â
âœItâs not a common trait, thatâs for sure, especially for the variety I produce. But there are lizards and sea life that can do the same... Ever heard of a squid or an octopus?â
He tilts his head in question watching your skin shift with more interest now that he knows the colors have meaning, wondering what the green and yellow spots blooming express.
âœNo.â
âœThey are one of those sea creatures I mentioned about changing color. There are multiple different types of squidbuds and octodudes, coming in many shapes and sizes but all have a similar build.â Cupping the air in your hands you make a clutching motion with your fingers. âœTheyâre sort of squishy in build since they have no bonesâI think? They do have beaks though as far as Iâm awareâ. Here, they look like this-â You point to your dominant hand which is turned down limp-like but you move your fingers to mimic the way youâve seen them and jellyfish move in the documentaries- âœbut they have two eyes and eight tentacles-err well the octopuses have eight of them. Squid are the oddballs.â
âœ...Tentacles?â
âœAh, sorry. Instead of arms or legs, they have..." How do you describe tentacles accurately? "...limbs similar to noodlesâ. Do you know what noodles are?â
âœNo.â
âœNever mind then." You scratch your neck before coming up with a more accurate visual. "Their limbs are like sticky wet ropesâor like long tongues that act like fingers.â
Nailed it. Completely butchered the image.
His neutral expression slips with the corner of his lips shifting, barely hinting that heâs perturbed by the description. âœ...Are they a type of monster?â
âœHa, noâwell, not really but theyâre harmless as long as theyâre not threatened in some way. Theyâre intelligent and can be kept as pets, though my hom-errâa region I resided in used to have a tradition of eating them. Iâve never partaken but I heard that they tasted quite nice, a bit on the chewy side, howeverâ.â At least thatâs what youâve heard from food documentaries and from the top folkâbut you couldnât imagine eating meat with how strained the industry is. Chicken is the most common source of meat out of all others, available at almost every party youâve ever been forced to attend. Though, in those rare extravagant partiesâyouâve seen a wider varietyâ.
You hope none of it was wasted.
âœI donât think Iâd want to eat something with tentacles.â
âœTo each their own, though I think I described them poorly. Some of them can be rather cute or beautiful. Nevertheless, you got me off-topic.â You point an accusatory finger his way. âœNo good comes from locking me away. Doing so is a temporary solution, delaying the inevitable.â
âœAnd?â
âœAnd itâs doing more harm than it is good. In a way, youâre admitting to your village that I am something that they should fear and stay away from. It will cause that mindset to worsen, in affect, cause their reactions to be more severe when I inevitably show my lack of face.â
âœHow is that harmful? They should be afraid.â
âœNo! Itâs-ugh! Itâs not healthy. Sure, fear may keep you alive but it always holds you back from living. Theyâre going to be constantly on edge and stress causes health problems. I donât think you know this since youâre not a doctor but humans can die from extensive stress. Plus, people act irrationally when theyâre afraid. They may try to kill me the moment they see me if you let their thoughts fester for too long.â
âœ...â
âœThink of it this wayâ. What will put them more at ease? Knowing a ferocious monster is in Mr. Longâs house or seeing for themselves that the monster isnât as ferocious as initially thought when it is walking side by side with a young man?â
He stays silent in the doorway, blocking your one way out other than the window behind you. You donât know if heâs decided to give you the silent treatment or if heâs just being himself.
With a huff you plead. âœVance, please? You donât know how much I want this-need this. Last night was the first time for me to see stars and being outside withoutâ. *sigh* I hear, smell, feel so many new things from here, and itâs-tsk! Itâs killing me not being able to explore them! I need to know! I need to! We donât even have to be near anyone! I just-IâI-I need this, Vance! Hide me if you need to I want to see the sky agai-â
You abruptly stop when you realize-
In the window, between the shutters, light blue light is filtering in!
THE SKY!
THE FUCKING SKY! YOUâLL BE ABLE TO SEE THE SKY-
W-whu-WAIT! WaitwaitwaitwaitwAIT!! WHAT TIME IS IT?!
THE SUN-
âœVANCE!â Your screech of excitement shocks the boy but youâre too quick, Ascend sending you like a bolt in the air and you slip right past him over his head and through the house before he could stop you.
Screw trying to get permission to leave, youâre not missing this!
âœSÅ! SÅŒ!â You hear Vance call out to you as he tries to catch up to you but you already have your hand on the handle of the front door.
âœKeep up! Weâre going to miss it if we wait any longer!â
The door is thrown open and you dart out into the open air and immediately register your surroundings.
The air is crisp as a slight breeze flows gently from the direction of the North where the Azerlisia Mountains reside. Itâs light in scent but spry with earthen wafts. The sounds surround you just the same, enveloping your whole form once you hit the outdoors, no longer muffled by walls.
Nothing looks different other than the lighting, less navy and much lighter in tint. The sky too is waking up from its slumber, becoming lighter in pigmentation to the sunâs approach.
The sky! Blue! Itâs so blue! HAHA!
Your wide vision provides you the sight to see villagers already mulling about, getting to whatever chores or jobs they need to before the day gets started. Thankfully they havenât spotted you yet, wrapped up in their mullings, but youâre sure they will in a moment so best to act swiftly!
Vance is fast approaching according to the sounds you hear coming from inside the house but you wait for him to catch up so heâll know which way youâll be headed now that youâve noticed a yellowing of hue to the East~
âœSÅŒ! Stop!â Once he bursts through the door youâre on the move again, not letting up on your goal.
âœQuickly, Vance! Follow me!â Is your only warning to him before youâre on the move again. Your voices did draw pairs of eyes but you had already made it around a corner before your presence was registered.
Youâre grateful that Barryâs home is situated near the Eastern outskirts of Bourn so you hadnât the need to maneuver through the streets where people are now starting to filter into and that Vance can chase you with more ease.
You giggle excitedly as you pick up speed when more of the yellow light is made apparent through the last few homes. Just a few yards to the East of the village is a hilly countryside, scattered with shrubbery and the very thing the village is named after, a bourn that flows out from the forest. Youâve been informed that the stream goes out and around the houses to the fields where their crops are placed.
You could stop where you are still within the bounds of the village and watch the sky from where you are but something catches your eye.
Vance no longer calls after you, opting to conserve his energy into sprinting after you seeing as to how none of his words worked thus far. You swoop over the pastures, closing the distance between the shallow flowing water and you.
Wahh! Itâs so clear! And it smells so fresh and sounds so soothing! Youâd love to take a bath in the bourn! Play, drink, lay, sleep in it! It looks too inviting not to! But not now-
You glide right over the gap, feet dangling above the calm currents, not a single drop of water lands on you at the act and you turn back with an ecstatic wave. âœCome on, Vance! Youâre supposed to keep an eye on me!â You canât help but tease the boy as he slides to a halt in front of the water, hurriedly spotting some rocks sticking out of the slow current and works quickly to start hopping across. âœAt that pace, youâll never catch up with me!â
He stays silent but his expression is more telling how aggravated heâs getting due to your actions, a frown morphing to a heavy scowl paired with a glare.
He can be mad at you all he needs to be for your slip, youâre not going to skip this!
Your goal isnât far off the stream. In the grass field, a huge boulder lies serenely with moss inching over its surface like a green blanket. You donât know why or how a rock this big came to make its home here but itâs the perfect place for you to sit and watch it occur.
You more or less gracefully ascend the face of the rock and giddily place yourself down at the top.
Cold is the first thing that comes to mind when your skin makes contact. The next is how wet it is, dew from the morning having collected on its surface to transfer onto your form. Itâs hard, as to be expected, but the moss cushions your weightâreminding you of a zaisu! Giggles escape as you cross your legs to sit on your makeshift chair properly.
Mmm, nostalgia~ Way better than that creaky old chair!
Vance finally jogs up, you barely give him any mind as youâre tuned in on the springy moss smell and the goldening horizon as he looks up at you with a glower. He doesnât say anything for a moment as if waiting for you to explain yourself but you donât. At that, he mutters your name.
âœHm?â
âœWhat are we doing here?â
âœIsnât it obvious? Weâre watching the sunrise!â
âœ...all thatââ
âœFor the view? Absolutely! You canât fathom how important this is to me. I wouldnât miss this for the world.â
Heâs frustrated still at your actions, thatâs apparent, but he softens his frown a tad with a silent sigh, settling down to watch the horizon with you.
Your conversation ended at the perfect time you suspect, honing onto the scenery.
The dark blue and purple shadows stretch against the countryside in contrast to the orange spritz sky and fluffy yellow clouds to the rising dawn. Dew and ripe flowers surround you in a kind bubble, cradling your form in welcome. Itâs when the shadows of the plains get darkest when the golden orb of light readies to breach the endless blue.
âœWhoah!â A gasp escapes you when, finally, a sparkle of light peaks its way above the tree line in the distance, casting its warm glow on your features. The sky noticeably shifts in palette as it marches across the sky to rest ahead of you. Fascinated by the fundamentals of the sunâs effect on the climate of this world you remain somewhat in a numb trance.
The sunâs flirtations on your skin are considerably warmer than the breeze that flows down from the mountains of the North, holding promise that summer is on its way. The temperature fluctuations had been noticeable but despite you being naked youâre not sensitive to the change, a surprise to you. You assume that it has to do with SÅsaku-shaâs tolerance of such things.
Back on Earth, there were only clouds of smog. There was no sun. Global warming was constant so it was always hot. That irritating heat...however...there were a few things that produced pleasant heat. The sun is one of them. You donât think that you had ever felt the sun before going on a plane to your first gaming convention and that was...a mind-blowing experience. You remember how warm it felt on your skin as you stared out the window at it. It felt just like how all those romance poems and movies depicted it as. Itâs a warmth that feels like hot chocolate and kisses. So bright it had been but all you had wanted to do was stare at it despite it causing you to see weird spots afterward.
However, you stare at the sun and bask in its embrace for minutes...and no pain nor spots appear. Is thisâa natural thing? Is this whatâs supposed to occur and Earthâs pollution made it so you canât see the sun without burning your eyes?
Allowing your vision to expand just enough so that you can check on Vance, you see that he squints in the direction you're facing, obviously blinded by the growing light.
Nope. Pollution isnât the verdict. This must be an alien-body thing going onâwhich youâre grateful for.
Another blissful noise rumbles in your chest as you continue to be hypnotized by the star that is starting to dye the sky a calming variety of warm hues. You thought that the sky would look brown before the sunrise since the orange and blue colors would meld to make such a color...but no...the orange is so bold and it comes with its compliments of pinks, greens, and yellows.
Absolutely breathtakingâ.
A noise escapes you... One that you can't place the source for but it may have to do with the way your body begins to tremble.
Vance side-eyes your form as you wrap quivering arms around yourself. It does little to settle your muscles, only emphasizing how impacted you are by the sight. It's not the crisp of the glade, your avatar is immune to freezing. Besides, the warmth of the star grips you in a homely feel, as if you're a babe coddled in the welcoming hold of a guardian... The fetal position you find yourself in doesn't help refute the imagery...and you're okay with that.
Another shuttering noise rumbles out, wet in pitch as pressure coils over your face and chest, warm and feels like jelly...
âœAreâyou okay?â
âœMmhm! This is better than Iâve ever imagined!â Your voice is shaky but you know itâs for good reason.
You've only felt this way a handful of times. Being nominated as the most innovative game designer of the decade? Those few times you've been in real battles with players? Receiving your first game as a kid? The genuine smiles you've brought to others...
Yes...you're feeling bliss. A pure joy.
"Ha...haha... And here I thought the rendition in Midgard was the best area to watch the sunrise and sunset. How presumptuous..." The mutter can hardly be called such, warped in tone by your overwhelming emotions. No one would understand you if they were listening. "My...first sun... I wish I could share it with you all..."
âœI didnât catch that. Are you trying to tell me something?â
âœItâs nothing important. Donât mind me. Though, hmm...Iâm jealous of you, Vance.â
He quirks his head. âœ...What for?â
âœYou get the chance to watch this every morning. You get to withhold a masterpiece crafted by nature itself. All the time. Everyday. Heh, I never got the chance to sit and watch a sunrise like this back where I lived.â
âœ...Is there a reason for that?â
âœUhââ Great. Youâd wanted to make small talk. Instead, a dark hole into your recent reality is being prodded at, one that may be too revealing of Earth. âœErr, that isâuhâa little privy uhâ. Nothing for you to concern yourself with. Some sad junk with a long story. I simply wanted to point out somethingâvery precious you may take for granted, not realizing its true value. Your world is so...alive and green. Donât let anything take that away.â
âœOkay.â He lets it be but you can tell heâs trying to be courteous of you to some extent which you appreciate.
All is nice...
All is good...
You want to cry...and...for the first time since this ordeal...not for a bad reason.
Haha! How youâre not going to let anything get in the way of this habit. Youâll use your weird new senses to enjoy it to the full, every morning if you can-WA-WAIT! YOUâLL BE ABLE TO SEE YOUR FIRST SUNSET TONIGHT!!! Youâll have to wait until then, of course, but a REAL SUNSET!!!
You completely vibrate with excitement at the opportunity, Vance all the while is fixated on the array of your skin. Two individuals fascinated by something new in two different ways.
You can explore and work until then! So much to do and so much to see! How many other things are here which you donât have on Earth?! Wahh! Probably more than you can come up with! Youâre stuck here so might as well enjoy the sights! The flowers, grass, river, hehehe! How long can you mess around? You have no ideaâyou may be pulled back any momentâ.
â.
No. You shouldnât encourage the idea that youâre here permanently. Although you love this moment more than you can mentally comprehend, your situation is less than favorable. You have a life back on Earth, family, friends, and responsibilities with itâ. If you stay here, who's going to help those who youâre leaving behind? Whoâs going to fill the hole which you leave?
What difference does that make? Are you so important to the world that a gap would be left behind?
â.Mmmâ You donât know how to feel about thatâ. Do youâor did you matter in the long run? You want to think that you will be missed or that you played a big role in helping fix things, but if you are then the longer you stay here the more harm itâs doing back home. Is that selfish of you to want to be wanted, knowing that if you are youâre only causing pain being here? It nearly makes you wish that, if you truly are stuck here, you donât mean anything so that your close friends and family can move on without any hassleâ. But what would that say about all youâve contributed to world health and entertainment? That it meant nothing?
â.
*Sigh, like you concluded with yourself earlier. If it meant nothing, so be it. At least you didn't contribute to the bad.
Twirling a finger around the moss on the side Vance isnât at, you ingrain the sensation into your memory as you contemplate your place.
You donât know how permanent this is but you need to prepare yourself for that case. Try not to become too attached but grounded enough to get by. Youâll appreciate what you have now for you donât know when itâll be the lastâ. Ah, thatâs the same mindset as the one you had on Earth. Wonder if you're actually here or your mind is here?â If your body has turned into your avatar or your body and avatar are still separate beings? Your mind seems fused with some of the traits your avatar would haveâ.
*Sigh, too much to considerâ. Youâre going to blow a fuse with all of the questions scrambled in your head. You already seem to space out and forget every now and thenâdespite your memory being crystal clear otherwiseâ
Itâs...odd. Youâre having relapses in your memory when you get too stressed but your memory of everything that has occurred to you since the fall has stayed crisp in your mind as if youâre...currently reliving every moment youâve had since being here.
If someone asked you to recite the discussion you had with Barry on the New World, youâd be able to say word for word all the hours worth that was said. All the names of every person youâve heard since coming here are noted: Frank, Hyatt, Joseph, Raleigh, Seth, Mat, Barry, Nate, Liam, Vance, Ethan, Kite, Trade, Nan, Bella, Tinna, Flock, Viva, Ignis, Saga, Tifa, and so on. You remember your intense fluctuations of wrath during the creation of the deal. Tea vaper across your chin. The wonder that came with this worldâs lore. The starry night sky. The smell of muck and the scratchy texture of the straw. The rush of wind and your panic as you fellâ.
You scratch at your neck again.
And this weird itch? Why do you keepâfeeling this itch on the back of your neck?...
This doesnât make any sense to you.
âœAugh...Iâm tired of thinking. I keep going in circles.â
âœWhat are you thinking about?â
âœMy situation. Iâm confused about how I ended up here but thereâs more to it than that.â
âœDidnât you say you flew here?â
âœI was flying but thatâs not what got me here. Itâs like I was teleported. One moment I was there,â You wave one hand before the other to display to the young man what occurred, âœand then I appeared here. Itâs something impossible, yet here I am. Iâm lost not just physically but my mind is too. I canâtâIâm troubled as this situation has many dangers and issues that arise with it.â
âœAny that we should be concerned about?â
âœEhhâIâll let you know if it does. âComplicatedâ is a small descriptor of whatever this is that Iâm a part of. Nothing is certain yet and I need time to sort out my thoughts.â
He doesnât have anything to say to that but he does pivot his head to look back at Bourn. You too can see with your extended vision what heâs looking for and when he lets out a ragged sigh you understand immediately why.
A few eyes are poking their way around the corners of some houses, watching Vance and you all while they grumble and fret under their breadths. Theyâve been doing so for a while but Vance didnât seem to realize their presence till now and is huffing in complaint that youâre caught out in the open like this. His tongue remains still though, keeping his thoughts to himself either by the reasoning you gave him back at Barryâs or due to his own reserved nature.
You hum in appreciation, wanting a break from arguing and not wanting to be brought back to a musty room now that youâve gotten a taste of nature-
Something fluttering with a light buzz catches your attention to your left and the moment you hone in on it youâre jumping up from your spot.
âœOI!! Is that what I think it is?!â Youâre across the grass within a moment to get a better look, giving Vance hardly any heads up to react as you squeal, âœItâs a butterfly!!â
Itâs of similar orange to the sunrise, with brown and white speckles across its wings. It hardly disturbs the air at how light it is flying around. Itâs mesmerizing to watch it bob in the air, giggling at its odd movements.
âœHeheh! Hey there, little guy! Youâre so pretty! Wow! Look at that! Are you trying to get warmed up in the sun like me? Uwah! Itâs been decades since Iâve seen one of you!â You reach out a tentative hand with your palm up, almost like you want to reach out and pet it.
Much to your surprise, however, it flutters right up to you, curiously circling your form a couple of times before landing on your palm!
You lose it.
âœVance! Vance! Look! It chose me!â You point excitedly to your hand where you cup the small bug to your chest. âœIts legs feel weird and ticklish! I didnât know theyâre so brittle like they have little hooks on their feet!â You donât mention your sixth sense to him but the contact youâre having with the insect leaves a pleasant buzz on your palm.
An odd expression is hardly masked by indifference while he walks up to your beaming presentation. âœItâsâneatâ.â
âœItâs not just neat! This is amazing!!! Iâve been chosen!â You raise your small companion as if theyâre a newly discovered sacred relic. âœIâm now crowned ruler over the butterflies! Kneel before my supreme power!â
âœPsh!-â His muffled laugh is cut short as he tries to cover it up with a comment of his own, âœItâs just one butterfly.â
âœA flapping of a butterflyâs wing can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world. Itâs just a saying but it means to never overlook the small things. Usually, they have the largest impact in the long run. So despite it being on its own, it still changed meâand made me its RULER!!! We need to find more subjects under my domain! Vance! Lead me to my peopleâplease?â
He quirks a brow at your antics but nods nevertheless, turning to lead you out across the meadows with your butterfly buddy in towâ.
â—
âœLiam! Grab ahold of this will you!â Struggling under the weight of a sack, Nate pleads with his friend for assistance. Thankfully, Liam is quick to assist and alleviates the load from his grasp before storing it securely within the cart.
When the young man straightens back out, Liam observes what has been stored so far within the small carriage. Although there isnât much to say about crops since they're not necessarily in season, many of the stock placed within are goods that Bourn is popular for. Furs, bones, wild meats, herbs, specialty wood, mushrooms, and a small portion of fruits, nuts, and berries. Itâs nearly summer now so the time to harvest from the forest is open. Itâs a short period so many of the residents in Bourn, mostly the retired adventurers and soldiers, are the ones tasked to seek these goods out.
It leaves manpower stretched but itâs not necessarily a problem at this time of the season. Summer means that thereâs less work needed to be done to the fields. Checkups and maintenance are still a must but overall work is needed elsewhere.
Tending to the livestock for one is big, especially for the females that are carrying young. Predators are also an increasing issue, now that the warm weather is back, as wildlife leaves Tob. This can bring monsters along but isnât a rampant issue for Bourn due to the surplus of food elsewhere. The cold months are the time of year to be most wary, however, this doesnât dispute the fact that theyâre still an issueâ.
Especially since thereâs one present in their village-
âœLiam! Stop daydreaming and take this!â Nate scolds him again, voice strained as he holds out the last sack to him.
âœS-sorry!â He hurriedly pulls the bag out of his arms without as much as a grunt and lays it beside the previous one.
âœFor gracious sake shit head! Where are you right now?! We need to finish this up but you keep drifting off!â
âœI said Iâm sorry!-â
âœYou may have super strength but some of us canât dangle seventy pounds above our heads waiting on an idiot to get their head out of their ass!â
âœNate!-â
âœEspecially the same idiot who beat me with a wand!â He interrupts to point out a darkening spot on the back of his right arm before leaning down to pick up a crate with dried herbs delicately lined up within.
âœYou were acting crazy! I had to st-â
âœYou didnât have to nothing!â Nate shoves the small box to Liam with a grimace. âœI had it under control!â
âœNo you didnât!â
âœShut up! I did!â
âœYou didnât! You really didnât!â
âœHow would you know-â
âœI watched as you about got your head popped off by a monster because you canât keep your damn mouth shut!â Liam shoots back with an exasperated sigh. âœHonestly, canât you ever bite your tongue whenever youâre angry?! You always say stupid stuff that gets us in trouble!â
âœI didnât say anything wrong!â
âœYou were antagonizing SÅ-â
âœDonât say its name like itâs a person!â
âœWhatever! Even if you were or werenât wrong, the way you spoke was a great way to get us all killed! Iâm sure that if I didnât intervene, Vance would have. Barry may have had you escorted out too. Heck! Lure, Jackie, or any of the others wouldâve hauled you out! Youâre lucky it was me but youâre too oblivious to the way people help you!â
âœShut up!â
âœNate! Listen for once?! You were letting your anger get the best of you again.â
âœSo what? Canât I be pissed that weâre catering to a monster?!â He grits his teeth at the mention of their visitor. âœThereâs no reason to keep it here!â
âœYou know very well why we are.â
âœAnd we shouldnât! Never trust monsters.â He grunts as he picks up the next crate to continue their task. The last few items they have left for the trip are being brought over by Kip and Garb to load into the cart with the remaining pile.
Liam watches them approach as he takes the next box from Nate. âœI know. But we donât have much of a choice, do we?â
âœWell!...â He started but couldnât find a validated excuse beyond his frustrations and what has already been said. âœ...Fuck! I justâI canât stand it. I hate this!â
âœIâm sure many share the same thoughts. IâmâI have a horrible feeling about it too.â He admits. âœDidâNate?â
âœWhat?â
âœDid you also feelâoff when you first saw them?â
âœ...Yeah.â His voice lowers as he accepts the last of the shipment from the two others with a nod. When they walk away Nate continues. âœItâs not even that threatening looking. No claws or fangs but the moment I saw it I felt shivers cover my entire body.â
Liam nods. âœMe too. If I could describe it in any wayâjust the sight of them made me feel small. Why do you think that happened?â
âœIt could be a trick. The freak is a magic user for fuckâs sake.â He angrily huffs with the next crateâs passage. âœOr it could be our minds telling us how evil that creature is.â
âœAs in how dangerous it is?â
âœThat too. Iâd like to confirm what the feeling was with one of the retirees but our hands have been full since it has caused a ruckus. So hurry up with taking this shit out of my hands so we can do so!â
âœI am!â Liam jerks the felts and tosses them in a crevice between the weighted items. âœIf the feeling is due to how dangerous SÅ is, what does that say about what we can do? Weâve never faced a creature that has caused my hair to stand on end like that.â
âœTsk! What we normally do when we deal with monsters.â
âœWe canât fight it if itâs incredibly dangerou-â
âœI donât care!â
âœNate! It could get us killed-â
âœI know! But we canât let a monster live-â
âœYouâre going to risk our lives over your vendetta?!â
âœNo! You all have to run when it attacks but I refuse to flee from a monster!â
âœThatâs incredibly stupid-â
âœAnd thatâs my fucking choice!â
âœNate, no! You may have that trick but you only have one of those! What if you miss?!â
Nateâs eyes darken as they level with Liam, âœI never have. And donât bring that up while that freak is in the village.â
Liam shakes his head with a huff, disregarding the importance of Nateâs statement, âœDoesnât mean you never will! And do you honestly think that weâd leave you to fend for yourself?!â
Nateâs expression lets on a little panic, âœDonât any of you dare!â
âœFor goodness sake, Nate!â He throws his arms up in exasperation. âœWe canât leave you to some suicide mis-â
âœIâll protect us! Donât any of you, I mean it, not you, not Vance, not Mat, Seth or Loster, Hugh, especially not Barry, none of you be beside me! Just stay back! Tsk! I should just kill it the moment I see it so we can avoid the issue!â
âœAre you not hearing how ridiculous you sound?! Youâre being unreasonable-â
âœBeing unreasonable is letting the freak risk the safety of our families-â
âœShut up! Shut up and stop interrupting me while I try to talk sense into your thick donkey skull-NO! Donât you dare stop me from talking!â Liam raises his voice when Nate starts to open his lips. âœI swear Iâll beat more bruises into you if you so much as make a peep before Iâm done talking!â
His teeth snap shut with a click as he waits for his friend to continue.
âœNate. We will not be risking our lives by attempting to kill something we donât understand and are on neutral terms with. You will not pick a fight by attacking them or running your mouth, especially when that will certainly rope us into it. Donât deny it! As much as youâre trying to protect us, you know that wonât stop us from providing aid. Heck! Youâre putting us in more danger than the monster is on their own! I probably saved the lives of everyone in Bourn when I dragged you out of Barryâs house because you couldnât keep your damn mouth shut! Iâm surprised the chieftain hasnât scolded you yet, probably more focused on maintaining peace and stability than starting conflict like a certain dickhead!â
There is a moment of silence, words being processed before Nate spits a wad into the grass at his side.
âœWhatever. Let's finish this task already.â
He starts collecting the remainder of the supplies, stacking them together roughly with unsaid frustration, Liam watching with a frown of his own.
âœWe care about you, you know.â
âœ...â
âœNate.â
âœI know.â
âœAll of us do.â
"I know."
A few more moments of silence inch on while they tidy up the cart, lifting the last of the items into it. The carriage isnât stocked full but itâs enough for the offseason. This is a spontaneous preparation after all.
âœLetâs wrap this up.â Nate concludes while unfolding a large tarp blanket but Liam hums in worry, looking to the East sector of Bourn.
âœDo you think Vance is okay? Didnât they say heâs watching SÅ on his own?â
âœI think so. Heâs the most perspective out of us three, good at reading the enemy. If anything, Iâm sure heâs trying to learn as much as he can about it so he can inform us what to look out for. He still needs to tell us what he got from the ridiculous story it tried spouting to us earlier this morning. Tsk! Havenât gotten enough sleep as it is!â
Liam hums in mild agreement while Nate tosses a corner of the sheet to him. He catches it but also catches a glimpse of the bruises left behind on the young manâs arms. He wants to feel guilty but knows itâs a small price that had to be paid to avoid bloodshed. âœDo they hurt?â
âœWhat?â
âœThe bruises?â
âœItâs nothing. Just donât fucking go hitting me no more.â
âœ... Do you want me to heal them-â
âœSHH!!â He harshly shushes with a glare. âœDonât reveal abilities while the monster is in the village!â
âœTheyâre nowhere near us.â
âœThat we know of! Itâs a magic user so it has all sorts of tricks! It could be listening in on us for all we know!â
âœ*Sigh* okay. Still, do you want them fixed or not?â
âœNo. Donât waste theâyou know. The cost or whatnotâ.â He straightens his side of the tarp as Liam swings over the other side to do the same. âœYouâll need it when we get in a real fight.â
âœOkay.â Liam side-eyes the steady return of Garb and Kip as they lead one of their workhorses, Donny, to get set up with the cart.
âœThat reminds me. Did you damage your wand whacking me as hard as you did? I swore I heard cracking.â
âœIt was your imagination. Itâs fine. Iâve already checked it.â
âœHuh. Maybe the cracking was the sound of my bones shattering.â
âœCome on, I didnât hit you that hard! Youâre delusional.â
âœI donât know. Felt fucking hard, you cunt.â
âœNot hard enough to knock some sense into you if youâre still talking crap. I bet your thick skull has something to do with it.â
âœFuck you!â He shouts after no comeback comes to mind. Once the tarp is laid over the goods Liam tosses the rope belts with hooks at the ends for the boy to attach to the other side, securing the wrap. âœYou sure the wand wasnât damaged?â
âœYes. Itâs fine. I can show you it if youâre so worried.â
âœIâm notâpsh, you know your twig better than I can anyway. I hate to suggest this, but next time you go about whacking me over the head try not to use your only tool that assists with your m-word.â
âœI agree, but I could have hurt you more if I had used my fists instead.â
âœBullshit! You could have held back your punches.â
âœYouâd think Iâd be going easy on you. I couldnât risk you fighting back.â
âœI probably should have!â
âœYou two still arguing like an old couple?â Garb grunts as they finally get close enough to add in his own comment.
Liam nods his head over in Nateâs direction, âœCould you guess why?â
Nate blushes angrily, âœShut the hell up! None of you say a damn word!â The laughter that follows from the three causes his blush to deepen. âœI donât always start arguments! All of you are cumrags!â
âœSpeaking of saying a wordââ Kip brushes off Nateâs crude speech with a message of his own, âœBarry would like to have one with you, turdwad, after youâre done with the carriage. Seeing as you two are done strapping, itâs best you get your ass over to him so he doesnât chew your ear off for being late too.â
âœD-damn it!â Nate continues to curse while he trudges his way to the barn, leaving the three behind.
âœTold you he was focused on other things. You had this coming!â
âœBe quiet, Liam!â Is the last audible thing that is heard from Nate before heâs too far out of earshot.
âœAlso, Liam.â
âœHm?â The blond shifts his attention to Kip as the older man points Eastward.
âœSince the cart is finished, they want you to assist Vance with watching over the monster and to inform him youâre all set. Once we have some guys take your places watching the beast, then you two can wrap up whatever you need for the trip to the capital. Weâll finish getting Donny secured, it shouldnât take too long.â
âœAh okay! Thank you two!â Liam starts to set out into a jog but Garb calls out.
âœA few more things, Liam!â
âœHuh-oh yes?â
âœA few of our folks have told us they spotted Vance and the monster out in the fields past the stream.â
The news takes him back for a second, âœTheyâre out in the open?!â
âœIt seems so.â Garb doesnât look happy with the news either. âœI was told Vance was to keep it out of sight to avoid panic, or thatâs what Barry had Seth pass as a message onto him. No one has reported any visual struggle or conflict between the two so we canât say for certain the monster forced Vance to let it out.â
Liam bites his lip in concern for his friend.
Why are they outside? Did SÅ use some sort of trick? Hopefully, Vance is alright.
âœThank you for letting me know!â
âœNot at all. And Liam?â
âœYes?â
The man sends him a small smile. âœThank you for all the work you do and for stepping up last night.â Kip nods in agreement. âœYou boys do a lot of hard work, all you adventurers do.â
Liam responds with a goofy smile, appreciative of the complement but also still worried for his brother in arms.
With a wave, Liam doesnât resort back to a jog but starts to run instead. He nods to everyone he passes, more focused on getting to Vance than chatting.
Bourn isnât a large village, a curse and a blessing at times. Thankfully, itâs one of the good instances because it only takes a good two to three minutes until heâs running past the last row of houses.
âœLiam!â A strained voice catches his attention for a moment, seeing Saga pointing in a general direction not far off from where heâs headed. âœItâs in the flower patches that way.â
He thanks the young woman as he rounds a corner and heads out into the open field where Saga directed him. It takes a second or two but he spots the unmistakable dark figure of Vance in shin-high pastures just as she told him, but no monster in sight. His stomach drops, raking his eyes across the plains while keeping the same continuous pace, searching for the creature.
Had they run off?! Where are they?! Why is he standing there?! Shouldnât he be with SÅ?! Is something wrong with him?! And why are there so many butterflies around?
âœ*Huff* Vance!â He hollers just as he crosses the waters to run up to his friend. Heâs still a great distance away but Vance picks up on the sound of Liamâs voice and perks up considerably. He doesnât call back, simply watching as the blond catches up to him, short on breath. âœAre you okay?! *wheeze* Whereâs SÅ?!â
âœIâm right here, hehe!â
His eyes widen a tad at the out-of-the-blue voices and a colorful arm swinging out from within the grass in front of Vance, covered in butterflies.
âœWhat?â Liam slows to investigate whatâs going on, curious because of the butterflies' surplus in the air and SÅâs hidden position within the weeds. When he reaches Vanceâs side he leans forward to peek, letting out a surprised laugh.
Lain out in a bed of flowers, both native and of their own doing, with spread-out limbs is the said monster. SÅâs skin camouflages into the underbrush as greens, yellows, and pinks sparkle across. Itâs hard to make out their form, however, nearly blanketed with all sorts of insects and small rodents.
âœH-how?!â Liam is too amazed to form a proper question, mind going haywire at the sudden change in mood heâs found himself in. Just a moment ago he was worried about Vanceâs welfare. Now heâs greeted with this bizarre position
âœI had been nominated as the supreme ruler of the butterflies!â
âœHa-what?!â
âœVance saw everything! That lil guy-â SÅ points to the air above where many of the butterflies are fluttering, so many that Liam canât tell which is being singled out- âœchose me, and now all of them have!â
âœWhy?! How?! I donât understand!â His head pivots back and forth between his friend and theâ.monster? Can a monsterâact this way? How can he call them a monster when theyâre petting a rat at their side?! âœIsnât that uncomfortable?!â
âœYes but itâs awesome!â They giggle again. âœI feel like an anthill, with all of their little legs crawling over me, but when will I ever experience this again?!â
âœI guess...but I donât understand! Vance?! What is this?!â Liam seeks an answer from his colleague but he appears as lost as he is, albeit in a way less expressive. That doesnât mean he isnât expressive at all, he's more so now than he usually is as heâs faced with the predicament as well.
âœI had led them over here since they wanted to see more butterflies. The moment I brought them over here everything started to swarm to them. SÅ said they donât know why this happened either.â
âœBut I did say it could be because Iâm a Beast Tamer!â You interject getting Liamâs eyes back on your prone form.
âœA beast tamer? Is that a part of your magic?â
A hardy chuckle leaves you but you shrug, still cautious of revealing too many of your avatarâs abilities. Especially since youâve been listening in on every conversation going on within Bourn, not omitting the one he and Nate had. A little ironic that Nate had been right about you listening in on them, despite the paranoia being unfounded at first glance. That had been informative, to say the least, a few things you plan to poke and prod them about later. Subtly though. Super hearing isnât something you want to be known, especially if it means you can keep listening in on discussions like that.
âœYouâreâvery gigglyââ
âœWell, ah, I am covered in bugs, hehe. Itâs ticklish.â A believable excuse, not false anyway. But youâre giggling more so at the new asshole being ripped into Nate by the sound of the scolding and beating he's getting.
Ah, karma~ You got to love her work!
âœI-I seeââ Liam pivots back to Vance. âœUmâis there a reason why you two areââ
âœOut here?â He finishes Liamâs question.
âœYes. Some are worried that something happenedââ He twists his hands together nervously but is still pretty flustered at the scene theyâre near, butterflies now taking perch on him similar to Vance but not nearly as much as SÅ. âœI was too for a second.â
âœ...No. Nothing happened. They wanted to watch the sunrise so I accompanied them.â Vance states a matter of factly and the simplicity of the answer has Liam seeking reassurance.
âœThatâs it?â When Vance nods, he knows he wonât get any more answers while SÅ is nearby. Something else may have happened but he doesnât want to bring up the fact that Vance was told to keep SÅ indoors while theyâre right there listening to them. Vance is very good at obeying instructions so itâs odd that itâs not the case here. He must have good reasoning for deviatingâ. It canât be because SÅ wanted to see the sunrise. Something either forced his hand or gave him a reason to let them out. Is it because of something SÅ didâor is it the story he was told? Was it movingâor does he know something important?!
While Liam thinks over what little Vance had let on, you on the other hand appreciate Vance not outright ratting you out. He may tell them later that you flew past him and made a getawayâbut maybe not. Is he the proud type or is he being considerate of you? You canât tell but you know that heâs not entirely happy that you were able to evade him with such ease when he was supposed to keep you at Barryâs.
If you hadnât heard it beforehand, it still wouldnât have been hard to guess that he was told to do so. Itâs not like you could bring it up to Vance back at the house. How would you explain knowing such a thing? A guess? A little on the nose thereâ. Plus, it may have given him a certain reason to keep you settled there. Nah, youâll keep that info to yourselfâthough itâs a smidge miffing that Barry is the one that had the order sent. You can understand it, yes. Completely reasonable and you probably would have done the same in his shoes. He probably would have been asked to do so if he didnât make the decision initially.
Nevertheless, it sucks that youâre on the receiving end and it was made by Barry no less. Heâs one of if not the only person youâre okay with here. Though, you have to admit Vance and Liam are growing on you a smidge. Theyâre one of the few that arenât referring to you as an it but a they, with the addition of your new nickname. Theyâre treating you pretty decently compared to the crowd back in the villageâthough not human likely due to their views and outside pressures. Maybe your standards are too low? Hmmmâweâllâdo you have any options? The only other people that sound-uhâ. Not okay but alright are the children, older couples, and a very small gap of random individuals youâve been listening to. You havenât personally interacted with any of those who youâre audibly learning about but they sound nice? Many of them havenât said anything good about you but the way they speak builds a decent character for them.
Thoughâthe children sound to be the most friendly out of the bunchâwell, thatâs a lie but you find their life threats amusing, to say the least. You still feel a twinge of heat but your human side, you assume, is overpowering the wrathful feeling with the absurdity of an army of babies coming to stab your shins.
âœHehehe!â Another spill of giggles at the combination of the visual, the sound of Nate yelping at a particularly loud wamp, and the sensation covering your body.
âœOh, Vance!â Liam pops out in a hurried tone. âœWeâre the ones going to E-Rantel, though Iâm sure youâre already aware since weâre the ones usually sent on these types of things.â Vance nods to show heâs listening to his friend. âœSince the cart has been finished, I was told weâll be heading out soon. Theyâll be sending over some of the others to take our place with SÅ.â
âœSeniors?â
âœEither that or one of the current in arms.â He assumes. âœSo after they come we are to wrap up whatever we need to before we head out. I need to get my things since Iâm still in my nightclothes.â
His meekness to his dress wear shifts when you make a noise similar to clearing your throat, reeling both of the young menâs attention.
âœUh, you know Iâm going with you all, right?â
âœH-huh?!â Liam sputters out while Vance squints silently.
âœYou said youâre going to E-Rantel. Thatâs where the coin will be appraised, right?â
âœThatâs rightââ
âœAnd the coin will be taken there by you few?â
âœYes. We plan to get it confirmed while weâre there.â
Steadily, careful of the creatures on and around you, you start to lean up to a sitting position. A fume of insects react to this and take to the air to avoid falling. âœThat means Iâm coming with.â
In slight panic while swatting a roach away from him, Liam shouts, âœYou canât! You have to stay here.â
âœThatâs not part of our deal.â Tone lowering while you clarify.
âœWhat?â
âœDonât either of you remember? I said that the coin is my tether. And the very first thing I asked? The very first words of my deal were, âHow about I remain in your village until you go to get this coin appraised?ââ
Their eyes widen, realizing the reality of the deal.
Heh, the devil is always in the details~ Thereâs a reason why itâs the first thing you said. Itâs the small detail theyâre the least likely to remember by the end, especially while they were distracted drooling over your coin. Business always has a seedy side and youâve learned to live with it, especially for oral agreements. Thereâs a reason why anything legally binding should be documented one way or another to avoid scenarios like this one since it relies heavily on memory, the integrity of word, and trust. Itâs what you had to do for them when they gave you the price.
âœGet it? Until the coin is taken to be appraised, I have every right to watch the proceedings as agreed upon. If any of you prevent me from following then youâll be betraying your honor to follow what was shaken upon.â
âœNoâyou didnât say that!â
Your skin flashes a murky tone at the accusation, âœI did. Over fifteen people heard it. So if you forgot, someone else will remember.â
Liam and Vance share an ever-growing distressed look before they look back at you, âœYou tricked us!â
âœI did no such thing.â Leaning your weight forward, you take your time shifting onto your feet to stand. Like before, a cloud of various insects bursts off of your form before taking perch again. However, the few rodents that came to your side before scurry away into the thicket.
Vance keeps his gaze on you while Liam strains his head to look up at your towering form, swallowing a wad of saliva to unsuccessfully clear his nerves. âœEven if you didnât, you didnât make it clear enough that this was your intention! We agreed to the deal thinking youâd stay here!â
âœHow is it my fault that many of you didnât pay close enough attention to my words or didnât seek to clarify what you were agreeing to beforehand? Additionally, you all assumed the plan of keeping me here without clearing it with me first. Really, who is tricking who? At least I said my intentions straight to your faces. You all decided, without my consent, to keep me chained here. Behind my back, no less. Iâm no animal. Any of you couldâve told me at any time what you all thought of doing. You intentionally left me in the dark because you were afraid of my reaction and that Iâd disagree." You cross your arms, careful not to crush anything on you before finishing. "Itâs childish."
âœWe- all of us assumed youâd be fine! We didnât think itâd be offensive to keep you here, especially since part of the deal is that you stay here if youâre right. Isnât that what you wanted?â
You shake your head, a rumble sitting low in your chest as a simple âœNo.â leaves you.
The wrinkles of Liamâs scowl shift from one of betrayal to incredulous at the response. âœW-what? Thenâwhyââ
He fails to form a proper sentence to express his confusion at the revelation while Vance remains a bystander in all of this. Seeing the standstill at both standpoints, you sigh, âœWhy donât we go clear up this issue with Mr. Long? I know neither of you has the authority to make a judgment call like this. Itâs better I explain my views to the man I shook hands with anyhow.â
âœWe canât just take you to Barry. Heâs busy and-â Liam shoots a panicked glance toward Bourn- âœwe canât exactly bring you to him. We donât know where he is at this moment and we canât lead you through the town. Many are still wary of you, SÅ.â
âœIsnât the barn I fell into located in the Southernmost part of Bourn?â A single finger points in the direction youâre referring to, without uncrossing your arms, and Liam nods to confirm. âœThen weâll walk around the village. No need to walk me through it if you want to avoid people coming into contact with me.â
âœYes, but why do you want us to bring you to the barn?â
âœBecause thatâs where Mr. Long is.â
The two boys pull their heads back slightly at your words. âœHowâdo you know that?â
âœAh-wellâa guess. A lot of work needs to be done with what I destroyed so Iâm sure heâs nearby directing efforts. Iâm sure the hole is drawing a lot of onlookers too, curious about what I had done. So Iâd say heâs there quelling the crowds like he said he wouldâso itâs the most likely spot in which heâd be.â
âœOh, I see. Thatâs where I know he was last too.â
Nailed it! Itâs not like you could say you can feel and hear his presence there.
âœRight? And if heâs no longer there, someone will know where he went and they can go find him for us. But the longer we stay here the more likely that will happen. Letâs hurry up and clear this misunderstanding before then.â
They both nod and Liam runs forward to lead your small trio. Vance remains behind you as you start to move, sandwiching you between them. Itâs a pleasant walk, especially with the insects attached to your form, either by skin contact or by air, and the feeling of grass between your toes as your legs move. Presently, youâre captivated by a spider with a fuzzy and clear exterior maneuvering through the gaps in your fingers while you listen out, Vance and Liamâs small talk being one of many but the only one youâre present for.
âœSo what did you two do while I was away?â
âœSÅ and I talked for a bit before we went out to watch the sunrise. One thing led to another and we ended up in the patches as you saw us.â
âœThatâs niceâ. Talk about anything interesting?â
âœQuite.â Vance is curt but proceeds. âœAnd something about some sea creatures called squids and octopuses. Their body is their head and they have tongues for limbs called tentacles, eight of those they have.â
âœHuh?! That sounds awful!â
âœVance said the same thing, but theyâre not.â You interject. âœI just did a poor job explaining them.â
âœSÅ also said that theyâd eat them.â
âœBleahk! Nasty! I couldnât imagine! Why would you want to eat something that is nothing but tongues and a head? I already don't like cow tounge!â
âœAs I said, without the visuals, it sounds badâ.â You shake your head knowing full well that if you were still in Yggdrasil you could summon one to show them what you meanâ. Could you still summon here? You havenât investigated your avatarâs abilities yet. You need to do that soon but you keep getting distracted or the moment isnât right. Going away from those repetitive thoughts thoughâ. âœWhat about you? What did you and Nate do while you were away?â
âœA-ahâwellââ He scratches his chin meekly. âœ...after I pulled him from the house, two others along with me had to keep him from going back and uhâbeing how he was around you. After the meeting was over, we were escorted back to the barn to help with cleaning efforts and packing for the trip to E-Rantel. When we finished, Nate went to Barry while I came to you two.â
âœMaybe, if we canât find Barry, Nate will be able to assist.â The suggestion made on your part is more of a passive remark than an actual plan since your awareness of the two individuals' locations provides knowledge that the idea isnât necessary. âœThe only issue would be getting him to help.â
âœLeave that to me. You can stay with Vance while I handle it. There will be less issue that way.â
âœSounds goodâthough I do want to ask something.â
âœWhat is it?â
âœIt may not be my place to pry but Iâm certain Nate wonât-uhâentertain isnât the right wordâNate wonât cooperate with me if I asked him this. Is there a special reason why heâs so aggressive towards meâor to monsters in general?â
You canât see Liamâs expression since his back is turned to you but his rigid body language speaks words as to what face he wears. âœY-yeah, uh, definitely not something I am open to share. Thatâs all for him to tell if he ever doesâbut I do suggest not asking him about it. Maybe if you werenât a m-ah! Oo-uh, sorry, uhâif you ask him, compared to a human, he may try and beâmurderyâ.â
âœ...Thatâs no different than how he's been around me?â
âœNo, thereâs a difference.â Liam peaks pleadingly over his shoulder. âœHeâs been aggressive to you, I will not deny that. So far the worst heâs done is try to provoke you to start a fight so that he could have an excuse to kill you. Itâs indirect but he hasnât tried to outright kill you yet. If you bring up-â He swallows his line- âœwhy heâs hateful of you, he will attack you with no regard for you or his life. Please, do not seek out his past.â
âœ...I understand.â You lower your head with the affirmation. âœI assumed as much, which is why I had asked you two first as it appears youâre close friends of his. Thank you for the warning.â Nods are shared between you three and before silence could settle you continue. âœIâm not trying to be nosy for asking such a thing. Iâm being genuinely cautious and concerned. As you said it yourself, heâs trying to kill me one way or anotherâbut the method heâs doing it is destructive. Itâs not only hurting him but those around him.â
Sighs are released on both ends as if the two have heard that point too many times.
âœYesâbut all we can do is help him mitigate that damage.â
âœIsnâtâthat very toxic?â
âœWhy do you keep describing things as toxic?â
âœItâs a word of phraseâa slang word, err, a descriptor used back home to describe something or someone harmful whether intentionally or not, usually the prior. Being around something toxic or poisonous can be harmful so people picked up that phrase to describe such things.â
âœAh, I seeâitâs a little clever.â Liam admits but he shakes his head. âœIt probably is âtoxicâ but we love him. Heâs family and you canât abandon family.â
âœI understand that and all but what kind of family does things to put their members in danger?â
âœHeâs not doing it on purpose.â
âœHe is if heâs aware that what he does can hurt those around him even if he doesnât mean it to.â
âœ...in his eyes he sees it as helping-â
âœWhen itâs not?â
He falls to glare before turning away. âœIt does in a way. Most of the time it helps and he means the bestâbut IâVance and everyone else know that it can be the opposite. Thatâs why we are here as he can be stubborn.â
âœ...*sigh, itâs not my place to judge. Especially since I hardly know anything. I justâhmmâI may be in the wrong to give adviceâIâm worried about his aggressiveness proceeding since Iâll be traveling with you three.â
âœMay be traveling.â Vance hums before Liam clarifies-
âœWe still need to have a discussion with Barry on whatâs to go.â
âœRightââ Oh, you will be going. âœThough itâs not wrong to consider the issues that arise if I come along so that we can prepare.â
âœIf you do end up coming alongâIâd say try not to talk much to Nate or be close to him.â
âœAnything I can do to lessen his aggression?â
âœN-not much. Leave that to Vance and me. If he gets too heated weâll handle it.â
âœVery well. Thank you.â
Thereâs not much more to be said besides small talk so you choose to mull over what you know of Nate since Vance and Liam start to chat amongst themselves about something chore-like.
Frankly, you wouldnât be giving the asshole the mind of thought if your situation was different but the fact that you will be stuck near Nate for the next few days does raise someânot so kid-friendly thoughts. Some involve minor body dismemberment but you try to stomp down those particular ones as swiftly as you can, knowing that they shouldnât be entertained lest you abandon your morals.
You wouldnât be thinking of him either if he was equally as hateful of you as most in the village if he wasnât so hostile. But he is and that can pose an issue due to the aggro you receive when threatened. No one has attacked you yet butâif itâs as hard as it is to hold back when youâre only verbally attackedâyou know that itâll be near impossible to force your hand back. You need to avoid anyone or anything that can tip you off.
You canât tell these people that you have an aggro. It will reinforce what they already think of you. An uncontained monster. Yes, they may be true in a wayâbut youâre not your avatar. Youâre just stuck in your avatarâ. Wahhh! What a conundrum! A stink hole is what this isâ.
You wish you had gotten a little more out of Liam though. He confirmed what youâre already aware of and thatâs it. Vance was more informative than Liam was and he hadnât even said anything while the two of you were talking. Itâs what he said back in Barryâs house that gives you a bit of insight as to what may have and does occur around here.
Seeing as how these three young men, still boys in your eyes, havenât been visited by any parental figures since your appearanceâis a little self-explanatory. Maybe they do have families and theyâve seen them before you started expanding your sensesâbut as for Nateâ. The fact that he isnât being punished by a parent but rather Barry speaks some levels as to how his family life is. You could make a guess and say monsters had something to do with it but it may be a different scenario. With that thought, youâre to make sure not to bring up family around him either.
Hmmâwell, as long as youâre careful with what you say and stay away from him you think youâll be fine.
Besides the issue with Nate, thereâs another thing that you want to know about but canât ask outright.
What is the thing Liam and Nate said they felt from you?
You can hear similar discussions throughout Bourn from others about a presence you exude. You donât have any negative stats that produce fear, intimidation, petrification, or the likeâthough that doesnât sound like what everyone is describing it as. They would have and still be acting differently if you didâ. Such as praying for holy intervention, turning tail and running for the mountains...or being belly-up dead. At your level, most stats like that could be deadly to low-level mobs, such as aura of despair. Thankfully, thatâs not the case for you.
So what are they feeling? Itâs a strong feeling is all you can gatherâ. What do you have strong of?... Is it a power thing? Your LV? Your MP or HP? Your overall base stats? But how would they sense that if thatâs what it is? Thatâs not how Yggdrasil worked, albeit some NPCs would notice your strength...and that players can use spells to detect certain statsâ.
Though this isnât your game! It doesnât seem like it is. There are similarities but there are key differences.
Is it a skill or does everyone feel this âœpresenceâ from you? Mm...canât be certain. Youâll have to work that info out of them when you have the chance or listen in to what everyone inquires of one another.
The figures who speak in depth with one another as to the feeling you give off are part of the few who are called retireesâat least from what various people have called them. You donât know much about why theyâre called so but when you had left the barn for the first time most of the people who you could see that made up the village were older men. Yes, there are women and children but the majority youâve seen are men around your age irl.
Is this a retirement village? You donât think thereâs such a thing as retirement in this time period, not to mention you can hear these people doing work along with others. Hmmm. That doesnât change what theyâre being called. There must be a reason why things are going on like this around hereâis it a military thing? They served the king of this land and now they spend the rest of their days off in a village in the countryside? Maybe. Besides that, the only thing youâre getting from them as to the identity of the feeling you give off is âDangerous.â
It might be a level thing. If theyâre anything like basic farmer NPCs, their levels are going to range from 1 to 5. Even if theyâre a little higher on the LV scale, compared to them your avatar is on an ungodly level. Is it because they can feel the level gap?...
*Sigh, only time can tell at this rate. You canât speed run here.
Besides, now that the barn is insight there are greater matters than to mull the what-ifs.
âœIâll run ahead. You two can wait by the fence while I grab Barry and some others.â Liam nods as he speeds off, leaving you and Vance to watch him jog away to the slightly crowded space ahead.
As you arenât presently falling to your death or making deals with an angry mob, you can finally observe the structure of the building you fell into. To you, it appears like a huge log cabin. Unlike the stone houses that make up most of the buildings here in Bourn, the barn is completely made out of wood only exempting the tiles that make up its roof. It has a few rectangular windows lining the middle, long but no taller than a head. You assume they are there to allow air circulation within the stank place. Much needed as your upgraded smelling capacity agrees to the shit hole the place reeks of.
What keeps a large center of your focus, however, is the evident gaping hole in the roof of the structure. Itâs larger than what you guessed it was. The entire surface wasnât destroyed but it looks like you took out a support beam when you broke through it, causing a cave-in around the general area. You can only guess what that says for the state of the second-floor flooring and the items packed there.
Despite the damage, many are gathered about making an effort to clear the debris and clean up. No one is on the roof yet as stability isnât assured but you can make out a few heads popping out of the gap as they collect tiles. Itâs good that theyâre right on top of this. If they let it sit they can risk further damage caused by natural elements.
âœUh, I guessâI did a number over there.â
No response follows so you look elsewhere to where Vanceâs eyes flow.
Not surprising, itâs the gazes of the villagers as you two approach. Youâre still off a way but you could guess itâs hard to miss a naked rainbow anomaly walking around with bugs swarming them. They call each other's names and point your way as you approach. Slurs spew, similar to the night priorâ
âœItâs thereâ
âœItâs the monster!â
âœWe should go-â
âœWhat are those things around them?â
âœBugs, it looks it. Disgustingâ
âœWhy is it coming over here?! Isnât it supposed to be locked away somewhere?!
Some flee the scene at the mere sight, those mostly being bystanders whoâve come to look at the hole. Others stand and watch or mind their own business with work but fervent talk continues nevertheless as word spreads of your coming.
âœIs it true that itâs friendly? Itâs walking with Vance.â
âœI heard it has a sack of gold. Where does it keep it?â
âœIsnât someone going to take it away?! Why isnât anyone doing anything about it wandering around?!â
âœIâd feel better if it was bound some wayââ
âœA leash would be nice, I agree.â
âœCome this way-â
âœWhat do you think it is? Everyone is saying itâs a fairyâ
âœI got shivers again. It has to be evil.â
âœStay in hereâ
âœWhy didnât Vance listen?!â
âœI heard it can fly so why isnât it flying away?â
âœUgh, damn itâ
âœLetâs ask Liam heâs headed this wayââ
Mmmâyeah. Not so different from last night. But itâs what you told Vance. If they donât see you it could cause problems further down the line. Might as well rip off the band-aidâbut is the wound too fresh? Itâs not like you did anything disastrousâthough a few conversations you overheard do cause issues for concern.
Money must be extremely tight if thereâs talk of selling their children into slavery.
Your stomach turns uncomfortably.
You have all the gold in the worldâyou can end their poverty for generations to comeâ. But itâs all that you have. If you give away your belongings before you can secure a place for yourself, youâll be catering to disaster. You could die if you make a mistake like that. Plus, this isnât the only village in this kingdom, youâre sure. Many others could be suffering in poverty. If you give away what you have now, you wonât be able to help others down the line. You need a source of income before that. And giving away gold like that could cause an inflation, making the coin worthless. You could crash the market economy essentially. Many more issues come off of the act of pouring out your wallet willy-nilly, therefore, you cast the idea aside.
So if this deal works, Bourn can receive help from you if they want. But this means that they need to let you go first.
âœSÅ, this way.â A hushed tone comes from behind as the dark archer gestures for you to follow him, stepping around you before directing you to a rickety fence adjacent to the barn. Beyond the fence is the cropsâor would be crops.
Since itâs late spring, most of the tillage is just that. Soft soil being weeded and watered periodically by those tending the land. However, you can make out little green sprouts starting to make their way out of the dirt and in the middle pastures of the fields are older crops, likely preserved from the year(s) prior. They stand tall, over the heads of all those who pass and go in.
Hmmâwithin those plants must be the black dust. Obviously, the ones youâre looking at arenât the said plant. What do those grow? How do they know how to grow them? Itâs fascinating to see in person.
Civilians werenât allowed near croplands as they were very governmentally mandated due to their value and rarity. Good land to farm on was hard to come by. Not an understatement in any sense. Theyâre treasured similar to the little national parks left around. Itâs a global crime for a nation of any kind to harm croplands in any sort of way, even those whose land the farms reap from. Itâs cause enough for war to be waged and punishable by death of the individual(s) responsible and that of their families too.
However, as far as youâre aware, there are no crops present in Japan due to the amount of pollution your land faces, that itâs prone to natural disasters, and has very little land suitable for cultivation. Even a hundred years ago, before the ice caps melted and rose the sea level by seventy meters, merely twelve percent of the land was used for cultivation.
History proves that there were efforts made to expand this percentile. Altering mountainsides into paddy fields. Higher pay and better conditions for farmers. Upgraded supply chains to better distribute their produce. All to improve the overall food self-sufficiency rate of the islands. Japan still had to and still does rely on imported goods but the percentile of crops did go up.
All that effort was taken away in less than a century and Japan lost its entire agricultural industry.
There are likely hidden underground plantations on the continent somewhere. You wouldnât doubt some of those with limitless wallets have farms as such stationed around so they can sustain themselves while the world dies. You wouldnât know. Youâre just a game designer. A successful one all because Japan is currently the greatest technologically innovative country in the world, giving you access to technology to make your ideas real.
You continue to follow Vance off to the side of the fence as you draw ever closer to the barn and you understand why heâs leading you like this. It puts distance between you and the people of Bourn and displays a direct path which you two will head down so people could stay away.
You donât mind, more inquisitive of the crops. âœWhat are you growing?â
âœHere?â Vance turns his head to the left to the ones closest to where you two pass by.
âœWell, these and anything that is further out.â
âœNearest to us are veggies, gourdes, and roots, a few fruits as well. Further out, along the stream, is our wheat and barley. They make out the largest portion of crops we grow but they wonât be coming for a while. Out there, the crops that remain there, are a mixture of corn, beans, and other towering stocks. They can survive winter if tended to, so they remain there. Everything else either dies in winter or is harvested in full.â
âœNeat! What will be ready first?â
âœThe fruits. The end of summer is when they are ready for picking.â
âœWhat type of fruits do you have?â
âœA few types of tomatoes. Green, globe, and Campari as far as Iâm aware.â
A swallow is your immediate response.
Tomatoes?! Uwah~ Youâd love to try one! Youâve had tomato-flavored consumables before but what does a tomato taste like on its own? Is it anything like what youâve had before? Whatâs the difference between the preservatives you had and the raw ones? Not to mention the texture. Whatâs that like?
You know a small portion of recipes due to the food system in various games and the documentaries youâve watched. Could you make something? Hmmm, you never really cooked before since most of everything was either premade, preserved, pills, or were sustenance packets. Not to mention you never really had the timeâbut that doesnât mean you donât know the Basics.
Should you take the time to learn to cook in this new world? Thatâwould be awesome.
Are salads a thing yet? That would be easy. If you have access to manipulate your classes and abilities, it could be easy! With your Beast Taming skills, you could gather all sorts of creatures to harvest off of easily. Not to mention your Druid skills. You got a couple of other spells that could help you like Create Water for some fresh water if you arenât in access to it already. A couple of fire-oriented spells can help you cook. Temperature Change could also help you with heating water, maybe for tea? Ice-type spells to preserve your food, maybe even to serve desserts such as ice cream? You would have the freshest produce to cook and experiment with. And if you can swap your classes as you could in Yggdrasil, you could take advantage of other Job perks such as Expert, Farmer, Craftsman, Chef, Alchemist, Summoner, and possibly a few others!
You...you've never had most of the things that start to rain across your mind as you brainstorm. Meats and plants! All are considered to be extravagant. Only the sickenly rich could afford them since the ingredients are so rare...but here, you have no limit! You could do anything in this new world. You could finally have the chance to eat such foods! Share it with others! Noodles arenât a thing here! You could explore and invent new recipes and flavor combinations! You can fulfill your small dream of tasting such things!
â.
â.
But can your avatar eat?
It was never specified whether or not SÅsaku-sha could eat or not since, technically, the avatar isnât your player personaâbut an NPC that could be inhabited via you.
You still refer to them as your avatar or your player model but it doesnât deny the fact of what they were programmed as.
When you werenât logged into Yggdrasil, SÅ would still be active doing the basic command of patroling. Thatâs about it. It canât pick up items while in this dormant state as you would have to worry about things being displaced and trying to rearrange your inventory before a raid. Although this meant you couldnât have SÅ do menial tasks like farming or maintenance while logged off, it didnât pose any issue in the long run. There were already NPCs whose sole job was to do such and SÅsaku-sha could assist in such matters in other ways that donât have them collecting items on your off time.
Logging back in would always be a surprise for you as you never knew where you were or what you were about to spawn into. In SÅâs room. The sky arena. The baths. The stables. In front of an NPC like you were in mid-conversation. An office meeting. In the middle of a black-jack match. Etcetera. Though, sometimes your default spawn would be the arena since SÅsaku-sha will despawn if any Players enter your realm. This is to avoid the raiders attacking your avatar without you in the pilot seat.
However, when that wasnât the case, youâd finish whatever SÅ would be doing to not let the task be left hanging for you to forget about. You found it to be quite exciting at times as you as it was always a surprise. You once spawned in during the middle of a wedding reception between a Satyr and an Alseid of yours. It was quite a pleasant surprise, especially since you had a bad day that day. Enjoying the occasion to the fullest left you on a good note.
A pleased sigh escapes your chest as you come to a stop beside Vance, leaning up against the fence nearly adjacent to the farm doors, waiting for the chieftain to make his way to you.
Uwah~ Recalling that memory puts butterflies in your stomachâ. N-not literally though, despite all of them fluttering near you. Though youâre getting distracted easily by your own doing. You were debating if you could eat or notâ.
Mmmmâ
Honestlyâyou donât think SÅ can.
It didnât work earlier and you donât know the first thing about the biology of your avatar. And itâs not like you can do anything to figure it out. You donât feel hungry and you donât want to ask for food. Youâd be put in larger debt. And who would be willing to give you food just so you can play around with it? These people need it and youâre not sure if you doâ.
But what if you do need to eat?
Ahhhâthat puts a sudden pit uncomfortably below your chest.
Great, another thing to worry aboutâcould you starve? Despite your doubt about the existence of SÅâs digestive system, it doesnât dispute the ratio of it being there. Yes, nearly three-fourths of you are sure this body canât eatâgahh! But what if youâre wrong?!
This is more important than your magic issue!
You can live without magic, for sure. That wonât kill you right off unlike the danger of starvation, something youâre too familiar with.
How can you resolve this issue?! You need something to consume first-URk! Can you eat the same things as humans can?! What if you feed off of blood or souls or something alien to you?! Your avatar already does something similar to absorbing souls! Is that what you have to do?!
Your skin shifts to a tone it hasnât before at the petrifying concept, a light grey with squiggles of varying muddy cool hues.
Vance turns his gaze your way when the swift shift of colors was enough to be caught in his peripherals. âœSÅ?â
âœMmm.â
âœYour skin.â
âœIâm aware.â
He lets the silence sit for a moment but does inquire more. âœWhat does it mean?â
âœ...Not goodâW-wait-â You cut in realizing how that can be taken out of context into a bad light- âœWhat I mean isâuh, I was thinking ofâhow I could die.â
Yeah, no way were you going to bring up the soul eater concept you may be.
âœ...Fear?â
âœU-uahânoânoâI donât think so. This is something similar but not that. I look very muddy and dark when Iâm fearful. Thisâmay be a combination of a few thingsâhorror I can straight up confirm as well as disgust. It may be a few other things but Iâm repulsed and terrified by my thoughts.â
You donât want to consider if souls taste good or not. You just wanted to try a tomato, waahâ
An odd shadow befalls his brow as they furrow. âœ...What kind of deathâmakes you that terrified?â
âœ...â What can you say to that? You werenât even thinking of explicit deaths though starvation is one. What would you look like if you starved in this body? Would it be like a human? Boney, shriveled, and bloated stomach? Do you have bone or muscle mass?
The young man watches as you start to rub the side of your chest awaiting your answer, a thought passing through his mind that he stores away for later as to why youâre moving as such. You, on the other hand, do this to explore your avatarâs structure.
â.No ribs. You don't feel any bone structure at all. However, youâre still hard to a point. You can only press so hard until it starts to hurt but thereâs give to your fleshâif it even is flesh.
You grab your bicep next to find the muscleâ.only to have the same result. No definitive muscle mass underneath your hard skin, only little give to the surface.
Whatâthe hell are you made of? You know you have blood. Itâs in your avatarâs lore. Do you have a heart then?
You grip your neck slightly to find a pulseâ.
Nothing.
Nothing?!
Do you have any internal organs?! You have pain receptors, you know that much, but are they nerves?
Wahhh! Why did you think it was okay to make your avatar like this?!
Theyâre an otherworldly being for goodness sake! Of course, SÅ isnât going to have a biology humans can comprehend.
But now youâre a human trapped in an alien body!!
You bury your hands in your palms followed by a groan. Seeing your distressed state, Vance turns away to leave you be, no longer invested in conversation having come to his own conclusions.
Gahh! This is stupid! You hate this! You fucking hate this! RraAAUGHhâhaaaâ. Whatâs the point?
Your hands drag agonizingly slow down your blank face, pulling on the hard skin to stimulate some kind of reliever to the stress youâre experiencing.
Thereâs no point in worrying. Itâll get you nowhereâexcept to a new problem. But you can only handle one at a time right now. Soâfocus on what you can do.
See if SÅsaku-sha needs to eat human food. If not, move on.
But how can you retrieve food?
â.
Thereâare seeds and plants in your inventory, or should be. They are for your Druid capabilities when you need to grow a foreign plant you canât with typical growth or summon spells. You can try something with those since you know your inventory worksâ
You only have so many of those seeds though. You shouldnât take from a limited resource of yours when you can use it later to make moreânot to mention you donât think theyâd taste goodâ
You can try growing one of them with a spellâ. If you can figure out your magic you could eat what you can harvest from it.
But you only have a very small amount of non-combative or non-harmful seedlings with you, such as those listed in the healer category. If you grow it, you wonât have the time to harvest the seeds from it if the carriage is leaving for E-Rantel soon. Not to mention leaving the plant here in Bourn. What would the villagers do with an unknown plant grown from a monster? Burn it likely. Thatâd piss you off. And if you lose this bet, you canât come back. Youâd be abandoning a limited and rare resource of yours. Would the villagers be okay with you growing an unknown plant in the first place? What would they do?
Yeah, terrible idea. You canât use your growths for this. So what can you try to snack on without asking for food? Hmmmâ
Looking around doesnât stick much out to your flavor palette. Youâre behind a dirty barn. Anything edible surrounding you consists of dirt, some grass, ingrown sprouts in the fields, the wildflowers beneath your feet, the bugs swarming you, and humans; more than half you donât consider.
This leaves the flowers and ingrown sprouts. You know insects carry a lot ofânutrients(?) but you donât take it into account when you have other options. Howeverâitâs a choice between an unknown flower or an edible plant youâre more acquainted withâ.
SÅsaku-sha should be immune to poisoning and disease if these flowers have that effect, but youâre not certain if they still do. Youâd risk making yourself sick even though the flowers appear harmless. However, youâre positive theyâre not poisonous. The animals around you are drawn to the flowers and love them. On top of that, none of them have died. Theyâve appeared more vigorous after consuming them in a way. Not to mention that the flowers are letting off a pleasantly sweet smell, comparatively honey-like or similar to candy. All in all, they may not be bad to tryâ
Then again...behind the fence youâre leaning against is a small little sprout of either a fruit or a vegetable. You can have something considered actual food. Yes, youâre aware of flowers that can be used as ingredients for foodsâbut to have something youâve always wanted to try out? A real fruit or vegetable? Uwah~
You swallow instinctively.
But none of the crops are near ready for harvest. You wonât be able to get anything from the one behind you unless you use magic to grow the sprout to maturityâand would the villagers be mad if you took a bit of their harvest? Mmmmâthoughâthis could be a good chance for you to try out your magic. When will you have the next opportunity? Youâre not doing anything but waiting anyhow? Why not kill two birds with one stone? See if you can use magic and if you can eat.
But what if you mess up your magic? If you can still use it, how can you control the spell you put out? Do you have your spell slots still?
You can hear Liam talking to Barry, Nate, and a few others and itâs only a matter of time before they comeâ. Should you do this? Hmmmâwhat the heck. Why not? This is important to your survival anyhow.
Okay thenâ.
What should you try out?
The flowers.
The sprout.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'125
Weâre getting personalized now. I mean, does it really matter which you choose? Do you think it matters in the long run? Why would I give you a choice like this if it didnât matter? Itâs not like I put double meanings to everything, do I? Itâs up to you~
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DEAL OF GOLD 2:3
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold.
Chapter Notes
Itâs been four months, hasnât it? How time flies when youâre busy! I ment to update way sooner but when you work 50 hours every week, time to sit and write becomes sparse. Nevertheless, I never quit! I got de largest chapter yet for y'all ere! 45 pages in doc, youâre welcome! I hope y'all enjoy!
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âœNoâI havenât.â You conclude to Vance and with yourself.
Youâre not a murderer. Your avatar may be, in a way, but you shouldnât blame yourself for things out of your control. Thatâd be overly critical to hold yourself accountable for every little action that may have contributed to someone elseâs demise. If you did, youâd have to blame yourself for living since your breath took away valuable air others couldâve had. Just plain unreasonable to think that way.
And you canât truly say your avatar killed humans. Err-wellâitâs complicated. Yes, SÅsaku-sha has definitely obliterated humans but none of those were real people. They and all the others youâve faced as your avatar were avatars to other players. Simply code. Not flesh and blood. And none of them stayed dead-a-ahâwell, the players would respawn eventuallyâbut some of the NPCs theyâd bring along with them were more so unfortunate. Youâre certain that at least one of them wasn't resurrected out of the many raids youâve partaken in. Still, none of them were real people. Simply parts of your game.
Vance tries to keep stone-faced but your alien focus picks up on how the muscles around his temples flex like heâs grinding his teeth.
âœ...Is something the matter?â You urge him to respond when he remains quiet, likely mulling over what you said was true or not.
Thankfully, your query seems to give him the courage to say whatâs on his mind. âœYou hesitated in answering me.â
âœAh, I see.â There are a couple of reasons whyââ Whatâs a believable excuse that doesnât give away too much of your real life? âœ...Iâm old and had to scrape the bottom of the olâ cauldron to see if I could recall ever doing such a thing. Not to mention my mind being a tad bit foggy after falling on my skull.â A jovial jab at your fall is followed by a couple of airy chuckles, your way of trying to lighten the mood. âœPlusâI will not lie and say Iâve never killed anything in my life. Iâve lived for a long time, during which I've had many whoâve tried to take my head because of the name I had built up. Sometimes protecting myself and the things I care about meant taking the lives of those whose will was to destroy. I had to think back for a second to recall if any of those whoâve fought me were human since I donât necessarily take note of raceâbut no. None of the humans I fought were killed by my hands.â
âœ...Didnât you say you were well-liked?â
âœNo matter how beautiful a flower may be, isnât there always someone who wants to pluck its petals?â You gesture to the flower patch below your feet as you slowly guide yourself closer to Vance but still keeping your distance. âœEven if they may not have the intent to be so cruelâmaybe itâs to give the flower to a loved oneâthey still destroy it in the process. No matter how liked one can be, once youâre seen in a light above others there will always be those who want to take or snuff out that light.â
âœIâseeâ.â
âœHey, itâs not all that bad! Sure, Iâve had plenty of attempts on my life,â you roll your shoulders jokingly, still trying to deviate from the dark nature of the conversation, âœbut Iâm still alive! A perk to being strong.â
His eyes narrow. âœStrong in magic orâ?â
âœI guess, but enough of that.â You gloss over the point he was trying to reach and move straight to what you wanted to ask before. âœAre we staying here or are we allowed outside?â
âœIâd believe it would be wise for us to stay indoors. Bourn isnât fond of monsters.â
The sensation of muscle-flexing on your blank facade reminds you what eye twitches feel like. âœAm I a monster?â
âœ...You look like one.â
âœBut am I a monster?â You wait for his response for a couple of secondsâa few secondsâa handfulâmanyâa minuteâtwo and more but he keeps silent. You donât know whether or not heâs refusing to answer, doesnât want to say you are one to avoid angering you, or if he doesnât know the answer himself; so you ask a slightly different one. âœ...Do I act like a monster?â
âœ...â
You narrow your focus on him, trying to read his body for a reply since heâs refusing to give you one. âœVance, do I act like a monster?â
That breaks his spell of silence, âœ...Not really.â
Youâd arch your brow if you had one. âœI donât?â
âœ...Noââ
âœTruly?â
âœYes.â
âœ...â
âœ...â
âœThen Iâm called a monster solely because of my appearance?â
âœItâs not-â Vance starts but cuts himself off to swallow. âœYou do look like oneâitâs a part of it.â
âœ...part?â
âœ...The othersâitâs easier to believe youâre a monster than something more, soâwe are prepared if we ever have to treat you like one.â
Splotches like ink, warm and murky in mix, splash across your chest and throat at the bitter lump that settles there. âœSoâdespite how I act, I wonât be anything but a monster? Doesnât that sound unfair? Would you treat a child like a criminal if they have the possibility of growing up to be a murderer?â
âœYou admitted youâre a murderer. Maybe not humans but you said it yourself you donât see the difference. Arenât we justified in mistrusting you?â
âœThose were all acts of self-defense.â You grow warm but having felt the flare so many times at stronger intensities, you swallow it down without issue. âœHave you not killed to defend those you care about? Have you ever fought for your life?â
âœ...YesâI have.â
You stop your retort, having expected him to say no.
He has? To what extent? Is that why heâs assigned to watch you? Butâwhat about all those other menâwhy a boy?
âœ...how old are you?â
âœTwenty.â
âœTwentyââ Echoing in a mumble. Thatâs so young. Maybe not as young as some children you know whoâve had to kill or fight due to conscription, poor Earthly conditions, abuse, and whatnotâ. Still, since itâs not something youâve had to do as a human even after decades of being aroundâsomeone so young telling you theyâve had to bloody their handsâ. âœIâm sorry youâve had to experience something like that so early on.â
His eyes widen a fraction, probably not expecting that type of response from you either.
Despite that knowledge, you continue. âœWhy arenât you treated as I am if we are both killers?â
âœAh.â Now that seems to be what he expected you to say as his expression reverts to the way it was before. âœBecause I protect Bourn and earn a living doing similar.â
Your head reels back. âœWaitâso youâre saying you kill people as a job?â
âœNot people. Not yet. Just monsters.â
âœWha-monsters are people!â
âœNo, they arenât!â He snaps back, growing in frustration as you are. âœAll the monsters Iâve met have been nothing but beasts.â
âœMaybe the ones youâve met but thatâs not the case for all. We are alive just as much as you are. Take me for an example. Am I not a person?â
âœ...No, you are.â
âœIâm a person?â
âœI believe so.â
âœBut you also call me a monster.â
âœ...Yes.â
âœ...â Clenching and unclenching your fists, you whisper, âœThen what makes me a monster?â
âœ...not being human.â
âœNot being human.â An echo again as you let that statement sit in the air for a moment. âœHow am I not human?â
He looks at you oddly, opening and closing his mouth a few times like a fish but no words come out. He must be arguing with himself if every answer he means to say is beat down by his logic. After a moment, though, he settles with, âœYou werenât born one.â
If only you knew, boy.
âœSo thatâs it? Itâs my fault for being born the way I am?â
"Didn't you say you created yourself?"
"Yes, but I'm making an example here. Would it be my fault if I was born a monster?"
âœNo thatâsâitâs not.â
âœ...â
âœ*Sigh* Itâs what weâve learned to hate. Itâs what keeps us alive-â
âœCareful.â You hiss. âœHate and greed are the worst traits man can have.â
You see his throat bob despite him trying to appear nonplussed but his eyes do darken. âœIf we didnât kill every monster that came here, all of us would be either dead or raped. Most likely both. Just ask a few of us what weâve witnessed from monsters, though I highly doubt anyone would answer even if you were human.â
It feels as if cold water has been poured over you.
âœW-wait. Every monster that has come here has come to do those things?â
âœYes. Itâs what weâve all been sayingââ
Itâs your turn to be quiet. You had guessed some horrible things have happened between this village and the monsters from Tob but to be straight out told that rape occursâ.
People from Earth may have a different view of morals than you, listing rape as a crime punishable by a few years or none at all due to the fudged up court systemâbut youâve always seen rape as one of the unforgivable crimes. Itâs a fate worse than death. Torture in all forms and can completely ruin someoneâs life. Way worse than just being murdered.
Murders may be bad but rapists always hit a sore spot above in your book. Thereâs never a good reason for it. Not in a million-no, infinite years! None. The only close thing to a near stupid excuse is that they wanted children but could never get a spouse to continue their bloodline. Fucking selfish and demented. Trash that should die and hell be invented for. There are so many ways to have children with science as it is that isnât a viable excuse at all. With overpopulation and the fact that theyâd resort to something so despicable is the cherry on top as to why they shouldnât have children. All the other excuses youâve heard are sociopathic and blow your mind how theyâre not labeled as confessions.
"Itâs their fault for being attractive."
"Itâs their fault for drinking too much."
"Itâs their fault for wearing revealing clothing."
"Itâs their fault for acting slutty"
"I couldnât help myself, my desire was too strong."
"Theyâre stronger than me so if they wanted to stop me they couldâve done so."
"They wouldnât say yes so I had to use force."
"They eventually said yes so itâs not technically rape"
"They have no right to deny me as their spouse."
You may not be a very aggressive person but youâve always wished for the worst for those slimeballs.
So to hear that rape goes onâ. To even bring it up means it has happened beforeâ.
Heat flares up not in anger at the boy but rage for the acts carried out by some of these monsters youâre being compared to.
Vance notices the red that consumes all the other pigment on your skin and he backs further away into the doorway, placing his hands to his sides. He doesnât have the opportunity to speak, a noise indecipherable and guttural rolls out in a solemn tone.
âœIâhad reasoned these monsters kill you all for food. Am I right?â
âœTheyâyes. They do.â
Your head nods slightly with a low hum. âœSometimes, when food is scarce, creatures and people alike can be pushed to devour one another, despite their morals on the matter. Iâd only guessed monsters would attack you all because they donât want to resort to eating their kinâ. Doesnât make it right but uhâcircle of life and whatnotâ.â Huh? And whatnot? Why arenât you appalled by monsters eating humans? Itâs almost as if youâre talking about wolves eating sheep or sharks eating fish. Something completely natural in occurrence. Is this you or your avatar?... âœHowever, I do not tolerate rape. I wonât say all those monsters that have attacked you are the same. Some most likely had to act out as a means of survival but I do share your hate for those that deviate from necessity to cruelty. Justârealize that Iâm not them. Iâm my own personâ.â
âœ...Iâd like to think you are.â He looks away from you so that heâs looking further into the house where the walkway leads outside. âœThough, whatever I hope you to be doesnât make it different for anyone else here.â
âœThatâs because they donât know me. They only know that a monster, called SÅ, destroyed their barn but, somehow, the chief was able to get gold from it! Who knows where it got its gold! Likely from pillaging villages like all the others, psh! More blood money!â
Vance turns back to you to make a weird expression as if heâs asking âWhat?â
âœItâs not my words. Youâre all loudmouths and I have better hearing than you all give me credit for.â The shrug that follows is an attempt to lighten the mood again since you failed the first time around. âœLook, I know that your village is afraid of meâbut what good will it do anyone if we stay here? Were you all expecting me to stay in this house so no one has to see me?â
âœ...â
âœ...Seriously? Youâre all okay with treating me like a caged animal?â
âœItâs not like that. Youâre a guest of Barryâs.â
âœSome guests I am if Iâm not allowed outside. Iâd almost say itâs kidnappingâor-err, holding me hostage? One of those things. Probably the latter.â You attempt to sit cross-legged in the air but you realize, unlike how easy it looks in media, you have to continuously strain your legs to remain crossed. Your legsâ weight isnât the issue, PHY stats in play and Ascend making it so that youâre suspended in similar fashion to zero gravity, but the lack of surface to lean your weight on. With no support in the air, you do an odd fumble of limbs for a moment as you try to set your form right. Vance gives no response while you squirm but his eyes follow your every movement. It only stretches for a moment, no more than five seconds, but itâs enough time to embarrass you into shyly untangling yourself to curl into a ball instead, pink overtaking the muddy reds.
âœ...I havenât seen you change to that color beforeââ He notes but thankfully doesnât mention your air dance.
âœY-yeah. The color changes with how Iâm feeling.â Thatâs most likely the case since the colors would follow emotes of
âœ...Iâve never heard of a creature whose color changes on mood. I know of some animals that change their color to match the season or environment.â
âœItâs not a common trait, thatâs for sure, especially for the variety I produce. But there are lizards and sea life that can do the same... Ever heard of a squid or an octopus?â
He tilts his head in question watching your skin shift with more interest now that he knows the colors have meaning, wondering what the green and yellow spots blooming express.
âœNo.â
âœThey are one of those sea creatures I mentioned about changing color. There are multiple different types of squidbuds and octodudes, coming in many shapes and sizes but all have a similar build.â Cupping the air in your hands you make a clutching motion with your fingers. âœTheyâre sort of squishy in build since they have no bonesâI think? They do have beaks though as far as Iâm awareâ. Here, they look like this-â You point to your dominant hand which is turned down limp-like but you move your fingers to mimic the way youâve seen them and jellyfish move in the documentaries- âœbut they have two eyes and eight tentacles-err well the octopuses have eight of them. Squid are the oddballs.â
âœ...Tentacles?â
âœAh, sorry. Instead of arms or legs, they have..." How do you describe tentacles accurately? "...limbs similar to noodlesâ. Do you know what noodles are?â
âœNo.â
âœNever mind then." You scratch your neck before coming up with a more accurate visual. "Their limbs are like sticky wet ropesâor like long tongues that act like fingers.â
Nailed it. Completely butchered the image.
His neutral expression slips with the corner of his lips shifting, barely hinting that heâs perturbed by the description. âœ...Are they a type of monster?â
âœHa, noâwell, not really but theyâre harmless as long as theyâre not threatened in some way. Theyâre intelligent and can be kept as pets, though my hom-errâa region I resided in used to have a tradition of eating them. Iâve never partaken but I heard that they tasted quite nice, a bit on the chewy side, howeverâ.â At least thatâs what youâve heard from food documentaries and from the top folkâbut you couldnât imagine eating meat with how strained the industry is. Chicken is the most common source of meat out of all others, available at almost every party youâve ever been forced to attend. Though, in those rare extravagant partiesâyouâve seen a wider varietyâ.
You hope none of it was wasted.
âœI donât think Iâd want to eat something with tentacles.â
âœTo each their own, though I think I described them poorly. Some of them can be rather cute or beautiful. Nevertheless, you got me off-topic.â You point an accusatory finger his way. âœNo good comes from locking me away. Doing so is a temporary solution, delaying the inevitable.â
âœAnd?â
âœAnd itâs doing more harm than it is good. In a way, youâre admitting to your village that I am something that they should fear and stay away from. It will cause that mindset to worsen, in affect, cause their reactions to be more severe when I inevitably show my lack of face.â
âœHow is that harmful? They should be afraid.â
âœNo! Itâs-ugh! Itâs not healthy. Sure, fear may keep you alive but it always holds you back from living. Theyâre going to be constantly on edge and stress causes health problems. I donât think you know this since youâre not a doctor but humans can die from extensive stress. Plus, people act irrationally when theyâre afraid. They may try to kill me the moment they see me if you let their thoughts fester for too long.â
âœ...â
âœThink of it this wayâ. What will put them more at ease? Knowing a ferocious monster is in Mr. Longâs house or seeing for themselves that the monster isnât as ferocious as initially thought when it is walking side by side with a young man?â
He stays silent in the doorway, blocking your one way out other than the window behind you. You donât know if heâs decided to give you the silent treatment or if heâs just being himself.
With a huff you plead. âœVance, please? You donât know how much I want this-need this. Last night was the first time for me to see stars and being outside withoutâ. *sigh* I hear, smell, feel so many new things from here, and itâs-tsk! Itâs killing me not being able to explore them! I need to know! I need to! We donât even have to be near anyone! I just-IâI-I need this, Vance! Hide me if you need to I want to see the sky agai-â
You abruptly stop when you realize-
In the window, between the shutters, light blue light is filtering in!
THE SKY!
THE FUCKING SKY! YOUâLL BE ABLE TO SEE THE SKY-
W-whu-WAIT! WaitwaitwaitwaitwAIT!! WHAT TIME IS IT?!
THE SUN-
âœVANCE!â Your screech of excitement shocks the boy but youâre too quick, Ascend sending you like a bolt in the air and you slip right past him over his head and through the house before he could stop you.
Screw trying to get permission to leave, youâre not missing this!
âœSÅ! SÅŒ!â You hear Vance call out to you as he tries to catch up to you but you already have your hand on the handle of the front door.
âœKeep up! Weâre going to miss it if we wait any longer!â
The door is thrown open and you dart out into the open air and immediately register your surroundings.
The air is crisp as a slight breeze flows gently from the direction of the North where the Azerlisia Mountains reside. Itâs light in scent but spry with earthen wafts. The sounds surround you just the same, enveloping your whole form once you hit the outdoors, no longer muffled by walls.
Nothing looks different other than the lighting, less navy and much lighter in tint. The sky too is waking up from its slumber, becoming lighter in pigmentation to the sunâs approach.
The sky! Blue! Itâs so blue! HAHA!
Your wide vision provides you the sight to see villagers already mulling about, getting to whatever chores or jobs they need to before the day gets started. Thankfully they havenât spotted you yet, wrapped up in their mullings, but youâre sure they will in a moment so best to act swiftly!
Vance is fast approaching according to the sounds you hear coming from inside the house but you wait for him to catch up so heâll know which way youâll be headed now that youâve noticed a yellowing of hue to the East~
âœSÅŒ! Stop!â Once he bursts through the door youâre on the move again, not letting up on your goal.
âœQuickly, Vance! Follow me!â Is your only warning to him before youâre on the move again. Your voices did draw pairs of eyes but you had already made it around a corner before your presence was registered.
Youâre grateful that Barryâs home is situated near the Eastern outskirts of Bourn so you hadnât the need to maneuver through the streets where people are now starting to filter into and that Vance can chase you with more ease.
You giggle excitedly as you pick up speed when more of the yellow light is made apparent through the last few homes. Just a few yards to the East of the village is a hilly countryside, scattered with shrubbery and the very thing the village is named after, a bourn that flows out from the forest. Youâve been informed that the stream goes out and around the houses to the fields where their crops are placed.
You could stop where you are still within the bounds of the village and watch the sky from where you are but something catches your eye.
Vance no longer calls after you, opting to conserve his energy into sprinting after you seeing as to how none of his words worked thus far. You swoop over the pastures, closing the distance between the shallow flowing water and you.
Wahh! Itâs so clear! And it smells so fresh and sounds so soothing! Youâd love to take a bath in the bourn! Play, drink, lay, sleep in it! It looks too inviting not to! But not now-
You glide right over the gap, feet dangling above the calm currents, not a single drop of water lands on you at the act and you turn back with an ecstatic wave. âœCome on, Vance! Youâre supposed to keep an eye on me!â You canât help but tease the boy as he slides to a halt in front of the water, hurriedly spotting some rocks sticking out of the slow current and works quickly to start hopping across. âœAt that pace, youâll never catch up with me!â
He stays silent but his expression is more telling how aggravated heâs getting due to your actions, a frown morphing to a heavy scowl paired with a glare.
He can be mad at you all he needs to be for your slip, youâre not going to skip this!
Your goal isnât far off the stream. In the grass field, a huge boulder lies serenely with moss inching over its surface like a green blanket. You donât know why or how a rock this big came to make its home here but itâs the perfect place for you to sit and watch it occur.
You more or less gracefully ascend the face of the rock and giddily place yourself down at the top.
Cold is the first thing that comes to mind when your skin makes contact. The next is how wet it is, dew from the morning having collected on its surface to transfer onto your form. Itâs hard, as to be expected, but the moss cushions your weightâreminding you of a zaisu! Giggles escape as you cross your legs to sit on your makeshift chair properly.
Mmm, nostalgia~ Way better than that creaky old chair!
Vance finally jogs up, you barely give him any mind as youâre tuned in on the springy moss smell and the goldening horizon as he looks up at you with a glower. He doesnât say anything for a moment as if waiting for you to explain yourself but you donât. At that, he mutters your name.
âœHm?â
âœWhat are we doing here?â
âœIsnât it obvious? Weâre watching the sunrise!â
âœ...all thatââ
âœFor the view? Absolutely! You canât fathom how important this is to me. I wouldnât miss this for the world.â
Heâs frustrated still at your actions, thatâs apparent, but he softens his frown a tad with a silent sigh, settling down to watch the horizon with you.
Your conversation ended at the perfect time you suspect, honing onto the scenery.
The dark blue and purple shadows stretch against the countryside in contrast to the orange spritz sky and fluffy yellow clouds to the rising dawn. Dew and ripe flowers surround you in a kind bubble, cradling your form in welcome. Itâs when the shadows of the plains get darkest when the golden orb of light readies to breach the endless blue.
âœWhoah!â A gasp escapes you when, finally, a sparkle of light peaks its way above the tree line in the distance, casting its warm glow on your features. The sky noticeably shifts in palette as it marches across the sky to rest ahead of you. Fascinated by the fundamentals of the sunâs effect on the climate of this world you remain somewhat in a numb trance.
The sunâs flirtations on your skin are considerably warmer than the breeze that flows down from the mountains of the North, holding promise that summer is on its way. The temperature fluctuations had been noticeable but despite you being naked youâre not sensitive to the change, a surprise to you. You assume that it has to do with SÅsaku-shaâs tolerance of such things.
Back on Earth, there were only clouds of smog. There was no sun. Global warming was constant so it was always hot. That irritating heat...however...there were a few things that produced pleasant heat. The sun is one of them. You donât think that you had ever felt the sun before going on a plane to your first gaming convention and that was...a mind-blowing experience. You remember how warm it felt on your skin as you stared out the window at it. It felt just like how all those romance poems and movies depicted it as. Itâs a warmth that feels like hot chocolate and kisses. So bright it had been but all you had wanted to do was stare at it despite it causing you to see weird spots afterward.
However, you stare at the sun and bask in its embrace for minutes...and no pain nor spots appear. Is thisâa natural thing? Is this whatâs supposed to occur and Earthâs pollution made it so you canât see the sun without burning your eyes?
Allowing your vision to expand just enough so that you can check on Vance, you see that he squints in the direction you're facing, obviously blinded by the growing light.
Nope. Pollution isnât the verdict. This must be an alien-body thing going onâwhich youâre grateful for.
Another blissful noise rumbles in your chest as you continue to be hypnotized by the star that is starting to dye the sky a calming variety of warm hues. You thought that the sky would look brown before the sunrise since the orange and blue colors would meld to make such a color...but no...the orange is so bold and it comes with its compliments of pinks, greens, and yellows.
Absolutely breathtakingâ.
A noise escapes you... One that you can't place the source for but it may have to do with the way your body begins to tremble.
Vance side-eyes your form as you wrap quivering arms around yourself. It does little to settle your muscles, only emphasizing how impacted you are by the sight. It's not the crisp of the glade, your avatar is immune to freezing. Besides, the warmth of the star grips you in a homely feel, as if you're a babe coddled in the welcoming hold of a guardian... The fetal position you find yourself in doesn't help refute the imagery...and you're okay with that.
Another shuttering noise rumbles out, wet in pitch as pressure coils over your face and chest, warm and feels like jelly...
âœAreâyou okay?â
âœMmhm! This is better than Iâve ever imagined!â Your voice is shaky but you know itâs for good reason.
You've only felt this way a handful of times. Being nominated as the most innovative game designer of the decade? Those few times you've been in real battles with players? Receiving your first game as a kid? The genuine smiles you've brought to others...
Yes...you're feeling bliss. A pure joy.
"Ha...haha... And here I thought the rendition in Midgard was the best area to watch the sunrise and sunset. How presumptuous..." The mutter can hardly be called such, warped in tone by your overwhelming emotions. No one would understand you if they were listening. "My...first sun... I wish I could share it with you all..."
âœI didnât catch that. Are you trying to tell me something?â
âœItâs nothing important. Donât mind me. Though, hmm...Iâm jealous of you, Vance.â
He quirks his head. âœ...What for?â
âœYou get the chance to watch this every morning. You get to withhold a masterpiece crafted by nature itself. All the time. Everyday. Heh, I never got the chance to sit and watch a sunrise like this back where I lived.â
âœ...Is there a reason for that?â
âœUhââ Great. Youâd wanted to make small talk. Instead, a dark hole into your recent reality is being prodded at, one that may be too revealing of Earth. âœErr, that isâuhâa little privy uhâ. Nothing for you to concern yourself with. Some sad junk with a long story. I simply wanted to point out somethingâvery precious you may take for granted, not realizing its true value. Your world is so...alive and green. Donât let anything take that away.â
âœOkay.â He lets it be but you can tell heâs trying to be courteous of you to some extent which you appreciate.
All is nice...
All is good...
You want to cry...and...for the first time since this ordeal...not for a bad reason.
Haha! How youâre not going to let anything get in the way of this habit. Youâll use your weird new senses to enjoy it to the full, every morning if you can-WA-WAIT! YOUâLL BE ABLE TO SEE YOUR FIRST SUNSET TONIGHT!!! Youâll have to wait until then, of course, but a REAL SUNSET!!!
You completely vibrate with excitement at the opportunity, Vance all the while is fixated on the array of your skin. Two individuals fascinated by something new in two different ways.
You can explore and work until then! So much to do and so much to see! How many other things are here which you donât have on Earth?! Wahh! Probably more than you can come up with! Youâre stuck here so might as well enjoy the sights! The flowers, grass, river, hehehe! How long can you mess around? You have no ideaâyou may be pulled back any momentâ.
â.
No. You shouldnât encourage the idea that youâre here permanently. Although you love this moment more than you can mentally comprehend, your situation is less than favorable. You have a life back on Earth, family, friends, and responsibilities with itâ. If you stay here, who's going to help those who youâre leaving behind? Whoâs going to fill the hole which you leave?
What difference does that make? Are you so important to the world that a gap would be left behind?
â.Mmmâ You donât know how to feel about thatâ. Do youâor did you matter in the long run? You want to think that you will be missed or that you played a big role in helping fix things, but if you are then the longer you stay here the more harm itâs doing back home. Is that selfish of you to want to be wanted, knowing that if you are youâre only causing pain being here? It nearly makes you wish that, if you truly are stuck here, you donât mean anything so that your close friends and family can move on without any hassleâ. But what would that say about all youâve contributed to world health and entertainment? That it meant nothing?
â.
*Sigh, like you concluded with yourself earlier. If it meant nothing, so be it. At least you didn't contribute to the bad.
Twirling a finger around the moss on the side Vance isnât at, you ingrain the sensation into your memory as you contemplate your place.
You donât know how permanent this is but you need to prepare yourself for that case. Try not to become too attached but grounded enough to get by. Youâll appreciate what you have now for you donât know when itâll be the lastâ. Ah, thatâs the same mindset as the one you had on Earth. Wonder if you're actually here or your mind is here?â If your body has turned into your avatar or your body and avatar are still separate beings? Your mind seems fused with some of the traits your avatar would haveâ.
*Sigh, too much to considerâ. Youâre going to blow a fuse with all of the questions scrambled in your head. You already seem to space out and forget every now and thenâdespite your memory being crystal clear otherwiseâ
Itâs...odd. Youâre having relapses in your memory when you get too stressed but your memory of everything that has occurred to you since the fall has stayed crisp in your mind as if youâre...currently reliving every moment youâve had since being here.
If someone asked you to recite the discussion you had with Barry on the New World, youâd be able to say word for word all the hours worth that was said. All the names of every person youâve heard since coming here are noted: Frank, Hyatt, Joseph, Raleigh, Seth, Mat, Barry, Nate, Liam, Vance, Ethan, Kite, Trade, Nan, Bella, Tinna, Flock, Viva, Ignis, Saga, Tifa, and so on. You remember your intense fluctuations of wrath during the creation of the deal. Tea vaper across your chin. The wonder that came with this worldâs lore. The starry night sky. The smell of muck and the scratchy texture of the straw. The rush of wind and your panic as you fellâ.
You scratch at your neck again.
And this weird itch? Why do you keepâfeeling this itch on the back of your neck?...
This doesnât make any sense to you.
âœAugh...Iâm tired of thinking. I keep going in circles.â
âœWhat are you thinking about?â
âœMy situation. Iâm confused about how I ended up here but thereâs more to it than that.â
âœDidnât you say you flew here?â
âœI was flying but thatâs not what got me here. Itâs like I was teleported. One moment I was there,â You wave one hand before the other to display to the young man what occurred, âœand then I appeared here. Itâs something impossible, yet here I am. Iâm lost not just physically but my mind is too. I canâtâIâm troubled as this situation has many dangers and issues that arise with it.â
âœAny that we should be concerned about?â
âœEhhâIâll let you know if it does. âComplicatedâ is a small descriptor of whatever this is that Iâm a part of. Nothing is certain yet and I need time to sort out my thoughts.â
He doesnât have anything to say to that but he does pivot his head to look back at Bourn. You too can see with your extended vision what heâs looking for and when he lets out a ragged sigh you understand immediately why.
A few eyes are poking their way around the corners of some houses, watching Vance and you all while they grumble and fret under their breadths. Theyâve been doing so for a while but Vance didnât seem to realize their presence till now and is huffing in complaint that youâre caught out in the open like this. His tongue remains still though, keeping his thoughts to himself either by the reasoning you gave him back at Barryâs or due to his own reserved nature.
You hum in appreciation, wanting a break from arguing and not wanting to be brought back to a musty room now that youâve gotten a taste of nature-
Something fluttering with a light buzz catches your attention to your left and the moment you hone in on it youâre jumping up from your spot.
âœOI!! Is that what I think it is?!â Youâre across the grass within a moment to get a better look, giving Vance hardly any heads up to react as you squeal, âœItâs a butterfly!!â
Itâs of similar orange to the sunrise, with brown and white speckles across its wings. It hardly disturbs the air at how light it is flying around. Itâs mesmerizing to watch it bob in the air, giggling at its odd movements.
âœHeheh! Hey there, little guy! Youâre so pretty! Wow! Look at that! Are you trying to get warmed up in the sun like me? Uwah! Itâs been decades since Iâve seen one of you!â You reach out a tentative hand with your palm up, almost like you want to reach out and pet it.
Much to your surprise, however, it flutters right up to you, curiously circling your form a couple of times before landing on your palm!
You lose it.
âœVance! Vance! Look! It chose me!â You point excitedly to your hand where you cup the small bug to your chest. âœIts legs feel weird and ticklish! I didnât know theyâre so brittle like they have little hooks on their feet!â You donât mention your sixth sense to him but the contact youâre having with the insect leaves a pleasant buzz on your palm.
An odd expression is hardly masked by indifference while he walks up to your beaming presentation. âœItâsâneatâ.â
âœItâs not just neat! This is amazing!!! Iâve been chosen!â You raise your small companion as if theyâre a newly discovered sacred relic. âœIâm now crowned ruler over the butterflies! Kneel before my supreme power!â
âœPsh!-â His muffled laugh is cut short as he tries to cover it up with a comment of his own, âœItâs just one butterfly.â
âœA flapping of a butterflyâs wing can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world. Itâs just a saying but it means to never overlook the small things. Usually, they have the largest impact in the long run. So despite it being on its own, it still changed meâand made me its RULER!!! We need to find more subjects under my domain! Vance! Lead me to my peopleâplease?â
He quirks a brow at your antics but nods nevertheless, turning to lead you out across the meadows with your butterfly buddy in towâ.
â—
âœLiam! Grab ahold of this will you!â Struggling under the weight of a sack, Nate pleads with his friend for assistance. Thankfully, Liam is quick to assist and alleviates the load from his grasp before storing it securely within the cart.
When the young man straightens back out, Liam observes what has been stored so far within the small carriage. Although there isnât much to say about crops since they're not necessarily in season, many of the stock placed within are goods that Bourn is popular for. Furs, bones, wild meats, herbs, specialty wood, mushrooms, and a small portion of fruits, nuts, and berries. Itâs nearly summer now so the time to harvest from the forest is open. Itâs a short period so many of the residents in Bourn, mostly the retired adventurers and soldiers, are the ones tasked to seek these goods out.
It leaves manpower stretched but itâs not necessarily a problem at this time of the season. Summer means that thereâs less work needed to be done to the fields. Checkups and maintenance are still a must but overall work is needed elsewhere.
Tending to the livestock for one is big, especially for the females that are carrying young. Predators are also an increasing issue, now that the warm weather is back, as wildlife leaves Tob. This can bring monsters along but isnât a rampant issue for Bourn due to the surplus of food elsewhere. The cold months are the time of year to be most wary, however, this doesnât dispute the fact that theyâre still an issueâ.
Especially since thereâs one present in their village-
âœLiam! Stop daydreaming and take this!â Nate scolds him again, voice strained as he holds out the last sack to him.
âœS-sorry!â He hurriedly pulls the bag out of his arms without as much as a grunt and lays it beside the previous one.
âœFor gracious sake shit head! Where are you right now?! We need to finish this up but you keep drifting off!â
âœI said Iâm sorry!-â
âœYou may have super strength but some of us canât dangle seventy pounds above our heads waiting on an idiot to get their head out of their ass!â
âœNate!-â
âœEspecially the same idiot who beat me with a wand!â He interrupts to point out a darkening spot on the back of his right arm before leaning down to pick up a crate with dried herbs delicately lined up within.
âœYou were acting crazy! I had to st-â
âœYou didnât have to nothing!â Nate shoves the small box to Liam with a grimace. âœI had it under control!â
âœNo you didnât!â
âœShut up! I did!â
âœYou didnât! You really didnât!â
âœHow would you know-â
âœI watched as you about got your head popped off by a monster because you canât keep your damn mouth shut!â Liam shoots back with an exasperated sigh. âœHonestly, canât you ever bite your tongue whenever youâre angry?! You always say stupid stuff that gets us in trouble!â
âœI didnât say anything wrong!â
âœYou were antagonizing SÅ-â
âœDonât say its name like itâs a person!â
âœWhatever! Even if you were or werenât wrong, the way you spoke was a great way to get us all killed! Iâm sure that if I didnât intervene, Vance would have. Barry may have had you escorted out too. Heck! Lure, Jackie, or any of the others wouldâve hauled you out! Youâre lucky it was me but youâre too oblivious to the way people help you!â
âœShut up!â
âœNate! Listen for once?! You were letting your anger get the best of you again.â
âœSo what? Canât I be pissed that weâre catering to a monster?!â He grits his teeth at the mention of their visitor. âœThereâs no reason to keep it here!â
âœYou know very well why we are.â
âœAnd we shouldnât! Never trust monsters.â He grunts as he picks up the next crate to continue their task. The last few items they have left for the trip are being brought over by Kip and Garb to load into the cart with the remaining pile.
Liam watches them approach as he takes the next box from Nate. âœI know. But we donât have much of a choice, do we?â
âœWell!...â He started but couldnât find a validated excuse beyond his frustrations and what has already been said. âœ...Fuck! I justâI canât stand it. I hate this!â
âœIâm sure many share the same thoughts. IâmâI have a horrible feeling about it too.â He admits. âœDidâNate?â
âœWhat?â
âœDid you also feelâoff when you first saw them?â
âœ...Yeah.â His voice lowers as he accepts the last of the shipment from the two others with a nod. When they walk away Nate continues. âœItâs not even that threatening looking. No claws or fangs but the moment I saw it I felt shivers cover my entire body.â
Liam nods. âœMe too. If I could describe it in any wayâjust the sight of them made me feel small. Why do you think that happened?â
âœIt could be a trick. The freak is a magic user for fuckâs sake.â He angrily huffs with the next crateâs passage. âœOr it could be our minds telling us how evil that creature is.â
âœAs in how dangerous it is?â
âœThat too. Iâd like to confirm what the feeling was with one of the retirees but our hands have been full since it has caused a ruckus. So hurry up with taking this shit out of my hands so we can do so!â
âœI am!â Liam jerks the felts and tosses them in a crevice between the weighted items. âœIf the feeling is due to how dangerous SÅ is, what does that say about what we can do? Weâve never faced a creature that has caused my hair to stand on end like that.â
âœTsk! What we normally do when we deal with monsters.â
âœWe canât fight it if itâs incredibly dangerou-â
âœI donât care!â
âœNate! It could get us killed-â
âœI know! But we canât let a monster live-â
âœYouâre going to risk our lives over your vendetta?!â
âœNo! You all have to run when it attacks but I refuse to flee from a monster!â
âœThatâs incredibly stupid-â
âœAnd thatâs my fucking choice!â
âœNate, no! You may have that trick but you only have one of those! What if you miss?!â
Nateâs eyes darken as they level with Liam, âœI never have. And donât bring that up while that freak is in the village.â
Liam shakes his head with a huff, disregarding the importance of Nateâs statement, âœDoesnât mean you never will! And do you honestly think that weâd leave you to fend for yourself?!â
Nateâs expression lets on a little panic, âœDonât any of you dare!â
âœFor goodness sake, Nate!â He throws his arms up in exasperation. âœWe canât leave you to some suicide mis-â
âœIâll protect us! Donât any of you, I mean it, not you, not Vance, not Mat, Seth or Loster, Hugh, especially not Barry, none of you be beside me! Just stay back! Tsk! I should just kill it the moment I see it so we can avoid the issue!â
âœAre you not hearing how ridiculous you sound?! Youâre being unreasonable-â
âœBeing unreasonable is letting the freak risk the safety of our families-â
âœShut up! Shut up and stop interrupting me while I try to talk sense into your thick donkey skull-NO! Donât you dare stop me from talking!â Liam raises his voice when Nate starts to open his lips. âœI swear Iâll beat more bruises into you if you so much as make a peep before Iâm done talking!â
His teeth snap shut with a click as he waits for his friend to continue.
âœNate. We will not be risking our lives by attempting to kill something we donât understand and are on neutral terms with. You will not pick a fight by attacking them or running your mouth, especially when that will certainly rope us into it. Donât deny it! As much as youâre trying to protect us, you know that wonât stop us from providing aid. Heck! Youâre putting us in more danger than the monster is on their own! I probably saved the lives of everyone in Bourn when I dragged you out of Barryâs house because you couldnât keep your damn mouth shut! Iâm surprised the chieftain hasnât scolded you yet, probably more focused on maintaining peace and stability than starting conflict like a certain dickhead!â
There is a moment of silence, words being processed before Nate spits a wad into the grass at his side.
âœWhatever. Let's finish this task already.â
He starts collecting the remainder of the supplies, stacking them together roughly with unsaid frustration, Liam watching with a frown of his own.
âœWe care about you, you know.â
âœ...â
âœNate.â
âœI know.â
âœAll of us do.â
"I know."
A few more moments of silence inch on while they tidy up the cart, lifting the last of the items into it. The carriage isnât stocked full but itâs enough for the offseason. This is a spontaneous preparation after all.
âœLetâs wrap this up.â Nate concludes while unfolding a large tarp blanket but Liam hums in worry, looking to the East sector of Bourn.
âœDo you think Vance is okay? Didnât they say heâs watching SÅ on his own?â
âœI think so. Heâs the most perspective out of us three, good at reading the enemy. If anything, Iâm sure heâs trying to learn as much as he can about it so he can inform us what to look out for. He still needs to tell us what he got from the ridiculous story it tried spouting to us earlier this morning. Tsk! Havenât gotten enough sleep as it is!â
Liam hums in mild agreement while Nate tosses a corner of the sheet to him. He catches it but also catches a glimpse of the bruises left behind on the young manâs arms. He wants to feel guilty but knows itâs a small price that had to be paid to avoid bloodshed. âœDo they hurt?â
âœWhat?â
âœThe bruises?â
âœItâs nothing. Just donât fucking go hitting me no more.â
âœ... Do you want me to heal them-â
âœSHH!!â He harshly shushes with a glare. âœDonât reveal abilities while the monster is in the village!â
âœTheyâre nowhere near us.â
âœThat we know of! Itâs a magic user so it has all sorts of tricks! It could be listening in on us for all we know!â
âœ*Sigh* okay. Still, do you want them fixed or not?â
âœNo. Donât waste theâyou know. The cost or whatnotâ.â He straightens his side of the tarp as Liam swings over the other side to do the same. âœYouâll need it when we get in a real fight.â
âœOkay.â Liam side-eyes the steady return of Garb and Kip as they lead one of their workhorses, Donny, to get set up with the cart.
âœThat reminds me. Did you damage your wand whacking me as hard as you did? I swore I heard cracking.â
âœIt was your imagination. Itâs fine. Iâve already checked it.â
âœHuh. Maybe the cracking was the sound of my bones shattering.â
âœCome on, I didnât hit you that hard! Youâre delusional.â
âœI donât know. Felt fucking hard, you cunt.â
âœNot hard enough to knock some sense into you if youâre still talking crap. I bet your thick skull has something to do with it.â
âœFuck you!â He shouts after no comeback comes to mind. Once the tarp is laid over the goods Liam tosses the rope belts with hooks at the ends for the boy to attach to the other side, securing the wrap. âœYou sure the wand wasnât damaged?â
âœYes. Itâs fine. I can show you it if youâre so worried.â
âœIâm notâpsh, you know your twig better than I can anyway. I hate to suggest this, but next time you go about whacking me over the head try not to use your only tool that assists with your m-word.â
âœI agree, but I could have hurt you more if I had used my fists instead.â
âœBullshit! You could have held back your punches.â
âœYouâd think Iâd be going easy on you. I couldnât risk you fighting back.â
âœI probably should have!â
âœYou two still arguing like an old couple?â Garb grunts as they finally get close enough to add in his own comment.
Liam nods his head over in Nateâs direction, âœCould you guess why?â
Nate blushes angrily, âœShut the hell up! None of you say a damn word!â The laughter that follows from the three causes his blush to deepen. âœI donât always start arguments! All of you are cumrags!â
âœSpeaking of saying a wordââ Kip brushes off Nateâs crude speech with a message of his own, âœBarry would like to have one with you, turdwad, after youâre done with the carriage. Seeing as you two are done strapping, itâs best you get your ass over to him so he doesnât chew your ear off for being late too.â
âœD-damn it!â Nate continues to curse while he trudges his way to the barn, leaving the three behind.
âœTold you he was focused on other things. You had this coming!â
âœBe quiet, Liam!â Is the last audible thing that is heard from Nate before heâs too far out of earshot.
âœAlso, Liam.â
âœHm?â The blond shifts his attention to Kip as the older man points Eastward.
âœSince the cart is finished, they want you to assist Vance with watching over the monster and to inform him youâre all set. Once we have some guys take your places watching the beast, then you two can wrap up whatever you need for the trip to the capital. Weâll finish getting Donny secured, it shouldnât take too long.â
âœAh okay! Thank you two!â Liam starts to set out into a jog but Garb calls out.
âœA few more things, Liam!â
âœHuh-oh yes?â
âœA few of our folks have told us they spotted Vance and the monster out in the fields past the stream.â
The news takes him back for a second, âœTheyâre out in the open?!â
âœIt seems so.â Garb doesnât look happy with the news either. âœI was told Vance was to keep it out of sight to avoid panic, or thatâs what Barry had Seth pass as a message onto him. No one has reported any visual struggle or conflict between the two so we canât say for certain the monster forced Vance to let it out.â
Liam bites his lip in concern for his friend.
Why are they outside? Did SÅ use some sort of trick? Hopefully, Vance is alright.
âœThank you for letting me know!â
âœNot at all. And Liam?â
âœYes?â
The man sends him a small smile. âœThank you for all the work you do and for stepping up last night.â Kip nods in agreement. âœYou boys do a lot of hard work, all you adventurers do.â
Liam responds with a goofy smile, appreciative of the complement but also still worried for his brother in arms.
With a wave, Liam doesnât resort back to a jog but starts to run instead. He nods to everyone he passes, more focused on getting to Vance than chatting.
Bourn isnât a large village, a curse and a blessing at times. Thankfully, itâs one of the good instances because it only takes a good two to three minutes until heâs running past the last row of houses.
âœLiam!â A strained voice catches his attention for a moment, seeing Saga pointing in a general direction not far off from where heâs headed. âœItâs in the flower patches that way.â
He thanks the young woman as he rounds a corner and heads out into the open field where Saga directed him. It takes a second or two but he spots the unmistakable dark figure of Vance in shin-high pastures just as she told him, but no monster in sight. His stomach drops, raking his eyes across the plains while keeping the same continuous pace, searching for the creature.
Had they run off?! Where are they?! Why is he standing there?! Shouldnât he be with SÅ?! Is something wrong with him?! And why are there so many butterflies around?
âœ*Huff* Vance!â He hollers just as he crosses the waters to run up to his friend. Heâs still a great distance away but Vance picks up on the sound of Liamâs voice and perks up considerably. He doesnât call back, simply watching as the blond catches up to him, short on breath. âœAre you okay?! *wheeze* Whereâs SÅ?!â
âœIâm right here, hehe!â
His eyes widen a tad at the out-of-the-blue voices and a colorful arm swinging out from within the grass in front of Vance, covered in butterflies.
âœWhat?â Liam slows to investigate whatâs going on, curious because of the butterflies' surplus in the air and SÅâs hidden position within the weeds. When he reaches Vanceâs side he leans forward to peek, letting out a surprised laugh.
Lain out in a bed of flowers, both native and of their own doing, with spread-out limbs is the said monster. SÅâs skin camouflages into the underbrush as greens, yellows, and pinks sparkle across. Itâs hard to make out their form, however, nearly blanketed with all sorts of insects and small rodents.
âœH-how?!â Liam is too amazed to form a proper question, mind going haywire at the sudden change in mood heâs found himself in. Just a moment ago he was worried about Vanceâs welfare. Now heâs greeted with this bizarre position
âœI had been nominated as the supreme ruler of the butterflies!â
âœHa-what?!â
âœVance saw everything! That lil guy-â SÅ points to the air above where many of the butterflies are fluttering, so many that Liam canât tell which is being singled out- âœchose me, and now all of them have!â
âœWhy?! How?! I donât understand!â His head pivots back and forth between his friend and theâ.monster? Can a monsterâact this way? How can he call them a monster when theyâre petting a rat at their side?! âœIsnât that uncomfortable?!â
âœYes but itâs awesome!â They giggle again. âœI feel like an anthill, with all of their little legs crawling over me, but when will I ever experience this again?!â
âœI guess...but I donât understand! Vance?! What is this?!â Liam seeks an answer from his colleague but he appears as lost as he is, albeit in a way less expressive. That doesnât mean he isnât expressive at all, he's more so now than he usually is as heâs faced with the predicament as well.
âœI had led them over here since they wanted to see more butterflies. The moment I brought them over here everything started to swarm to them. SÅ said they donât know why this happened either.â
âœBut I did say it could be because Iâm a Beast Tamer!â You interject getting Liamâs eyes back on your prone form.
âœA beast tamer? Is that a part of your magic?â
A hardy chuckle leaves you but you shrug, still cautious of revealing too many of your avatarâs abilities. Especially since youâve been listening in on every conversation going on within Bourn, not omitting the one he and Nate had. A little ironic that Nate had been right about you listening in on them, despite the paranoia being unfounded at first glance. That had been informative, to say the least, a few things you plan to poke and prod them about later. Subtly though. Super hearing isnât something you want to be known, especially if it means you can keep listening in on discussions like that.
âœYouâreâvery gigglyââ
âœWell, ah, I am covered in bugs, hehe. Itâs ticklish.â A believable excuse, not false anyway. But youâre giggling more so at the new asshole being ripped into Nate by the sound of the scolding and beating he's getting.
Ah, karma~ You got to love her work!
âœI-I seeââ Liam pivots back to Vance. âœUmâis there a reason why you two areââ
âœOut here?â He finishes Liamâs question.
âœYes. Some are worried that something happenedââ He twists his hands together nervously but is still pretty flustered at the scene theyâre near, butterflies now taking perch on him similar to Vance but not nearly as much as SÅ. âœI was too for a second.â
âœ...No. Nothing happened. They wanted to watch the sunrise so I accompanied them.â Vance states a matter of factly and the simplicity of the answer has Liam seeking reassurance.
âœThatâs it?â When Vance nods, he knows he wonât get any more answers while SÅ is nearby. Something else may have happened but he doesnât want to bring up the fact that Vance was told to keep SÅ indoors while theyâre right there listening to them. Vance is very good at obeying instructions so itâs odd that itâs not the case here. He must have good reasoning for deviatingâ. It canât be because SÅ wanted to see the sunrise. Something either forced his hand or gave him a reason to let them out. Is it because of something SÅ didâor is it the story he was told? Was it movingâor does he know something important?!
While Liam thinks over what little Vance had let on, you on the other hand appreciate Vance not outright ratting you out. He may tell them later that you flew past him and made a getawayâbut maybe not. Is he the proud type or is he being considerate of you? You canât tell but you know that heâs not entirely happy that you were able to evade him with such ease when he was supposed to keep you at Barryâs.
If you hadnât heard it beforehand, it still wouldnât have been hard to guess that he was told to do so. Itâs not like you could bring it up to Vance back at the house. How would you explain knowing such a thing? A guess? A little on the nose thereâ. Plus, it may have given him a certain reason to keep you settled there. Nah, youâll keep that info to yourselfâthough itâs a smidge miffing that Barry is the one that had the order sent. You can understand it, yes. Completely reasonable and you probably would have done the same in his shoes. He probably would have been asked to do so if he didnât make the decision initially.
Nevertheless, it sucks that youâre on the receiving end and it was made by Barry no less. Heâs one of if not the only person youâre okay with here. Though, you have to admit Vance and Liam are growing on you a smidge. Theyâre one of the few that arenât referring to you as an it but a they, with the addition of your new nickname. Theyâre treating you pretty decently compared to the crowd back in the villageâthough not human likely due to their views and outside pressures. Maybe your standards are too low? Hmmmâweâllâdo you have any options? The only other people that sound-uhâ. Not okay but alright are the children, older couples, and a very small gap of random individuals youâve been listening to. You havenât personally interacted with any of those who youâre audibly learning about but they sound nice? Many of them havenât said anything good about you but the way they speak builds a decent character for them.
Thoughâthe children sound to be the most friendly out of the bunchâwell, thatâs a lie but you find their life threats amusing, to say the least. You still feel a twinge of heat but your human side, you assume, is overpowering the wrathful feeling with the absurdity of an army of babies coming to stab your shins.
âœHehehe!â Another spill of giggles at the combination of the visual, the sound of Nate yelping at a particularly loud wamp, and the sensation covering your body.
âœOh, Vance!â Liam pops out in a hurried tone. âœWeâre the ones going to E-Rantel, though Iâm sure youâre already aware since weâre the ones usually sent on these types of things.â Vance nods to show heâs listening to his friend. âœSince the cart has been finished, I was told weâll be heading out soon. Theyâll be sending over some of the others to take our place with SÅ.â
âœSeniors?â
âœEither that or one of the current in arms.â He assumes. âœSo after they come we are to wrap up whatever we need to before we head out. I need to get my things since Iâm still in my nightclothes.â
His meekness to his dress wear shifts when you make a noise similar to clearing your throat, reeling both of the young menâs attention.
âœUh, you know Iâm going with you all, right?â
âœH-huh?!â Liam sputters out while Vance squints silently.
âœYou said youâre going to E-Rantel. Thatâs where the coin will be appraised, right?â
âœThatâs rightââ
âœAnd the coin will be taken there by you few?â
âœYes. We plan to get it confirmed while weâre there.â
Steadily, careful of the creatures on and around you, you start to lean up to a sitting position. A fume of insects react to this and take to the air to avoid falling. âœThat means Iâm coming with.â
In slight panic while swatting a roach away from him, Liam shouts, âœYou canât! You have to stay here.â
âœThatâs not part of our deal.â Tone lowering while you clarify.
âœWhat?â
âœDonât either of you remember? I said that the coin is my tether. And the very first thing I asked? The very first words of my deal were, âHow about I remain in your village until you go to get this coin appraised?ââ
Their eyes widen, realizing the reality of the deal.
Heh, the devil is always in the details~ Thereâs a reason why itâs the first thing you said. Itâs the small detail theyâre the least likely to remember by the end, especially while they were distracted drooling over your coin. Business always has a seedy side and youâve learned to live with it, especially for oral agreements. Thereâs a reason why anything legally binding should be documented one way or another to avoid scenarios like this one since it relies heavily on memory, the integrity of word, and trust. Itâs what you had to do for them when they gave you the price.
âœGet it? Until the coin is taken to be appraised, I have every right to watch the proceedings as agreed upon. If any of you prevent me from following then youâll be betraying your honor to follow what was shaken upon.â
âœNoâyou didnât say that!â
Your skin flashes a murky tone at the accusation, âœI did. Over fifteen people heard it. So if you forgot, someone else will remember.â
Liam and Vance share an ever-growing distressed look before they look back at you, âœYou tricked us!â
âœI did no such thing.â Leaning your weight forward, you take your time shifting onto your feet to stand. Like before, a cloud of various insects bursts off of your form before taking perch again. However, the few rodents that came to your side before scurry away into the thicket.
Vance keeps his gaze on you while Liam strains his head to look up at your towering form, swallowing a wad of saliva to unsuccessfully clear his nerves. âœEven if you didnât, you didnât make it clear enough that this was your intention! We agreed to the deal thinking youâd stay here!â
âœHow is it my fault that many of you didnât pay close enough attention to my words or didnât seek to clarify what you were agreeing to beforehand? Additionally, you all assumed the plan of keeping me here without clearing it with me first. Really, who is tricking who? At least I said my intentions straight to your faces. You all decided, without my consent, to keep me chained here. Behind my back, no less. Iâm no animal. Any of you couldâve told me at any time what you all thought of doing. You intentionally left me in the dark because you were afraid of my reaction and that Iâd disagree." You cross your arms, careful not to crush anything on you before finishing. "Itâs childish."
âœWe- all of us assumed youâd be fine! We didnât think itâd be offensive to keep you here, especially since part of the deal is that you stay here if youâre right. Isnât that what you wanted?â
You shake your head, a rumble sitting low in your chest as a simple âœNo.â leaves you.
The wrinkles of Liamâs scowl shift from one of betrayal to incredulous at the response. âœW-what? Thenâwhyââ
He fails to form a proper sentence to express his confusion at the revelation while Vance remains a bystander in all of this. Seeing the standstill at both standpoints, you sigh, âœWhy donât we go clear up this issue with Mr. Long? I know neither of you has the authority to make a judgment call like this. Itâs better I explain my views to the man I shook hands with anyhow.â
âœWe canât just take you to Barry. Heâs busy and-â Liam shoots a panicked glance toward Bourn- âœwe canât exactly bring you to him. We donât know where he is at this moment and we canât lead you through the town. Many are still wary of you, SÅ.â
âœIsnât the barn I fell into located in the Southernmost part of Bourn?â A single finger points in the direction youâre referring to, without uncrossing your arms, and Liam nods to confirm. âœThen weâll walk around the village. No need to walk me through it if you want to avoid people coming into contact with me.â
âœYes, but why do you want us to bring you to the barn?â
âœBecause thatâs where Mr. Long is.â
The two boys pull their heads back slightly at your words. âœHowâdo you know that?â
âœAh-wellâa guess. A lot of work needs to be done with what I destroyed so Iâm sure heâs nearby directing efforts. Iâm sure the hole is drawing a lot of onlookers too, curious about what I had done. So Iâd say heâs there quelling the crowds like he said he wouldâso itâs the most likely spot in which heâd be.â
âœOh, I see. Thatâs where I know he was last too.â
Nailed it! Itâs not like you could say you can feel and hear his presence there.
âœRight? And if heâs no longer there, someone will know where he went and they can go find him for us. But the longer we stay here the more likely that will happen. Letâs hurry up and clear this misunderstanding before then.â
They both nod and Liam runs forward to lead your small trio. Vance remains behind you as you start to move, sandwiching you between them. Itâs a pleasant walk, especially with the insects attached to your form, either by skin contact or by air, and the feeling of grass between your toes as your legs move. Presently, youâre captivated by a spider with a fuzzy and clear exterior maneuvering through the gaps in your fingers while you listen out, Vance and Liamâs small talk being one of many but the only one youâre present for.
âœSo what did you two do while I was away?â
âœSÅ and I talked for a bit before we went out to watch the sunrise. One thing led to another and we ended up in the patches as you saw us.â
âœThatâs niceâ. Talk about anything interesting?â
âœQuite.â Vance is curt but proceeds. âœAnd something about some sea creatures called squids and octopuses. Their body is their head and they have tongues for limbs called tentacles, eight of those they have.â
âœHuh?! That sounds awful!â
âœVance said the same thing, but theyâre not.â You interject. âœI just did a poor job explaining them.â
âœSÅ also said that theyâd eat them.â
âœBleahk! Nasty! I couldnât imagine! Why would you want to eat something that is nothing but tongues and a head? I already don't like cow tounge!â
âœAs I said, without the visuals, it sounds badâ.â You shake your head knowing full well that if you were still in Yggdrasil you could summon one to show them what you meanâ. Could you still summon here? You havenât investigated your avatarâs abilities yet. You need to do that soon but you keep getting distracted or the moment isnât right. Going away from those repetitive thoughts thoughâ. âœWhat about you? What did you and Nate do while you were away?â
âœA-ahâwellââ He scratches his chin meekly. âœ...after I pulled him from the house, two others along with me had to keep him from going back and uhâbeing how he was around you. After the meeting was over, we were escorted back to the barn to help with cleaning efforts and packing for the trip to E-Rantel. When we finished, Nate went to Barry while I came to you two.â
âœMaybe, if we canât find Barry, Nate will be able to assist.â The suggestion made on your part is more of a passive remark than an actual plan since your awareness of the two individuals' locations provides knowledge that the idea isnât necessary. âœThe only issue would be getting him to help.â
âœLeave that to me. You can stay with Vance while I handle it. There will be less issue that way.â
âœSounds goodâthough I do want to ask something.â
âœWhat is it?â
âœIt may not be my place to pry but Iâm certain Nate wonât-uhâentertain isnât the right wordâNate wonât cooperate with me if I asked him this. Is there a special reason why heâs so aggressive towards meâor to monsters in general?â
You canât see Liamâs expression since his back is turned to you but his rigid body language speaks words as to what face he wears. âœY-yeah, uh, definitely not something I am open to share. Thatâs all for him to tell if he ever doesâbut I do suggest not asking him about it. Maybe if you werenât a m-ah! Oo-uh, sorry, uhâif you ask him, compared to a human, he may try and beâmurderyâ.â
âœ...Thatâs no different than how he's been around me?â
âœNo, thereâs a difference.â Liam peaks pleadingly over his shoulder. âœHeâs been aggressive to you, I will not deny that. So far the worst heâs done is try to provoke you to start a fight so that he could have an excuse to kill you. Itâs indirect but he hasnât tried to outright kill you yet. If you bring up-â He swallows his line- âœwhy heâs hateful of you, he will attack you with no regard for you or his life. Please, do not seek out his past.â
âœ...I understand.â You lower your head with the affirmation. âœI assumed as much, which is why I had asked you two first as it appears youâre close friends of his. Thank you for the warning.â Nods are shared between you three and before silence could settle you continue. âœIâm not trying to be nosy for asking such a thing. Iâm being genuinely cautious and concerned. As you said it yourself, heâs trying to kill me one way or anotherâbut the method heâs doing it is destructive. Itâs not only hurting him but those around him.â
Sighs are released on both ends as if the two have heard that point too many times.
âœYesâbut all we can do is help him mitigate that damage.â
âœIsnâtâthat very toxic?â
âœWhy do you keep describing things as toxic?â
âœItâs a word of phraseâa slang word, err, a descriptor used back home to describe something or someone harmful whether intentionally or not, usually the prior. Being around something toxic or poisonous can be harmful so people picked up that phrase to describe such things.â
âœAh, I seeâitâs a little clever.â Liam admits but he shakes his head. âœIt probably is âtoxicâ but we love him. Heâs family and you canât abandon family.â
âœI understand that and all but what kind of family does things to put their members in danger?â
âœHeâs not doing it on purpose.â
âœHe is if heâs aware that what he does can hurt those around him even if he doesnât mean it to.â
âœ...in his eyes he sees it as helping-â
âœWhen itâs not?â
He falls to glare before turning away. âœIt does in a way. Most of the time it helps and he means the bestâbut IâVance and everyone else know that it can be the opposite. Thatâs why we are here as he can be stubborn.â
âœ...*sigh, itâs not my place to judge. Especially since I hardly know anything. I justâhmmâI may be in the wrong to give adviceâIâm worried about his aggressiveness proceeding since Iâll be traveling with you three.â
âœMay be traveling.â Vance hums before Liam clarifies-
âœWe still need to have a discussion with Barry on whatâs to go.â
âœRightââ Oh, you will be going. âœThough itâs not wrong to consider the issues that arise if I come along so that we can prepare.â
âœIf you do end up coming alongâIâd say try not to talk much to Nate or be close to him.â
âœAnything I can do to lessen his aggression?â
âœN-not much. Leave that to Vance and me. If he gets too heated weâll handle it.â
âœVery well. Thank you.â
Thereâs not much more to be said besides small talk so you choose to mull over what you know of Nate since Vance and Liam start to chat amongst themselves about something chore-like.
Frankly, you wouldnât be giving the asshole the mind of thought if your situation was different but the fact that you will be stuck near Nate for the next few days does raise someânot so kid-friendly thoughts. Some involve minor body dismemberment but you try to stomp down those particular ones as swiftly as you can, knowing that they shouldnât be entertained lest you abandon your morals.
You wouldnât be thinking of him either if he was equally as hateful of you as most in the village if he wasnât so hostile. But he is and that can pose an issue due to the aggro you receive when threatened. No one has attacked you yet butâif itâs as hard as it is to hold back when youâre only verbally attackedâyou know that itâll be near impossible to force your hand back. You need to avoid anyone or anything that can tip you off.
You canât tell these people that you have an aggro. It will reinforce what they already think of you. An uncontained monster. Yes, they may be true in a wayâbut youâre not your avatar. Youâre just stuck in your avatarâ. Wahhh! What a conundrum! A stink hole is what this isâ.
You wish you had gotten a little more out of Liam though. He confirmed what youâre already aware of and thatâs it. Vance was more informative than Liam was and he hadnât even said anything while the two of you were talking. Itâs what he said back in Barryâs house that gives you a bit of insight as to what may have and does occur around here.
Seeing as how these three young men, still boys in your eyes, havenât been visited by any parental figures since your appearanceâis a little self-explanatory. Maybe they do have families and theyâve seen them before you started expanding your sensesâbut as for Nateâ. The fact that he isnât being punished by a parent but rather Barry speaks some levels as to how his family life is. You could make a guess and say monsters had something to do with it but it may be a different scenario. With that thought, youâre to make sure not to bring up family around him either.
Hmmâwell, as long as youâre careful with what you say and stay away from him you think youâll be fine.
Besides the issue with Nate, thereâs another thing that you want to know about but canât ask outright.
What is the thing Liam and Nate said they felt from you?
You can hear similar discussions throughout Bourn from others about a presence you exude. You donât have any negative stats that produce fear, intimidation, petrification, or the likeâthough that doesnât sound like what everyone is describing it as. They would have and still be acting differently if you didâ. Such as praying for holy intervention, turning tail and running for the mountains...or being belly-up dead. At your level, most stats like that could be deadly to low-level mobs, such as aura of despair. Thankfully, thatâs not the case for you.
So what are they feeling? Itâs a strong feeling is all you can gatherâ. What do you have strong of?... Is it a power thing? Your LV? Your MP or HP? Your overall base stats? But how would they sense that if thatâs what it is? Thatâs not how Yggdrasil worked, albeit some NPCs would notice your strength...and that players can use spells to detect certain statsâ.
Though this isnât your game! It doesnât seem like it is. There are similarities but there are key differences.
Is it a skill or does everyone feel this âœpresenceâ from you? Mm...canât be certain. Youâll have to work that info out of them when you have the chance or listen in to what everyone inquires of one another.
The figures who speak in depth with one another as to the feeling you give off are part of the few who are called retireesâat least from what various people have called them. You donât know much about why theyâre called so but when you had left the barn for the first time most of the people who you could see that made up the village were older men. Yes, there are women and children but the majority youâve seen are men around your age irl.
Is this a retirement village? You donât think thereâs such a thing as retirement in this time period, not to mention you can hear these people doing work along with others. Hmmm. That doesnât change what theyâre being called. There must be a reason why things are going on like this around hereâis it a military thing? They served the king of this land and now they spend the rest of their days off in a village in the countryside? Maybe. Besides that, the only thing youâre getting from them as to the identity of the feeling you give off is âDangerous.â
It might be a level thing. If theyâre anything like basic farmer NPCs, their levels are going to range from 1 to 5. Even if theyâre a little higher on the LV scale, compared to them your avatar is on an ungodly level. Is it because they can feel the level gap?...
*Sigh, only time can tell at this rate. You canât speed run here.
Besides, now that the barn is insight there are greater matters than to mull the what-ifs.
âœIâll run ahead. You two can wait by the fence while I grab Barry and some others.â Liam nods as he speeds off, leaving you and Vance to watch him jog away to the slightly crowded space ahead.
As you arenât presently falling to your death or making deals with an angry mob, you can finally observe the structure of the building you fell into. To you, it appears like a huge log cabin. Unlike the stone houses that make up most of the buildings here in Bourn, the barn is completely made out of wood only exempting the tiles that make up its roof. It has a few rectangular windows lining the middle, long but no taller than a head. You assume they are there to allow air circulation within the stank place. Much needed as your upgraded smelling capacity agrees to the shit hole the place reeks of.
What keeps a large center of your focus, however, is the evident gaping hole in the roof of the structure. Itâs larger than what you guessed it was. The entire surface wasnât destroyed but it looks like you took out a support beam when you broke through it, causing a cave-in around the general area. You can only guess what that says for the state of the second-floor flooring and the items packed there.
Despite the damage, many are gathered about making an effort to clear the debris and clean up. No one is on the roof yet as stability isnât assured but you can make out a few heads popping out of the gap as they collect tiles. Itâs good that theyâre right on top of this. If they let it sit they can risk further damage caused by natural elements.
âœUh, I guessâI did a number over there.â
No response follows so you look elsewhere to where Vanceâs eyes flow.
Not surprising, itâs the gazes of the villagers as you two approach. Youâre still off a way but you could guess itâs hard to miss a naked rainbow anomaly walking around with bugs swarming them. They call each other's names and point your way as you approach. Slurs spew, similar to the night priorâ
âœItâs thereâ
âœItâs the monster!â
âœWe should go-â
âœWhat are those things around them?â
âœBugs, it looks it. Disgustingâ
âœWhy is it coming over here?! Isnât it supposed to be locked away somewhere?!
Some flee the scene at the mere sight, those mostly being bystanders whoâve come to look at the hole. Others stand and watch or mind their own business with work but fervent talk continues nevertheless as word spreads of your coming.
âœIs it true that itâs friendly? Itâs walking with Vance.â
âœI heard it has a sack of gold. Where does it keep it?â
âœIsnât someone going to take it away?! Why isnât anyone doing anything about it wandering around?!â
âœIâd feel better if it was bound some wayââ
âœA leash would be nice, I agree.â
âœCome this way-â
âœWhat do you think it is? Everyone is saying itâs a fairyâ
âœI got shivers again. It has to be evil.â
âœStay in hereâ
âœWhy didnât Vance listen?!â
âœI heard it can fly so why isnât it flying away?â
âœUgh, damn itâ
âœLetâs ask Liam heâs headed this wayââ
Mmmâyeah. Not so different from last night. But itâs what you told Vance. If they donât see you it could cause problems further down the line. Might as well rip off the band-aidâbut is the wound too fresh? Itâs not like you did anything disastrousâthough a few conversations you overheard do cause issues for concern.
Money must be extremely tight if thereâs talk of selling their children into slavery.
Your stomach turns uncomfortably.
You have all the gold in the worldâyou can end their poverty for generations to comeâ. But itâs all that you have. If you give away your belongings before you can secure a place for yourself, youâll be catering to disaster. You could die if you make a mistake like that. Plus, this isnât the only village in this kingdom, youâre sure. Many others could be suffering in poverty. If you give away what you have now, you wonât be able to help others down the line. You need a source of income before that. And giving away gold like that could cause an inflation, making the coin worthless. You could crash the market economy essentially. Many more issues come off of the act of pouring out your wallet willy-nilly, therefore, you cast the idea aside.
So if this deal works, Bourn can receive help from you if they want. But this means that they need to let you go first.
âœSÅ, this way.â A hushed tone comes from behind as the dark archer gestures for you to follow him, stepping around you before directing you to a rickety fence adjacent to the barn. Beyond the fence is the cropsâor would be crops.
Since itâs late spring, most of the tillage is just that. Soft soil being weeded and watered periodically by those tending the land. However, you can make out little green sprouts starting to make their way out of the dirt and in the middle pastures of the fields are older crops, likely preserved from the year(s) prior. They stand tall, over the heads of all those who pass and go in.
Hmmâwithin those plants must be the black dust. Obviously, the ones youâre looking at arenât the said plant. What do those grow? How do they know how to grow them? Itâs fascinating to see in person.
Civilians werenât allowed near croplands as they were very governmentally mandated due to their value and rarity. Good land to farm on was hard to come by. Not an understatement in any sense. Theyâre treasured similar to the little national parks left around. Itâs a global crime for a nation of any kind to harm croplands in any sort of way, even those whose land the farms reap from. Itâs cause enough for war to be waged and punishable by death of the individual(s) responsible and that of their families too.
However, as far as youâre aware, there are no crops present in Japan due to the amount of pollution your land faces, that itâs prone to natural disasters, and has very little land suitable for cultivation. Even a hundred years ago, before the ice caps melted and rose the sea level by seventy meters, merely twelve percent of the land was used for cultivation.
History proves that there were efforts made to expand this percentile. Altering mountainsides into paddy fields. Higher pay and better conditions for farmers. Upgraded supply chains to better distribute their produce. All to improve the overall food self-sufficiency rate of the islands. Japan still had to and still does rely on imported goods but the percentile of crops did go up.
All that effort was taken away in less than a century and Japan lost its entire agricultural industry.
There are likely hidden underground plantations on the continent somewhere. You wouldnât doubt some of those with limitless wallets have farms as such stationed around so they can sustain themselves while the world dies. You wouldnât know. Youâre just a game designer. A successful one all because Japan is currently the greatest technologically innovative country in the world, giving you access to technology to make your ideas real.
You continue to follow Vance off to the side of the fence as you draw ever closer to the barn and you understand why heâs leading you like this. It puts distance between you and the people of Bourn and displays a direct path which you two will head down so people could stay away.
You donât mind, more inquisitive of the crops. âœWhat are you growing?â
âœHere?â Vance turns his head to the left to the ones closest to where you two pass by.
âœWell, these and anything that is further out.â
âœNearest to us are veggies, gourdes, and roots, a few fruits as well. Further out, along the stream, is our wheat and barley. They make out the largest portion of crops we grow but they wonât be coming for a while. Out there, the crops that remain there, are a mixture of corn, beans, and other towering stocks. They can survive winter if tended to, so they remain there. Everything else either dies in winter or is harvested in full.â
âœNeat! What will be ready first?â
âœThe fruits. The end of summer is when they are ready for picking.â
âœWhat type of fruits do you have?â
âœA few types of tomatoes. Green, globe, and Campari as far as Iâm aware.â
A swallow is your immediate response.
Tomatoes?! Uwah~ Youâd love to try one! Youâve had tomato-flavored consumables before but what does a tomato taste like on its own? Is it anything like what youâve had before? Whatâs the difference between the preservatives you had and the raw ones? Not to mention the texture. Whatâs that like?
You know a small portion of recipes due to the food system in various games and the documentaries youâve watched. Could you make something? Hmmm, you never really cooked before since most of everything was either premade, preserved, pills, or were sustenance packets. Not to mention you never really had the timeâbut that doesnât mean you donât know the Basics.
Should you take the time to learn to cook in this new world? Thatâwould be awesome.
Are salads a thing yet? That would be easy. If you have access to manipulate your classes and abilities, it could be easy! With your Beast Taming skills, you could gather all sorts of creatures to harvest off of easily. Not to mention your Druid skills. You got a couple of other spells that could help you like Create Water for some fresh water if you arenât in access to it already. A couple of fire-oriented spells can help you cook. Temperature Change could also help you with heating water, maybe for tea? Ice-type spells to preserve your food, maybe even to serve desserts such as ice cream? You would have the freshest produce to cook and experiment with. And if you can swap your classes as you could in Yggdrasil, you could take advantage of other Job perks such as Expert, Farmer, Craftsman, Chef, Alchemist, Summoner, and possibly a few others!
You...you've never had most of the things that start to rain across your mind as you brainstorm. Meats and plants! All are considered to be extravagant. Only the sickenly rich could afford them since the ingredients are so rare...but here, you have no limit! You could do anything in this new world. You could finally have the chance to eat such foods! Share it with others! Noodles arenât a thing here! You could explore and invent new recipes and flavor combinations! You can fulfill your small dream of tasting such things!
â.
â.
But can your avatar eat?
It was never specified whether or not SÅsaku-sha could eat or not since, technically, the avatar isnât your player personaâbut an NPC that could be inhabited via you.
You still refer to them as your avatar or your player model but it doesnât deny the fact of what they were programmed as.
When you werenât logged into Yggdrasil, SÅ would still be active doing the basic command of patroling. Thatâs about it. It canât pick up items while in this dormant state as you would have to worry about things being displaced and trying to rearrange your inventory before a raid. Although this meant you couldnât have SÅ do menial tasks like farming or maintenance while logged off, it didnât pose any issue in the long run. There were already NPCs whose sole job was to do such and SÅsaku-sha could assist in such matters in other ways that donât have them collecting items on your off time.
Logging back in would always be a surprise for you as you never knew where you were or what you were about to spawn into. In SÅâs room. The sky arena. The baths. The stables. In front of an NPC like you were in mid-conversation. An office meeting. In the middle of a black-jack match. Etcetera. Though, sometimes your default spawn would be the arena since SÅsaku-sha will despawn if any Players enter your realm. This is to avoid the raiders attacking your avatar without you in the pilot seat.
However, when that wasnât the case, youâd finish whatever SÅ would be doing to not let the task be left hanging for you to forget about. You found it to be quite exciting at times as you as it was always a surprise. You once spawned in during the middle of a wedding reception between a Satyr and an Alseid of yours. It was quite a pleasant surprise, especially since you had a bad day that day. Enjoying the occasion to the fullest left you on a good note.
A pleased sigh escapes your chest as you come to a stop beside Vance, leaning up against the fence nearly adjacent to the farm doors, waiting for the chieftain to make his way to you.
Uwah~ Recalling that memory puts butterflies in your stomachâ. N-not literally though, despite all of them fluttering near you. Though youâre getting distracted easily by your own doing. You were debating if you could eat or notâ.
Mmmmâ
Honestlyâyou donât think SÅ can.
It didnât work earlier and you donât know the first thing about the biology of your avatar. And itâs not like you can do anything to figure it out. You donât feel hungry and you donât want to ask for food. Youâd be put in larger debt. And who would be willing to give you food just so you can play around with it? These people need it and youâre not sure if you doâ.
But what if you do need to eat?
Ahhhâthat puts a sudden pit uncomfortably below your chest.
Great, another thing to worry aboutâcould you starve? Despite your doubt about the existence of SÅâs digestive system, it doesnât dispute the ratio of it being there. Yes, nearly three-fourths of you are sure this body canât eatâgahh! But what if youâre wrong?!
This is more important than your magic issue!
You can live without magic, for sure. That wonât kill you right off unlike the danger of starvation, something youâre too familiar with.
How can you resolve this issue?! You need something to consume first-URk! Can you eat the same things as humans can?! What if you feed off of blood or souls or something alien to you?! Your avatar already does something similar to absorbing souls! Is that what you have to do?!
Your skin shifts to a tone it hasnât before at the petrifying concept, a light grey with squiggles of varying muddy cool hues.
Vance turns his gaze your way when the swift shift of colors was enough to be caught in his peripherals. âœSÅ?â
âœMmm.â
âœYour skin.â
âœIâm aware.â
He lets the silence sit for a moment but does inquire more. âœWhat does it mean?â
âœ...Not goodâW-wait-â You cut in realizing how that can be taken out of context into a bad light- âœWhat I mean isâuh, I was thinking ofâhow I could die.â
Yeah, no way were you going to bring up the soul eater concept you may be.
âœ...Fear?â
âœU-uahânoânoâI donât think so. This is something similar but not that. I look very muddy and dark when Iâm fearful. Thisâmay be a combination of a few thingsâhorror I can straight up confirm as well as disgust. It may be a few other things but Iâm repulsed and terrified by my thoughts.â
You donât want to consider if souls taste good or not. You just wanted to try a tomato, waahâ
An odd shadow befalls his brow as they furrow. âœ...What kind of deathâmakes you that terrified?â
âœ...â What can you say to that? You werenât even thinking of explicit deaths though starvation is one. What would you look like if you starved in this body? Would it be like a human? Boney, shriveled, and bloated stomach? Do you have bone or muscle mass?
The young man watches as you start to rub the side of your chest awaiting your answer, a thought passing through his mind that he stores away for later as to why youâre moving as such. You, on the other hand, do this to explore your avatarâs structure.
â.No ribs. You don't feel any bone structure at all. However, youâre still hard to a point. You can only press so hard until it starts to hurt but thereâs give to your fleshâif it even is flesh.
You grab your bicep next to find the muscleâ.only to have the same result. No definitive muscle mass underneath your hard skin, only little give to the surface.
Whatâthe hell are you made of? You know you have blood. Itâs in your avatarâs lore. Do you have a heart then?
You grip your neck slightly to find a pulseâ.
Nothing.
Nothing?!
Do you have any internal organs?! You have pain receptors, you know that much, but are they nerves?
Wahhh! Why did you think it was okay to make your avatar like this?!
Theyâre an otherworldly being for goodness sake! Of course, SÅ isnât going to have a biology humans can comprehend.
But now youâre a human trapped in an alien body!!
You bury your hands in your palms followed by a groan. Seeing your distressed state, Vance turns away to leave you be, no longer invested in conversation having come to his own conclusions.
Gahh! This is stupid! You hate this! You fucking hate this! RraAAUGHhâhaaaâ. Whatâs the point?
Your hands drag agonizingly slow down your blank face, pulling on the hard skin to stimulate some kind of reliever to the stress youâre experiencing.
Thereâs no point in worrying. Itâll get you nowhereâexcept to a new problem. But you can only handle one at a time right now. Soâfocus on what you can do.
See if SÅsaku-sha needs to eat human food. If not, move on.
But how can you retrieve food?
â.
Thereâare seeds and plants in your inventory, or should be. They are for your Druid capabilities when you need to grow a foreign plant you canât with typical growth or summon spells. You can try something with those since you know your inventory worksâ
You only have so many of those seeds though. You shouldnât take from a limited resource of yours when you can use it later to make moreânot to mention you donât think theyâd taste goodâ
You can try growing one of them with a spellâ. If you can figure out your magic you could eat what you can harvest from it.
But you only have a very small amount of non-combative or non-harmful seedlings with you, such as those listed in the healer category. If you grow it, you wonât have the time to harvest the seeds from it if the carriage is leaving for E-Rantel soon. Not to mention leaving the plant here in Bourn. What would the villagers do with an unknown plant grown from a monster? Burn it likely. Thatâd piss you off. And if you lose this bet, you canât come back. Youâd be abandoning a limited and rare resource of yours. Would the villagers be okay with you growing an unknown plant in the first place? What would they do?
Yeah, terrible idea. You canât use your growths for this. So what can you try to snack on without asking for food? Hmmmâ
Looking around doesnât stick much out to your flavor palette. Youâre behind a dirty barn. Anything edible surrounding you consists of dirt, some grass, ingrown sprouts in the fields, the wildflowers beneath your feet, the bugs swarming you, and humans; more than half you donât consider.
This leaves the flowers and ingrown sprouts. You know insects carry a lot ofânutrients(?) but you donât take it into account when you have other options. Howeverâitâs a choice between an unknown flower or an edible plant youâre more acquainted withâ.
SÅsaku-sha should be immune to poisoning and disease if these flowers have that effect, but youâre not certain if they still do. Youâd risk making yourself sick even though the flowers appear harmless. However, youâre positive theyâre not poisonous. The animals around you are drawn to the flowers and love them. On top of that, none of them have died. Theyâve appeared more vigorous after consuming them in a way. Not to mention that the flowers are letting off a pleasantly sweet smell, comparatively honey-like or similar to candy. All in all, they may not be bad to tryâ
Then again...behind the fence youâre leaning against is a small little sprout of either a fruit or a vegetable. You can have something considered actual food. Yes, youâre aware of flowers that can be used as ingredients for foodsâbut to have something youâve always wanted to try out? A real fruit or vegetable? Uwah~
You swallow instinctively.
But none of the crops are near ready for harvest. You wonât be able to get anything from the one behind you unless you use magic to grow the sprout to maturityâand would the villagers be mad if you took a bit of their harvest? Mmmmâthoughâthis could be a good chance for you to try out your magic. When will you have the next opportunity? Youâre not doing anything but waiting anyhow? Why not kill two birds with one stone? See if you can use magic and if you can eat.
But what if you mess up your magic? If you can still use it, how can you control the spell you put out? Do you have your spell slots still?
You can hear Liam talking to Barry, Nate, and a few others and itâs only a matter of time before they comeâ. Should you do this? Hmmmâwhat the heck. Why not? This is important to your survival anyhow.
Okay thenâ.
What should you try out?
The flowers.
The sprout.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'126
Weâre getting personalized now. I mean, does it really matter which you choose? Do you think it matters in the long run? Why would I give you a choice like this if it didnât matter? Itâs not like I put double meanings to everything, do I? Itâs up to you~
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DEAL OF GOLD 2:4
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold.
Chapter Notes
Itâs been four months, hasnât it? How time flies when youâre busy! I ment to update way sooner but when you work 50 hours every week, time to sit and write becomes sparse. Nevertheless, I never quit! I got de largest chapter yet for y'all ere! 45 pages in doc, youâre welcome! I hope y'all enjoy!
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âœYesâI have.â You conclude to Vance and with yourself.
You havenât killed anyone with your bare hands but thatâs not an excuse. Youâre accountable for the affects of your choices which have contributed to others' demise. If youâre not, then whatâs to say of the actions of businessmen or politicians whose decisions caused displacement, health issues, death? Should you be free of blame? No. Not completely. Itâs an issue youâre aware of. There is a charity you support which aids those getting the ports installed so the surgery is safer and those hurt from the operations can get a chance for aid. Itâs all you can do. Everything else is down to the individual choice.
And SÅsaku-sha has definitely obliterated humans. They may not have been real people, sure. They and all the others youâve faced as your avatar were avatars to other players. Simply code. Not flesh and blood. Parts of your game. But they were just as real as your avatar.
Vance tries to keep stone-faced but your alien focus picks up on how the muscles around his temples flex like heâs grinding his teeth.
âœ...Is something the matter?â You urge him to respond when he remains quiet, likely mulling over what you said was true or not.
Thankfully, your query seems to give him the courage to say whatâs on his mind albit quietly. âœI shouldnât have gotten my hopes up.â
âœ...What?â Voice airy with dismay and indignation, you retort with another question of your own. âœDo you think Iâm proud of the blood on my hands?â
The soft tone you takeâheavy with the weight of such an action, and the hurt within the sound of your voices has Vance swallow. He had no answer.
âœVance. I could have lied and said I hadnât. Couldâve painted me in a better light if Iâd done so. ButâI donât want to dismiss the guilt that I carry. Iâve lived for a long time, during which I've had many whoâve tried to take my head because of the name I had built up. Sometimes protecting myself and the things I care about meant taking the lives of those whose will was to destroy. It wasnât just humans. All sorts of races have fallen by my hand so that I could preserve what I hold dear.â
âœ...Didnât you say you were well-liked?â
âœNo matter how beautiful a flower may be, isnât there always someone who wants to pluck its petals?â You gesture to the flower patch below your feet as you slowly guide yourself closer to Vance but still keeping your distance. âœEven if they may not have the intent to be so cruelâmaybe itâs to give the flower to a loved oneâthey still destroy it in the process. No matter how liked one can be, once youâre seen in a light above others there will always be those who want to take or snuff out that light.â
âœIâseeâ.â
âœHey, itâs not all bad. Sure, Iâve had plenty of attempts on my life,â you roll your shoulders jokingly, trying to deviate from the dark nature of the conversation, âœbut Iâm still alive! A perk to being strong.â
His eyes narrow. âœStrong in magic orâ?â
âœI guess, but enough of that.â You gloss over the point he was trying to reach and move straight to what you wanted to ask before. âœAre we staying here or are we allowed outside?â
âœIâd believe it would be wise for us to stay indoors. Bourn isnât fond of monsters, especially one that has killed humans.â
The sensation of muscle-flexing on your blank facade reminds you what eye twitches feel like. âœAm I a monster?â
âœ...You look like one.â
âœBut am I a monster?â You wait for his response for a couple of secondsâa few secondsâa handfulâmanyâa minuteâtwo and more but he keeps silent. You donât know whether or not heâs refusing to answer, doesnât want to say you are one to avoid angering you, or if he doesnât know the answer himself; so you ask a slightly different one. âœ...Do I act like a monster?â
âœ...â
You narrow your focus on him, trying to read his body for a reply since heâs refusing to give you one. âœVance, do I act like a monster?â
That breaks his spell of silence, âœ...Not really.â
Youâd arch your brow if you had one. âœI donât?â
âœ...Noââ
âœTruly?â
âœYes.â
âœ...â
âœ...â
âœThen Iâm called a monster solely because of my appearance?â
âœItâs not-â Vance starts but cuts himself off to swallow. âœYou do look like oneâitâs a part of it.â
âœ...part?â
âœ...The othersâitâs easier to believe youâre a monster than something more, soâwe are prepared if we ever have to treat you like one.â
Splotches like ink, warm and murky in mix, splash across your chest and throat at the bitter lump that settles there. âœSoâdespite how I act, I wonât be anything but a monster? Doesnât that sound unfair? Would you treat a child like a criminal if they have the possibility of growing up to be a murderer?â
âœYou admitted youâre a murderer. Arenât we justified in mistrusting you?â
âœThose were all acts of self-defense.â You grow warm but having felt the flare so many times at stronger intensities, you swallow it down without issue. âœHave you not killed to defend those you care about? Have you ever fought for your life?â
âœ...YesâI have.â
You stop your retort, having expected him to say no.
He has? To what extent? Is that why heâs assigned to watch you? Butâwhat about all those other menâwhy a boy?
âœ...how old are you?â
âœTwenty.â
âœTwentyââ Echoing in a mumble. Thatâs so young. Maybe not as young as some children you know whoâve had to kill or fight due to conscription, poor Earthly conditions, abuse, and whatnotâ. Still, since itâs not something youâve had to do as a human even after decades of being aroundâsomeone so young telling you theyâve had to bloody their handsâ. âœIâm sorry youâve had to experience something like that so early on.â
His eyes widen a fraction, probably not expecting that type of response from you either.
Despite that knowledge, you continue. âœWhy arenât you treated as I am if we are both killers?â
âœAh.â Now that seems to be what he expected you to say as his expression reverts to the way it was before. âœBecause I protect Bourn and earn a living doing similar.â
Your head reels back. âœWaitâso youâre saying you kill people as a job?â
âœNot people. Not yet. Just monsters.â
âœWha-monsters are people!â
âœNo, they arenât!â He snaps back, growing in frustration as you are. âœAll the monsters Iâve met have been nothing but beasts.â
âœMaybe the ones youâve met but thatâs not the case for all. We are alive just as much as you are. Take me for an example. Am I not a person?â
âœ...No, you are.â
âœIâm a person?â
âœI believe so.â
âœBut you also call me a monster.â
âœ...Yes.â
âœ...â Clenching and unclenching your fists, you whisper, âœThen what makes me a monster?â
âœ...not being human.â
âœNot being human.â An echo again as you let that statement sit in the air for a moment. âœHow am I not human?â
He looks at you oddly, opening and closing his mouth a few times like a fish but no words come out. He must be arguing with himself if every answer he means to say is beat down by his logic. After a moment, though, he settles with, âœYou werenât born one.â
If only you knew, boy.
âœSo thatâs it? Itâs my fault for being born the way I am?â
"Didn't you say you created yourself?"
"Yes, but I'm making an example here. Would it be my fault if I was born a monster?"
âœNo thatâsâitâs not.â
âœ...â
âœ*Sigh* Itâs what weâve learned to hate. Itâs what keeps us alive-â
âœCareful.â You hiss. âœHate and greed are the worst traits man can have.â
You see his throat bob despite him trying to appear nonplussed but his eyes do darken. âœIf we didnât kill every monster that came here, all of us would be either dead or raped. Most likely both. Just ask a few of us what weâve witnessed from monsters, though I highly doubt anyone would answer even if you were human.â
It feels as if cold water has been poured over you.
âœW-wait. Every monster that has come here has come to do those things?â
âœYes. Itâs what weâve all been sayingââ
Itâs your turn to be quiet. You had guessed some horrible things have happened between this village and the monsters from Tob but to be straight out told that rape occursâ.
People from Earth may have a different view of morals than you, listing rape as a crime punishable by a few years or none at all due to the fudged up court systemâbut youâve always seen rape as one of the unforgivable crimes. Itâs a fate worse than death. Torture in all forms and can completely ruin someoneâs life. Way worse than just being murdered.
Murders may be bad but rapists always hit a sore spot above in your book. Thereâs never a good reason for it. Not in a million-no, infinite years! None. The only close thing to a near stupid excuse is that they wanted children but could never get a spouse to continue their bloodline. Fucking selfish and demented. Trash that should die and hell be invented for. There are so many ways to have children with science as it is that isnât a viable excuse at all. With overpopulation and the fact that theyâd resort to something so despicable is the cherry on top as to why they shouldnât have children. All the other excuses youâve heard are sociopathic and blow your mind how theyâre not labeled as confessions.
"Itâs their fault for being attractive."
"Itâs their fault for drinking too much."
"Itâs their fault for wearing revealing clothing."
"Itâs their fault for acting slutty"
"I couldnât help myself, my desire was too strong."
"Theyâre stronger than me so if they wanted to stop me they couldâve done so."
"They wouldnât say yes so I had to use force."
"They eventually said yes so itâs not technically rape"
"They have no right to deny me as their spouse."
You may not be a very aggressive person but youâve always wished for the worst for those slimeballs.
So to hear that rape goes onâ. To even bring it up means it has happened beforeâ.
Heat flares up not in anger at the boy but rage for the acts carried out by some of these monsters youâre being compared to.
Vance notices the red that consumes all the other pigment on your skin and he backs further away into the doorway, placing his hands to his sides. He doesnât have the opportunity to speak, a noise indecipherable and guttural rolls out in a solemn tone.
âœIâhad reasoned these monsters kill you all for food. Am I right?â
âœTheyâyes. They do.â
Your head nods slightly with a low hum. âœSometimes, when food is scarce, creatures and people alike can be pushed to devour one another, despite their morals on the matter. Iâd only guessed monsters would attack you all because they donât want to resort to eating their kinâ. Doesnât make it right but uhâcircle of life and whatnotâ.â Huh? And whatnot? Why arenât you appalled by monsters eating humans? Itâs almost as if youâre talking about wolves eating sheep or sharks eating fish. Something completely natural in occurrence. Is this you or your avatar?... âœHowever, I do not tolerate rape. I wonât say all those monsters that have attacked you are the same. Some most likely had to act out as a means of survival but I do share your hate for those that deviate from necessity to cruelty. Justârealize that Iâm not them. Iâm my own personâ.â
âœ...Iâd like to think you are.â He looks away from you so that heâs looking further into the house where the walkway leads outside. âœThough, whatever I hope you to be doesnât make it different for anyone else here.â
âœThatâs because they donât know me. They only know that a monster, called SÅ, destroyed their barn but, somehow, the chief was able to get gold from it! Who knows where it got its gold! Likely from pillaging villages like all the others, psh! More blood money!â
Vance turns back to you to make a weird expression as if heâs asking âWhat?â
âœItâs not my words. Youâre all loudmouths and I have better hearing than you all give me credit for.â The shrug that follows is an attempt to lighten the mood again since you failed the first time around. âœLook, I know that your village is afraid of meâbut what good will it do anyone if we stay here? Were you all expecting me to stay in this house so no one has to see me?â
âœ...â
âœ...Seriously? Youâre all okay with treating me like a caged animal?â
âœItâs not like that. Youâre a guest of Barryâs.â
âœSome guests I am if Iâm not allowed outside. Iâd almost say itâs kidnappingâor-err, holding me hostage? One of those things. Probably the latter.â You attempt to sit cross-legged in the air but you realize, unlike how easy it looks in media, you have to continuously strain your legs to remain crossed. Your legsâ weight isnât the issue, PHY stats in play and Ascend making it so that youâre suspended in similar fashion to zero gravity, but the lack of surface to lean your weight on. With no support in the air, you do an odd fumble of limbs for a moment as you try to set your form right. Vance gives no response while you squirm but his eyes follow your every movement. It only stretches for a moment, no more than five seconds, but itâs enough time to embarrass you into shyly untangling yourself to curl into a ball instead, pink overtaking the muddy reds.
âœ...I havenât seen you change to that color beforeââ He notes but thankfully doesnât mention your air dance.
âœY-yeah. The color changes with how Iâm feeling.â Thatâs most likely the case since the colors would follow emotes of
âœ...Iâve never heard of a creature whose color changes on mood. I know of some animals that change their color to match the season or environment.â
âœItâs not a common trait, thatâs for sure, especially for the variety I produce. But there are lizards and sea life that can do the same... Ever heard of a squid or an octopus?â
He tilts his head in question watching your skin shift with more interest now that he knows the colors have meaning, wondering what the green and yellow spots blooming express.
âœNo.â
âœThey are one of those sea creatures I mentioned about changing color. There are multiple different types of squidbuds and octodudes, coming in many shapes and sizes but all have a similar build.â Cupping the air in your hands you make a clutching motion with your fingers. âœTheyâre sort of squishy in build since they have no bonesâI think? They do have beaks though as far as Iâm awareâ. Here, they look like this-â You point to your dominant hand which is turned down limp-like but you move your fingers to mimic the way youâve seen them and jellyfish move in the documentaries- âœbut they have two eyes and eight tentacles-err well the octopuses have eight of them. Squid are the oddballs.â
âœ...Tentacles?â
âœAh, sorry. Instead of arms or legs, they have..." How do you describe tentacles accurately? "...limbs similar to noodlesâ. Do you know what noodles are?â
âœNo.â
âœNever mind then." You scratch your neck before coming up with a more accurate visual. "Their limbs are like sticky wet ropesâor like long tongues that act like fingers.â
Nailed it. Completely butchered the image.
His neutral expression slips with the corner of his lips shifting, barely hinting that heâs perturbed by the description. âœ...Are they a type of monster?â
âœHa, noâwell, not really but theyâre harmless as long as theyâre not threatened in some way. Theyâre intelligent and can be kept as pets, though my hom-errâa region I resided in used to have a tradition of eating them. Iâve never partaken but I heard that they tasted quite nice, a bit on the chewy side, howeverâ.â At least thatâs what youâve heard from food documentaries and from the top folkâbut you couldnât imagine eating meat with how strained the industry is. Chicken is the most common source of meat out of all others, available at almost every party youâve ever been forced to attend. Though, in those rare extravagant partiesâyouâve seen a wider varietyâ.
You hope none of it was wasted.
âœI donât think Iâd want to eat something with tentacles.â
âœTo each their own, though I think I described them poorly. Some of them can be rather cute or beautiful. Nevertheless, you got me off-topic.â You point an accusatory finger his way. âœNo good comes from locking me away. Doing so is a temporary solution, delaying the inevitable.â
âœAnd?â
âœAnd itâs doing more harm than it is good. In a way, youâre admitting to your village that I am something that they should fear and stay away from. It will cause that mindset to worsen, in affect, cause their reactions to be more severe when I inevitably show my lack of face.â
âœHow is that harmful? They should be afraid.â
âœNo! Itâs-ugh! Itâs not healthy. Sure, fear may keep you alive but it always holds you back from living. Theyâre going to be constantly on edge and stress causes health problems. I donât think you know this since youâre not a doctor but humans can die from extensive stress. Plus, people act irrationally when theyâre afraid. They may try to kill me the moment they see me if you let their thoughts fester for too long.â
âœ...â
âœThink of it this wayâ. What will put them more at ease? Knowing a ferocious monster is in Mr. Longâs house or seeing for themselves that the monster isnât as ferocious as initially thought when it is walking side by side with a young man?â
He stays silent in the doorway, blocking your one way out other than the window behind you. You donât know if heâs decided to give you the silent treatment or if heâs just being himself.
With a huff you plead. âœVance, please? You donât know how much I want this-need this. Last night was the first time for me to see stars and being outside withoutâ. *sigh* I hear, smell, feel so many new things from here, and itâs-tsk! Itâs killing me not being able to explore them! I need to know! I need to! We donât even have to be near anyone! I just-IâI-I need this, Vance! Hide me if you need to I want to see the sky agai-â
You abruptly stop when you realize-
In the window, between the shutters, light blue light is filtering in!
THE SKY!
THE FUCKING SKY! YOUâLL BE ABLE TO SEE THE SKY-
W-whu-WAIT! WaitwaitwaitwaitwAIT!! WHAT TIME IS IT?!
THE SUN-
âœVANCE!â Your screech of excitement shocks the boy but youâre too quick, Ascend sending you like a bolt in the air and you slip right past him over his head and through the house before he could stop you.
Screw trying to get permission to leave, youâre not missing this!
âœSÅ! SÅŒ!â You hear Vance call out to you as he tries to catch up to you but you already have your hand on the handle of the front door.
âœKeep up! Weâre going to miss it if we wait any longer!â
The door is thrown open and you dart out into the open air and immediately register your surroundings.
The air is crisp as a slight breeze flows gently from the direction of the North where the Azerlisia Mountains reside. Itâs light in scent but spry with earthen wafts. The sounds surround you just the same, enveloping your whole form once you hit the outdoors, no longer muffled by walls.
Nothing looks different other than the lighting, less navy and much lighter in tint. The sky too is waking up from its slumber, becoming lighter in pigmentation to the sunâs approach.
The sky! Blue! Itâs so blue! HAHA!
Your wide vision provides you the sight to see villagers already mulling about, getting to whatever chores or jobs they need to before the day gets started. Thankfully they havenât spotted you yet, wrapped up in their mullings, but youâre sure they will in a moment so best to act swiftly!
Vance is fast approaching according to the sounds you hear coming from inside the house but you wait for him to catch up so heâll know which way youâll be headed now that youâve noticed a yellowing of hue to the East~
âœSÅŒ! Stop!â Once he bursts through the door youâre on the move again, not letting up on your goal.
âœQuickly, Vance! Follow me!â Is your only warning to him before youâre on the move again. Your voices did draw pairs of eyes but you had already made it around a corner before your presence was registered.
Youâre grateful that Barryâs home is situated near the Eastern outskirts of Bourn so you hadnât the need to maneuver through the streets where people are now starting to filter into and that Vance can chase you with more ease.
You giggle excitedly as you pick up speed when more of the yellow light is made apparent through the last few homes. Just a few yards to the East of the village is a hilly countryside, scattered with shrubbery and the very thing the village is named after, a bourn that flows out from the forest. Youâve been informed that the stream goes out and around the houses to the fields where their crops are placed.
You could stop where you are still within the bounds of the village and watch the sky from where you are but something catches your eye.
Vance no longer calls after you, opting to conserve his energy into sprinting after you seeing as to how none of his words worked thus far. You swoop over the pastures, closing the distance between the shallow flowing water and you.
Wahh! Itâs so clear! And it smells so fresh and sounds so soothing! Youâd love to take a bath in the bourn! Play, drink, lay, sleep in it! It looks too inviting not to! But not now-
You glide right over the gap, feet dangling above the calm currents, not a single drop of water lands on you at the act and you turn back with an ecstatic wave. âœCome on, Vance! Youâre supposed to keep an eye on me!â You canât help but tease the boy as he slides to a halt in front of the water, hurriedly spotting some rocks sticking out of the slow current and works quickly to start hopping across. âœAt that pace, youâll never catch up with me!â
He stays silent but his expression is more telling how aggravated heâs getting due to your actions, a frown morphing to a heavy scowl paired with a glare.
He can be mad at you all he needs to be for your slip, youâre not going to skip this!
Your goal isnât far off the stream. In the grass field, a huge boulder lies serenely with moss inching over its surface like a green blanket. You donât know why or how a rock this big came to make its home here but itâs the perfect place for you to sit and watch it occur.
You more or less gracefully ascend the face of the rock and giddily place yourself down at the top.
Cold is the first thing that comes to mind when your skin makes contact. The next is how wet it is, dew from the morning having collected on its surface to transfer onto your form. Itâs hard, as to be expected, but the moss cushions your weightâreminding you of a zaisu! Giggles escape as you cross your legs to sit on your makeshift chair properly.
Mmm, nostalgia~ Way better than that creaky old chair!
Vance finally jogs up, you barely give him any mind as youâre tuned in on the springy moss smell and the goldening horizon as he looks up at you with a glower. He doesnât say anything for a moment as if waiting for you to explain yourself but you donât. At that, he mutters your name.
âœHm?â
âœWhat are we doing here?â
âœIsnât it obvious? Weâre watching the sunrise!â
âœ...all thatââ
âœFor the view? Absolutely! You canât fathom how important this is to me. I wouldnât miss this for the world.â
Heâs frustrated still at your actions, thatâs apparent, but he softens his frown a tad with a silent sigh, settling down to watch the horizon with you.
Your conversation ended at the perfect time you suspect, honing onto the scenery.
The dark blue and purple shadows stretch against the countryside in contrast to the orange spritz sky and fluffy yellow clouds to the rising dawn. Dew and ripe flowers surround you in a kind bubble, cradling your form in welcome. Itâs when the shadows of the plains get darkest when the golden orb of light readies to breach the endless blue.
âœWhoah!â A gasp escapes you when, finally, a sparkle of light peaks its way above the tree line in the distance, casting its warm glow on your features. The sky noticeably shifts in palette as it marches across the sky to rest ahead of you. Fascinated by the fundamentals of the sunâs effect on the climate of this world you remain somewhat in a numb trance.
The sunâs flirtations on your skin are considerably warmer than the breeze that flows down from the mountains of the North, holding promise that summer is on its way. The temperature fluctuations had been noticeable but despite you being naked youâre not sensitive to the change, a surprise to you. You assume that it has to do with SÅsaku-shaâs tolerance of such things.
Back on Earth, there were only clouds of smog. There was no sun. Global warming was constant so it was always hot. That irritating heat...however...there were a few things that produced pleasant heat. The sun is one of them. You donât think that you had ever felt the sun before going on a plane to your first gaming convention and that was...a mind-blowing experience. You remember how warm it felt on your skin as you stared out the window at it. It felt just like how all those romance poems and movies depicted it as. Itâs a warmth that feels like hot chocolate and kisses. So bright it had been but all you had wanted to do was stare at it despite it causing you to see weird spots afterward.
However, you stare at the sun and bask in its embrace for minutes...and no pain nor spots appear. Is thisâa natural thing? Is this whatâs supposed to occur and Earthâs pollution made it so you canât see the sun without burning your eyes?
Allowing your vision to expand just enough so that you can check on Vance, you see that he squints in the direction you're facing, obviously blinded by the growing light.
Nope. Pollution isnât the verdict. This must be an alien-body thing going onâwhich youâre grateful for.
Another blissful noise rumbles in your chest as you continue to be hypnotized by the star that is starting to dye the sky a calming variety of warm hues. You thought that the sky would look brown before the sunrise since the orange and blue colors would meld to make such a color...but no...the orange is so bold and it comes with its compliments of pinks, greens, and yellows.
Absolutely breathtakingâ.
A noise escapes you... One that you can't place the source for but it may have to do with the way your body begins to tremble.
Vance side-eyes your form as you wrap quivering arms around yourself. It does little to settle your muscles, only emphasizing how impacted you are by the sight. It's not the crisp of the glade, your avatar is immune to freezing. Besides, the warmth of the star grips you in a homely feel, as if you're a babe coddled in the welcoming hold of a guardian... The fetal position you find yourself in doesn't help refute the imagery...and you're okay with that.
Another shuttering noise rumbles out, wet in pitch as pressure coils over your face and chest, warm and feels like jelly...
âœAreâyou okay?â
âœMmhm! This is better than Iâve ever imagined!â Your voice is shaky but you know itâs for good reason.
You've only felt this way a handful of times. Being nominated as the most innovative game designer of the decade? Those few times you've been in real battles with players? Receiving your first game as a kid? The genuine smiles you've brought to others...
Yes...you're feeling bliss. A pure joy.
"Ha...haha... And here I thought the rendition in Midgard was the best area to watch the sunrise and sunset. How presumptuous..." The mutter can hardly be called such, warped in tone by your overwhelming emotions. No one would understand you if they were listening. "My...first sun... I wish I could share it with you all..."
âœI didnât catch that. Are you trying to tell me something?â
âœItâs nothing important. Donât mind me. Though, hmm...Iâm jealous of you, Vance.â
He quirks his head. âœ...What for?â
âœYou get the chance to watch this every morning. You get to withhold a masterpiece crafted by nature itself. All the time. Everyday. Heh, I never got the chance to sit and watch a sunrise like this back where I lived.â
âœ...Is there a reason for that?â
âœUhââ Great. Youâd wanted to make small talk. Instead, a dark hole into your recent reality is being prodded at, one that may be too revealing of Earth. âœErr, that isâuhâa little privy uhâ. Nothing for you to concern yourself with. Some sad junk with a long story. I simply wanted to point out somethingâvery precious you may take for granted, not realizing its true value. Your world is so...alive and green. Donât let anything take that away.â
âœOkay.â He lets it be but you can tell heâs trying to be courteous of you to some extent which you appreciate.
All is nice...
All is good...
You want to cry...and...for the first time since this ordeal...not for a bad reason.
Haha! How youâre not going to let anything get in the way of this habit. Youâll use your weird new senses to enjoy it to the full, every morning if you can-WA-WAIT! YOUâLL BE ABLE TO SEE YOUR FIRST SUNSET TONIGHT!!! Youâll have to wait until then, of course, but a REAL SUNSET!!!
You completely vibrate with excitement at the opportunity, Vance all the while is fixated on the array of your skin. Two individuals fascinated by something new in two different ways.
You can explore and work until then! So much to do and so much to see! How many other things are here which you donât have on Earth?! Wahh! Probably more than you can come up with! Youâre stuck here so might as well enjoy the sights! The flowers, grass, river, hehehe! How long can you mess around? You have no ideaâyou may be pulled back any momentâ.
â.
No. You shouldnât encourage the idea that youâre here permanently. Although you love this moment more than you can mentally comprehend, your situation is less than favorable. You have a life back on Earth, family, friends, and responsibilities with itâ. If you stay here, who's going to help those who youâre leaving behind? Whoâs going to fill the hole which you leave?
What difference does that make? Are you so important to the world that a gap would be left behind?
â.Mmmâ You donât know how to feel about thatâ. Do youâor did you matter in the long run? You want to think that you will be missed or that you played a big role in helping fix things, but if you are then the longer you stay here the more harm itâs doing back home. Is that selfish of you to want to be wanted, knowing that if you are youâre only causing pain being here? It nearly makes you wish that, if you truly are stuck here, you donât mean anything so that your close friends and family can move on without any hassleâ. But what would that say about all youâve contributed to world health and entertainment? That it meant nothing?
â.
*Sigh, like you concluded with yourself earlier. If it meant nothing, so be it. At least you didn't contribute to the bad.
Twirling a finger around the moss on the side Vance isnât at, you ingrain the sensation into your memory as you contemplate your place.
You donât know how permanent this is but you need to prepare yourself for that case. Try not to become too attached but grounded enough to get by. Youâll appreciate what you have now for you donât know when itâll be the lastâ. Ah, thatâs the same mindset as the one you had on Earth. Wonder if you're actually here or your mind is here?â If your body has turned into your avatar or your body and avatar are still separate beings? Your mind seems fused with some of the traits your avatar would haveâ.
*Sigh, too much to considerâ. Youâre going to blow a fuse with all of the questions scrambled in your head. You already seem to space out and forget every now and thenâdespite your memory being crystal clear otherwiseâ
Itâs...odd. Youâre having relapses in your memory when you get too stressed but your memory of everything that has occurred to you since the fall has stayed crisp in your mind as if youâre...currently reliving every moment youâve had since being here.
If someone asked you to recite the discussion you had with Barry on the New World, youâd be able to say word for word all the hours worth that was said. All the names of every person youâve heard since coming here are noted: Frank, Hyatt, Joseph, Raleigh, Seth, Mat, Barry, Nate, Liam, Vance, Ethan, Kite, Trade, Nan, Bella, Tinna, Flock, Viva, Ignis, Saga, Tifa, and so on. You remember your intense fluctuations of wrath during the creation of the deal. Tea vaper across your chin. The wonder that came with this worldâs lore. The starry night sky. The smell of muck and the scratchy texture of the straw. The rush of wind and your panic as you fellâ.
You scratch at your neck again.
And this weird itch? Why do you keepâfeeling this itch on the back of your neck?...
This doesnât make any sense to you.
âœAugh...Iâm tired of thinking. I keep going in circles.â
âœWhat are you thinking about?â
âœMy situation. Iâm confused about how I ended up here but thereâs more to it than that.â
âœDidnât you say you flew here?â
âœI was flying but thatâs not what got me here. Itâs like I was teleported. One moment I was there,â You wave one hand before the other to display to the young man what occurred, âœand then I appeared here. Itâs something impossible, yet here I am. Iâm lost not just physically but my mind is too. I canâtâIâm troubled as this situation has many dangers and issues that arise with it.â
âœAny that we should be concerned about?â
âœEhhâIâll let you know if it does. âComplicatedâ is a small descriptor of whatever this is that Iâm a part of. Nothing is certain yet and I need time to sort out my thoughts.â
He doesnât have anything to say to that but he does pivot his head to look back at Bourn. You too can see with your extended vision what heâs looking for and when he lets out a ragged sigh you understand immediately why.
A few eyes are poking their way around the corners of some houses, watching Vance and you all while they grumble and fret under their breadths. Theyâve been doing so for a while but Vance didnât seem to realize their presence till now and is huffing in complaint that youâre caught out in the open like this. His tongue remains still though, keeping his thoughts to himself either by the reasoning you gave him back at Barryâs or due to his own reserved nature.
You hum in appreciation, wanting a break from arguing and not wanting to be brought back to a musty room now that youâve gotten a taste of nature-
Something fluttering with a light buzz catches your attention to your left and the moment you hone in on it youâre jumping up from your spot.
âœOI!! Is that what I think it is?!â Youâre across the grass within a moment to get a better look, giving Vance hardly any heads up to react as you squeal, âœItâs a butterfly!!â
Itâs of similar orange to the sunrise, with brown and white speckles across its wings. It hardly disturbs the air at how light it is flying around. Itâs mesmerizing to watch it bob in the air, giggling at its odd movements.
âœHeheh! Hey there, little guy! Youâre so pretty! Wow! Look at that! Are you trying to get warmed up in the sun like me? Uwah! Itâs been decades since Iâve seen one of you!â You reach out a tentative hand with your palm up, almost like you want to reach out and pet it.
Much to your surprise, however, it flutters right up to you, curiously circling your form a couple of times before landing on your palm!
You lose it.
âœVance! Vance! Look! It chose me!â You point excitedly to your hand where you cup the small bug to your chest. âœIts legs feel weird and ticklish! I didnât know theyâre so brittle like they have little hooks on their feet!â You donât mention your sixth sense to him but the contact youâre having with the insect leaves a pleasant buzz on your palm.
An odd expression is hardly masked by indifference while he walks up to your beaming presentation. âœItâsâneatâ.â
âœItâs not just neat! This is amazing!!! Iâve been chosen!â You raise your small companion as if theyâre a newly discovered sacred relic. âœIâm now crowned ruler over the butterflies! Kneel before my supreme power!â
âœPsh!-â His muffled laugh is cut short as he tries to cover it up with a comment of his own, âœItâs just one butterfly.â
âœA flapping of a butterflyâs wing can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world. Itâs just a saying but it means to never overlook the small things. Usually, they have the largest impact in the long run. So despite it being on its own, it still changed meâand made me its RULER!!! We need to find more subjects under my domain! Vance! Lead me to my peopleâplease?â
He quirks a brow at your antics but nods nevertheless, turning to lead you out across the meadows with your butterfly buddy in towâ.
â—
âœLiam! Grab ahold of this will you!â Struggling under the weight of a sack, Nate pleads with his friend for assistance. Thankfully, Liam is quick to assist and alleviates the load from his grasp before storing it securely within the cart.
When the young man straightens back out, Liam observes what has been stored so far within the small carriage. Although there isnât much to say about crops since they're not necessarily in season, many of the stock placed within are goods that Bourn is popular for. Furs, bones, wild meats, herbs, specialty wood, mushrooms, and a small portion of fruits, nuts, and berries. Itâs nearly summer now so the time to harvest from the forest is open. Itâs a short period so many of the residents in Bourn, mostly the retired adventurers and soldiers, are the ones tasked to seek these goods out.
It leaves manpower stretched but itâs not necessarily a problem at this time of the season. Summer means that thereâs less work needed to be done to the fields. Checkups and maintenance are still a must but overall work is needed elsewhere.
Tending to the livestock for one is big, especially for the females that are carrying young. Predators are also an increasing issue, now that the warm weather is back, as wildlife leaves Tob. This can bring monsters along but isnât a rampant issue for Bourn due to the surplus of food elsewhere. The cold months are the time of year to be most wary, however, this doesnât dispute the fact that theyâre still an issueâ.
Especially since thereâs one present in their village-
âœLiam! Stop daydreaming and take this!â Nate scolds him again, voice strained as he holds out the last sack to him.
âœS-sorry!â He hurriedly pulls the bag out of his arms without as much as a grunt and lays it beside the previous one.
âœFor gracious sake shit head! Where are you right now?! We need to finish this up but you keep drifting off!â
âœI said Iâm sorry!-â
âœYou may have super strength but some of us canât dangle seventy pounds above our heads waiting on an idiot to get their head out of their ass!â
âœNate!-â
âœEspecially the same idiot who beat me with a wand!â He interrupts to point out a darkening spot on the back of his right arm before leaning down to pick up a crate with dried herbs delicately lined up within.
âœYou were acting crazy! I had to st-â
âœYou didnât have to nothing!â Nate shoves the small box to Liam with a grimace. âœI had it under control!â
âœNo you didnât!â
âœShut up! I did!â
âœYou didnât! You really didnât!â
âœHow would you know-â
âœI watched as you about got your head popped off by a monster because you canât keep your damn mouth shut!â Liam shoots back with an exasperated sigh. âœHonestly, canât you ever bite your tongue whenever youâre angry?! You always say stupid stuff that gets us in trouble!â
âœI didnât say anything wrong!â
âœYou were antagonizing SÅ-â
âœDonât say its name like itâs a person!â
âœWhatever! Even if you were or werenât wrong, the way you spoke was a great way to get us all killed! Iâm sure that if I didnât intervene, Vance would have. Barry may have had you escorted out too. Heck! Lure, Jackie, or any of the others wouldâve hauled you out! Youâre lucky it was me but youâre too oblivious to the way people help you!â
âœShut up!â
âœNate! Listen for once?! You were letting your anger get the best of you again.â
âœSo what? Canât I be pissed that weâre catering to a monster?!â He grits his teeth at the mention of their visitor. âœThereâs no reason to keep it here!â
âœYou know very well why we are.â
âœAnd we shouldnât! Never trust monsters.â He grunts as he picks up the next crate to continue their task. The last few items they have left for the trip are being brought over by Kip and Garb to load into the cart with the remaining pile.
Liam watches them approach as he takes the next box from Nate. âœI know. But we donât have much of a choice, do we?â
âœWell!...â He started but couldnât find a validated excuse beyond his frustrations and what has already been said. âœ...Fuck! I justâI canât stand it. I hate this!â
âœIâm sure many share the same thoughts. IâmâI have a horrible feeling about it too.â He admits. âœDidâNate?â
âœWhat?â
âœDid you also feelâoff when you first saw them?â
âœ...Yeah.â His voice lowers as he accepts the last of the shipment from the two others with a nod. When they walk away Nate continues. âœItâs not even that threatening looking. No claws or fangs but the moment I saw it I felt shivers cover my entire body.â
Liam nods. âœMe too. If I could describe it in any wayâjust the sight of them made me feel small. Why do you think that happened?â
âœIt could be a trick. The freak is a magic user for fuckâs sake.â He angrily huffs with the next crateâs passage. âœOr it could be our minds telling us how evil that creature is.â
âœAs in how dangerous it is?â
âœThat too. Iâd like to confirm what the feeling was with one of the retirees but our hands have been full since it has caused a ruckus. So hurry up with taking this shit out of my hands so we can do so!â
âœI am!â Liam jerks the felts and tosses them in a crevice between the weighted items. âœIf the feeling is due to how dangerous SÅ is, what does that say about what we can do? Weâve never faced a creature that has caused my hair to stand on end like that.â
âœTsk! What we normally do when we deal with monsters.â
âœWe canât fight it if itâs incredibly dangerou-â
âœI donât care!â
âœNate! It could get us killed-â
âœI know! But we canât let a monster live-â
âœYouâre going to risk our lives over your vendetta?!â
âœNo! You all have to run when it attacks but I refuse to flee from a monster!â
âœThatâs incredibly stupid-â
âœAnd thatâs my fucking choice!â
âœNate, no! You may have that trick but you only have one of those! What if you miss?!â
Nateâs eyes darken as they level with Liam, âœI never have. And donât bring that up while that freak is in the village.â
Liam shakes his head with a huff, disregarding the importance of Nateâs statement, âœDoesnât mean you never will! And do you honestly think that weâd leave you to fend for yourself?!â
Nateâs expression lets on a little panic, âœDonât any of you dare!â
âœFor goodness sake, Nate!â He throws his arms up in exasperation. âœWe canât leave you to some suicide mis-â
âœIâll protect us! Donât any of you, I mean it, not you, not Vance, not Mat, Seth or Loster, Hugh, especially not Barry, none of you be beside me! Just stay back! Tsk! I should just kill it the moment I see it so we can avoid the issue!â
âœAre you not hearing how ridiculous you sound?! Youâre being unreasonable-â
âœBeing unreasonable is letting the freak risk the safety of our families-â
âœShut up! Shut up and stop interrupting me while I try to talk sense into your thick donkey skull-NO! Donât you dare stop me from talking!â Liam raises his voice when Nate starts to open his lips. âœI swear Iâll beat more bruises into you if you so much as make a peep before Iâm done talking!â
His teeth snap shut with a click as he waits for his friend to continue.
âœNate. We will not be risking our lives by attempting to kill something we donât understand and are on neutral terms with. You will not pick a fight by attacking them or running your mouth, especially when that will certainly rope us into it. Donât deny it! As much as youâre trying to protect us, you know that wonât stop us from providing aid. Heck! Youâre putting us in more danger than the monster is on their own! I probably saved the lives of everyone in Bourn when I dragged you out of Barryâs house because you couldnât keep your damn mouth shut! Iâm surprised the chieftain hasnât scolded you yet, probably more focused on maintaining peace and stability than starting conflict like a certain dickhead!â
There is a moment of silence, words being processed before Nate spits a wad into the grass at his side.
âœWhatever. Let's finish this task already.â
He starts collecting the remainder of the supplies, stacking them together roughly with unsaid frustration, Liam watching with a frown of his own.
âœWe care about you, you know.â
âœ...â
âœNate.â
âœI know.â
âœAll of us do.â
"I know."
A few more moments of silence inch on while they tidy up the cart, lifting the last of the items into it. The carriage isnât stocked full but itâs enough for the offseason. This is a spontaneous preparation after all.
âœLetâs wrap this up.â Nate concludes while unfolding a large tarp blanket but Liam hums in worry, looking to the East sector of Bourn.
âœDo you think Vance is okay? Didnât they say heâs watching SÅ on his own?â
âœI think so. Heâs the most perspective out of us three, good at reading the enemy. If anything, Iâm sure heâs trying to learn as much as he can about it so he can inform us what to look out for. He still needs to tell us what he got from the ridiculous story it tried spouting to us earlier this morning. Tsk! Havenât gotten enough sleep as it is!â
Liam hums in mild agreement while Nate tosses a corner of the sheet to him. He catches it but also catches a glimpse of the bruises left behind on the young manâs arms. He wants to feel guilty but knows itâs a small price that had to be paid to avoid bloodshed. âœDo they hurt?â
âœWhat?â
âœThe bruises?â
âœItâs nothing. Just donât fucking go hitting me no more.â
âœ... Do you want me to heal them-â
âœSHH!!â He harshly shushes with a glare. âœDonât reveal abilities while the monster is in the village!â
âœTheyâre nowhere near us.â
âœThat we know of! Itâs a magic user so it has all sorts of tricks! It could be listening in on us for all we know!â
âœ*Sigh* okay. Still, do you want them fixed or not?â
âœNo. Donât waste theâyou know. The cost or whatnotâ.â He straightens his side of the tarp as Liam swings over the other side to do the same. âœYouâll need it when we get in a real fight.â
âœOkay.â Liam side-eyes the steady return of Garb and Kip as they lead one of their workhorses, Donny, to get set up with the cart.
âœThat reminds me. Did you damage your wand whacking me as hard as you did? I swore I heard cracking.â
âœIt was your imagination. Itâs fine. Iâve already checked it.â
âœHuh. Maybe the cracking was the sound of my bones shattering.â
âœCome on, I didnât hit you that hard! Youâre delusional.â
âœI donât know. Felt fucking hard, you cunt.â
âœNot hard enough to knock some sense into you if youâre still talking crap. I bet your thick skull has something to do with it.â
âœFuck you!â He shouts after no comeback comes to mind. Once the tarp is laid over the goods Liam tosses the rope belts with hooks at the ends for the boy to attach to the other side, securing the wrap. âœYou sure the wand wasnât damaged?â
âœYes. Itâs fine. I can show you it if youâre so worried.â
âœIâm notâpsh, you know your twig better than I can anyway. I hate to suggest this, but next time you go about whacking me over the head try not to use your only tool that assists with your m-word.â
âœI agree, but I could have hurt you more if I had used my fists instead.â
âœBullshit! You could have held back your punches.â
âœYouâd think Iâd be going easy on you. I couldnât risk you fighting back.â
âœI probably should have!â
âœYou two still arguing like an old couple?â Garb grunts as they finally get close enough to add in his own comment.
Liam nods his head over in Nateâs direction, âœCould you guess why?â
Nate blushes angrily, âœShut the hell up! None of you say a damn word!â The laughter that follows from the three causes his blush to deepen. âœI donât always start arguments! All of you are cumrags!â
âœSpeaking of saying a wordââ Kip brushes off Nateâs crude speech with a message of his own, âœBarry would like to have one with you, turdwad, after youâre done with the carriage. Seeing as you two are done strapping, itâs best you get your ass over to him so he doesnât chew your ear off for being late too.â
âœD-damn it!â Nate continues to curse while he trudges his way to the barn, leaving the three behind.
âœTold you he was focused on other things. You had this coming!â
âœBe quiet, Liam!â Is the last audible thing that is heard from Nate before heâs too far out of earshot.
âœAlso, Liam.â
âœHm?â The blond shifts his attention to Kip as the older man points Eastward.
âœSince the cart is finished, they want you to assist Vance with watching over the monster and to inform him youâre all set. Once we have some guys take your places watching the beast, then you two can wrap up whatever you need for the trip to the capital. Weâll finish getting Donny secured, it shouldnât take too long.â
âœAh okay! Thank you two!â Liam starts to set out into a jog but Garb calls out.
âœA few more things, Liam!â
âœHuh-oh yes?â
âœA few of our folks have told us they spotted Vance and the monster out in the fields past the stream.â
The news takes him back for a second, âœTheyâre out in the open?!â
âœIt seems so.â Garb doesnât look happy with the news either. âœI was told Vance was to keep it out of sight to avoid panic, or thatâs what Barry had Seth pass as a message onto him. No one has reported any visual struggle or conflict between the two so we canât say for certain the monster forced Vance to let it out.â
Liam bites his lip in concern for his friend.
Why are they outside? Did SÅ use some sort of trick? Hopefully, Vance is alright.
âœThank you for letting me know!â
âœNot at all. And Liam?â
âœYes?â
The man sends him a small smile. âœThank you for all the work you do and for stepping up last night.â Kip nods in agreement. âœYou boys do a lot of hard work, all you adventurers do.â
Liam responds with a goofy smile, appreciative of the complement but also still worried for his brother in arms.
With a wave, Liam doesnât resort back to a jog but starts to run instead. He nods to everyone he passes, more focused on getting to Vance than chatting.
Bourn isnât a large village, a curse and a blessing at times. Thankfully, itâs one of the good instances because it only takes a good two to three minutes until heâs running past the last row of houses.
âœLiam!â A strained voice catches his attention for a moment, seeing Saga pointing in a general direction not far off from where heâs headed. âœItâs in the flower patches that way.â
He thanks the young woman as he rounds a corner and heads out into the open field where Saga directed him. It takes a second or two but he spots the unmistakable dark figure of Vance in shin-high pastures just as she told him, but no monster in sight. His stomach drops, raking his eyes across the plains while keeping the same continuous pace, searching for the creature.
Had they run off?! Where are they?! Why is he standing there?! Shouldnât he be with SÅ?! Is something wrong with him?! And why are there so many butterflies around?
âœ*Huff* Vance!â He hollers just as he crosses the waters to run up to his friend. Heâs still a great distance away but Vance picks up on the sound of Liamâs voice and perks up considerably. He doesnât call back, simply watching as the blond catches up to him, short on breath. âœAre you okay?! *wheeze* Whereâs SÅ?!â
âœIâm right here, hehe!â
His eyes widen a tad at the out-of-the-blue voices and a colorful arm swinging out from within the grass in front of Vance, covered in butterflies.
âœWhat?â Liam slows to investigate whatâs going on, curious because of the butterflies' surplus in the air and SÅâs hidden position within the weeds. When he reaches Vanceâs side he leans forward to peek, letting out a surprised laugh.
Lain out in a bed of flowers, both native and of their own doing, with spread-out limbs is the said monster. SÅâs skin camouflages into the underbrush as greens, yellows, and pinks sparkle across. Itâs hard to make out their form, however, nearly blanketed with all sorts of insects and small rodents.
âœH-how?!â Liam is too amazed to form a proper question, mind going haywire at the sudden change in mood heâs found himself in. Just a moment ago he was worried about Vanceâs welfare. Now heâs greeted with this bizarre position
âœI had been nominated as the supreme ruler of the butterflies!â
âœHa-what?!â
âœVance saw everything! That lil guy-â SÅ points to the air above where many of the butterflies are fluttering, so many that Liam canât tell which is being singled out- âœchose me, and now all of them have!â
âœWhy?! How?! I donât understand!â His head pivots back and forth between his friend and theâ.monster? Can a monsterâact this way? How can he call them a monster when theyâre petting a rat at their side?! âœIsnât that uncomfortable?!â
âœYes but itâs awesome!â They giggle again. âœI feel like an anthill, with all of their little legs crawling over me, but when will I ever experience this again?!â
âœI guess...but I donât understand! Vance?! What is this?!â Liam seeks an answer from his colleague but he appears as lost as he is, albeit in a way less expressive. That doesnât mean he isnât expressive at all, he's more so now than he usually is as heâs faced with the predicament as well.
âœI had led them over here since they wanted to see more butterflies. The moment I brought them over here everything started to swarm to them. SÅ said they donât know why this happened either.â
âœBut I did say it could be because Iâm a Beast Tamer!â You interject getting Liamâs eyes back on your prone form.
âœA beast tamer? Is that a part of your magic?â
A hardy chuckle leaves you but you shrug, still cautious of revealing too many of your avatarâs abilities. Especially since youâve been listening in on every conversation going on within Bourn, not omitting the one he and Nate had. A little ironic that Nate had been right about you listening in on them, despite the paranoia being unfounded at first glance. That had been informative, to say the least, a few things you plan to poke and prod them about later. Subtly though. Super hearing isnât something you want to be known, especially if it means you can keep listening in on discussions like that.
âœYouâreâvery gigglyââ
âœWell, ah, I am covered in bugs, hehe. Itâs ticklish.â A believable excuse, not false anyway. But youâre giggling more so at the new asshole being ripped into Nate by the sound of the scolding and beating he's getting.
Ah, karma~ You got to love her work!
âœI-I seeââ Liam pivots back to Vance. âœUmâis there a reason why you two areââ
âœOut here?â He finishes Liamâs question.
âœYes. Some are worried that something happenedââ He twists his hands together nervously but is still pretty flustered at the scene theyâre near, butterflies now taking perch on him similar to Vance but not nearly as much as SÅ. âœI was too for a second.â
âœ...No. Nothing happened. They wanted to watch the sunrise so I accompanied them.â Vance states a matter of factly and the simplicity of the answer has Liam seeking reassurance.
âœThatâs it?â When Vance nods, he knows he wonât get any more answers while SÅ is nearby. Something else may have happened but he doesnât want to bring up the fact that Vance was told to keep SÅ indoors while theyâre right there listening to them. Vance is very good at obeying instructions so itâs odd that itâs not the case here. He must have good reasoning for deviatingâ. It canât be because SÅ wanted to see the sunrise. Something either forced his hand or gave him a reason to let them out. Is it because of something SÅ didâor is it the story he was told? Was it movingâor does he know something important?!
While Liam thinks over what little Vance had let on, you on the other hand appreciate Vance not outright ratting you out. He may tell them later that you flew past him and made a getawayâbut maybe not. Is he the proud type or is he being considerate of you? You canât tell but you know that heâs not entirely happy that you were able to evade him with such ease when he was supposed to keep you at Barryâs.
If you hadnât heard it beforehand, it still wouldnât have been hard to guess that he was told to do so. Itâs not like you could bring it up to Vance back at the house. How would you explain knowing such a thing? A guess? A little on the nose thereâ. Plus, it may have given him a certain reason to keep you settled there. Nah, youâll keep that info to yourselfâthough itâs a smidge miffing that Barry is the one that had the order sent. You can understand it, yes. Completely reasonable and you probably would have done the same in his shoes. He probably would have been asked to do so if he didnât make the decision initially.
Nevertheless, it sucks that youâre on the receiving end and it was made by Barry no less. Heâs one of if not the only person youâre okay with here. Though, you have to admit Vance and Liam are growing on you a smidge. Theyâre one of the few that arenât referring to you as an it but a they, with the addition of your new nickname. Theyâre treating you pretty decently compared to the crowd back in the villageâthough not human likely due to their views and outside pressures. Maybe your standards are too low? Hmmmâweâllâdo you have any options? The only other people that sound-uhâ. Not okay but alright are the children, older couples, and a very small gap of random individuals youâve been listening to. You havenât personally interacted with any of those who youâre audibly learning about but they sound nice? Many of them havenât said anything good about you but the way they speak builds a decent character for them.
Thoughâthe children sound to be the most friendly out of the bunchâwell, thatâs a lie but you find their life threats amusing, to say the least. You still feel a twinge of heat but your human side, you assume, is overpowering the wrathful feeling with the absurdity of an army of babies coming to stab your shins.
âœHehehe!â Another spill of giggles at the combination of the visual, the sound of Nate yelping at a particularly loud wamp, and the sensation covering your body.
âœOh, Vance!â Liam pops out in a hurried tone. âœWeâre the ones going to E-Rantel, though Iâm sure youâre already aware since weâre the ones usually sent on these types of things.â Vance nods to show heâs listening to his friend. âœSince the cart has been finished, I was told weâll be heading out soon. Theyâll be sending over some of the others to take our place with SÅ.â
âœSeniors?â
âœEither that or one of the current in arms.â He assumes. âœSo after they come we are to wrap up whatever we need to before we head out. I need to get my things since Iâm still in my nightclothes.â
His meekness to his dress wear shifts when you make a noise similar to clearing your throat, reeling both of the young menâs attention.
âœUh, you know Iâm going with you all, right?â
âœH-huh?!â Liam sputters out while Vance squints silently.
âœYou said youâre going to E-Rantel. Thatâs where the coin will be appraised, right?â
âœThatâs rightââ
âœAnd the coin will be taken there by you few?â
âœYes. We plan to get it confirmed while weâre there.â
Steadily, careful of the creatures on and around you, you start to lean up to a sitting position. A fume of insects react to this and take to the air to avoid falling. âœThat means Iâm coming with.â
In slight panic while swatting a roach away from him, Liam shouts, âœYou canât! You have to stay here.â
âœThatâs not part of our deal.â Tone lowering while you clarify.
âœWhat?â
âœDonât either of you remember? I said that the coin is my tether. And the very first thing I asked? The very first words of my deal were, âHow about I remain in your village until you go to get this coin appraised?ââ
Their eyes widen, realizing the reality of the deal.
Heh, the devil is always in the details~ Thereâs a reason why itâs the first thing you said. Itâs the small detail theyâre the least likely to remember by the end, especially while they were distracted drooling over your coin. Business always has a seedy side and youâve learned to live with it, especially for oral agreements. Thereâs a reason why anything legally binding should be documented one way or another to avoid scenarios like this one since it relies heavily on memory, the integrity of word, and trust. Itâs what you had to do for them when they gave you the price.
âœGet it? Until the coin is taken to be appraised, I have every right to watch the proceedings as agreed upon. If any of you prevent me from following then youâll be betraying your honor to follow what was shaken upon.â
âœNoâyou didnât say that!â
Your skin flashes a murky tone at the accusation, âœI did. Over fifteen people heard it. So if you forgot, someone else will remember.â
Liam and Vance share an ever-growing distressed look before they look back at you, âœYou tricked us!â
âœI did no such thing.â Leaning your weight forward, you take your time shifting onto your feet to stand. Like before, a cloud of various insects bursts off of your form before taking perch again. However, the few rodents that came to your side before scurry away into the thicket.
Vance keeps his gaze on you while Liam strains his head to look up at your towering form, swallowing a wad of saliva to unsuccessfully clear his nerves. âœEven if you didnât, you didnât make it clear enough that this was your intention! We agreed to the deal thinking youâd stay here!â
âœHow is it my fault that many of you didnât pay close enough attention to my words or didnât seek to clarify what you were agreeing to beforehand? Additionally, you all assumed the plan of keeping me here without clearing it with me first. Really, who is tricking who? At least I said my intentions straight to your faces. You all decided, without my consent, to keep me chained here. Behind my back, no less. Iâm no animal. Any of you couldâve told me at any time what you all thought of doing. You intentionally left me in the dark because you were afraid of my reaction and that Iâd disagree." You cross your arms, careful not to crush anything on you before finishing. "Itâs childish."
âœWe- all of us assumed youâd be fine! We didnât think itâd be offensive to keep you here, especially since part of the deal is that you stay here if youâre right. Isnât that what you wanted?â
You shake your head, a rumble sitting low in your chest as a simple âœNo.â leaves you.
The wrinkles of Liamâs scowl shift from one of betrayal to incredulous at the response. âœW-what? Thenâwhyââ
He fails to form a proper sentence to express his confusion at the revelation while Vance remains a bystander in all of this. Seeing the standstill at both standpoints, you sigh, âœWhy donât we go clear up this issue with Mr. Long? I know neither of you has the authority to make a judgment call like this. Itâs better I explain my views to the man I shook hands with anyhow.â
âœWe canât just take you to Barry. Heâs busy and-â Liam shoots a panicked glance toward Bourn- âœwe canât exactly bring you to him. We donât know where he is at this moment and we canât lead you through the town. Many are still wary of you, SÅ.â
âœIsnât the barn I fell into located in the Southernmost part of Bourn?â A single finger points in the direction youâre referring to, without uncrossing your arms, and Liam nods to confirm. âœThen weâll walk around the village. No need to walk me through it if you want to avoid people coming into contact with me.â
âœYes, but why do you want us to bring you to the barn?â
âœBecause thatâs where Mr. Long is.â
The two boys pull their heads back slightly at your words. âœHowâdo you know that?â
âœAh-wellâa guess. A lot of work needs to be done with what I destroyed so Iâm sure heâs nearby directing efforts. Iâm sure the hole is drawing a lot of onlookers too, curious about what I had done. So Iâd say heâs there quelling the crowds like he said he wouldâso itâs the most likely spot in which heâd be.â
âœOh, I see. Thatâs where I know he was last too.â
Nailed it! Itâs not like you could say you can feel and hear his presence there.
âœRight? And if heâs no longer there, someone will know where he went and they can go find him for us. But the longer we stay here the more likely that will happen. Letâs hurry up and clear this misunderstanding before then.â
They both nod and Liam runs forward to lead your small trio. Vance remains behind you as you start to move, sandwiching you between them. Itâs a pleasant walk, especially with the insects attached to your form, either by skin contact or by air, and the feeling of grass between your toes as your legs move. Presently, youâre captivated by a spider with a fuzzy and clear exterior maneuvering through the gaps in your fingers while you listen out, Vance and Liamâs small talk being one of many but the only one youâre present for.
âœSo what did you two do while I was away?â
âœSÅ and I talked for a bit before we went out to watch the sunrise. One thing led to another and we ended up in the patches as you saw us.â
âœThatâs niceâ. Talk about anything interesting?â
âœQuite.â Vance is curt but proceeds. âœAnd something about some sea creatures called squids and octopuses. Their body is their head and they have tongues for limbs called tentacles, eight of those they have.â
âœHuh?! That sounds awful!â
âœVance said the same thing, but theyâre not.â You interject. âœI just did a poor job explaining them.â
âœSÅ also said that theyâd eat them.â
âœBleahk! Nasty! I couldnât imagine! Why would you want to eat something that is nothing but tongues and a head? I already don't like cow tounge!â
âœAs I said, without the visuals, it sounds badâ.â You shake your head knowing full well that if you were still in Yggdrasil you could summon one to show them what you meanâ. Could you still summon here? You havenât investigated your avatarâs abilities yet. You need to do that soon but you keep getting distracted or the moment isnât right. Going away from those repetitive thoughts thoughâ. âœWhat about you? What did you and Nate do while you were away?â
âœA-ahâwellââ He scratches his chin meekly. âœ...after I pulled him from the house, two others along with me had to keep him from going back and uhâbeing how he was around you. After the meeting was over, we were escorted back to the barn to help with cleaning efforts and packing for the trip to E-Rantel. When we finished, Nate went to Barry while I came to you two.â
âœMaybe, if we canât find Barry, Nate will be able to assist.â The suggestion made on your part is more of a passive remark than an actual plan since your awareness of the two individuals' locations provides knowledge that the idea isnât necessary. âœThe only issue would be getting him to help.â
âœLeave that to me. You can stay with Vance while I handle it. There will be less issue that way.â
âœSounds goodâthough I do want to ask something.â
âœWhat is it?â
âœIt may not be my place to pry but Iâm certain Nate wonât-uhâentertain isnât the right wordâNate wonât cooperate with me if I asked him this. Is there a special reason why heâs so aggressive towards meâor to monsters in general?â
You canât see Liamâs expression since his back is turned to you but his rigid body language speaks words as to what face he wears. âœY-yeah, uh, definitely not something I am open to share. Thatâs all for him to tell if he ever doesâbut I do suggest not asking him about it. Maybe if you werenât a m-ah! Oo-uh, sorry, uhâif you ask him, compared to a human, he may try and beâmurderyâ.â
âœ...Thatâs no different than how he's been around me?â
âœNo, thereâs a difference.â Liam peaks pleadingly over his shoulder. âœHeâs been aggressive to you, I will not deny that. So far the worst heâs done is try to provoke you to start a fight so that he could have an excuse to kill you. Itâs indirect but he hasnât tried to outright kill you yet. If you bring up-â He swallows his line- âœwhy heâs hateful of you, he will attack you with no regard for you or his life. Please, do not seek out his past.â
âœ...I understand.â You lower your head with the affirmation. âœI assumed as much, which is why I had asked you two first as it appears youâre close friends of his. Thank you for the warning.â Nods are shared between you three and before silence could settle you continue. âœIâm not trying to be nosy for asking such a thing. Iâm being genuinely cautious and concerned. As you said it yourself, heâs trying to kill me one way or anotherâbut the method heâs doing it is destructive. Itâs not only hurting him but those around him.â
Sighs are released on both ends as if the two have heard that point too many times.
âœYesâbut all we can do is help him mitigate that damage.â
âœIsnâtâthat very toxic?â
âœWhy do you keep describing things as toxic?â
âœItâs a word of phraseâa slang word, err, a descriptor used back home to describe something or someone harmful whether intentionally or not, usually the prior. Being around something toxic or poisonous can be harmful so people picked up that phrase to describe such things.â
âœAh, I seeâitâs a little clever.â Liam admits but he shakes his head. âœIt probably is âtoxicâ but we love him. Heâs family and you canât abandon family.â
âœI understand that and all but what kind of family does things to put their members in danger?â
âœHeâs not doing it on purpose.â
âœHe is if heâs aware that what he does can hurt those around him even if he doesnât mean it to.â
âœ...in his eyes he sees it as helping-â
âœWhen itâs not?â
He falls to glare before turning away. âœIt does in a way. Most of the time it helps and he means the bestâbut IâVance and everyone else know that it can be the opposite. Thatâs why we are here as he can be stubborn.â
âœ...*sigh, itâs not my place to judge. Especially since I hardly know anything. I justâhmmâI may be in the wrong to give adviceâIâm worried about his aggressiveness proceeding since Iâll be traveling with you three.â
âœMay be traveling.â Vance hums before Liam clarifies-
âœWe still need to have a discussion with Barry on whatâs to go.â
âœRightââ Oh, you will be going. âœThough itâs not wrong to consider the issues that arise if I come along so that we can prepare.â
âœIf you do end up coming alongâIâd say try not to talk much to Nate or be close to him.â
âœAnything I can do to lessen his aggression?â
âœN-not much. Leave that to Vance and me. If he gets too heated weâll handle it.â
âœVery well. Thank you.â
Thereâs not much more to be said besides small talk so you choose to mull over what you know of Nate since Vance and Liam start to chat amongst themselves about something chore-like.
Frankly, you wouldnât be giving the asshole the mind of thought if your situation was different but the fact that you will be stuck near Nate for the next few days does raise someânot so kid-friendly thoughts. Some involve minor body dismemberment but you try to stomp down those particular ones as swiftly as you can, knowing that they shouldnât be entertained lest you abandon your morals.
You wouldnât be thinking of him either if he was equally as hateful of you as most in the village if he wasnât so hostile. But he is and that can pose an issue due to the aggro you receive when threatened. No one has attacked you yet butâif itâs as hard as it is to hold back when youâre only verbally attackedâyou know that itâll be near impossible to force your hand back. You need to avoid anyone or anything that can tip you off.
You canât tell these people that you have an aggro. It will reinforce what they already think of you. An uncontained monster. Yes, they may be true in a wayâbut youâre not your avatar. Youâre just stuck in your avatarâ. Wahhh! What a conundrum! A stink hole is what this isâ.
You wish you had gotten a little more out of Liam though. He confirmed what youâre already aware of and thatâs it. Vance was more informative than Liam was and he hadnât even said anything while the two of you were talking. Itâs what he said back in Barryâs house that gives you a bit of insight as to what may have and does occur around here.
Seeing as how these three young men, still boys in your eyes, havenât been visited by any parental figures since your appearanceâis a little self-explanatory. Maybe they do have families and theyâve seen them before you started expanding your sensesâbut as for Nateâ. The fact that he isnât being punished by a parent but rather Barry speaks some levels as to how his family life is. You could make a guess and say monsters had something to do with it but it may be a different scenario. With that thought, youâre to make sure not to bring up family around him either.
Hmmâwell, as long as youâre careful with what you say and stay away from him you think youâll be fine.
Besides the issue with Nate, thereâs another thing that you want to know about but canât ask outright.
What is the thing Liam and Nate said they felt from you?
You can hear similar discussions throughout Bourn from others about a presence you exude. You donât have any negative stats that produce fear, intimidation, petrification, or the likeâthough that doesnât sound like what everyone is describing it as. They would have and still be acting differently if you didâ. Such as praying for holy intervention, turning tail and running for the mountains...or being belly-up dead. At your level, most stats like that could be deadly to low-level mobs, such as aura of despair. Thankfully, thatâs not the case for you.
So what are they feeling? Itâs a strong feeling is all you can gatherâ. What do you have strong of?... Is it a power thing? Your LV? Your MP or HP? Your overall base stats? But how would they sense that if thatâs what it is? Thatâs not how Yggdrasil worked, albeit some NPCs would notice your strength...and that players can use spells to detect certain statsâ.
Though this isnât your game! It doesnât seem like it is. There are similarities but there are key differences.
Is it a skill or does everyone feel this âœpresenceâ from you? Mm...canât be certain. Youâll have to work that info out of them when you have the chance or listen in to what everyone inquires of one another.
The figures who speak in depth with one another as to the feeling you give off are part of the few who are called retireesâat least from what various people have called them. You donât know much about why theyâre called so but when you had left the barn for the first time most of the people who you could see that made up the village were older men. Yes, there are women and children but the majority youâve seen are men around your age irl.
Is this a retirement village? You donât think thereâs such a thing as retirement in this time period, not to mention you can hear these people doing work along with others. Hmmm. That doesnât change what theyâre being called. There must be a reason why things are going on like this around hereâis it a military thing? They served the king of this land and now they spend the rest of their days off in a village in the countryside? Maybe. Besides that, the only thing youâre getting from them as to the identity of the feeling you give off is âDangerous.â
It might be a level thing. If theyâre anything like basic farmer NPCs, their levels are going to range from 1 to 5. Even if theyâre a little higher on the LV scale, compared to them your avatar is on an ungodly level. Is it because they can feel the level gap?...
*Sigh, only time can tell at this rate. You canât speed run here.
Besides, now that the barn is insight there are greater matters than to mull the what-ifs.
âœIâll run ahead. You two can wait by the fence while I grab Barry and some others.â Liam nods as he speeds off, leaving you and Vance to watch him jog away to the slightly crowded space ahead.
As you arenât presently falling to your death or making deals with an angry mob, you can finally observe the structure of the building you fell into. To you, it appears like a huge log cabin. Unlike the stone houses that make up most of the buildings here in Bourn, the barn is completely made out of wood only exempting the tiles that make up its roof. It has a few rectangular windows lining the middle, long but no taller than a head. You assume they are there to allow air circulation within the stank place. Much needed as your upgraded smelling capacity agrees to the shit hole the place reeks of.
What keeps a large center of your focus, however, is the evident gaping hole in the roof of the structure. Itâs larger than what you guessed it was. The entire surface wasnât destroyed but it looks like you took out a support beam when you broke through it, causing a cave-in around the general area. You can only guess what that says for the state of the second-floor flooring and the items packed there.
Despite the damage, many are gathered about making an effort to clear the debris and clean up. No one is on the roof yet as stability isnât assured but you can make out a few heads popping out of the gap as they collect tiles. Itâs good that theyâre right on top of this. If they let it sit they can risk further damage caused by natural elements.
âœUh, I guessâI did a number over there.â
No response follows so you look elsewhere to where Vanceâs eyes flow.
Not surprising, itâs the gazes of the villagers as you two approach. Youâre still off a way but you could guess itâs hard to miss a naked rainbow anomaly walking around with bugs swarming them. They call each other's names and point your way as you approach. Slurs spew, similar to the night priorâ
âœItâs thereâ
âœItâs the monster!â
âœWe should go-â
âœWhat are those things around them?â
âœBugs, it looks it. Disgustingâ
âœWhy is it coming over here?! Isnât it supposed to be locked away somewhere?!
Some flee the scene at the mere sight, those mostly being bystanders whoâve come to look at the hole. Others stand and watch or mind their own business with work but fervent talk continues nevertheless as word spreads of your coming.
âœIs it true that itâs friendly? Itâs walking with Vance.â
âœI heard it has a sack of gold. Where does it keep it?â
âœIsnât someone going to take it away?! Why isnât anyone doing anything about it wandering around?!â
âœIâd feel better if it was bound some wayââ
âœA leash would be nice, I agree.â
âœCome this way-â
âœWhat do you think it is? Everyone is saying itâs a fairyâ
âœI got shivers again. It has to be evil.â
âœStay in hereâ
âœWhy didnât Vance listen?!â
âœI heard it can fly so why isnât it flying away?â
âœUgh, damn itâ
âœLetâs ask Liam heâs headed this wayââ
Mmmâyeah. Not so different from last night. But itâs what you told Vance. If they donât see you it could cause problems further down the line. Might as well rip off the band-aidâbut is the wound too fresh? Itâs not like you did anything disastrousâthough a few conversations you overheard do cause issues for concern.
Money must be extremely tight if thereâs talk of selling their children into slavery.
Your stomach turns uncomfortably.
You have all the gold in the worldâyou can end their poverty for generations to comeâ. But itâs all that you have. If you give away your belongings before you can secure a place for yourself, youâll be catering to disaster. You could die if you make a mistake like that. Plus, this isnât the only village in this kingdom, youâre sure. Many others could be suffering in poverty. If you give away what you have now, you wonât be able to help others down the line. You need a source of income before that. And giving away gold like that could cause an inflation, making the coin worthless. You could crash the market economy essentially. Many more issues come off of the act of pouring out your wallet willy-nilly, therefore, you cast the idea aside.
So if this deal works, Bourn can receive help from you if they want. But this means that they need to let you go first.
âœSÅ, this way.â A hushed tone comes from behind as the dark archer gestures for you to follow him, stepping around you before directing you to a rickety fence adjacent to the barn. Beyond the fence is the cropsâor would be crops.
Since itâs late spring, most of the tillage is just that. Soft soil being weeded and watered periodically by those tending the land. However, you can make out little green sprouts starting to make their way out of the dirt and in the middle pastures of the fields are older crops, likely preserved from the year(s) prior. They stand tall, over the heads of all those who pass and go in.
Hmmâwithin those plants must be the black dust. Obviously, the ones youâre looking at arenât the said plant. What do those grow? How do they know how to grow them? Itâs fascinating to see in person.
Civilians werenât allowed near croplands as they were very governmentally mandated due to their value and rarity. Good land to farm on was hard to come by. Not an understatement in any sense. Theyâre treasured similar to the little national parks left around. Itâs a global crime for a nation of any kind to harm croplands in any sort of way, even those whose land the farms reap from. Itâs cause enough for war to be waged and punishable by death of the individual(s) responsible and that of their families too.
However, as far as youâre aware, there are no crops present in Japan due to the amount of pollution your land faces, that itâs prone to natural disasters, and has very little land suitable for cultivation. Even a hundred years ago, before the ice caps melted and rose the sea level by seventy meters, merely twelve percent of the land was used for cultivation.
History proves that there were efforts made to expand this percentile. Altering mountainsides into paddy fields. Higher pay and better conditions for farmers. Upgraded supply chains to better distribute their produce. All to improve the overall food self-sufficiency rate of the islands. Japan still had to and still does rely on imported goods but the percentile of crops did go up.
All that effort was taken away in less than a century and Japan lost its entire agricultural industry.
There are likely hidden underground plantations on the continent somewhere. You wouldnât doubt some of those with limitless wallets have farms as such stationed around so they can sustain themselves while the world dies. You wouldnât know. Youâre just a game designer. A successful one all because Japan is currently the greatest technologically innovative country in the world, giving you access to technology to make your ideas real.
You continue to follow Vance off to the side of the fence as you draw ever closer to the barn and you understand why heâs leading you like this. It puts distance between you and the people of Bourn and displays a direct path which you two will head down so people could stay away.
You donât mind, more inquisitive of the crops. âœWhat are you growing?â
âœHere?â Vance turns his head to the left to the ones closest to where you two pass by.
âœWell, these and anything that is further out.â
âœNearest to us are veggies, gourdes, and roots, a few fruits as well. Further out, along the stream, is our wheat and barley. They make out the largest portion of crops we grow but they wonât be coming for a while. Out there, the crops that remain there, are a mixture of corn, beans, and other towering stocks. They can survive winter if tended to, so they remain there. Everything else either dies in winter or is harvested in full.â
âœNeat! What will be ready first?â
âœThe fruits. The end of summer is when they are ready for picking.â
âœWhat type of fruits do you have?â
âœA few types of tomatoes. Green, globe, and Campari as far as Iâm aware.â
A swallow is your immediate response.
Tomatoes?! Uwah~ Youâd love to try one! Youâve had tomato-flavored consumables before but what does a tomato taste like on its own? Is it anything like what youâve had before? Whatâs the difference between the preservatives you had and the raw ones? Not to mention the texture. Whatâs that like?
You know a small portion of recipes due to the food system in various games and the documentaries youâve watched. Could you make something? Hmmm, you never really cooked before since most of everything was either premade, preserved, pills, or were sustenance packets. Not to mention you never really had the timeâbut that doesnât mean you donât know the Basics.
Should you take the time to learn to cook in this new world? Thatâwould be awesome.
Are salads a thing yet? That would be easy. If you have access to manipulate your classes and abilities, it could be easy! With your Beast Taming skills, you could gather all sorts of creatures to harvest off of easily. Not to mention your Druid skills. You got a couple of other spells that could help you like Create Water for some fresh water if you arenât in access to it already. A couple of fire-oriented spells can help you cook. Temperature Change could also help you with heating water, maybe for tea? Ice-type spells to preserve your food, maybe even to serve desserts such as ice cream? You would have the freshest produce to cook and experiment with. And if you can swap your classes as you could in Yggdrasil, you could take advantage of other Job perks such as Expert, Farmer, Craftsman, Chef, Alchemist, Summoner, and possibly a few others!
You...you've never had most of the things that start to rain across your mind as you brainstorm. Meats and plants! All are considered to be extravagant. Only the sickenly rich could afford them since the ingredients are so rare...but here, you have no limit! You could do anything in this new world. You could finally have the chance to eat such foods! Share it with others! Noodles arenât a thing here! You could explore and invent new recipes and flavor combinations! You can fulfill your small dream of tasting such things!
â.
â.
But can your avatar eat?
It was never specified whether or not SÅsaku-sha could eat or not since, technically, the avatar isnât your player personaâbut an NPC that could be inhabited via you.
You still refer to them as your avatar or your player model but it doesnât deny the fact of what they were programmed as.
When you werenât logged into Yggdrasil, SÅ would still be active doing the basic command of patroling. Thatâs about it. It canât pick up items while in this dormant state as you would have to worry about things being displaced and trying to rearrange your inventory before a raid. Although this meant you couldnât have SÅ do menial tasks like farming or maintenance while logged off, it didnât pose any issue in the long run. There were already NPCs whose sole job was to do such and SÅsaku-sha could assist in such matters in other ways that donât have them collecting items on your off time.
Logging back in would always be a surprise for you as you never knew where you were or what you were about to spawn into. In SÅâs room. The sky arena. The baths. The stables. In front of an NPC like you were in mid-conversation. An office meeting. In the middle of a black-jack match. Etcetera. Though, sometimes your default spawn would be the arena since SÅsaku-sha will despawn if any Players enter your realm. This is to avoid the raiders attacking your avatar without you in the pilot seat.
However, when that wasnât the case, youâd finish whatever SÅ would be doing to not let the task be left hanging for you to forget about. You found it to be quite exciting at times as you as it was always a surprise. You once spawned in during the middle of a wedding reception between a Satyr and an Alseid of yours. It was quite a pleasant surprise, especially since you had a bad day that day. Enjoying the occasion to the fullest left you on a good note.
A pleased sigh escapes your chest as you come to a stop beside Vance, leaning up against the fence nearly adjacent to the farm doors, waiting for the chieftain to make his way to you.
Uwah~ Recalling that memory puts butterflies in your stomachâ. N-not literally though, despite all of them fluttering near you. Though youâre getting distracted easily by your own doing. You were debating if you could eat or notâ.
Mmmmâ
Honestlyâyou donât think SÅ can.
It didnât work earlier and you donât know the first thing about the biology of your avatar. And itâs not like you can do anything to figure it out. You donât feel hungry and you donât want to ask for food. Youâd be put in larger debt. And who would be willing to give you food just so you can play around with it? These people need it and youâre not sure if you doâ.
But what if you do need to eat?
Ahhhâthat puts a sudden pit uncomfortably below your chest.
Great, another thing to worry aboutâcould you starve? Despite your doubt about the existence of SÅâs digestive system, it doesnât dispute the ratio of it being there. Yes, nearly three-fourths of you are sure this body canât eatâgahh! But what if youâre wrong?!
This is more important than your magic issue!
You can live without magic, for sure. That wonât kill you right off unlike the danger of starvation, something youâre too familiar with.
How can you resolve this issue?! You need something to consume first-URk! Can you eat the same things as humans can?! What if you feed off of blood or souls or something alien to you?! Your avatar already does something similar to absorbing souls! Is that what you have to do?!
Your skin shifts to a tone it hasnât before at the petrifying concept, a light grey with squiggles of varying muddy cool hues.
Vance turns his gaze your way when the swift shift of colors was enough to be caught in his peripherals. âœSÅ?â
âœMmm.â
âœYour skin.â
âœIâm aware.â
He lets the silence sit for a moment but does inquire more. âœWhat does it mean?â
âœ...Not goodâW-wait-â You cut in realizing how that can be taken out of context into a bad light- âœWhat I mean isâuh, I was thinking ofâhow I could die.â
Yeah, no way were you going to bring up the soul eater concept you may be.
âœ...Fear?â
âœU-uahânoânoâI donât think so. This is something similar but not that. I look very muddy and dark when Iâm fearful. Thisâmay be a combination of a few thingsâhorror I can straight up confirm as well as disgust. It may be a few other things but Iâm repulsed and terrified by my thoughts.â
You donât want to consider if souls taste good or not. You just wanted to try a tomato, waahâ
An odd shadow befalls his brow as they furrow. âœ...What kind of deathâmakes you that terrified?â
âœ...â What can you say to that? You werenât even thinking of explicit deaths though starvation is one. What would you look like if you starved in this body? Would it be like a human? Boney, shriveled, and bloated stomach? Do you have bone or muscle mass?
The young man watches as you start to rub the side of your chest awaiting your answer, a thought passing through his mind that he stores away for later as to why youâre moving as such. You, on the other hand, do this to explore your avatarâs structure.
â.No ribs. You don't feel any bone structure at all. However, youâre still hard to a point. You can only press so hard until it starts to hurt but thereâs give to your fleshâif it even is flesh.
You grab your bicep next to find the muscleâ.only to have the same result. No definitive muscle mass underneath your hard skin, only little give to the surface.
Whatâthe hell are you made of? You know you have blood. Itâs in your avatarâs lore. Do you have a heart then?
You grip your neck slightly to find a pulseâ.
Nothing.
Nothing?!
Do you have any internal organs?! You have pain receptors, you know that much, but are they nerves?
Wahhh! Why did you think it was okay to make your avatar like this?!
Theyâre an otherworldly being for goodness sake! Of course, SÅ isnât going to have a biology humans can comprehend.
But now youâre a human trapped in an alien body!!
You bury your hands in your palms followed by a groan. Seeing your distressed state, Vance turns away to leave you be, no longer invested in conversation having come to his own conclusions.
Gahh! This is stupid! You hate this! You fucking hate this! RraAAUGHhâhaaaâ. Whatâs the point?
Your hands drag agonizingly slow down your blank face, pulling on the hard skin to stimulate some kind of reliever to the stress youâre experiencing.
Thereâs no point in worrying. Itâll get you nowhereâexcept to a new problem. But you can only handle one at a time right now. Soâfocus on what you can do.
See if SÅsaku-sha needs to eat human food. If not, move on.
But how can you retrieve food?
â.
Thereâare seeds and plants in your inventory, or should be. They are for your Druid capabilities when you need to grow a foreign plant you canât with typical growth or summon spells. You can try something with those since you know your inventory worksâ
You only have so many of those seeds though. You shouldnât take from a limited resource of yours when you can use it later to make moreânot to mention you donât think theyâd taste goodâ
You can try growing one of them with a spellâ. If you can figure out your magic you could eat what you can harvest from it.
But you only have a very small amount of non-combative or non-harmful seedlings with you, such as those listed in the healer category. If you grow it, you wonât have the time to harvest the seeds from it if the carriage is leaving for E-Rantel soon. Not to mention leaving the plant here in Bourn. What would the villagers do with an unknown plant grown from a monster? Burn it likely. Thatâd piss you off. And if you lose this bet, you canât come back. Youâd be abandoning a limited and rare resource of yours. Would the villagers be okay with you growing an unknown plant in the first place? What would they do?
Yeah, terrible idea. You canât use your growths for this. So what can you try to snack on without asking for food? Hmmmâ
Looking around doesnât stick much out to your flavor palette. Youâre behind a dirty barn. Anything edible surrounding you consists of dirt, some grass, ingrown sprouts in the fields, the wildflowers beneath your feet, the bugs swarming you, and humans; more than half you donât consider.
This leaves the flowers and ingrown sprouts. You know insects carry a lot ofânutrients(?) but you donât take it into account when you have other options. Howeverâitâs a choice between an unknown flower or an edible plant youâre more acquainted withâ.
SÅsaku-sha should be immune to poisoning and disease if these flowers have that effect, but youâre not certain if they still do. Youâd risk making yourself sick even though the flowers appear harmless. However, youâre positive theyâre not poisonous. The animals around you are drawn to the flowers and love them. On top of that, none of them have died. Theyâve appeared more vigorous after consuming them in a way. Not to mention that the flowers are letting off a pleasantly sweet smell, comparatively honey-like or similar to candy. All in all, they may not be bad to tryâ
Then again...behind the fence youâre leaning against is a small little sprout of either a fruit or a vegetable. You can have something considered actual food. Yes, youâre aware of flowers that can be used as ingredients for foodsâbut to have something youâve always wanted to try out? A real fruit or vegetable? Uwah~
You swallow instinctively.
But none of the crops are near ready for harvest. You wonât be able to get anything from the one behind you unless you use magic to grow the sprout to maturityâand would the villagers be mad if you took a bit of their harvest? Mmmmâthoughâthis could be a good chance for you to try out your magic. When will you have the next opportunity? Youâre not doing anything but waiting anyhow? Why not kill two birds with one stone? See if you can use magic and if you can eat.
But what if you mess up your magic? If you can still use it, how can you control the spell you put out? Do you have your spell slots still?
You can hear Liam talking to Barry, Nate, and a few others and itâs only a matter of time before they comeâ. Should you do this? Hmmmâwhat the heck. Why not? This is important to your survival anyhow.
Okay thenâ.
What should you try out?
The flowers.
The sprout.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'127
Weâre getting personalized now. I mean, does it really matter which you choose? Do you think it matters in the long run? Why would I give you a choice like this if it didnât matter? Itâs not like I put double meanings to everything, do I? Itâs up to you~
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DEAL OF GOLD 2:5
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold.
Chapter Notes
Itâs been four months, hasnât it? How time flies when youâre busy! I ment to update way sooner but when you work 50 hours every week, time to sit and write becomes sparse. Nevertheless, I never quit! I got de largest chapter yet for y'all ere! 45 pages in doc, youâre welcome! I hope y'all enjoy!
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âœNoâI havenât.â You conclude to Vance and with yourself.
Youâre not a murderer. Your avatar may be, in a way, but you shouldnât blame yourself for things out of your control. Thatâd be overly critical to hold yourself accountable for every little action that may have contributed to someone elseâs demise. If you did, youâd have to blame yourself for living since your breath took away valuable air others couldâve had. Just plain unreasonable to think that way.
And you canât truly say your avatar killed humans. Err-wellâitâs complicated. Yes, SÅsaku-sha has definitely obliterated humans but none of those were real people. They and all the others youâve faced as your avatar were avatars to other players. Simply code. Not flesh and blood. And none of them stayed dead-a-ahâwell, the players would respawn eventuallyâbut some of the NPCs theyâd bring along with them were more so unfortunate. Youâre certain that at least one of them wasn't resurrected out of the many raids youâve partaken in. Still, none of them were real people. Simply parts of your game.
Vance tries to keep stone-faced but your alien focus picks up on how the muscles around his temples flex like heâs grinding his teeth.
âœ...Is something the matter?â You urge him to respond when he remains quiet, likely mulling over what you said was true or not.
Thankfully, your query seems to give him the courage to say whatâs on his mind. âœYou hesitated in answering me.â
âœAh, I see.â There are a couple of reasons whyââ Whatâs a believable excuse that doesnât give away too much of your real life? âœ...Iâm old and had to scrape the bottom of the olâ cauldron to see if I could recall ever doing such a thing. Not to mention my mind being a tad bit foggy after falling on my skull.â A jovial jab at your fall is followed by a couple of airy chuckles, your way of trying to lighten the mood. âœPlusâI will not lie and say Iâve never killed anything in my life. Iâve lived for a long time, during which I've had many whoâve tried to take my head because of the name I had built up. Sometimes protecting myself and the things I care about meant taking the lives of those whose will was to destroy. I had to think back for a second to recall if any of those whoâve fought me were human since I donât necessarily take note of raceâbut no. None of the humans I fought were killed by my hands.â
âœ...Didnât you say you were well-liked?â
âœNo matter how beautiful a flower may be, isnât there always someone who wants to pluck its petals?â You gesture to the flower patch below your feet as you slowly guide yourself closer to Vance but still keeping your distance. âœEven if they may not have the intent to be so cruelâmaybe itâs to give the flower to a loved oneâthey still destroy it in the process. No matter how liked one can be, once youâre seen in a light above others there will always be those who want to take or snuff out that light.â
âœIâseeâ.â
âœHey, itâs not all that bad! Sure, Iâve had plenty of attempts on my life,â you roll your shoulders jokingly, still trying to deviate from the dark nature of the conversation, âœbut Iâm still alive! A perk to being strong.â
His eyes narrow. âœStrong in magic orâ?â
âœI guess, but enough of that.â You gloss over the point he was trying to reach and move straight to what you wanted to ask before. âœAre we staying here or are we allowed outside?â
âœIâd believe it would be wise for us to stay indoors. Bourn isnât fond of monsters.â
The sensation of muscle-flexing on your blank facade reminds you what eye twitches feel like. âœAm I a monster?â
âœ...You look like one.â
âœBut am I a monster?â You wait for his response for a couple of secondsâa few secondsâa handfulâmanyâa minuteâtwo and more but he keeps silent. You donât know whether or not heâs refusing to answer, doesnât want to say you are one to avoid angering you, or if he doesnât know the answer himself; so you ask a slightly different one. âœ...Do I act like a monster?â
âœ...â
You narrow your focus on him, trying to read his body for a reply since heâs refusing to give you one. âœVance, do I act like a monster?â
That breaks his spell of silence, âœ...Not really.â
Youâd arch your brow if you had one. âœI donât?â
âœ...Noââ
âœTruly?â
âœYes.â
âœ...â
âœ...â
âœThen Iâm called a monster solely because of my appearance?â
âœItâs not-â Vance starts but cuts himself off to swallow. âœYou do look like oneâitâs a part of it.â
âœ...part?â
âœ...The othersâitâs easier to believe youâre a monster than something more, soâwe are prepared if we ever have to treat you like one.â
Splotches like ink, warm and murky in mix, splash across your chest and throat at the bitter lump that settles there. âœSoâdespite how I act, I wonât be anything but a monster? Doesnât that sound unfair? Would you treat a child like a criminal if they have the possibility of growing up to be a murderer?â
âœYou admitted youâre a murderer. Maybe not humans but you said it yourself you donât see the difference. Arenât we justified in mistrusting you?â
âœThose were all acts of self-defense.â You grow warm but having felt the flare so many times at stronger intensities, you swallow it down without issue. âœHave you not killed to defend those you care about? Have you ever fought for your life?â
âœ...YesâI have.â
You stop your retort, having expected him to say no.
He has? To what extent? Is that why heâs assigned to watch you? Butâwhat about all those other menâwhy a boy?
âœ...how old are you?â
âœTwenty.â
âœTwentyââ Echoing in a mumble. Thatâs so young. Maybe not as young as some children you know whoâve had to kill or fight due to conscription, poor Earthly conditions, abuse, and whatnotâ. Still, since itâs not something youâve had to do as a human even after decades of being aroundâsomeone so young telling you theyâve had to bloody their handsâ. âœIâm sorry youâve had to experience something like that so early on.â
His eyes widen a fraction, probably not expecting that type of response from you either.
Despite that knowledge, you continue. âœWhy arenât you treated as I am if we are both killers?â
âœAh.â Now that seems to be what he expected you to say as his expression reverts to the way it was before. âœBecause I protect Bourn and earn a living doing similar.â
Your head reels back. âœWaitâso youâre saying you kill people as a job?â
âœNot people. Not yet. Just monsters.â
âœWha-monsters are people!â
âœNo, they arenât!â He snaps back, growing in frustration as you are. âœAll the monsters Iâve met have been nothing but beasts.â
âœMaybe the ones youâve met but thatâs not the case for all. We are alive just as much as you are. Take me for an example. Am I not a person?â
âœ...No, you are.â
âœIâm a person?â
âœI believe so.â
âœBut you also call me a monster.â
âœ...Yes.â
âœ...â Clenching and unclenching your fists, you whisper, âœThen what makes me a monster?â
âœ...not being human.â
âœNot being human.â An echo again as you let that statement sit in the air for a moment. âœHow am I not human?â
He looks at you oddly, opening and closing his mouth a few times like a fish but no words come out. He must be arguing with himself if every answer he means to say is beat down by his logic. After a moment, though, he settles with, âœYou werenât born one.â
If only you knew, boy.
âœSo thatâs it? Itâs my fault for being born the way I am?â
"Didn't you say you created yourself?"
"Yes, but I'm making an example here. Would it be my fault if I was born a monster?"
âœNo thatâsâitâs not.â
âœ...â
âœ*Sigh* Itâs what weâve learned to hate. Itâs what keeps us alive-â
âœCareful.â You hiss. âœHate and greed are the worst traits man can have.â
You see his throat bob despite him trying to appear nonplussed but his eyes do darken. âœIf we didnât kill every monster that came here, all of us would be either dead or raped. Most likely both. Just ask a few of us what weâve witnessed from monsters, though I highly doubt anyone would answer even if you were human.â
It feels as if cold water has been poured over you.
âœW-wait. Every monster that has come here has come to do those things?â
âœYes. Itâs what weâve all been sayingââ
Itâs your turn to be quiet. You had guessed some horrible things have happened between this village and the monsters from Tob but to be straight out told that rape occursâ.
People from Earth may have a different view of morals than you, listing rape as a crime punishable by a few years or none at all due to the fudged up court systemâbut youâve always seen rape as one of the unforgivable crimes. Itâs a fate worse than death. Torture in all forms and can completely ruin someoneâs life. Way worse than just being murdered.
Murders may be bad but rapists always hit a sore spot above in your book. Thereâs never a good reason for it. Not in a million-no, infinite years! None. The only close thing to a near stupid excuse is that they wanted children but could never get a spouse to continue their bloodline. Fucking selfish and demented. Trash that should die and hell be invented for. There are so many ways to have children with science as it is that isnât a viable excuse at all. With overpopulation and the fact that theyâd resort to something so despicable is the cherry on top as to why they shouldnât have children. All the other excuses youâve heard are sociopathic and blow your mind how theyâre not labeled as confessions.
"Itâs their fault for being attractive."
"Itâs their fault for drinking too much."
"Itâs their fault for wearing revealing clothing."
"Itâs their fault for acting slutty"
"I couldnât help myself, my desire was too strong."
"Theyâre stronger than me so if they wanted to stop me they couldâve done so."
"They wouldnât say yes so I had to use force."
"They eventually said yes so itâs not technically rape"
"They have no right to deny me as their spouse."
You may not be a very aggressive person but youâve always wished for the worst for those slimeballs.
So to hear that rape goes onâ. To even bring it up means it has happened beforeâ.
Heat flares up not in anger at the boy but rage for the acts carried out by some of these monsters youâre being compared to.
Vance notices the red that consumes all the other pigment on your skin and he backs further away into the doorway, placing his hands to his sides. He doesnât have the opportunity to speak, a noise indecipherable and guttural rolls out in a solemn tone.
âœIâhad reasoned these monsters kill you all for food. Am I right?â
âœTheyâyes. They do.â
Your head nods slightly with a low hum. âœSometimes, when food is scarce, creatures and people alike can be pushed to devour one another, despite their morals on the matter. Iâd only guessed monsters would attack you all because they donât want to resort to eating their kinâ. Doesnât make it right but uhâcircle of life and whatnotâ.â Huh? And whatnot? Why arenât you appalled by monsters eating humans? Itâs almost as if youâre talking about wolves eating sheep or sharks eating fish. Something completely natural in occurrence. Is this you or your avatar?... âœHowever, I do not tolerate rape. I wonât say all those monsters that have attacked you are the same. Some most likely had to act out as a means of survival but I do share your hate for those that deviate from necessity to cruelty. Justârealize that Iâm not them. Iâm my own personâ.â
âœ...Iâd like to think you are.â He looks away from you so that heâs looking further into the house where the walkway leads outside. âœThough, whatever I hope you to be doesnât make it different for anyone else here.â
âœThatâs because they donât know me. They only know that a monster, called SÅ, destroyed their barn but, somehow, the chief was able to get gold from it! Who knows where it got its gold! Likely from pillaging villages like all the others, psh! More blood money!â
Vance turns back to you to make a weird expression as if heâs asking âWhat?â
âœItâs not my words. Youâre all loudmouths and I have better hearing than you all give me credit for.â The shrug that follows is an attempt to lighten the mood again since you failed the first time around. âœLook, I know that your village is afraid of meâbut what good will it do anyone if we stay here? Were you all expecting me to stay in this house so no one has to see me?â
âœ...â
âœ...Seriously? Youâre all okay with treating me like a caged animal?â
âœItâs not like that. Youâre a guest of Barryâs.â
âœSome guests I am if Iâm not allowed outside. Iâd almost say itâs kidnappingâor-err, holding me hostage? One of those things. Probably the latter.â You attempt to sit cross-legged in the air but you realize, unlike how easy it looks in media, you have to continuously strain your legs to remain crossed. Your legsâ weight isnât the issue, PHY stats in play and Ascend making it so that youâre suspended in similar fashion to zero gravity, but the lack of surface to lean your weight on. With no support in the air, you do an odd fumble of limbs for a moment as you try to set your form right. Vance gives no response while you squirm but his eyes follow your every movement. It only stretches for a moment, no more than five seconds, but itâs enough time to embarrass you into shyly untangling yourself to curl into a ball instead, pink overtaking the muddy reds.
âœ...I havenât seen you change to that color beforeââ He notes but thankfully doesnât mention your air dance.
âœY-yeah. The color changes with how Iâm feeling.â Thatâs most likely the case since the colors would follow emotes of
âœ...Iâve never heard of a creature whose color changes on mood. I know of some animals that change their color to match the season or environment.â
âœItâs not a common trait, thatâs for sure, especially for the variety I produce. But there are lizards and sea life that can do the same... Ever heard of a squid or an octopus?â
He tilts his head in question watching your skin shift with more interest now that he knows the colors have meaning, wondering what the green and yellow spots blooming express.
âœNo.â
âœThey are one of those sea creatures I mentioned about changing color. There are multiple different types of squidbuds and octodudes, coming in many shapes and sizes but all have a similar build.â Cupping the air in your hands you make a clutching motion with your fingers. âœTheyâre sort of squishy in build since they have no bonesâI think? They do have beaks though as far as Iâm awareâ. Here, they look like this-â You point to your dominant hand which is turned down limp-like but you move your fingers to mimic the way youâve seen them and jellyfish move in the documentaries- âœbut they have two eyes and eight tentacles-err well the octopuses have eight of them. Squid are the oddballs.â
âœ...Tentacles?â
âœAh, sorry. Instead of arms or legs, they have..." How do you describe tentacles accurately? "...limbs similar to noodlesâ. Do you know what noodles are?â
âœNo.â
âœNever mind then." You scratch your neck before coming up with a more accurate visual. "Their limbs are like sticky wet ropesâor like long tongues that act like fingers.â
Nailed it. Completely butchered the image.
His neutral expression slips with the corner of his lips shifting, barely hinting that heâs perturbed by the description. âœ...Are they a type of monster?â
âœHa, noâwell, not really but theyâre harmless as long as theyâre not threatened in some way. Theyâre intelligent and can be kept as pets, though my hom-errâa region I resided in used to have a tradition of eating them. Iâve never partaken but I heard that they tasted quite nice, a bit on the chewy side, howeverâ.â At least thatâs what youâve heard from food documentaries and from the top folkâbut you couldnât imagine eating meat with how strained the industry is. Chicken is the most common source of meat out of all others, available at almost every party youâve ever been forced to attend. Though, in those rare extravagant partiesâyouâve seen a wider varietyâ.
You hope none of it was wasted.
âœI donât think Iâd want to eat something with tentacles.â
âœTo each their own, though I think I described them poorly. Some of them can be rather cute or beautiful. Nevertheless, you got me off-topic.â You point an accusatory finger his way. âœNo good comes from locking me away. Doing so is a temporary solution, delaying the inevitable.â
âœAnd?â
âœAnd itâs doing more harm than it is good. In a way, youâre admitting to your village that I am something that they should fear and stay away from. It will cause that mindset to worsen, in affect, cause their reactions to be more severe when I inevitably show my lack of face.â
âœHow is that harmful? They should be afraid.â
âœNo! Itâs-ugh! Itâs not healthy. Sure, fear may keep you alive but it always holds you back from living. Theyâre going to be constantly on edge and stress causes health problems. I donât think you know this since youâre not a doctor but humans can die from extensive stress. Plus, people act irrationally when theyâre afraid. They may try to kill me the moment they see me if you let their thoughts fester for too long.â
âœ...â
âœThink of it this wayâ. What will put them more at ease? Knowing a ferocious monster is in Mr. Longâs house or seeing for themselves that the monster isnât as ferocious as initially thought when it is walking side by side with a young man?â
He stays silent in the doorway, blocking your one way out other than the window behind you. You donât know if heâs decided to give you the silent treatment or if heâs just being himself.
With a huff you plead. âœVance, please? You donât know how much I want this-need this. Last night was the first time for me to see stars and being outside withoutâ. *sigh* I hear, smell, feel so many new things from here, and itâs-tsk! Itâs killing me not being able to explore them! I need to know! I need to! We donât even have to be near anyone! I just-IâI-I need this, Vance! Hide me if you need to I want to see the sky agai-â
You abruptly stop when you realize-
In the window, between the shutters, light blue light is filtering in!
THE SKY!
THE FUCKING SKY! YOUâLL BE ABLE TO SEE THE SKY-
W-whu-WAIT! WaitwaitwaitwaitwAIT!! WHAT TIME IS IT?!
THE SUN-
âœVANCE!â Your screech of excitement shocks the boy but youâre too quick, Ascend sending you like a bolt in the air and you slip right past him over his head and through the house before he could stop you.
Screw trying to get permission to leave, youâre not missing this!
âœSÅ! SÅŒ!â You hear Vance call out to you as he tries to catch up to you but you already have your hand on the handle of the front door.
âœKeep up! Weâre going to miss it if we wait any longer!â
The door is thrown open and you dart out into the open air and immediately register your surroundings.
The air is crisp as a slight breeze flows gently from the direction of the North where the Azerlisia Mountains reside. Itâs light in scent but spry with earthen wafts. The sounds surround you just the same, enveloping your whole form once you hit the outdoors, no longer muffled by walls.
Nothing looks different other than the lighting, less navy and much lighter in tint. The sky too is waking up from its slumber, becoming lighter in pigmentation to the sunâs approach.
The sky! Blue! Itâs so blue! HAHA!
Your wide vision provides you the sight to see villagers already mulling about, getting to whatever chores or jobs they need to before the day gets started. Thankfully they havenât spotted you yet, wrapped up in their mullings, but youâre sure they will in a moment so best to act swiftly!
Vance is fast approaching according to the sounds you hear coming from inside the house but you wait for him to catch up so heâll know which way youâll be headed now that youâve noticed a yellowing of hue to the East~
âœSÅŒ! Stop!â Once he bursts through the door youâre on the move again, not letting up on your goal.
âœQuickly, Vance! Follow me!â Is your only warning to him before youâre on the move again. Your voices did draw pairs of eyes but you had already made it around a corner before your presence was registered.
Youâre grateful that Barryâs home is situated near the Eastern outskirts of Bourn so you hadnât the need to maneuver through the streets where people are now starting to filter into and that Vance can chase you with more ease.
You giggle excitedly as you pick up speed when more of the yellow light is made apparent through the last few homes. Just a few yards to the East of the village is a hilly countryside, scattered with shrubbery and the very thing the village is named after, a bourn that flows out from the forest. Youâve been informed that the stream goes out and around the houses to the fields where their crops are placed.
You could stop where you are still within the bounds of the village and watch the sky from where you are but something catches your eye.
Vance no longer calls after you, opting to conserve his energy into sprinting after you seeing as to how none of his words worked thus far. You swoop over the pastures, closing the distance between the shallow flowing water and you.
Wahh! Itâs so clear! And it smells so fresh and sounds so soothing! Youâd love to take a bath in the bourn! Play, drink, lay, sleep in it! It looks too inviting not to! But not now-
You glide right over the gap, feet dangling above the calm currents, not a single drop of water lands on you at the act and you turn back with an ecstatic wave. âœCome on, Vance! Youâre supposed to keep an eye on me!â You canât help but tease the boy as he slides to a halt in front of the water, hurriedly spotting some rocks sticking out of the slow current and works quickly to start hopping across. âœAt that pace, youâll never catch up with me!â
He stays silent but his expression is more telling how aggravated heâs getting due to your actions, a frown morphing to a heavy scowl paired with a glare.
He can be mad at you all he needs to be for your slip, youâre not going to skip this!
Your goal isnât far off the stream. In the grass field, a huge boulder lies serenely with moss inching over its surface like a green blanket. You donât know why or how a rock this big came to make its home here but itâs the perfect place for you to sit and watch it occur.
You more or less gracefully ascend the face of the rock and giddily place yourself down at the top.
Cold is the first thing that comes to mind when your skin makes contact. The next is how wet it is, dew from the morning having collected on its surface to transfer onto your form. Itâs hard, as to be expected, but the moss cushions your weightâreminding you of a zaisu! Giggles escape as you cross your legs to sit on your makeshift chair properly.
Mmm, nostalgia~ Way better than that creaky old chair!
Vance finally jogs up, you barely give him any mind as youâre tuned in on the springy moss smell and the goldening horizon as he looks up at you with a glower. He doesnât say anything for a moment as if waiting for you to explain yourself but you donât. At that, he mutters your name.
âœHm?â
âœWhat are we doing here?â
âœIsnât it obvious? Weâre watching the sunrise!â
âœ...all thatââ
âœFor the view? Absolutely! You canât fathom how important this is to me. I wouldnât miss this for the world.â
Heâs frustrated still at your actions, thatâs apparent, but he softens his frown a tad with a silent sigh, settling down to watch the horizon with you.
Your conversation ended at the perfect time you suspect, honing onto the scenery.
The dark blue and purple shadows stretch against the countryside in contrast to the orange spritz sky and fluffy yellow clouds to the rising dawn. Dew and ripe flowers surround you in a kind bubble, cradling your form in welcome. Itâs when the shadows of the plains get darkest when the golden orb of light readies to breach the endless blue.
âœWhoah!â A gasp escapes you when, finally, a sparkle of light peaks its way above the tree line in the distance, casting its warm glow on your features. The sky noticeably shifts in palette as it marches across the sky to rest ahead of you. Fascinated by the fundamentals of the sunâs effect on the climate of this world you remain somewhat in a numb trance.
The sunâs flirtations on your skin are considerably warmer than the breeze that flows down from the mountains of the North, holding promise that summer is on its way. The temperature fluctuations had been noticeable but despite you being naked youâre not sensitive to the change, a surprise to you. You assume that it has to do with SÅsaku-shaâs tolerance of such things.
Back on Earth, there were only clouds of smog. There was no sun. Global warming was constant so it was always hot. That irritating heat...however...there were a few things that produced pleasant heat. The sun is one of them. You donât think that you had ever felt the sun before going on a plane to your first gaming convention and that was...a mind-blowing experience. You remember how warm it felt on your skin as you stared out the window at it. It felt just like how all those romance poems and movies depicted it as. Itâs a warmth that feels like hot chocolate and kisses. So bright it had been but all you had wanted to do was stare at it despite it causing you to see weird spots afterward.
However, you stare at the sun and bask in its embrace for minutes...and no pain nor spots appear. Is thisâa natural thing? Is this whatâs supposed to occur and Earthâs pollution made it so you canât see the sun without burning your eyes?
Allowing your vision to expand just enough so that you can check on Vance, you see that he squints in the direction you're facing, obviously blinded by the growing light.
Nope. Pollution isnât the verdict. This must be an alien-body thing going onâwhich youâre grateful for.
Another blissful noise rumbles in your chest as you continue to be hypnotized by the star that is starting to dye the sky a calming variety of warm hues. You thought that the sky would look brown before the sunrise since the orange and blue colors would meld to make such a color...but no...the orange is so bold and it comes with its compliments of pinks, greens, and yellows.
Absolutely breathtakingâ.
A noise escapes you... One that you can't place the source for but it may have to do with the way your body begins to tremble.
Vance side-eyes your form as you wrap quivering arms around yourself. It does little to settle your muscles, only emphasizing how impacted you are by the sight. It's not the crisp of the glade, your avatar is immune to freezing. Besides, the warmth of the star grips you in a homely feel, as if you're a babe coddled in the welcoming hold of a guardian... The fetal position you find yourself in doesn't help refute the imagery...and you're okay with that.
Another shuttering noise rumbles out, wet in pitch as pressure coils over your face and chest, warm and feels like jelly...
âœAreâyou okay?â
âœMmhm! This is better than Iâve ever imagined!â Your voice is shaky but you know itâs for good reason.
You've only felt this way a handful of times. Being nominated as the most innovative game designer of the decade? Those few times you've been in real battles with players? Receiving your first game as a kid? The genuine smiles you've brought to others...
Yes...you're feeling bliss. A pure joy.
"Ha...haha... And here I thought the rendition in Midgard was the best area to watch the sunrise and sunset. How presumptuous..." The mutter can hardly be called such, warped in tone by your overwhelming emotions. No one would understand you if they were listening. "My...first sun... I wish I could share it with you all..."
âœI didnât catch that. Are you trying to tell me something?â
âœItâs nothing important. Donât mind me. Though, hmm...Iâm jealous of you, Vance.â
He quirks his head. âœ...What for?â
âœYou get the chance to watch this every morning. You get to withhold a masterpiece crafted by nature itself. All the time. Everyday. Heh, I never got the chance to sit and watch a sunrise like this back where I lived.â
âœ...Is there a reason for that?â
âœUhââ Great. Youâd wanted to make small talk. Instead, a dark hole into your recent reality is being prodded at, one that may be too revealing of Earth. âœErr, that isâuhâa little privy uhâ. Nothing for you to concern yourself with. Some sad junk with a long story. I simply wanted to point out somethingâvery precious you may take for granted, not realizing its true value. Your world is so...alive and green. Donât let anything take that away.â
âœOkay.â He lets it be but you can tell heâs trying to be courteous of you to some extent which you appreciate.
All is nice...
All is good...
You want to cry...and...for the first time since this ordeal...not for a bad reason.
Haha! How youâre not going to let anything get in the way of this habit. Youâll use your weird new senses to enjoy it to the full, every morning if you can-WA-WAIT! YOUâLL BE ABLE TO SEE YOUR FIRST SUNSET TONIGHT!!! Youâll have to wait until then, of course, but a REAL SUNSET!!!
You completely vibrate with excitement at the opportunity, Vance all the while is fixated on the array of your skin. Two individuals fascinated by something new in two different ways.
You can explore and work until then! So much to do and so much to see! How many other things are here which you donât have on Earth?! Wahh! Probably more than you can come up with! Youâre stuck here so might as well enjoy the sights! The flowers, grass, river, hehehe! How long can you mess around? You have no ideaâyou may be pulled back any momentâ.
â.
No. You shouldnât encourage the idea that youâre here permanently. Although you love this moment more than you can mentally comprehend, your situation is less than favorable. You have a life back on Earth, family, friends, and responsibilities with itâ. If you stay here, who's going to help those who youâre leaving behind? Whoâs going to fill the hole which you leave?
What difference does that make? Are you so important to the world that a gap would be left behind?
â.Mmmâ You donât know how to feel about thatâ. Do youâor did you matter in the long run? You want to think that you will be missed or that you played a big role in helping fix things, but if you are then the longer you stay here the more harm itâs doing back home. Is that selfish of you to want to be wanted, knowing that if you are youâre only causing pain being here? It nearly makes you wish that, if you truly are stuck here, you donât mean anything so that your close friends and family can move on without any hassleâ. But what would that say about all youâve contributed to world health and entertainment? That it meant nothing?
â.
*Sigh, like you concluded with yourself earlier. If it meant nothing, so be it. At least you didn't contribute to the bad.
Twirling a finger around the moss on the side Vance isnât at, you ingrain the sensation into your memory as you contemplate your place.
You donât know how permanent this is but you need to prepare yourself for that case. Try not to become too attached but grounded enough to get by. Youâll appreciate what you have now for you donât know when itâll be the lastâ. Ah, thatâs the same mindset as the one you had on Earth. Wonder if you're actually here or your mind is here?â If your body has turned into your avatar or your body and avatar are still separate beings? Your mind seems fused with some of the traits your avatar would haveâ.
*Sigh, too much to considerâ. Youâre going to blow a fuse with all of the questions scrambled in your head. You already seem to space out and forget every now and thenâdespite your memory being crystal clear otherwiseâ
Itâs...odd. Youâre having relapses in your memory when you get too stressed but your memory of everything that has occurred to you since the fall has stayed crisp in your mind as if youâre...currently reliving every moment youâve had since being here.
If someone asked you to recite the discussion you had with Barry on the New World, youâd be able to say word for word all the hours worth that was said. All the names of every person youâve heard since coming here are noted: Frank, Hyatt, Joseph, Raleigh, Seth, Mat, Barry, Nate, Liam, Vance, Ethan, Kite, Trade, Nan, Bella, Tinna, Flock, Viva, Ignis, Saga, Tifa, and so on. You remember your intense fluctuations of wrath during the creation of the deal. Tea vaper across your chin. The wonder that came with this worldâs lore. The starry night sky. The smell of muck and the scratchy texture of the straw. The rush of wind and your panic as you fellâ.
You scratch at your neck again.
And this weird itch? Why do you keepâfeeling this itch on the back of your neck?...
This doesnât make any sense to you.
âœAugh...Iâm tired of thinking. I keep going in circles.â
âœWhat are you thinking about?â
âœMy situation. Iâm confused about how I ended up here but thereâs more to it than that.â
âœDidnât you say you flew here?â
âœI was flying but thatâs not what got me here. Itâs like I was teleported. One moment I was there,â You wave one hand before the other to display to the young man what occurred, âœand then I appeared here. Itâs something impossible, yet here I am. Iâm lost not just physically but my mind is too. I canâtâIâm troubled as this situation has many dangers and issues that arise with it.â
âœAny that we should be concerned about?â
âœEhhâIâll let you know if it does. âComplicatedâ is a small descriptor of whatever this is that Iâm a part of. Nothing is certain yet and I need time to sort out my thoughts.â
He doesnât have anything to say to that but he does pivot his head to look back at Bourn. You too can see with your extended vision what heâs looking for and when he lets out a ragged sigh you understand immediately why.
A few eyes are poking their way around the corners of some houses, watching Vance and you all while they grumble and fret under their breadths. Theyâve been doing so for a while but Vance didnât seem to realize their presence till now and is huffing in complaint that youâre caught out in the open like this. His tongue remains still though, keeping his thoughts to himself either by the reasoning you gave him back at Barryâs or due to his own reserved nature.
You hum in appreciation, wanting a break from arguing and not wanting to be brought back to a musty room now that youâve gotten a taste of nature-
Something fluttering with a light buzz catches your attention to your left and the moment you hone in on it youâre jumping up from your spot.
âœOI!! Is that what I think it is?!â Youâre across the grass within a moment to get a better look, giving Vance hardly any heads up to react as you squeal, âœItâs a butterfly!!â
Itâs of similar orange to the sunrise, with brown and white speckles across its wings. It hardly disturbs the air at how light it is flying around. Itâs mesmerizing to watch it bob in the air, giggling at its odd movements.
âœHeheh! Hey there, little guy! Youâre so pretty! Wow! Look at that! Are you trying to get warmed up in the sun like me? Uwah! Itâs been decades since Iâve seen one of you!â You reach out a tentative hand with your palm up, almost like you want to reach out and pet it.
Much to your surprise, however, it flutters right up to you, curiously circling your form a couple of times before landing on your palm!
You lose it.
âœVance! Vance! Look! It chose me!â You point excitedly to your hand where you cup the small bug to your chest. âœIts legs feel weird and ticklish! I didnât know theyâre so brittle like they have little hooks on their feet!â You donât mention your sixth sense to him but the contact youâre having with the insect leaves a pleasant buzz on your palm.
An odd expression is hardly masked by indifference while he walks up to your beaming presentation. âœItâsâneatâ.â
âœItâs not just neat! This is amazing!!! Iâve been chosen!â You raise your small companion as if theyâre a newly discovered sacred relic. âœIâm now crowned ruler over the butterflies! Kneel before my supreme power!â
âœPsh!-â His muffled laugh is cut short as he tries to cover it up with a comment of his own, âœItâs just one butterfly.â
âœA flapping of a butterflyâs wing can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world. Itâs just a saying but it means to never overlook the small things. Usually, they have the largest impact in the long run. So despite it being on its own, it still changed meâand made me its RULER!!! We need to find more subjects under my domain! Vance! Lead me to my peopleâplease?â
He quirks a brow at your antics but nods nevertheless, turning to lead you out across the meadows with your butterfly buddy in towâ.
â—
âœLiam! Grab ahold of this will you!â Struggling under the weight of a sack, Nate pleads with his friend for assistance. Thankfully, Liam is quick to assist and alleviates the load from his grasp before storing it securely within the cart.
When the young man straightens back out, Liam observes what has been stored so far within the small carriage. Although there isnât much to say about crops since they're not necessarily in season, many of the stock placed within are goods that Bourn is popular for. Furs, bones, wild meats, herbs, specialty wood, mushrooms, and a small portion of fruits, nuts, and berries. Itâs nearly summer now so the time to harvest from the forest is open. Itâs a short period so many of the residents in Bourn, mostly the retired adventurers and soldiers, are the ones tasked to seek these goods out.
It leaves manpower stretched but itâs not necessarily a problem at this time of the season. Summer means that thereâs less work needed to be done to the fields. Checkups and maintenance are still a must but overall work is needed elsewhere.
Tending to the livestock for one is big, especially for the females that are carrying young. Predators are also an increasing issue, now that the warm weather is back, as wildlife leaves Tob. This can bring monsters along but isnât a rampant issue for Bourn due to the surplus of food elsewhere. The cold months are the time of year to be most wary, however, this doesnât dispute the fact that theyâre still an issueâ.
Especially since thereâs one present in their village-
âœLiam! Stop daydreaming and take this!â Nate scolds him again, voice strained as he holds out the last sack to him.
âœS-sorry!â He hurriedly pulls the bag out of his arms without as much as a grunt and lays it beside the previous one.
âœFor gracious sake shit head! Where are you right now?! We need to finish this up but you keep drifting off!â
âœI said Iâm sorry!-â
âœYou may have super strength but some of us canât dangle seventy pounds above our heads waiting on an idiot to get their head out of their ass!â
âœNate!-â
âœEspecially the same idiot who beat me with a wand!â He interrupts to point out a darkening spot on the back of his right arm before leaning down to pick up a crate with dried herbs delicately lined up within.
âœYou were acting crazy! I had to st-â
âœYou didnât have to nothing!â Nate shoves the small box to Liam with a grimace. âœI had it under control!â
âœNo you didnât!â
âœShut up! I did!â
âœYou didnât! You really didnât!â
âœHow would you know-â
âœI watched as you about got your head popped off by a monster because you canât keep your damn mouth shut!â Liam shoots back with an exasperated sigh. âœHonestly, canât you ever bite your tongue whenever youâre angry?! You always say stupid stuff that gets us in trouble!â
âœI didnât say anything wrong!â
âœYou were antagonizing SÅ-â
âœDonât say its name like itâs a person!â
âœWhatever! Even if you were or werenât wrong, the way you spoke was a great way to get us all killed! Iâm sure that if I didnât intervene, Vance would have. Barry may have had you escorted out too. Heck! Lure, Jackie, or any of the others wouldâve hauled you out! Youâre lucky it was me but youâre too oblivious to the way people help you!â
âœShut up!â
âœNate! Listen for once?! You were letting your anger get the best of you again.â
âœSo what? Canât I be pissed that weâre catering to a monster?!â He grits his teeth at the mention of their visitor. âœThereâs no reason to keep it here!â
âœYou know very well why we are.â
âœAnd we shouldnât! Never trust monsters.â He grunts as he picks up the next crate to continue their task. The last few items they have left for the trip are being brought over by Kip and Garb to load into the cart with the remaining pile.
Liam watches them approach as he takes the next box from Nate. âœI know. But we donât have much of a choice, do we?â
âœWell!...â He started but couldnât find a validated excuse beyond his frustrations and what has already been said. âœ...Fuck! I justâI canât stand it. I hate this!â
âœIâm sure many share the same thoughts. IâmâI have a horrible feeling about it too.â He admits. âœDidâNate?â
âœWhat?â
âœDid you also feelâoff when you first saw them?â
âœ...Yeah.â His voice lowers as he accepts the last of the shipment from the two others with a nod. When they walk away Nate continues. âœItâs not even that threatening looking. No claws or fangs but the moment I saw it I felt shivers cover my entire body.â
Liam nods. âœMe too. If I could describe it in any wayâjust the sight of them made me feel small. Why do you think that happened?â
âœIt could be a trick. The freak is a magic user for fuckâs sake.â He angrily huffs with the next crateâs passage. âœOr it could be our minds telling us how evil that creature is.â
âœAs in how dangerous it is?â
âœThat too. Iâd like to confirm what the feeling was with one of the retirees but our hands have been full since it has caused a ruckus. So hurry up with taking this shit out of my hands so we can do so!â
âœI am!â Liam jerks the felts and tosses them in a crevice between the weighted items. âœIf the feeling is due to how dangerous SÅ is, what does that say about what we can do? Weâve never faced a creature that has caused my hair to stand on end like that.â
âœTsk! What we normally do when we deal with monsters.â
âœWe canât fight it if itâs incredibly dangerou-â
âœI donât care!â
âœNate! It could get us killed-â
âœI know! But we canât let a monster live-â
âœYouâre going to risk our lives over your vendetta?!â
âœNo! You all have to run when it attacks but I refuse to flee from a monster!â
âœThatâs incredibly stupid-â
âœAnd thatâs my fucking choice!â
âœNate, no! You may have that trick but you only have one of those! What if you miss?!â
Nateâs eyes darken as they level with Liam, âœI never have. And donât bring that up while that freak is in the village.â
Liam shakes his head with a huff, disregarding the importance of Nateâs statement, âœDoesnât mean you never will! And do you honestly think that weâd leave you to fend for yourself?!â
Nateâs expression lets on a little panic, âœDonât any of you dare!â
âœFor goodness sake, Nate!â He throws his arms up in exasperation. âœWe canât leave you to some suicide mis-â
âœIâll protect us! Donât any of you, I mean it, not you, not Vance, not Mat, Seth or Loster, Hugh, especially not Barry, none of you be beside me! Just stay back! Tsk! I should just kill it the moment I see it so we can avoid the issue!â
âœAre you not hearing how ridiculous you sound?! Youâre being unreasonable-â
âœBeing unreasonable is letting the freak risk the safety of our families-â
âœShut up! Shut up and stop interrupting me while I try to talk sense into your thick donkey skull-NO! Donât you dare stop me from talking!â Liam raises his voice when Nate starts to open his lips. âœI swear Iâll beat more bruises into you if you so much as make a peep before Iâm done talking!â
His teeth snap shut with a click as he waits for his friend to continue.
âœNate. We will not be risking our lives by attempting to kill something we donât understand and are on neutral terms with. You will not pick a fight by attacking them or running your mouth, especially when that will certainly rope us into it. Donât deny it! As much as youâre trying to protect us, you know that wonât stop us from providing aid. Heck! Youâre putting us in more danger than the monster is on their own! I probably saved the lives of everyone in Bourn when I dragged you out of Barryâs house because you couldnât keep your damn mouth shut! Iâm surprised the chieftain hasnât scolded you yet, probably more focused on maintaining peace and stability than starting conflict like a certain dickhead!â
There is a moment of silence, words being processed before Nate spits a wad into the grass at his side.
âœWhatever. Let's finish this task already.â
He starts collecting the remainder of the supplies, stacking them together roughly with unsaid frustration, Liam watching with a frown of his own.
âœWe care about you, you know.â
âœ...â
âœNate.â
âœI know.â
âœAll of us do.â
"I know."
A few more moments of silence inch on while they tidy up the cart, lifting the last of the items into it. The carriage isnât stocked full but itâs enough for the offseason. This is a spontaneous preparation after all.
âœLetâs wrap this up.â Nate concludes while unfolding a large tarp blanket but Liam hums in worry, looking to the East sector of Bourn.
âœDo you think Vance is okay? Didnât they say heâs watching SÅ on his own?â
âœI think so. Heâs the most perspective out of us three, good at reading the enemy. If anything, Iâm sure heâs trying to learn as much as he can about it so he can inform us what to look out for. He still needs to tell us what he got from the ridiculous story it tried spouting to us earlier this morning. Tsk! Havenât gotten enough sleep as it is!â
Liam hums in mild agreement while Nate tosses a corner of the sheet to him. He catches it but also catches a glimpse of the bruises left behind on the young manâs arms. He wants to feel guilty but knows itâs a small price that had to be paid to avoid bloodshed. âœDo they hurt?â
âœWhat?â
âœThe bruises?â
âœItâs nothing. Just donât fucking go hitting me no more.â
âœ... Do you want me to heal them-â
âœSHH!!â He harshly shushes with a glare. âœDonât reveal abilities while the monster is in the village!â
âœTheyâre nowhere near us.â
âœThat we know of! Itâs a magic user so it has all sorts of tricks! It could be listening in on us for all we know!â
âœ*Sigh* okay. Still, do you want them fixed or not?â
âœNo. Donât waste theâyou know. The cost or whatnotâ.â He straightens his side of the tarp as Liam swings over the other side to do the same. âœYouâll need it when we get in a real fight.â
âœOkay.â Liam side-eyes the steady return of Garb and Kip as they lead one of their workhorses, Donny, to get set up with the cart.
âœThat reminds me. Did you damage your wand whacking me as hard as you did? I swore I heard cracking.â
âœIt was your imagination. Itâs fine. Iâve already checked it.â
âœHuh. Maybe the cracking was the sound of my bones shattering.â
âœCome on, I didnât hit you that hard! Youâre delusional.â
âœI donât know. Felt fucking hard, you cunt.â
âœNot hard enough to knock some sense into you if youâre still talking crap. I bet your thick skull has something to do with it.â
âœFuck you!â He shouts after no comeback comes to mind. Once the tarp is laid over the goods Liam tosses the rope belts with hooks at the ends for the boy to attach to the other side, securing the wrap. âœYou sure the wand wasnât damaged?â
âœYes. Itâs fine. I can show you it if youâre so worried.â
âœIâm notâpsh, you know your twig better than I can anyway. I hate to suggest this, but next time you go about whacking me over the head try not to use your only tool that assists with your m-word.â
âœI agree, but I could have hurt you more if I had used my fists instead.â
âœBullshit! You could have held back your punches.â
âœYouâd think Iâd be going easy on you. I couldnât risk you fighting back.â
âœI probably should have!â
âœYou two still arguing like an old couple?â Garb grunts as they finally get close enough to add in his own comment.
Liam nods his head over in Nateâs direction, âœCould you guess why?â
Nate blushes angrily, âœShut the hell up! None of you say a damn word!â The laughter that follows from the three causes his blush to deepen. âœI donât always start arguments! All of you are cumrags!â
âœSpeaking of saying a wordââ Kip brushes off Nateâs crude speech with a message of his own, âœBarry would like to have one with you, turdwad, after youâre done with the carriage. Seeing as you two are done strapping, itâs best you get your ass over to him so he doesnât chew your ear off for being late too.â
âœD-damn it!â Nate continues to curse while he trudges his way to the barn, leaving the three behind.
âœTold you he was focused on other things. You had this coming!â
âœBe quiet, Liam!â Is the last audible thing that is heard from Nate before heâs too far out of earshot.
âœAlso, Liam.â
âœHm?â The blond shifts his attention to Kip as the older man points Eastward.
âœSince the cart is finished, they want you to assist Vance with watching over the monster and to inform him youâre all set. Once we have some guys take your places watching the beast, then you two can wrap up whatever you need for the trip to the capital. Weâll finish getting Donny secured, it shouldnât take too long.â
âœAh okay! Thank you two!â Liam starts to set out into a jog but Garb calls out.
âœA few more things, Liam!â
âœHuh-oh yes?â
âœA few of our folks have told us they spotted Vance and the monster out in the fields past the stream.â
The news takes him back for a second, âœTheyâre out in the open?!â
âœIt seems so.â Garb doesnât look happy with the news either. âœI was told Vance was to keep it out of sight to avoid panic, or thatâs what Barry had Seth pass as a message onto him. No one has reported any visual struggle or conflict between the two so we canât say for certain the monster forced Vance to let it out.â
Liam bites his lip in concern for his friend.
Why are they outside? Did SÅ use some sort of trick? Hopefully, Vance is alright.
âœThank you for letting me know!â
âœNot at all. And Liam?â
âœYes?â
The man sends him a small smile. âœThank you for all the work you do and for stepping up last night.â Kip nods in agreement. âœYou boys do a lot of hard work, all you adventurers do.â
Liam responds with a goofy smile, appreciative of the complement but also still worried for his brother in arms.
With a wave, Liam doesnât resort back to a jog but starts to run instead. He nods to everyone he passes, more focused on getting to Vance than chatting.
Bourn isnât a large village, a curse and a blessing at times. Thankfully, itâs one of the good instances because it only takes a good two to three minutes until heâs running past the last row of houses.
âœLiam!â A strained voice catches his attention for a moment, seeing Saga pointing in a general direction not far off from where heâs headed. âœItâs in the flower patches that way.â
He thanks the young woman as he rounds a corner and heads out into the open field where Saga directed him. It takes a second or two but he spots the unmistakable dark figure of Vance in shin-high pastures just as she told him, but no monster in sight. His stomach drops, raking his eyes across the plains while keeping the same continuous pace, searching for the creature.
Had they run off?! Where are they?! Why is he standing there?! Shouldnât he be with SÅ?! Is something wrong with him?! And why are there so many butterflies around?
âœ*Huff* Vance!â He hollers just as he crosses the waters to run up to his friend. Heâs still a great distance away but Vance picks up on the sound of Liamâs voice and perks up considerably. He doesnât call back, simply watching as the blond catches up to him, short on breath. âœAre you okay?! *wheeze* Whereâs SÅ?!â
âœIâm right here, hehe!â
His eyes widen a tad at the out-of-the-blue voices and a colorful arm swinging out from within the grass in front of Vance, covered in butterflies.
âœWhat?â Liam slows to investigate whatâs going on, curious because of the butterflies' surplus in the air and SÅâs hidden position within the weeds. When he reaches Vanceâs side he leans forward to peek, letting out a surprised laugh.
Lain out in a bed of flowers, both native and of their own doing, with spread-out limbs is the said monster. SÅâs skin camouflages into the underbrush as greens, yellows, and pinks sparkle across. Itâs hard to make out their form, however, nearly blanketed with all sorts of insects and small rodents.
âœH-how?!â Liam is too amazed to form a proper question, mind going haywire at the sudden change in mood heâs found himself in. Just a moment ago he was worried about Vanceâs welfare. Now heâs greeted with this bizarre position
âœI had been nominated as the supreme ruler of the butterflies!â
âœHa-what?!â
âœVance saw everything! That lil guy-â SÅ points to the air above where many of the butterflies are fluttering, so many that Liam canât tell which is being singled out- âœchose me, and now all of them have!â
âœWhy?! How?! I donât understand!â His head pivots back and forth between his friend and theâ.monster? Can a monsterâact this way? How can he call them a monster when theyâre petting a rat at their side?! âœIsnât that uncomfortable?!â
âœYes but itâs awesome!â They giggle again. âœI feel like an anthill, with all of their little legs crawling over me, but when will I ever experience this again?!â
âœI guess...but I donât understand! Vance?! What is this?!â Liam seeks an answer from his colleague but he appears as lost as he is, albeit in a way less expressive. That doesnât mean he isnât expressive at all, he's more so now than he usually is as heâs faced with the predicament as well.
âœI had led them over here since they wanted to see more butterflies. The moment I brought them over here everything started to swarm to them. SÅ said they donât know why this happened either.â
âœBut I did say it could be because Iâm a Beast Tamer!â You interject getting Liamâs eyes back on your prone form.
âœA beast tamer? Is that a part of your magic?â
A hardy chuckle leaves you but you shrug, still cautious of revealing too many of your avatarâs abilities. Especially since youâve been listening in on every conversation going on within Bourn, not omitting the one he and Nate had. A little ironic that Nate had been right about you listening in on them, despite the paranoia being unfounded at first glance. That had been informative, to say the least, a few things you plan to poke and prod them about later. Subtly though. Super hearing isnât something you want to be known, especially if it means you can keep listening in on discussions like that.
âœYouâreâvery gigglyââ
âœWell, ah, I am covered in bugs, hehe. Itâs ticklish.â A believable excuse, not false anyway. But youâre giggling more so at the new asshole being ripped into Nate by the sound of the scolding and beating he's getting.
Ah, karma~ You got to love her work!
âœI-I seeââ Liam pivots back to Vance. âœUmâis there a reason why you two areââ
âœOut here?â He finishes Liamâs question.
âœYes. Some are worried that something happenedââ He twists his hands together nervously but is still pretty flustered at the scene theyâre near, butterflies now taking perch on him similar to Vance but not nearly as much as SÅ. âœI was too for a second.â
âœ...No. Nothing happened. They wanted to watch the sunrise so I accompanied them.â Vance states a matter of factly and the simplicity of the answer has Liam seeking reassurance.
âœThatâs it?â When Vance nods, he knows he wonât get any more answers while SÅ is nearby. Something else may have happened but he doesnât want to bring up the fact that Vance was told to keep SÅ indoors while theyâre right there listening to them. Vance is very good at obeying instructions so itâs odd that itâs not the case here. He must have good reasoning for deviatingâ. It canât be because SÅ wanted to see the sunrise. Something either forced his hand or gave him a reason to let them out. Is it because of something SÅ didâor is it the story he was told? Was it movingâor does he know something important?!
While Liam thinks over what little Vance had let on, you on the other hand appreciate Vance not outright ratting you out. He may tell them later that you flew past him and made a getawayâbut maybe not. Is he the proud type or is he being considerate of you? You canât tell but you know that heâs not entirely happy that you were able to evade him with such ease when he was supposed to keep you at Barryâs.
If you hadnât heard it beforehand, it still wouldnât have been hard to guess that he was told to do so. Itâs not like you could bring it up to Vance back at the house. How would you explain knowing such a thing? A guess? A little on the nose thereâ. Plus, it may have given him a certain reason to keep you settled there. Nah, youâll keep that info to yourselfâthough itâs a smidge miffing that Barry is the one that had the order sent. You can understand it, yes. Completely reasonable and you probably would have done the same in his shoes. He probably would have been asked to do so if he didnât make the decision initially.
Nevertheless, it sucks that youâre on the receiving end and it was made by Barry no less. Heâs one of if not the only person youâre okay with here. Though, you have to admit Vance and Liam are growing on you a smidge. Theyâre one of the few that arenât referring to you as an it but a they, with the addition of your new nickname. Theyâre treating you pretty decently compared to the crowd back in the villageâthough not human likely due to their views and outside pressures. Maybe your standards are too low? Hmmmâweâllâdo you have any options? The only other people that sound-uhâ. Not okay but alright are the children, older couples, and a very small gap of random individuals youâve been listening to. You havenât personally interacted with any of those who youâre audibly learning about but they sound nice? Many of them havenât said anything good about you but the way they speak builds a decent character for them.
Thoughâthe children sound to be the most friendly out of the bunchâwell, thatâs a lie but you find their life threats amusing, to say the least. You still feel a twinge of heat but your human side, you assume, is overpowering the wrathful feeling with the absurdity of an army of babies coming to stab your shins.
âœHehehe!â Another spill of giggles at the combination of the visual, the sound of Nate yelping at a particularly loud wamp, and the sensation covering your body.
âœOh, Vance!â Liam pops out in a hurried tone. âœWeâre the ones going to E-Rantel, though Iâm sure youâre already aware since weâre the ones usually sent on these types of things.â Vance nods to show heâs listening to his friend. âœSince the cart has been finished, I was told weâll be heading out soon. Theyâll be sending over some of the others to take our place with SÅ.â
âœSeniors?â
âœEither that or one of the current in arms.â He assumes. âœSo after they come we are to wrap up whatever we need to before we head out. I need to get my things since Iâm still in my nightclothes.â
His meekness to his dress wear shifts when you make a noise similar to clearing your throat, reeling both of the young menâs attention.
âœUh, you know Iâm going with you all, right?â
âœH-huh?!â Liam sputters out while Vance squints silently.
âœYou said youâre going to E-Rantel. Thatâs where the coin will be appraised, right?â
âœThatâs rightââ
âœAnd the coin will be taken there by you few?â
âœYes. We plan to get it confirmed while weâre there.â
Steadily, careful of the creatures on and around you, you start to lean up to a sitting position. A fume of insects react to this and take to the air to avoid falling. âœThat means Iâm coming with.â
In slight panic while swatting a roach away from him, Liam shouts, âœYou canât! You have to stay here.â
âœThatâs not part of our deal.â Tone lowering while you clarify.
âœWhat?â
âœDonât either of you remember? I said that the coin is my tether. And the very first thing I asked? The very first words of my deal were, âHow about I remain in your village until you go to get this coin appraised?ââ
Their eyes widen, realizing the reality of the deal.
Heh, the devil is always in the details~ Thereâs a reason why itâs the first thing you said. Itâs the small detail theyâre the least likely to remember by the end, especially while they were distracted drooling over your coin. Business always has a seedy side and youâve learned to live with it, especially for oral agreements. Thereâs a reason why anything legally binding should be documented one way or another to avoid scenarios like this one since it relies heavily on memory, the integrity of word, and trust. Itâs what you had to do for them when they gave you the price.
âœGet it? Until the coin is taken to be appraised, I have every right to watch the proceedings as agreed upon. If any of you prevent me from following then youâll be betraying your honor to follow what was shaken upon.â
âœNoâyou didnât say that!â
Your skin flashes a murky tone at the accusation, âœI did. Over fifteen people heard it. So if you forgot, someone else will remember.â
Liam and Vance share an ever-growing distressed look before they look back at you, âœYou tricked us!â
âœI did no such thing.â Leaning your weight forward, you take your time shifting onto your feet to stand. Like before, a cloud of various insects bursts off of your form before taking perch again. However, the few rodents that came to your side before scurry away into the thicket.
Vance keeps his gaze on you while Liam strains his head to look up at your towering form, swallowing a wad of saliva to unsuccessfully clear his nerves. âœEven if you didnât, you didnât make it clear enough that this was your intention! We agreed to the deal thinking youâd stay here!â
âœHow is it my fault that many of you didnât pay close enough attention to my words or didnât seek to clarify what you were agreeing to beforehand? Additionally, you all assumed the plan of keeping me here without clearing it with me first. Really, who is tricking who? At least I said my intentions straight to your faces. You all decided, without my consent, to keep me chained here. Behind my back, no less. Iâm no animal. Any of you couldâve told me at any time what you all thought of doing. You intentionally left me in the dark because you were afraid of my reaction and that Iâd disagree." You cross your arms, careful not to crush anything on you before finishing. "Itâs childish."
âœWe- all of us assumed youâd be fine! We didnât think itâd be offensive to keep you here, especially since part of the deal is that you stay here if youâre right. Isnât that what you wanted?â
You shake your head, a rumble sitting low in your chest as a simple âœNo.â leaves you.
The wrinkles of Liamâs scowl shift from one of betrayal to incredulous at the response. âœW-what? Thenâwhyââ
He fails to form a proper sentence to express his confusion at the revelation while Vance remains a bystander in all of this. Seeing the standstill at both standpoints, you sigh, âœWhy donât we go clear up this issue with Mr. Long? I know neither of you has the authority to make a judgment call like this. Itâs better I explain my views to the man I shook hands with anyhow.â
âœWe canât just take you to Barry. Heâs busy and-â Liam shoots a panicked glance toward Bourn- âœwe canât exactly bring you to him. We donât know where he is at this moment and we canât lead you through the town. Many are still wary of you, SÅ.â
âœIsnât the barn I fell into located in the Southernmost part of Bourn?â A single finger points in the direction youâre referring to, without uncrossing your arms, and Liam nods to confirm. âœThen weâll walk around the village. No need to walk me through it if you want to avoid people coming into contact with me.â
âœYes, but why do you want us to bring you to the barn?â
âœBecause thatâs where Mr. Long is.â
The two boys pull their heads back slightly at your words. âœHowâdo you know that?â
âœAh-wellâa guess. A lot of work needs to be done with what I destroyed so Iâm sure heâs nearby directing efforts. Iâm sure the hole is drawing a lot of onlookers too, curious about what I had done. So Iâd say heâs there quelling the crowds like he said he wouldâso itâs the most likely spot in which heâd be.â
âœOh, I see. Thatâs where I know he was last too.â
Nailed it! Itâs not like you could say you can feel and hear his presence there.
âœRight? And if heâs no longer there, someone will know where he went and they can go find him for us. But the longer we stay here the more likely that will happen. Letâs hurry up and clear this misunderstanding before then.â
They both nod and Liam runs forward to lead your small trio. Vance remains behind you as you start to move, sandwiching you between them. Itâs a pleasant walk, especially with the insects attached to your form, either by skin contact or by air, and the feeling of grass between your toes as your legs move. Presently, youâre captivated by a spider with a fuzzy and clear exterior maneuvering through the gaps in your fingers while you listen out, Vance and Liamâs small talk being one of many but the only one youâre present for.
âœSo what did you two do while I was away?â
âœSÅ and I talked for a bit before we went out to watch the sunrise. One thing led to another and we ended up in the patches as you saw us.â
âœThatâs niceâ. Talk about anything interesting?â
âœQuite.â Vance is curt but proceeds. âœAnd something about some sea creatures called squids and octopuses. Their body is their head and they have tongues for limbs called tentacles, eight of those they have.â
âœHuh?! That sounds awful!â
âœVance said the same thing, but theyâre not.â You interject. âœI just did a poor job explaining them.â
âœSÅ also said that theyâd eat them.â
âœBleahk! Nasty! I couldnât imagine! Why would you want to eat something that is nothing but tongues and a head? I already don't like cow tounge!â
âœAs I said, without the visuals, it sounds badâ.â You shake your head knowing full well that if you were still in Yggdrasil you could summon one to show them what you meanâ. Could you still summon here? You havenât investigated your avatarâs abilities yet. You need to do that soon but you keep getting distracted or the moment isnât right. Going away from those repetitive thoughts thoughâ. âœWhat about you? What did you and Nate do while you were away?â
âœA-ahâwellââ He scratches his chin meekly. âœ...after I pulled him from the house, two others along with me had to keep him from going back and uhâbeing how he was around you. After the meeting was over, we were escorted back to the barn to help with cleaning efforts and packing for the trip to E-Rantel. When we finished, Nate went to Barry while I came to you two.â
âœMaybe, if we canât find Barry, Nate will be able to assist.â The suggestion made on your part is more of a passive remark than an actual plan since your awareness of the two individuals' locations provides knowledge that the idea isnât necessary. âœThe only issue would be getting him to help.â
âœLeave that to me. You can stay with Vance while I handle it. There will be less issue that way.â
âœSounds goodâthough I do want to ask something.â
âœWhat is it?â
âœIt may not be my place to pry but Iâm certain Nate wonât-uhâentertain isnât the right wordâNate wonât cooperate with me if I asked him this. Is there a special reason why heâs so aggressive towards meâor to monsters in general?â
You canât see Liamâs expression since his back is turned to you but his rigid body language speaks words as to what face he wears. âœY-yeah, uh, definitely not something I am open to share. Thatâs all for him to tell if he ever doesâbut I do suggest not asking him about it. Maybe if you werenât a m-ah! Oo-uh, sorry, uhâif you ask him, compared to a human, he may try and beâmurderyâ.â
âœ...Thatâs no different than how he's been around me?â
âœNo, thereâs a difference.â Liam peaks pleadingly over his shoulder. âœHeâs been aggressive to you, I will not deny that. So far the worst heâs done is try to provoke you to start a fight so that he could have an excuse to kill you. Itâs indirect but he hasnât tried to outright kill you yet. If you bring up-â He swallows his line- âœwhy heâs hateful of you, he will attack you with no regard for you or his life. Please, do not seek out his past.â
âœ...I understand.â You lower your head with the affirmation. âœI assumed as much, which is why I had asked you two first as it appears youâre close friends of his. Thank you for the warning.â Nods are shared between you three and before silence could settle you continue. âœIâm not trying to be nosy for asking such a thing. Iâm being genuinely cautious and concerned. As you said it yourself, heâs trying to kill me one way or anotherâbut the method heâs doing it is destructive. Itâs not only hurting him but those around him.â
Sighs are released on both ends as if the two have heard that point too many times.
âœYesâbut all we can do is help him mitigate that damage.â
âœIsnâtâthat very toxic?â
âœWhy do you keep describing things as toxic?â
âœItâs a word of phraseâa slang word, err, a descriptor used back home to describe something or someone harmful whether intentionally or not, usually the prior. Being around something toxic or poisonous can be harmful so people picked up that phrase to describe such things.â
âœAh, I seeâitâs a little clever.â Liam admits but he shakes his head. âœIt probably is âtoxicâ but we love him. Heâs family and you canât abandon family.â
âœI understand that and all but what kind of family does things to put their members in danger?â
âœHeâs not doing it on purpose.â
âœHe is if heâs aware that what he does can hurt those around him even if he doesnât mean it to.â
âœ...in his eyes he sees it as helping-â
âœWhen itâs not?â
He falls to glare before turning away. âœIt does in a way. Most of the time it helps and he means the bestâbut IâVance and everyone else know that it can be the opposite. Thatâs why we are here as he can be stubborn.â
âœ...*sigh, itâs not my place to judge. Especially since I hardly know anything. I justâhmmâI may be in the wrong to give adviceâIâm worried about his aggressiveness proceeding since Iâll be traveling with you three.â
âœMay be traveling.â Vance hums before Liam clarifies-
âœWe still need to have a discussion with Barry on whatâs to go.â
âœRightââ Oh, you will be going. âœThough itâs not wrong to consider the issues that arise if I come along so that we can prepare.â
âœIf you do end up coming alongâIâd say try not to talk much to Nate or be close to him.â
âœAnything I can do to lessen his aggression?â
âœN-not much. Leave that to Vance and me. If he gets too heated weâll handle it.â
âœVery well. Thank you.â
Thereâs not much more to be said besides small talk so you choose to mull over what you know of Nate since Vance and Liam start to chat amongst themselves about something chore-like.
Frankly, you wouldnât be giving the asshole the mind of thought if your situation was different but the fact that you will be stuck near Nate for the next few days does raise someânot so kid-friendly thoughts. Some involve minor body dismemberment but you try to stomp down those particular ones as swiftly as you can, knowing that they shouldnât be entertained lest you abandon your morals.
You wouldnât be thinking of him either if he was equally as hateful of you as most in the village if he wasnât so hostile. But he is and that can pose an issue due to the aggro you receive when threatened. No one has attacked you yet butâif itâs as hard as it is to hold back when youâre only verbally attackedâyou know that itâll be near impossible to force your hand back. You need to avoid anyone or anything that can tip you off.
You canât tell these people that you have an aggro. It will reinforce what they already think of you. An uncontained monster. Yes, they may be true in a wayâbut youâre not your avatar. Youâre just stuck in your avatarâ. Wahhh! What a conundrum! A stink hole is what this isâ.
You wish you had gotten a little more out of Liam though. He confirmed what youâre already aware of and thatâs it. Vance was more informative than Liam was and he hadnât even said anything while the two of you were talking. Itâs what he said back in Barryâs house that gives you a bit of insight as to what may have and does occur around here.
Seeing as how these three young men, still boys in your eyes, havenât been visited by any parental figures since your appearanceâis a little self-explanatory. Maybe they do have families and theyâve seen them before you started expanding your sensesâbut as for Nateâ. The fact that he isnât being punished by a parent but rather Barry speaks some levels as to how his family life is. You could make a guess and say monsters had something to do with it but it may be a different scenario. With that thought, youâre to make sure not to bring up family around him either.
Hmmâwell, as long as youâre careful with what you say and stay away from him you think youâll be fine.
Besides the issue with Nate, thereâs another thing that you want to know about but canât ask outright.
What is the thing Liam and Nate said they felt from you?
You can hear similar discussions throughout Bourn from others about a presence you exude. You donât have any negative stats that produce fear, intimidation, petrification, or the likeâthough that doesnât sound like what everyone is describing it as. They would have and still be acting differently if you didâ. Such as praying for holy intervention, turning tail and running for the mountains...or being belly-up dead. At your level, most stats like that could be deadly to low-level mobs, such as aura of despair. Thankfully, thatâs not the case for you.
So what are they feeling? Itâs a strong feeling is all you can gatherâ. What do you have strong of?... Is it a power thing? Your LV? Your MP or HP? Your overall base stats? But how would they sense that if thatâs what it is? Thatâs not how Yggdrasil worked, albeit some NPCs would notice your strength...and that players can use spells to detect certain statsâ.
Though this isnât your game! It doesnât seem like it is. There are similarities but there are key differences.
Is it a skill or does everyone feel this âœpresenceâ from you? Mm...canât be certain. Youâll have to work that info out of them when you have the chance or listen in to what everyone inquires of one another.
The figures who speak in depth with one another as to the feeling you give off are part of the few who are called retireesâat least from what various people have called them. You donât know much about why theyâre called so but when you had left the barn for the first time most of the people who you could see that made up the village were older men. Yes, there are women and children but the majority youâve seen are men around your age irl.
Is this a retirement village? You donât think thereâs such a thing as retirement in this time period, not to mention you can hear these people doing work along with others. Hmmm. That doesnât change what theyâre being called. There must be a reason why things are going on like this around hereâis it a military thing? They served the king of this land and now they spend the rest of their days off in a village in the countryside? Maybe. Besides that, the only thing youâre getting from them as to the identity of the feeling you give off is âDangerous.â
It might be a level thing. If theyâre anything like basic farmer NPCs, their levels are going to range from 1 to 5. Even if theyâre a little higher on the LV scale, compared to them your avatar is on an ungodly level. Is it because they can feel the level gap?...
*Sigh, only time can tell at this rate. You canât speed run here.
Besides, now that the barn is insight there are greater matters than to mull the what-ifs.
âœIâll run ahead. You two can wait by the fence while I grab Barry and some others.â Liam nods as he speeds off, leaving you and Vance to watch him jog away to the slightly crowded space ahead.
As you arenât presently falling to your death or making deals with an angry mob, you can finally observe the structure of the building you fell into. To you, it appears like a huge log cabin. Unlike the stone houses that make up most of the buildings here in Bourn, the barn is completely made out of wood only exempting the tiles that make up its roof. It has a few rectangular windows lining the middle, long but no taller than a head. You assume they are there to allow air circulation within the stank place. Much needed as your upgraded smelling capacity agrees to the shit hole the place reeks of.
What keeps a large center of your focus, however, is the evident gaping hole in the roof of the structure. Itâs larger than what you guessed it was. The entire surface wasnât destroyed but it looks like you took out a support beam when you broke through it, causing a cave-in around the general area. You can only guess what that says for the state of the second-floor flooring and the items packed there.
Despite the damage, many are gathered about making an effort to clear the debris and clean up. No one is on the roof yet as stability isnât assured but you can make out a few heads popping out of the gap as they collect tiles. Itâs good that theyâre right on top of this. If they let it sit they can risk further damage caused by natural elements.
âœUh, I guessâI did a number over there.â
No response follows so you look elsewhere to where Vanceâs eyes flow.
Not surprising, itâs the gazes of the villagers as you two approach. Youâre still off a way but you could guess itâs hard to miss a naked rainbow anomaly walking around with bugs swarming them. They call each other's names and point your way as you approach. Slurs spew, similar to the night priorâ
âœItâs thereâ
âœItâs the monster!â
âœWe should go-â
âœWhat are those things around them?â
âœBugs, it looks it. Disgustingâ
âœWhy is it coming over here?! Isnât it supposed to be locked away somewhere?!
Some flee the scene at the mere sight, those mostly being bystanders whoâve come to look at the hole. Others stand and watch or mind their own business with work but fervent talk continues nevertheless as word spreads of your coming.
âœIs it true that itâs friendly? Itâs walking with Vance.â
âœI heard it has a sack of gold. Where does it keep it?â
âœIsnât someone going to take it away?! Why isnât anyone doing anything about it wandering around?!â
âœIâd feel better if it was bound some wayââ
âœA leash would be nice, I agree.â
âœCome this way-â
âœWhat do you think it is? Everyone is saying itâs a fairyâ
âœI got shivers again. It has to be evil.â
âœStay in hereâ
âœWhy didnât Vance listen?!â
âœI heard it can fly so why isnât it flying away?â
âœUgh, damn itâ
âœLetâs ask Liam heâs headed this wayââ
Mmmâyeah. Not so different from last night. But itâs what you told Vance. If they donât see you it could cause problems further down the line. Might as well rip off the band-aidâbut is the wound too fresh? Itâs not like you did anything disastrousâthough a few conversations you overheard do cause issues for concern.
Money must be extremely tight if thereâs talk of selling their children into slavery.
Your stomach turns uncomfortably.
You have all the gold in the worldâyou can end their poverty for generations to comeâ. But itâs all that you have. If you give away your belongings before you can secure a place for yourself, youâll be catering to disaster. You could die if you make a mistake like that. Plus, this isnât the only village in this kingdom, youâre sure. Many others could be suffering in poverty. If you give away what you have now, you wonât be able to help others down the line. You need a source of income before that. And giving away gold like that could cause an inflation, making the coin worthless. You could crash the market economy essentially. Many more issues come off of the act of pouring out your wallet willy-nilly, therefore, you cast the idea aside.
So if this deal works, Bourn can receive help from you if they want. But this means that they need to let you go first.
âœSÅ, this way.â A hushed tone comes from behind as the dark archer gestures for you to follow him, stepping around you before directing you to a rickety fence adjacent to the barn. Beyond the fence is the cropsâor would be crops.
Since itâs late spring, most of the tillage is just that. Soft soil being weeded and watered periodically by those tending the land. However, you can make out little green sprouts starting to make their way out of the dirt and in the middle pastures of the fields are older crops, likely preserved from the year(s) prior. They stand tall, over the heads of all those who pass and go in.
Hmmâwithin those plants must be the black dust. Obviously, the ones youâre looking at arenât the said plant. What do those grow? How do they know how to grow them? Itâs fascinating to see in person.
Civilians werenât allowed near croplands as they were very governmentally mandated due to their value and rarity. Good land to farm on was hard to come by. Not an understatement in any sense. Theyâre treasured similar to the little national parks left around. Itâs a global crime for a nation of any kind to harm croplands in any sort of way, even those whose land the farms reap from. Itâs cause enough for war to be waged and punishable by death of the individual(s) responsible and that of their families too.
However, as far as youâre aware, there are no crops present in Japan due to the amount of pollution your land faces, that itâs prone to natural disasters, and has very little land suitable for cultivation. Even a hundred years ago, before the ice caps melted and rose the sea level by seventy meters, merely twelve percent of the land was used for cultivation.
History proves that there were efforts made to expand this percentile. Altering mountainsides into paddy fields. Higher pay and better conditions for farmers. Upgraded supply chains to better distribute their produce. All to improve the overall food self-sufficiency rate of the islands. Japan still had to and still does rely on imported goods but the percentile of crops did go up.
All that effort was taken away in less than a century and Japan lost its entire agricultural industry.
There are likely hidden underground plantations on the continent somewhere. You wouldnât doubt some of those with limitless wallets have farms as such stationed around so they can sustain themselves while the world dies. You wouldnât know. Youâre just a game designer. A successful one all because Japan is currently the greatest technologically innovative country in the world, giving you access to technology to make your ideas real.
You continue to follow Vance off to the side of the fence as you draw ever closer to the barn and you understand why heâs leading you like this. It puts distance between you and the people of Bourn and displays a direct path which you two will head down so people could stay away.
You donât mind, more inquisitive of the crops. âœWhat are you growing?â
âœHere?â Vance turns his head to the left to the ones closest to where you two pass by.
âœWell, these and anything that is further out.â
âœNearest to us are veggies, gourdes, and roots, a few fruits as well. Further out, along the stream, is our wheat and barley. They make out the largest portion of crops we grow but they wonât be coming for a while. Out there, the crops that remain there, are a mixture of corn, beans, and other towering stocks. They can survive winter if tended to, so they remain there. Everything else either dies in winter or is harvested in full.â
âœNeat! What will be ready first?â
âœThe fruits. The end of summer is when they are ready for picking.â
âœWhat type of fruits do you have?â
âœA few types of tomatoes. Green, globe, and Campari as far as Iâm aware.â
A swallow is your immediate response.
Tomatoes?! Uwah~ Youâd love to try one! Youâve had tomato-flavored consumables before but what does a tomato taste like on its own? Is it anything like what youâve had before? Whatâs the difference between the preservatives you had and the raw ones? Not to mention the texture. Whatâs that like?
You know a small portion of recipes due to the food system in various games and the documentaries youâve watched. Could you make something? Hmmm, you never really cooked before since most of everything was either premade, preserved, pills, or were sustenance packets. Not to mention you never really had the timeâbut that doesnât mean you donât know the Basics.
Should you take the time to learn to cook in this new world? Thatâwould be awesome.
Are salads a thing yet? That would be easy. If you have access to manipulate your classes and abilities, it could be easy! With your Beast Taming skills, you could gather all sorts of creatures to harvest off of easily. Not to mention your Druid skills. You got a couple of other spells that could help you like Create Water for some fresh water if you arenât in access to it already. A couple of fire-oriented spells can help you cook. Temperature Change could also help you with heating water, maybe for tea? Ice-type spells to preserve your food, maybe even to serve desserts such as ice cream? You would have the freshest produce to cook and experiment with. And if you can swap your classes as you could in Yggdrasil, you could take advantage of other Job perks such as Expert, Farmer, Craftsman, Chef, Alchemist, Summoner, and possibly a few others!
You...you've never had most of the things that start to rain across your mind as you brainstorm. Meats and plants! All are considered to be extravagant. Only the sickenly rich could afford them since the ingredients are so rare...but here, you have no limit! You could do anything in this new world. You could finally have the chance to eat such foods! Share it with others! Noodles arenât a thing here! You could explore and invent new recipes and flavor combinations! You can fulfill your small dream of tasting such things!
â.
â.
But can your avatar eat?
It was never specified whether or not SÅsaku-sha could eat or not since, technically, the avatar isnât your player personaâbut an NPC that could be inhabited via you.
You still refer to them as your avatar or your player model but it doesnât deny the fact of what they were programmed as.
When you werenât logged into Yggdrasil, SÅ would still be active doing the basic command of patroling. Thatâs about it. It canât pick up items while in this dormant state as you would have to worry about things being displaced and trying to rearrange your inventory before a raid. Although this meant you couldnât have SÅ do menial tasks like farming or maintenance while logged off, it didnât pose any issue in the long run. There were already NPCs whose sole job was to do such and SÅsaku-sha could assist in such matters in other ways that donât have them collecting items on your off time.
Logging back in would always be a surprise for you as you never knew where you were or what you were about to spawn into. In SÅâs room. The sky arena. The baths. The stables. In front of an NPC like you were in mid-conversation. An office meeting. In the middle of a black-jack match. Etcetera. Though, sometimes your default spawn would be the arena since SÅsaku-sha will despawn if any Players enter your realm. This is to avoid the raiders attacking your avatar without you in the pilot seat.
However, when that wasnât the case, youâd finish whatever SÅ would be doing to not let the task be left hanging for you to forget about. You found it to be quite exciting at times as you as it was always a surprise. You once spawned in during the middle of a wedding reception between a Satyr and an Alseid of yours. It was quite a pleasant surprise, especially since you had a bad day that day. Enjoying the occasion to the fullest left you on a good note.
A pleased sigh escapes your chest as you come to a stop beside Vance, leaning up against the fence nearly adjacent to the farm doors, waiting for the chieftain to make his way to you.
Uwah~ Recalling that memory puts butterflies in your stomachâ. N-not literally though, despite all of them fluttering near you. Though youâre getting distracted easily by your own doing. You were debating if you could eat or notâ.
Mmmmâ
Honestlyâyou donât think SÅ can.
It didnât work earlier and you donât know the first thing about the biology of your avatar. And itâs not like you can do anything to figure it out. You donât feel hungry and you donât want to ask for food. Youâd be put in larger debt. And who would be willing to give you food just so you can play around with it? These people need it and youâre not sure if you doâ.
But what if you do need to eat?
Ahhhâthat puts a sudden pit uncomfortably below your chest.
Great, another thing to worry aboutâcould you starve? Despite your doubt about the existence of SÅâs digestive system, it doesnât dispute the ratio of it being there. Yes, nearly three-fourths of you are sure this body canât eatâgahh! But what if youâre wrong?!
This is more important than your magic issue!
You can live without magic, for sure. That wonât kill you right off unlike the danger of starvation, something youâre too familiar with.
How can you resolve this issue?! You need something to consume first-URk! Can you eat the same things as humans can?! What if you feed off of blood or souls or something alien to you?! Your avatar already does something similar to absorbing souls! Is that what you have to do?!
Your skin shifts to a tone it hasnât before at the petrifying concept, a light grey with squiggles of varying muddy cool hues.
Vance turns his gaze your way when the swift shift of colors was enough to be caught in his peripherals. âœSÅ?â
âœMmm.â
âœYour skin.â
âœIâm aware.â
He lets the silence sit for a moment but does inquire more. âœWhat does it mean?â
âœ...Not goodâW-wait-â You cut in realizing how that can be taken out of context into a bad light- âœWhat I mean isâuh, I was thinking ofâhow I could die.â
Yeah, no way were you going to bring up the soul eater concept you may be.
âœ...Fear?â
âœU-uahânoânoâI donât think so. This is something similar but not that. I look very muddy and dark when Iâm fearful. Thisâmay be a combination of a few thingsâhorror I can straight up confirm as well as disgust. It may be a few other things but Iâm repulsed and terrified by my thoughts.â
You donât want to consider if souls taste good or not. You just wanted to try a tomato, waahâ
An odd shadow befalls his brow as they furrow. âœ...What kind of deathâmakes you that terrified?â
âœ...â What can you say to that? You werenât even thinking of explicit deaths though starvation is one. What would you look like if you starved in this body? Would it be like a human? Boney, shriveled, and bloated stomach? Do you have bone or muscle mass?
The young man watches as you start to rub the side of your chest awaiting your answer, a thought passing through his mind that he stores away for later as to why youâre moving as such. You, on the other hand, do this to explore your avatarâs structure.
â.No ribs. You don't feel any bone structure at all. However, youâre still hard to a point. You can only press so hard until it starts to hurt but thereâs give to your fleshâif it even is flesh.
You grab your bicep next to find the muscleâ.only to have the same result. No definitive muscle mass underneath your hard skin, only little give to the surface.
Whatâthe hell are you made of? You know you have blood. Itâs in your avatarâs lore. Do you have a heart then?
You grip your neck slightly to find a pulseâ.
Nothing.
Nothing?!
Do you have any internal organs?! You have pain receptors, you know that much, but are they nerves?
Wahhh! Why did you think it was okay to make your avatar like this?!
Theyâre an otherworldly being for goodness sake! Of course, SÅ isnât going to have a biology humans can comprehend.
But now youâre a human trapped in an alien body!!
You bury your hands in your palms followed by a groan. Seeing your distressed state, Vance turns away to leave you be, no longer invested in conversation having come to his own conclusions.
Gahh! This is stupid! You hate this! You fucking hate this! RraAAUGHhâhaaaâ. Whatâs the point?
Your hands drag agonizingly slow down your blank face, pulling on the hard skin to stimulate some kind of reliever to the stress youâre experiencing.
Thereâs no point in worrying. Itâll get you nowhereâexcept to a new problem. But you can only handle one at a time right now. Soâfocus on what you can do.
See if SÅsaku-sha needs to eat human food. If not, move on.
But how can you retrieve food?
â.
Thereâare seeds and plants in your inventory, or should be. They are for your Druid capabilities when you need to grow a foreign plant you canât with typical growth or summon spells. You can try something with those since you know your inventory worksâ
You only have so many of those seeds though. You shouldnât take from a limited resource of yours when you can use it later to make moreânot to mention you donât think theyâd taste goodâ
You can try growing one of them with a spellâ. If you can figure out your magic you could eat what you can harvest from it.
But you only have a very small amount of non-combative or non-harmful seedlings with you, such as those listed in the healer category. If you grow it, you wonât have the time to harvest the seeds from it if the carriage is leaving for E-Rantel soon. Not to mention leaving the plant here in Bourn. What would the villagers do with an unknown plant grown from a monster? Burn it likely. Thatâd piss you off. And if you lose this bet, you canât come back. Youâd be abandoning a limited and rare resource of yours. Would the villagers be okay with you growing an unknown plant in the first place? What would they do?
Yeah, terrible idea. You canât use your growths for this. So what can you try to snack on without asking for food? Hmmmâ
Looking around doesnât stick much out to your flavor palette. Youâre behind a dirty barn. Anything edible surrounding you consists of dirt, some grass, ingrown sprouts in the fields, the wildflowers beneath your feet, the bugs swarming you, and humans; more than half you donât consider.
This leaves the flowers and ingrown sprouts. You know insects carry a lot ofânutrients(?) but you donât take it into account when you have other options. Howeverâitâs a choice between an unknown flower or an edible plant youâre more acquainted withâ.
SÅsaku-sha should be immune to poisoning and disease if these flowers have that effect, but youâre not certain if they still do. Youâd risk making yourself sick even though the flowers appear harmless. However, youâre positive theyâre not poisonous. The animals around you are drawn to the flowers and love them. On top of that, none of them have died. Theyâve appeared more vigorous after consuming them in a way. Not to mention that the flowers are letting off a pleasantly sweet smell, comparatively honey-like or similar to candy. All in all, they may not be bad to tryâ
Then again...behind the fence youâre leaning against is a small little sprout of either a fruit or a vegetable. You can have something considered actual food. Yes, youâre aware of flowers that can be used as ingredients for foodsâbut to have something youâve always wanted to try out? A real fruit or vegetable? Uwah~
You swallow instinctively.
But none of the crops are near ready for harvest. You wonât be able to get anything from the one behind you unless you use magic to grow the sprout to maturityâand would the villagers be mad if you took a bit of their harvest? Mmmmâthoughâthis could be a good chance for you to try out your magic. When will you have the next opportunity? Youâre not doing anything but waiting anyhow? Why not kill two birds with one stone? See if you can use magic and if you can eat.
But what if you mess up your magic? If you can still use it, how can you control the spell you put out? Do you have your spell slots still?
You can hear Liam talking to Barry, Nate, and a few others and itâs only a matter of time before they comeâ. Should you do this? Hmmmâwhat the heck. Why not? This is important to your survival anyhow.
Okay thenâ.
What should you try out?
The flowers.
The sprout.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
62â†'128
Weâre getting personalized now. I mean, does it really matter which you choose? Do you think it matters in the long run? Why would I give you a choice like this if it didnât matter? Itâs not like I put double meanings to everything, do I? Itâs up to you~
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DEAL OF GOLD 2:6
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold.
Chapter Notes
Itâs been four months, hasnât it? How time flies when youâre busy! I ment to update way sooner but when you work 50 hours every week, time to sit and write becomes sparse. Nevertheless, I never quit! I got de largest chapter yet for y'all ere! 45 pages in doc, youâre welcome! I hope y'all enjoy!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœYesâI have.â You conclude to Vance and with yourself.
You havenât killed anyone with your bare hands but thatâs not an excuse. Youâre accountable for the affects of your choices which have contributed to others' demise. If youâre not, then whatâs to say of the actions of businessmen or politicians whose decisions caused displacement, health issues, death? Should you be free of blame? No. Not completely. Itâs an issue youâre aware of. There is a charity you support which aids those getting the ports installed so the surgery is safer and those hurt from the operations can get a chance for aid. Itâs all you can do. Everything else is down to the individual choice.
And SÅsaku-sha has definitely obliterated humans. They may not have been real people, sure. They and all the others youâve faced as your avatar were avatars to other players. Simply code. Not flesh and blood. Parts of your game. But they were just as real as your avatar.
Vance tries to keep stone-faced but your alien focus picks up on how the muscles around his temples flex like heâs grinding his teeth.
âœ...Is something the matter?â You urge him to respond when he remains quiet, likely mulling over what you said was true or not.
Thankfully, your query seems to give him the courage to say whatâs on his mind albit quietly. âœI shouldnât have gotten my hopes up.â
âœ...What?â Voice airy with dismay and indignation, you retort with another question of your own. âœDo you think Iâm proud of the blood on my hands?â
The soft tone you takeâheavy with the weight of such an action, and the hurt within the sound of your voices has Vance swallow. He had no answer.
âœVance. I could have lied and said I hadnât. Couldâve painted me in a better light if Iâd done so. ButâI donât want to dismiss the guilt that I carry. Iâve lived for a long time, during which I've had many whoâve tried to take my head because of the name I had built up. Sometimes protecting myself and the things I care about meant taking the lives of those whose will was to destroy. It wasnât just humans. All sorts of races have fallen by my hand so that I could preserve what I hold dear.â
âœ...Didnât you say you were well-liked?â
âœNo matter how beautiful a flower may be, isnât there always someone who wants to pluck its petals?â You gesture to the flower patch below your feet as you slowly guide yourself closer to Vance but still keeping your distance. âœEven if they may not have the intent to be so cruelâmaybe itâs to give the flower to a loved oneâthey still destroy it in the process. No matter how liked one can be, once youâre seen in a light above others there will always be those who want to take or snuff out that light.â
âœIâseeâ.â
âœHey, itâs not all bad. Sure, Iâve had plenty of attempts on my life,â you roll your shoulders jokingly, trying to deviate from the dark nature of the conversation, âœbut Iâm still alive! A perk to being strong.â
His eyes narrow. âœStrong in magic orâ?â
âœI guess, but enough of that.â You gloss over the point he was trying to reach and move straight to what you wanted to ask before. âœAre we staying here or are we allowed outside?â
âœIâd believe it would be wise for us to stay indoors. Bourn isnât fond of monsters, especially one that has killed humans.â
The sensation of muscle-flexing on your blank facade reminds you what eye twitches feel like. âœAm I a monster?â
âœ...You look like one.â
âœBut am I a monster?â You wait for his response for a couple of secondsâa few secondsâa handfulâmanyâa minuteâtwo and more but he keeps silent. You donât know whether or not heâs refusing to answer, doesnât want to say you are one to avoid angering you, or if he doesnât know the answer himself; so you ask a slightly different one. âœ...Do I act like a monster?â
âœ...â
You narrow your focus on him, trying to read his body for a reply since heâs refusing to give you one. âœVance, do I act like a monster?â
That breaks his spell of silence, âœ...Not really.â
Youâd arch your brow if you had one. âœI donât?â
âœ...Noââ
âœTruly?â
âœYes.â
âœ...â
âœ...â
âœThen Iâm called a monster solely because of my appearance?â
âœItâs not-â Vance starts but cuts himself off to swallow. âœYou do look like oneâitâs a part of it.â
âœ...part?â
âœ...The othersâitâs easier to believe youâre a monster than something more, soâwe are prepared if we ever have to treat you like one.â
Splotches like ink, warm and murky in mix, splash across your chest and throat at the bitter lump that settles there. âœSoâdespite how I act, I wonât be anything but a monster? Doesnât that sound unfair? Would you treat a child like a criminal if they have the possibility of growing up to be a murderer?â
âœYou admitted youâre a murderer. Arenât we justified in mistrusting you?â
âœThose were all acts of self-defense.â You grow warm but having felt the flare so many times at stronger intensities, you swallow it down without issue. âœHave you not killed to defend those you care about? Have you ever fought for your life?â
âœ...YesâI have.â
You stop your retort, having expected him to say no.
He has? To what extent? Is that why heâs assigned to watch you? Butâwhat about all those other menâwhy a boy?
âœ...how old are you?â
âœTwenty.â
âœTwentyââ Echoing in a mumble. Thatâs so young. Maybe not as young as some children you know whoâve had to kill or fight due to conscription, poor Earthly conditions, abuse, and whatnotâ. Still, since itâs not something youâve had to do as a human even after decades of being aroundâsomeone so young telling you theyâve had to bloody their handsâ. âœIâm sorry youâve had to experience something like that so early on.â
His eyes widen a fraction, probably not expecting that type of response from you either.
Despite that knowledge, you continue. âœWhy arenât you treated as I am if we are both killers?â
âœAh.â Now that seems to be what he expected you to say as his expression reverts to the way it was before. âœBecause I protect Bourn and earn a living doing similar.â
Your head reels back. âœWaitâso youâre saying you kill people as a job?â
âœNot people. Not yet. Just monsters.â
âœWha-monsters are people!â
âœNo, they arenât!â He snaps back, growing in frustration as you are. âœAll the monsters Iâve met have been nothing but beasts.â
âœMaybe the ones youâve met but thatâs not the case for all. We are alive just as much as you are. Take me for an example. Am I not a person?â
âœ...No, you are.â
âœIâm a person?â
âœI believe so.â
âœBut you also call me a monster.â
âœ...Yes.â
âœ...â Clenching and unclenching your fists, you whisper, âœThen what makes me a monster?â
âœ...not being human.â
âœNot being human.â An echo again as you let that statement sit in the air for a moment. âœHow am I not human?â
He looks at you oddly, opening and closing his mouth a few times like a fish but no words come out. He must be arguing with himself if every answer he means to say is beat down by his logic. After a moment, though, he settles with, âœYou werenât born one.â
If only you knew, boy.
âœSo thatâs it? Itâs my fault for being born the way I am?â
"Didn't you say you created yourself?"
"Yes, but I'm making an example here. Would it be my fault if I was born a monster?"
âœNo thatâsâitâs not.â
âœ...â
âœ*Sigh* Itâs what weâve learned to hate. Itâs what keeps us alive-â
âœCareful.â You hiss. âœHate and greed are the worst traits man can have.â
You see his throat bob despite him trying to appear nonplussed but his eyes do darken. âœIf we didnât kill every monster that came here, all of us would be either dead or raped. Most likely both. Just ask a few of us what weâve witnessed from monsters, though I highly doubt anyone would answer even if you were human.â
It feels as if cold water has been poured over you.
âœW-wait. Every monster that has come here has come to do those things?â
âœYes. Itâs what weâve all been sayingââ
Itâs your turn to be quiet. You had guessed some horrible things have happened between this village and the monsters from Tob but to be straight out told that rape occursâ.
People from Earth may have a different view of morals than you, listing rape as a crime punishable by a few years or none at all due to the fudged up court systemâbut youâve always seen rape as one of the unforgivable crimes. Itâs a fate worse than death. Torture in all forms and can completely ruin someoneâs life. Way worse than just being murdered.
Murders may be bad but rapists always hit a sore spot above in your book. Thereâs never a good reason for it. Not in a million-no, infinite years! None. The only close thing to a near stupid excuse is that they wanted children but could never get a spouse to continue their bloodline. Fucking selfish and demented. Trash that should die and hell be invented for. There are so many ways to have children with science as it is that isnât a viable excuse at all. With overpopulation and the fact that theyâd resort to something so despicable is the cherry on top as to why they shouldnât have children. All the other excuses youâve heard are sociopathic and blow your mind how theyâre not labeled as confessions.
"Itâs their fault for being attractive."
"Itâs their fault for drinking too much."
"Itâs their fault for wearing revealing clothing."
"Itâs their fault for acting slutty"
"I couldnât help myself, my desire was too strong."
"Theyâre stronger than me so if they wanted to stop me they couldâve done so."
"They wouldnât say yes so I had to use force."
"They eventually said yes so itâs not technically rape"
"They have no right to deny me as their spouse."
You may not be a very aggressive person but youâve always wished for the worst for those slimeballs.
So to hear that rape goes onâ. To even bring it up means it has happened beforeâ.
Heat flares up not in anger at the boy but rage for the acts carried out by some of these monsters youâre being compared to.
Vance notices the red that consumes all the other pigment on your skin and he backs further away into the doorway, placing his hands to his sides. He doesnât have the opportunity to speak, a noise indecipherable and guttural rolls out in a solemn tone.
âœIâhad reasoned these monsters kill you all for food. Am I right?â
âœTheyâyes. They do.â
Your head nods slightly with a low hum. âœSometimes, when food is scarce, creatures and people alike can be pushed to devour one another, despite their morals on the matter. Iâd only guessed monsters would attack you all because they donât want to resort to eating their kinâ. Doesnât make it right but uhâcircle of life and whatnotâ.â Huh? And whatnot? Why arenât you appalled by monsters eating humans? Itâs almost as if youâre talking about wolves eating sheep or sharks eating fish. Something completely natural in occurrence. Is this you or your avatar?... âœHowever, I do not tolerate rape. I wonât say all those monsters that have attacked you are the same. Some most likely had to act out as a means of survival but I do share your hate for those that deviate from necessity to cruelty. Justârealize that Iâm not them. Iâm my own personâ.â
âœ...Iâd like to think you are.â He looks away from you so that heâs looking further into the house where the walkway leads outside. âœThough, whatever I hope you to be doesnât make it different for anyone else here.â
âœThatâs because they donât know me. They only know that a monster, called SÅ, destroyed their barn but, somehow, the chief was able to get gold from it! Who knows where it got its gold! Likely from pillaging villages like all the others, psh! More blood money!â
Vance turns back to you to make a weird expression as if heâs asking âWhat?â
âœItâs not my words. Youâre all loudmouths and I have better hearing than you all give me credit for.â The shrug that follows is an attempt to lighten the mood again since you failed the first time around. âœLook, I know that your village is afraid of meâbut what good will it do anyone if we stay here? Were you all expecting me to stay in this house so no one has to see me?â
âœ...â
âœ...Seriously? Youâre all okay with treating me like a caged animal?â
âœItâs not like that. Youâre a guest of Barryâs.â
âœSome guests I am if Iâm not allowed outside. Iâd almost say itâs kidnappingâor-err, holding me hostage? One of those things. Probably the latter.â You attempt to sit cross-legged in the air but you realize, unlike how easy it looks in media, you have to continuously strain your legs to remain crossed. Your legsâ weight isnât the issue, PHY stats in play and Ascend making it so that youâre suspended in similar fashion to zero gravity, but the lack of surface to lean your weight on. With no support in the air, you do an odd fumble of limbs for a moment as you try to set your form right. Vance gives no response while you squirm but his eyes follow your every movement. It only stretches for a moment, no more than five seconds, but itâs enough time to embarrass you into shyly untangling yourself to curl into a ball instead, pink overtaking the muddy reds.
âœ...I havenât seen you change to that color beforeââ He notes but thankfully doesnât mention your air dance.
âœY-yeah. The color changes with how Iâm feeling.â Thatâs most likely the case since the colors would follow emotes of
âœ...Iâve never heard of a creature whose color changes on mood. I know of some animals that change their color to match the season or environment.â
âœItâs not a common trait, thatâs for sure, especially for the variety I produce. But there are lizards and sea life that can do the same... Ever heard of a squid or an octopus?â
He tilts his head in question watching your skin shift with more interest now that he knows the colors have meaning, wondering what the green and yellow spots blooming express.
âœNo.â
âœThey are one of those sea creatures I mentioned about changing color. There are multiple different types of squidbuds and octodudes, coming in many shapes and sizes but all have a similar build.â Cupping the air in your hands you make a clutching motion with your fingers. âœTheyâre sort of squishy in build since they have no bonesâI think? They do have beaks though as far as Iâm awareâ. Here, they look like this-â You point to your dominant hand which is turned down limp-like but you move your fingers to mimic the way youâve seen them and jellyfish move in the documentaries- âœbut they have two eyes and eight tentacles-err well the octopuses have eight of them. Squid are the oddballs.â
âœ...Tentacles?â
âœAh, sorry. Instead of arms or legs, they have..." How do you describe tentacles accurately? "...limbs similar to noodlesâ. Do you know what noodles are?â
âœNo.â
âœNever mind then." You scratch your neck before coming up with a more accurate visual. "Their limbs are like sticky wet ropesâor like long tongues that act like fingers.â
Nailed it. Completely butchered the image.
His neutral expression slips with the corner of his lips shifting, barely hinting that heâs perturbed by the description. âœ...Are they a type of monster?â
âœHa, noâwell, not really but theyâre harmless as long as theyâre not threatened in some way. Theyâre intelligent and can be kept as pets, though my hom-errâa region I resided in used to have a tradition of eating them. Iâve never partaken but I heard that they tasted quite nice, a bit on the chewy side, howeverâ.â At least thatâs what youâve heard from food documentaries and from the top folkâbut you couldnât imagine eating meat with how strained the industry is. Chicken is the most common source of meat out of all others, available at almost every party youâve ever been forced to attend. Though, in those rare extravagant partiesâyouâve seen a wider varietyâ.
You hope none of it was wasted.
âœI donât think Iâd want to eat something with tentacles.â
âœTo each their own, though I think I described them poorly. Some of them can be rather cute or beautiful. Nevertheless, you got me off-topic.â You point an accusatory finger his way. âœNo good comes from locking me away. Doing so is a temporary solution, delaying the inevitable.â
âœAnd?â
âœAnd itâs doing more harm than it is good. In a way, youâre admitting to your village that I am something that they should fear and stay away from. It will cause that mindset to worsen, in affect, cause their reactions to be more severe when I inevitably show my lack of face.â
âœHow is that harmful? They should be afraid.â
âœNo! Itâs-ugh! Itâs not healthy. Sure, fear may keep you alive but it always holds you back from living. Theyâre going to be constantly on edge and stress causes health problems. I donât think you know this since youâre not a doctor but humans can die from extensive stress. Plus, people act irrationally when theyâre afraid. They may try to kill me the moment they see me if you let their thoughts fester for too long.â
âœ...â
âœThink of it this wayâ. What will put them more at ease? Knowing a ferocious monster is in Mr. Longâs house or seeing for themselves that the monster isnât as ferocious as initially thought when it is walking side by side with a young man?â
He stays silent in the doorway, blocking your one way out other than the window behind you. You donât know if heâs decided to give you the silent treatment or if heâs just being himself.
With a huff you plead. âœVance, please? You donât know how much I want this-need this. Last night was the first time for me to see stars and being outside withoutâ. *sigh* I hear, smell, feel so many new things from here, and itâs-tsk! Itâs killing me not being able to explore them! I need to know! I need to! We donât even have to be near anyone! I just-IâI-I need this, Vance! Hide me if you need to I want to see the sky agai-â
You abruptly stop when you realize-
In the window, between the shutters, light blue light is filtering in!
THE SKY!
THE FUCKING SKY! YOUâLL BE ABLE TO SEE THE SKY-
W-whu-WAIT! WaitwaitwaitwaitwAIT!! WHAT TIME IS IT?!
THE SUN-
âœVANCE!â Your screech of excitement shocks the boy but youâre too quick, Ascend sending you like a bolt in the air and you slip right past him over his head and through the house before he could stop you.
Screw trying to get permission to leave, youâre not missing this!
âœSÅ! SÅŒ!â You hear Vance call out to you as he tries to catch up to you but you already have your hand on the handle of the front door.
âœKeep up! Weâre going to miss it if we wait any longer!â
The door is thrown open and you dart out into the open air and immediately register your surroundings.
The air is crisp as a slight breeze flows gently from the direction of the North where the Azerlisia Mountains reside. Itâs light in scent but spry with earthen wafts. The sounds surround you just the same, enveloping your whole form once you hit the outdoors, no longer muffled by walls.
Nothing looks different other than the lighting, less navy and much lighter in tint. The sky too is waking up from its slumber, becoming lighter in pigmentation to the sunâs approach.
The sky! Blue! Itâs so blue! HAHA!
Your wide vision provides you the sight to see villagers already mulling about, getting to whatever chores or jobs they need to before the day gets started. Thankfully they havenât spotted you yet, wrapped up in their mullings, but youâre sure they will in a moment so best to act swiftly!
Vance is fast approaching according to the sounds you hear coming from inside the house but you wait for him to catch up so heâll know which way youâll be headed now that youâve noticed a yellowing of hue to the East~
âœSÅŒ! Stop!â Once he bursts through the door youâre on the move again, not letting up on your goal.
âœQuickly, Vance! Follow me!â Is your only warning to him before youâre on the move again. Your voices did draw pairs of eyes but you had already made it around a corner before your presence was registered.
Youâre grateful that Barryâs home is situated near the Eastern outskirts of Bourn so you hadnât the need to maneuver through the streets where people are now starting to filter into and that Vance can chase you with more ease.
You giggle excitedly as you pick up speed when more of the yellow light is made apparent through the last few homes. Just a few yards to the East of the village is a hilly countryside, scattered with shrubbery and the very thing the village is named after, a bourn that flows out from the forest. Youâve been informed that the stream goes out and around the houses to the fields where their crops are placed.
You could stop where you are still within the bounds of the village and watch the sky from where you are but something catches your eye.
Vance no longer calls after you, opting to conserve his energy into sprinting after you seeing as to how none of his words worked thus far. You swoop over the pastures, closing the distance between the shallow flowing water and you.
Wahh! Itâs so clear! And it smells so fresh and sounds so soothing! Youâd love to take a bath in the bourn! Play, drink, lay, sleep in it! It looks too inviting not to! But not now-
You glide right over the gap, feet dangling above the calm currents, not a single drop of water lands on you at the act and you turn back with an ecstatic wave. âœCome on, Vance! Youâre supposed to keep an eye on me!â You canât help but tease the boy as he slides to a halt in front of the water, hurriedly spotting some rocks sticking out of the slow current and works quickly to start hopping across. âœAt that pace, youâll never catch up with me!â
He stays silent but his expression is more telling how aggravated heâs getting due to your actions, a frown morphing to a heavy scowl paired with a glare.
He can be mad at you all he needs to be for your slip, youâre not going to skip this!
Your goal isnât far off the stream. In the grass field, a huge boulder lies serenely with moss inching over its surface like a green blanket. You donât know why or how a rock this big came to make its home here but itâs the perfect place for you to sit and watch it occur.
You more or less gracefully ascend the face of the rock and giddily place yourself down at the top.
Cold is the first thing that comes to mind when your skin makes contact. The next is how wet it is, dew from the morning having collected on its surface to transfer onto your form. Itâs hard, as to be expected, but the moss cushions your weightâreminding you of a zaisu! Giggles escape as you cross your legs to sit on your makeshift chair properly.
Mmm, nostalgia~ Way better than that creaky old chair!
Vance finally jogs up, you barely give him any mind as youâre tuned in on the springy moss smell and the goldening horizon as he looks up at you with a glower. He doesnât say anything for a moment as if waiting for you to explain yourself but you donât. At that, he mutters your name.
âœHm?â
âœWhat are we doing here?â
âœIsnât it obvious? Weâre watching the sunrise!â
âœ...all thatââ
âœFor the view? Absolutely! You canât fathom how important this is to me. I wouldnât miss this for the world.â
Heâs frustrated still at your actions, thatâs apparent, but he softens his frown a tad with a silent sigh, settling down to watch the horizon with you.
Your conversation ended at the perfect time you suspect, honing onto the scenery.
The dark blue and purple shadows stretch against the countryside in contrast to the orange spritz sky and fluffy yellow clouds to the rising dawn. Dew and ripe flowers surround you in a kind bubble, cradling your form in welcome. Itâs when the shadows of the plains get darkest when the golden orb of light readies to breach the endless blue.
âœWhoah!â A gasp escapes you when, finally, a sparkle of light peaks its way above the tree line in the distance, casting its warm glow on your features. The sky noticeably shifts in palette as it marches across the sky to rest ahead of you. Fascinated by the fundamentals of the sunâs effect on the climate of this world you remain somewhat in a numb trance.
The sunâs flirtations on your skin are considerably warmer than the breeze that flows down from the mountains of the North, holding promise that summer is on its way. The temperature fluctuations had been noticeable but despite you being naked youâre not sensitive to the change, a surprise to you. You assume that it has to do with SÅsaku-shaâs tolerance of such things.
Back on Earth, there were only clouds of smog. There was no sun. Global warming was constant so it was always hot. That irritating heat...however...there were a few things that produced pleasant heat. The sun is one of them. You donât think that you had ever felt the sun before going on a plane to your first gaming convention and that was...a mind-blowing experience. You remember how warm it felt on your skin as you stared out the window at it. It felt just like how all those romance poems and movies depicted it as. Itâs a warmth that feels like hot chocolate and kisses. So bright it had been but all you had wanted to do was stare at it despite it causing you to see weird spots afterward.
However, you stare at the sun and bask in its embrace for minutes...and no pain nor spots appear. Is thisâa natural thing? Is this whatâs supposed to occur and Earthâs pollution made it so you canât see the sun without burning your eyes?
Allowing your vision to expand just enough so that you can check on Vance, you see that he squints in the direction you're facing, obviously blinded by the growing light.
Nope. Pollution isnât the verdict. This must be an alien-body thing going onâwhich youâre grateful for.
Another blissful noise rumbles in your chest as you continue to be hypnotized by the star that is starting to dye the sky a calming variety of warm hues. You thought that the sky would look brown before the sunrise since the orange and blue colors would meld to make such a color...but no...the orange is so bold and it comes with its compliments of pinks, greens, and yellows.
Absolutely breathtakingâ.
A noise escapes you... One that you can't place the source for but it may have to do with the way your body begins to tremble.
Vance side-eyes your form as you wrap quivering arms around yourself. It does little to settle your muscles, only emphasizing how impacted you are by the sight. It's not the crisp of the glade, your avatar is immune to freezing. Besides, the warmth of the star grips you in a homely feel, as if you're a babe coddled in the welcoming hold of a guardian... The fetal position you find yourself in doesn't help refute the imagery...and you're okay with that.
Another shuttering noise rumbles out, wet in pitch as pressure coils over your face and chest, warm and feels like jelly...
âœAreâyou okay?â
âœMmhm! This is better than Iâve ever imagined!â Your voice is shaky but you know itâs for good reason.
You've only felt this way a handful of times. Being nominated as the most innovative game designer of the decade? Those few times you've been in real battles with players? Receiving your first game as a kid? The genuine smiles you've brought to others...
Yes...you're feeling bliss. A pure joy.
"Ha...haha... And here I thought the rendition in Midgard was the best area to watch the sunrise and sunset. How presumptuous..." The mutter can hardly be called such, warped in tone by your overwhelming emotions. No one would understand you if they were listening. "My...first sun... I wish I could share it with you all..."
âœI didnât catch that. Are you trying to tell me something?â
âœItâs nothing important. Donât mind me. Though, hmm...Iâm jealous of you, Vance.â
He quirks his head. âœ...What for?â
âœYou get the chance to watch this every morning. You get to withhold a masterpiece crafted by nature itself. All the time. Everyday. Heh, I never got the chance to sit and watch a sunrise like this back where I lived.â
âœ...Is there a reason for that?â
âœUhââ Great. Youâd wanted to make small talk. Instead, a dark hole into your recent reality is being prodded at, one that may be too revealing of Earth. âœErr, that isâuhâa little privy uhâ. Nothing for you to concern yourself with. Some sad junk with a long story. I simply wanted to point out somethingâvery precious you may take for granted, not realizing its true value. Your world is so...alive and green. Donât let anything take that away.â
âœOkay.â He lets it be but you can tell heâs trying to be courteous of you to some extent which you appreciate.
All is nice...
All is good...
You want to cry...and...for the first time since this ordeal...not for a bad reason.
Haha! How youâre not going to let anything get in the way of this habit. Youâll use your weird new senses to enjoy it to the full, every morning if you can-WA-WAIT! YOUâLL BE ABLE TO SEE YOUR FIRST SUNSET TONIGHT!!! Youâll have to wait until then, of course, but a REAL SUNSET!!!
You completely vibrate with excitement at the opportunity, Vance all the while is fixated on the array of your skin. Two individuals fascinated by something new in two different ways.
You can explore and work until then! So much to do and so much to see! How many other things are here which you donât have on Earth?! Wahh! Probably more than you can come up with! Youâre stuck here so might as well enjoy the sights! The flowers, grass, river, hehehe! How long can you mess around? You have no ideaâyou may be pulled back any momentâ.
â.
No. You shouldnât encourage the idea that youâre here permanently. Although you love this moment more than you can mentally comprehend, your situation is less than favorable. You have a life back on Earth, family, friends, and responsibilities with itâ. If you stay here, who's going to help those who youâre leaving behind? Whoâs going to fill the hole which you leave?
What difference does that make? Are you so important to the world that a gap would be left behind?
â.Mmmâ You donât know how to feel about thatâ. Do youâor did you matter in the long run? You want to think that you will be missed or that you played a big role in helping fix things, but if you are then the longer you stay here the more harm itâs doing back home. Is that selfish of you to want to be wanted, knowing that if you are youâre only causing pain being here? It nearly makes you wish that, if you truly are stuck here, you donât mean anything so that your close friends and family can move on without any hassleâ. But what would that say about all youâve contributed to world health and entertainment? That it meant nothing?
â.
*Sigh, like you concluded with yourself earlier. If it meant nothing, so be it. At least you didn't contribute to the bad.
Twirling a finger around the moss on the side Vance isnât at, you ingrain the sensation into your memory as you contemplate your place.
You donât know how permanent this is but you need to prepare yourself for that case. Try not to become too attached but grounded enough to get by. Youâll appreciate what you have now for you donât know when itâll be the lastâ. Ah, thatâs the same mindset as the one you had on Earth. Wonder if you're actually here or your mind is here?â If your body has turned into your avatar or your body and avatar are still separate beings? Your mind seems fused with some of the traits your avatar would haveâ.
*Sigh, too much to considerâ. Youâre going to blow a fuse with all of the questions scrambled in your head. You already seem to space out and forget every now and thenâdespite your memory being crystal clear otherwiseâ
Itâs...odd. Youâre having relapses in your memory when you get too stressed but your memory of everything that has occurred to you since the fall has stayed crisp in your mind as if youâre...currently reliving every moment youâve had since being here.
If someone asked you to recite the discussion you had with Barry on the New World, youâd be able to say word for word all the hours worth that was said. All the names of every person youâve heard since coming here are noted: Frank, Hyatt, Joseph, Raleigh, Seth, Mat, Barry, Nate, Liam, Vance, Ethan, Kite, Trade, Nan, Bella, Tinna, Flock, Viva, Ignis, Saga, Tifa, and so on. You remember your intense fluctuations of wrath during the creation of the deal. Tea vaper across your chin. The wonder that came with this worldâs lore. The starry night sky. The smell of muck and the scratchy texture of the straw. The rush of wind and your panic as you fellâ.
You scratch at your neck again.
And this weird itch? Why do you keepâfeeling this itch on the back of your neck?...
This doesnât make any sense to you.
âœAugh...Iâm tired of thinking. I keep going in circles.â
âœWhat are you thinking about?â
âœMy situation. Iâm confused about how I ended up here but thereâs more to it than that.â
âœDidnât you say you flew here?â
âœI was flying but thatâs not what got me here. Itâs like I was teleported. One moment I was there,â You wave one hand before the other to display to the young man what occurred, âœand then I appeared here. Itâs something impossible, yet here I am. Iâm lost not just physically but my mind is too. I canâtâIâm troubled as this situation has many dangers and issues that arise with it.â
âœAny that we should be concerned about?â
âœEhhâIâll let you know if it does. âComplicatedâ is a small descriptor of whatever this is that Iâm a part of. Nothing is certain yet and I need time to sort out my thoughts.â
He doesnât have anything to say to that but he does pivot his head to look back at Bourn. You too can see with your extended vision what heâs looking for and when he lets out a ragged sigh you understand immediately why.
A few eyes are poking their way around the corners of some houses, watching Vance and you all while they grumble and fret under their breadths. Theyâve been doing so for a while but Vance didnât seem to realize their presence till now and is huffing in complaint that youâre caught out in the open like this. His tongue remains still though, keeping his thoughts to himself either by the reasoning you gave him back at Barryâs or due to his own reserved nature.
You hum in appreciation, wanting a break from arguing and not wanting to be brought back to a musty room now that youâve gotten a taste of nature-
Something fluttering with a light buzz catches your attention to your left and the moment you hone in on it youâre jumping up from your spot.
âœOI!! Is that what I think it is?!â Youâre across the grass within a moment to get a better look, giving Vance hardly any heads up to react as you squeal, âœItâs a butterfly!!â
Itâs of similar orange to the sunrise, with brown and white speckles across its wings. It hardly disturbs the air at how light it is flying around. Itâs mesmerizing to watch it bob in the air, giggling at its odd movements.
âœHeheh! Hey there, little guy! Youâre so pretty! Wow! Look at that! Are you trying to get warmed up in the sun like me? Uwah! Itâs been decades since Iâve seen one of you!â You reach out a tentative hand with your palm up, almost like you want to reach out and pet it.
Much to your surprise, however, it flutters right up to you, curiously circling your form a couple of times before landing on your palm!
You lose it.
âœVance! Vance! Look! It chose me!â You point excitedly to your hand where you cup the small bug to your chest. âœIts legs feel weird and ticklish! I didnât know theyâre so brittle like they have little hooks on their feet!â You donât mention your sixth sense to him but the contact youâre having with the insect leaves a pleasant buzz on your palm.
An odd expression is hardly masked by indifference while he walks up to your beaming presentation. âœItâsâneatâ.â
âœItâs not just neat! This is amazing!!! Iâve been chosen!â You raise your small companion as if theyâre a newly discovered sacred relic. âœIâm now crowned ruler over the butterflies! Kneel before my supreme power!â
âœPsh!-â His muffled laugh is cut short as he tries to cover it up with a comment of his own, âœItâs just one butterfly.â
âœA flapping of a butterflyâs wing can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world. Itâs just a saying but it means to never overlook the small things. Usually, they have the largest impact in the long run. So despite it being on its own, it still changed meâand made me its RULER!!! We need to find more subjects under my domain! Vance! Lead me to my peopleâplease?â
He quirks a brow at your antics but nods nevertheless, turning to lead you out across the meadows with your butterfly buddy in towâ.
â—
âœLiam! Grab ahold of this will you!â Struggling under the weight of a sack, Nate pleads with his friend for assistance. Thankfully, Liam is quick to assist and alleviates the load from his grasp before storing it securely within the cart.
When the young man straightens back out, Liam observes what has been stored so far within the small carriage. Although there isnât much to say about crops since they're not necessarily in season, many of the stock placed within are goods that Bourn is popular for. Furs, bones, wild meats, herbs, specialty wood, mushrooms, and a small portion of fruits, nuts, and berries. Itâs nearly summer now so the time to harvest from the forest is open. Itâs a short period so many of the residents in Bourn, mostly the retired adventurers and soldiers, are the ones tasked to seek these goods out.
It leaves manpower stretched but itâs not necessarily a problem at this time of the season. Summer means that thereâs less work needed to be done to the fields. Checkups and maintenance are still a must but overall work is needed elsewhere.
Tending to the livestock for one is big, especially for the females that are carrying young. Predators are also an increasing issue, now that the warm weather is back, as wildlife leaves Tob. This can bring monsters along but isnât a rampant issue for Bourn due to the surplus of food elsewhere. The cold months are the time of year to be most wary, however, this doesnât dispute the fact that theyâre still an issueâ.
Especially since thereâs one present in their village-
âœLiam! Stop daydreaming and take this!â Nate scolds him again, voice strained as he holds out the last sack to him.
âœS-sorry!â He hurriedly pulls the bag out of his arms without as much as a grunt and lays it beside the previous one.
âœFor gracious sake shit head! Where are you right now?! We need to finish this up but you keep drifting off!â
âœI said Iâm sorry!-â
âœYou may have super strength but some of us canât dangle seventy pounds above our heads waiting on an idiot to get their head out of their ass!â
âœNate!-â
âœEspecially the same idiot who beat me with a wand!â He interrupts to point out a darkening spot on the back of his right arm before leaning down to pick up a crate with dried herbs delicately lined up within.
âœYou were acting crazy! I had to st-â
âœYou didnât have to nothing!â Nate shoves the small box to Liam with a grimace. âœI had it under control!â
âœNo you didnât!â
âœShut up! I did!â
âœYou didnât! You really didnât!â
âœHow would you know-â
âœI watched as you about got your head popped off by a monster because you canât keep your damn mouth shut!â Liam shoots back with an exasperated sigh. âœHonestly, canât you ever bite your tongue whenever youâre angry?! You always say stupid stuff that gets us in trouble!â
âœI didnât say anything wrong!â
âœYou were antagonizing SÅ-â
âœDonât say its name like itâs a person!â
âœWhatever! Even if you were or werenât wrong, the way you spoke was a great way to get us all killed! Iâm sure that if I didnât intervene, Vance would have. Barry may have had you escorted out too. Heck! Lure, Jackie, or any of the others wouldâve hauled you out! Youâre lucky it was me but youâre too oblivious to the way people help you!â
âœShut up!â
âœNate! Listen for once?! You were letting your anger get the best of you again.â
âœSo what? Canât I be pissed that weâre catering to a monster?!â He grits his teeth at the mention of their visitor. âœThereâs no reason to keep it here!â
âœYou know very well why we are.â
âœAnd we shouldnât! Never trust monsters.â He grunts as he picks up the next crate to continue their task. The last few items they have left for the trip are being brought over by Kip and Garb to load into the cart with the remaining pile.
Liam watches them approach as he takes the next box from Nate. âœI know. But we donât have much of a choice, do we?â
âœWell!...â He started but couldnât find a validated excuse beyond his frustrations and what has already been said. âœ...Fuck! I justâI canât stand it. I hate this!â
âœIâm sure many share the same thoughts. IâmâI have a horrible feeling about it too.â He admits. âœDidâNate?â
âœWhat?â
âœDid you also feelâoff when you first saw them?â
âœ...Yeah.â His voice lowers as he accepts the last of the shipment from the two others with a nod. When they walk away Nate continues. âœItâs not even that threatening looking. No claws or fangs but the moment I saw it I felt shivers cover my entire body.â
Liam nods. âœMe too. If I could describe it in any wayâjust the sight of them made me feel small. Why do you think that happened?â
âœIt could be a trick. The freak is a magic user for fuckâs sake.â He angrily huffs with the next crateâs passage. âœOr it could be our minds telling us how evil that creature is.â
âœAs in how dangerous it is?â
âœThat too. Iâd like to confirm what the feeling was with one of the retirees but our hands have been full since it has caused a ruckus. So hurry up with taking this shit out of my hands so we can do so!â
âœI am!â Liam jerks the felts and tosses them in a crevice between the weighted items. âœIf the feeling is due to how dangerous SÅ is, what does that say about what we can do? Weâve never faced a creature that has caused my hair to stand on end like that.â
âœTsk! What we normally do when we deal with monsters.â
âœWe canât fight it if itâs incredibly dangerou-â
âœI donât care!â
âœNate! It could get us killed-â
âœI know! But we canât let a monster live-â
âœYouâre going to risk our lives over your vendetta?!â
âœNo! You all have to run when it attacks but I refuse to flee from a monster!â
âœThatâs incredibly stupid-â
âœAnd thatâs my fucking choice!â
âœNate, no! You may have that trick but you only have one of those! What if you miss?!â
Nateâs eyes darken as they level with Liam, âœI never have. And donât bring that up while that freak is in the village.â
Liam shakes his head with a huff, disregarding the importance of Nateâs statement, âœDoesnât mean you never will! And do you honestly think that weâd leave you to fend for yourself?!â
Nateâs expression lets on a little panic, âœDonât any of you dare!â
âœFor goodness sake, Nate!â He throws his arms up in exasperation. âœWe canât leave you to some suicide mis-â
âœIâll protect us! Donât any of you, I mean it, not you, not Vance, not Mat, Seth or Loster, Hugh, especially not Barry, none of you be beside me! Just stay back! Tsk! I should just kill it the moment I see it so we can avoid the issue!â
âœAre you not hearing how ridiculous you sound?! Youâre being unreasonable-â
âœBeing unreasonable is letting the freak risk the safety of our families-â
âœShut up! Shut up and stop interrupting me while I try to talk sense into your thick donkey skull-NO! Donât you dare stop me from talking!â Liam raises his voice when Nate starts to open his lips. âœI swear Iâll beat more bruises into you if you so much as make a peep before Iâm done talking!â
His teeth snap shut with a click as he waits for his friend to continue.
âœNate. We will not be risking our lives by attempting to kill something we donât understand and are on neutral terms with. You will not pick a fight by attacking them or running your mouth, especially when that will certainly rope us into it. Donât deny it! As much as youâre trying to protect us, you know that wonât stop us from providing aid. Heck! Youâre putting us in more danger than the monster is on their own! I probably saved the lives of everyone in Bourn when I dragged you out of Barryâs house because you couldnât keep your damn mouth shut! Iâm surprised the chieftain hasnât scolded you yet, probably more focused on maintaining peace and stability than starting conflict like a certain dickhead!â
There is a moment of silence, words being processed before Nate spits a wad into the grass at his side.
âœWhatever. Let's finish this task already.â
He starts collecting the remainder of the supplies, stacking them together roughly with unsaid frustration, Liam watching with a frown of his own.
âœWe care about you, you know.â
âœ...â
âœNate.â
âœI know.â
âœAll of us do.â
"I know."
A few more moments of silence inch on while they tidy up the cart, lifting the last of the items into it. The carriage isnât stocked full but itâs enough for the offseason. This is a spontaneous preparation after all.
âœLetâs wrap this up.â Nate concludes while unfolding a large tarp blanket but Liam hums in worry, looking to the East sector of Bourn.
âœDo you think Vance is okay? Didnât they say heâs watching SÅ on his own?â
âœI think so. Heâs the most perspective out of us three, good at reading the enemy. If anything, Iâm sure heâs trying to learn as much as he can about it so he can inform us what to look out for. He still needs to tell us what he got from the ridiculous story it tried spouting to us earlier this morning. Tsk! Havenât gotten enough sleep as it is!â
Liam hums in mild agreement while Nate tosses a corner of the sheet to him. He catches it but also catches a glimpse of the bruises left behind on the young manâs arms. He wants to feel guilty but knows itâs a small price that had to be paid to avoid bloodshed. âœDo they hurt?â
âœWhat?â
âœThe bruises?â
âœItâs nothing. Just donât fucking go hitting me no more.â
âœ... Do you want me to heal them-â
âœSHH!!â He harshly shushes with a glare. âœDonât reveal abilities while the monster is in the village!â
âœTheyâre nowhere near us.â
âœThat we know of! Itâs a magic user so it has all sorts of tricks! It could be listening in on us for all we know!â
âœ*Sigh* okay. Still, do you want them fixed or not?â
âœNo. Donât waste theâyou know. The cost or whatnotâ.â He straightens his side of the tarp as Liam swings over the other side to do the same. âœYouâll need it when we get in a real fight.â
âœOkay.â Liam side-eyes the steady return of Garb and Kip as they lead one of their workhorses, Donny, to get set up with the cart.
âœThat reminds me. Did you damage your wand whacking me as hard as you did? I swore I heard cracking.â
âœIt was your imagination. Itâs fine. Iâve already checked it.â
âœHuh. Maybe the cracking was the sound of my bones shattering.â
âœCome on, I didnât hit you that hard! Youâre delusional.â
âœI donât know. Felt fucking hard, you cunt.â
âœNot hard enough to knock some sense into you if youâre still talking crap. I bet your thick skull has something to do with it.â
âœFuck you!â He shouts after no comeback comes to mind. Once the tarp is laid over the goods Liam tosses the rope belts with hooks at the ends for the boy to attach to the other side, securing the wrap. âœYou sure the wand wasnât damaged?â
âœYes. Itâs fine. I can show you it if youâre so worried.â
âœIâm notâpsh, you know your twig better than I can anyway. I hate to suggest this, but next time you go about whacking me over the head try not to use your only tool that assists with your m-word.â
âœI agree, but I could have hurt you more if I had used my fists instead.â
âœBullshit! You could have held back your punches.â
âœYouâd think Iâd be going easy on you. I couldnât risk you fighting back.â
âœI probably should have!â
âœYou two still arguing like an old couple?â Garb grunts as they finally get close enough to add in his own comment.
Liam nods his head over in Nateâs direction, âœCould you guess why?â
Nate blushes angrily, âœShut the hell up! None of you say a damn word!â The laughter that follows from the three causes his blush to deepen. âœI donât always start arguments! All of you are cumrags!â
âœSpeaking of saying a wordââ Kip brushes off Nateâs crude speech with a message of his own, âœBarry would like to have one with you, turdwad, after youâre done with the carriage. Seeing as you two are done strapping, itâs best you get your ass over to him so he doesnât chew your ear off for being late too.â
âœD-damn it!â Nate continues to curse while he trudges his way to the barn, leaving the three behind.
âœTold you he was focused on other things. You had this coming!â
âœBe quiet, Liam!â Is the last audible thing that is heard from Nate before heâs too far out of earshot.
âœAlso, Liam.â
âœHm?â The blond shifts his attention to Kip as the older man points Eastward.
âœSince the cart is finished, they want you to assist Vance with watching over the monster and to inform him youâre all set. Once we have some guys take your places watching the beast, then you two can wrap up whatever you need for the trip to the capital. Weâll finish getting Donny secured, it shouldnât take too long.â
âœAh okay! Thank you two!â Liam starts to set out into a jog but Garb calls out.
âœA few more things, Liam!â
âœHuh-oh yes?â
âœA few of our folks have told us they spotted Vance and the monster out in the fields past the stream.â
The news takes him back for a second, âœTheyâre out in the open?!â
âœIt seems so.â Garb doesnât look happy with the news either. âœI was told Vance was to keep it out of sight to avoid panic, or thatâs what Barry had Seth pass as a message onto him. No one has reported any visual struggle or conflict between the two so we canât say for certain the monster forced Vance to let it out.â
Liam bites his lip in concern for his friend.
Why are they outside? Did SÅ use some sort of trick? Hopefully, Vance is alright.
âœThank you for letting me know!â
âœNot at all. And Liam?â
âœYes?â
The man sends him a small smile. âœThank you for all the work you do and for stepping up last night.â Kip nods in agreement. âœYou boys do a lot of hard work, all you adventurers do.â
Liam responds with a goofy smile, appreciative of the complement but also still worried for his brother in arms.
With a wave, Liam doesnât resort back to a jog but starts to run instead. He nods to everyone he passes, more focused on getting to Vance than chatting.
Bourn isnât a large village, a curse and a blessing at times. Thankfully, itâs one of the good instances because it only takes a good two to three minutes until heâs running past the last row of houses.
âœLiam!â A strained voice catches his attention for a moment, seeing Saga pointing in a general direction not far off from where heâs headed. âœItâs in the flower patches that way.â
He thanks the young woman as he rounds a corner and heads out into the open field where Saga directed him. It takes a second or two but he spots the unmistakable dark figure of Vance in shin-high pastures just as she told him, but no monster in sight. His stomach drops, raking his eyes across the plains while keeping the same continuous pace, searching for the creature.
Had they run off?! Where are they?! Why is he standing there?! Shouldnât he be with SÅ?! Is something wrong with him?! And why are there so many butterflies around?
âœ*Huff* Vance!â He hollers just as he crosses the waters to run up to his friend. Heâs still a great distance away but Vance picks up on the sound of Liamâs voice and perks up considerably. He doesnât call back, simply watching as the blond catches up to him, short on breath. âœAre you okay?! *wheeze* Whereâs SÅ?!â
âœIâm right here, hehe!â
His eyes widen a tad at the out-of-the-blue voices and a colorful arm swinging out from within the grass in front of Vance, covered in butterflies.
âœWhat?â Liam slows to investigate whatâs going on, curious because of the butterflies' surplus in the air and SÅâs hidden position within the weeds. When he reaches Vanceâs side he leans forward to peek, letting out a surprised laugh.
Lain out in a bed of flowers, both native and of their own doing, with spread-out limbs is the said monster. SÅâs skin camouflages into the underbrush as greens, yellows, and pinks sparkle across. Itâs hard to make out their form, however, nearly blanketed with all sorts of insects and small rodents.
âœH-how?!â Liam is too amazed to form a proper question, mind going haywire at the sudden change in mood heâs found himself in. Just a moment ago he was worried about Vanceâs welfare. Now heâs greeted with this bizarre position
âœI had been nominated as the supreme ruler of the butterflies!â
âœHa-what?!â
âœVance saw everything! That lil guy-â SÅ points to the air above where many of the butterflies are fluttering, so many that Liam canât tell which is being singled out- âœchose me, and now all of them have!â
âœWhy?! How?! I donât understand!â His head pivots back and forth between his friend and theâ.monster? Can a monsterâact this way? How can he call them a monster when theyâre petting a rat at their side?! âœIsnât that uncomfortable?!â
âœYes but itâs awesome!â They giggle again. âœI feel like an anthill, with all of their little legs crawling over me, but when will I ever experience this again?!â
âœI guess...but I donât understand! Vance?! What is this?!â Liam seeks an answer from his colleague but he appears as lost as he is, albeit in a way less expressive. That doesnât mean he isnât expressive at all, he's more so now than he usually is as heâs faced with the predicament as well.
âœI had led them over here since they wanted to see more butterflies. The moment I brought them over here everything started to swarm to them. SÅ said they donât know why this happened either.â
âœBut I did say it could be because Iâm a Beast Tamer!â You interject getting Liamâs eyes back on your prone form.
âœA beast tamer? Is that a part of your magic?â
A hardy chuckle leaves you but you shrug, still cautious of revealing too many of your avatarâs abilities. Especially since youâve been listening in on every conversation going on within Bourn, not omitting the one he and Nate had. A little ironic that Nate had been right about you listening in on them, despite the paranoia being unfounded at first glance. That had been informative, to say the least, a few things you plan to poke and prod them about later. Subtly though. Super hearing isnât something you want to be known, especially if it means you can keep listening in on discussions like that.
âœYouâreâvery gigglyââ
âœWell, ah, I am covered in bugs, hehe. Itâs ticklish.â A believable excuse, not false anyway. But youâre giggling more so at the new asshole being ripped into Nate by the sound of the scolding and beating he's getting.
Ah, karma~ You got to love her work!
âœI-I seeââ Liam pivots back to Vance. âœUmâis there a reason why you two areââ
âœOut here?â He finishes Liamâs question.
âœYes. Some are worried that something happenedââ He twists his hands together nervously but is still pretty flustered at the scene theyâre near, butterflies now taking perch on him similar to Vance but not nearly as much as SÅ. âœI was too for a second.â
âœ...No. Nothing happened. They wanted to watch the sunrise so I accompanied them.â Vance states a matter of factly and the simplicity of the answer has Liam seeking reassurance.
âœThatâs it?â When Vance nods, he knows he wonât get any more answers while SÅ is nearby. Something else may have happened but he doesnât want to bring up the fact that Vance was told to keep SÅ indoors while theyâre right there listening to them. Vance is very good at obeying instructions so itâs odd that itâs not the case here. He must have good reasoning for deviatingâ. It canât be because SÅ wanted to see the sunrise. Something either forced his hand or gave him a reason to let them out. Is it because of something SÅ didâor is it the story he was told? Was it movingâor does he know something important?!
While Liam thinks over what little Vance had let on, you on the other hand appreciate Vance not outright ratting you out. He may tell them later that you flew past him and made a getawayâbut maybe not. Is he the proud type or is he being considerate of you? You canât tell but you know that heâs not entirely happy that you were able to evade him with such ease when he was supposed to keep you at Barryâs.
If you hadnât heard it beforehand, it still wouldnât have been hard to guess that he was told to do so. Itâs not like you could bring it up to Vance back at the house. How would you explain knowing such a thing? A guess? A little on the nose thereâ. Plus, it may have given him a certain reason to keep you settled there. Nah, youâll keep that info to yourselfâthough itâs a smidge miffing that Barry is the one that had the order sent. You can understand it, yes. Completely reasonable and you probably would have done the same in his shoes. He probably would have been asked to do so if he didnât make the decision initially.
Nevertheless, it sucks that youâre on the receiving end and it was made by Barry no less. Heâs one of if not the only person youâre okay with here. Though, you have to admit Vance and Liam are growing on you a smidge. Theyâre one of the few that arenât referring to you as an it but a they, with the addition of your new nickname. Theyâre treating you pretty decently compared to the crowd back in the villageâthough not human likely due to their views and outside pressures. Maybe your standards are too low? Hmmmâweâllâdo you have any options? The only other people that sound-uhâ. Not okay but alright are the children, older couples, and a very small gap of random individuals youâve been listening to. You havenât personally interacted with any of those who youâre audibly learning about but they sound nice? Many of them havenât said anything good about you but the way they speak builds a decent character for them.
Thoughâthe children sound to be the most friendly out of the bunchâwell, thatâs a lie but you find their life threats amusing, to say the least. You still feel a twinge of heat but your human side, you assume, is overpowering the wrathful feeling with the absurdity of an army of babies coming to stab your shins.
âœHehehe!â Another spill of giggles at the combination of the visual, the sound of Nate yelping at a particularly loud wamp, and the sensation covering your body.
âœOh, Vance!â Liam pops out in a hurried tone. âœWeâre the ones going to E-Rantel, though Iâm sure youâre already aware since weâre the ones usually sent on these types of things.â Vance nods to show heâs listening to his friend. âœSince the cart has been finished, I was told weâll be heading out soon. Theyâll be sending over some of the others to take our place with SÅ.â
âœSeniors?â
âœEither that or one of the current in arms.â He assumes. âœSo after they come we are to wrap up whatever we need to before we head out. I need to get my things since Iâm still in my nightclothes.â
His meekness to his dress wear shifts when you make a noise similar to clearing your throat, reeling both of the young menâs attention.
âœUh, you know Iâm going with you all, right?â
âœH-huh?!â Liam sputters out while Vance squints silently.
âœYou said youâre going to E-Rantel. Thatâs where the coin will be appraised, right?â
âœThatâs rightââ
âœAnd the coin will be taken there by you few?â
âœYes. We plan to get it confirmed while weâre there.â
Steadily, careful of the creatures on and around you, you start to lean up to a sitting position. A fume of insects react to this and take to the air to avoid falling. âœThat means Iâm coming with.â
In slight panic while swatting a roach away from him, Liam shouts, âœYou canât! You have to stay here.â
âœThatâs not part of our deal.â Tone lowering while you clarify.
âœWhat?â
âœDonât either of you remember? I said that the coin is my tether. And the very first thing I asked? The very first words of my deal were, âHow about I remain in your village until you go to get this coin appraised?ââ
Their eyes widen, realizing the reality of the deal.
Heh, the devil is always in the details~ Thereâs a reason why itâs the first thing you said. Itâs the small detail theyâre the least likely to remember by the end, especially while they were distracted drooling over your coin. Business always has a seedy side and youâve learned to live with it, especially for oral agreements. Thereâs a reason why anything legally binding should be documented one way or another to avoid scenarios like this one since it relies heavily on memory, the integrity of word, and trust. Itâs what you had to do for them when they gave you the price.
âœGet it? Until the coin is taken to be appraised, I have every right to watch the proceedings as agreed upon. If any of you prevent me from following then youâll be betraying your honor to follow what was shaken upon.â
âœNoâyou didnât say that!â
Your skin flashes a murky tone at the accusation, âœI did. Over fifteen people heard it. So if you forgot, someone else will remember.â
Liam and Vance share an ever-growing distressed look before they look back at you, âœYou tricked us!â
âœI did no such thing.â Leaning your weight forward, you take your time shifting onto your feet to stand. Like before, a cloud of various insects bursts off of your form before taking perch again. However, the few rodents that came to your side before scurry away into the thicket.
Vance keeps his gaze on you while Liam strains his head to look up at your towering form, swallowing a wad of saliva to unsuccessfully clear his nerves. âœEven if you didnât, you didnât make it clear enough that this was your intention! We agreed to the deal thinking youâd stay here!â
âœHow is it my fault that many of you didnât pay close enough attention to my words or didnât seek to clarify what you were agreeing to beforehand? Additionally, you all assumed the plan of keeping me here without clearing it with me first. Really, who is tricking who? At least I said my intentions straight to your faces. You all decided, without my consent, to keep me chained here. Behind my back, no less. Iâm no animal. Any of you couldâve told me at any time what you all thought of doing. You intentionally left me in the dark because you were afraid of my reaction and that Iâd disagree." You cross your arms, careful not to crush anything on you before finishing. "Itâs childish."
âœWe- all of us assumed youâd be fine! We didnât think itâd be offensive to keep you here, especially since part of the deal is that you stay here if youâre right. Isnât that what you wanted?â
You shake your head, a rumble sitting low in your chest as a simple âœNo.â leaves you.
The wrinkles of Liamâs scowl shift from one of betrayal to incredulous at the response. âœW-what? Thenâwhyââ
He fails to form a proper sentence to express his confusion at the revelation while Vance remains a bystander in all of this. Seeing the standstill at both standpoints, you sigh, âœWhy donât we go clear up this issue with Mr. Long? I know neither of you has the authority to make a judgment call like this. Itâs better I explain my views to the man I shook hands with anyhow.â
âœWe canât just take you to Barry. Heâs busy and-â Liam shoots a panicked glance toward Bourn- âœwe canât exactly bring you to him. We donât know where he is at this moment and we canât lead you through the town. Many are still wary of you, SÅ.â
âœIsnât the barn I fell into located in the Southernmost part of Bourn?â A single finger points in the direction youâre referring to, without uncrossing your arms, and Liam nods to confirm. âœThen weâll walk around the village. No need to walk me through it if you want to avoid people coming into contact with me.â
âœYes, but why do you want us to bring you to the barn?â
âœBecause thatâs where Mr. Long is.â
The two boys pull their heads back slightly at your words. âœHowâdo you know that?â
âœAh-wellâa guess. A lot of work needs to be done with what I destroyed so Iâm sure heâs nearby directing efforts. Iâm sure the hole is drawing a lot of onlookers too, curious about what I had done. So Iâd say heâs there quelling the crowds like he said he wouldâso itâs the most likely spot in which heâd be.â
âœOh, I see. Thatâs where I know he was last too.â
Nailed it! Itâs not like you could say you can feel and hear his presence there.
âœRight? And if heâs no longer there, someone will know where he went and they can go find him for us. But the longer we stay here the more likely that will happen. Letâs hurry up and clear this misunderstanding before then.â
They both nod and Liam runs forward to lead your small trio. Vance remains behind you as you start to move, sandwiching you between them. Itâs a pleasant walk, especially with the insects attached to your form, either by skin contact or by air, and the feeling of grass between your toes as your legs move. Presently, youâre captivated by a spider with a fuzzy and clear exterior maneuvering through the gaps in your fingers while you listen out, Vance and Liamâs small talk being one of many but the only one youâre present for.
âœSo what did you two do while I was away?â
âœSÅ and I talked for a bit before we went out to watch the sunrise. One thing led to another and we ended up in the patches as you saw us.â
âœThatâs niceâ. Talk about anything interesting?â
âœQuite.â Vance is curt but proceeds. âœAnd something about some sea creatures called squids and octopuses. Their body is their head and they have tongues for limbs called tentacles, eight of those they have.â
âœHuh?! That sounds awful!â
âœVance said the same thing, but theyâre not.â You interject. âœI just did a poor job explaining them.â
âœSÅ also said that theyâd eat them.â
âœBleahk! Nasty! I couldnât imagine! Why would you want to eat something that is nothing but tongues and a head? I already don't like cow tounge!â
âœAs I said, without the visuals, it sounds badâ.â You shake your head knowing full well that if you were still in Yggdrasil you could summon one to show them what you meanâ. Could you still summon here? You havenât investigated your avatarâs abilities yet. You need to do that soon but you keep getting distracted or the moment isnât right. Going away from those repetitive thoughts thoughâ. âœWhat about you? What did you and Nate do while you were away?â
âœA-ahâwellââ He scratches his chin meekly. âœ...after I pulled him from the house, two others along with me had to keep him from going back and uhâbeing how he was around you. After the meeting was over, we were escorted back to the barn to help with cleaning efforts and packing for the trip to E-Rantel. When we finished, Nate went to Barry while I came to you two.â
âœMaybe, if we canât find Barry, Nate will be able to assist.â The suggestion made on your part is more of a passive remark than an actual plan since your awareness of the two individuals' locations provides knowledge that the idea isnât necessary. âœThe only issue would be getting him to help.â
âœLeave that to me. You can stay with Vance while I handle it. There will be less issue that way.â
âœSounds goodâthough I do want to ask something.â
âœWhat is it?â
âœIt may not be my place to pry but Iâm certain Nate wonât-uhâentertain isnât the right wordâNate wonât cooperate with me if I asked him this. Is there a special reason why heâs so aggressive towards meâor to monsters in general?â
You canât see Liamâs expression since his back is turned to you but his rigid body language speaks words as to what face he wears. âœY-yeah, uh, definitely not something I am open to share. Thatâs all for him to tell if he ever doesâbut I do suggest not asking him about it. Maybe if you werenât a m-ah! Oo-uh, sorry, uhâif you ask him, compared to a human, he may try and beâmurderyâ.â
âœ...Thatâs no different than how he's been around me?â
âœNo, thereâs a difference.â Liam peaks pleadingly over his shoulder. âœHeâs been aggressive to you, I will not deny that. So far the worst heâs done is try to provoke you to start a fight so that he could have an excuse to kill you. Itâs indirect but he hasnât tried to outright kill you yet. If you bring up-â He swallows his line- âœwhy heâs hateful of you, he will attack you with no regard for you or his life. Please, do not seek out his past.â
âœ...I understand.â You lower your head with the affirmation. âœI assumed as much, which is why I had asked you two first as it appears youâre close friends of his. Thank you for the warning.â Nods are shared between you three and before silence could settle you continue. âœIâm not trying to be nosy for asking such a thing. Iâm being genuinely cautious and concerned. As you said it yourself, heâs trying to kill me one way or anotherâbut the method heâs doing it is destructive. Itâs not only hurting him but those around him.â
Sighs are released on both ends as if the two have heard that point too many times.
âœYesâbut all we can do is help him mitigate that damage.â
âœIsnâtâthat very toxic?â
âœWhy do you keep describing things as toxic?â
âœItâs a word of phraseâa slang word, err, a descriptor used back home to describe something or someone harmful whether intentionally or not, usually the prior. Being around something toxic or poisonous can be harmful so people picked up that phrase to describe such things.â
âœAh, I seeâitâs a little clever.â Liam admits but he shakes his head. âœIt probably is âtoxicâ but we love him. Heâs family and you canât abandon family.â
âœI understand that and all but what kind of family does things to put their members in danger?â
âœHeâs not doing it on purpose.â
âœHe is if heâs aware that what he does can hurt those around him even if he doesnât mean it to.â
âœ...in his eyes he sees it as helping-â
âœWhen itâs not?â
He falls to glare before turning away. âœIt does in a way. Most of the time it helps and he means the bestâbut IâVance and everyone else know that it can be the opposite. Thatâs why we are here as he can be stubborn.â
âœ...*sigh, itâs not my place to judge. Especially since I hardly know anything. I justâhmmâI may be in the wrong to give adviceâIâm worried about his aggressiveness proceeding since Iâll be traveling with you three.â
âœMay be traveling.â Vance hums before Liam clarifies-
âœWe still need to have a discussion with Barry on whatâs to go.â
âœRightââ Oh, you will be going. âœThough itâs not wrong to consider the issues that arise if I come along so that we can prepare.â
âœIf you do end up coming alongâIâd say try not to talk much to Nate or be close to him.â
âœAnything I can do to lessen his aggression?â
âœN-not much. Leave that to Vance and me. If he gets too heated weâll handle it.â
âœVery well. Thank you.â
Thereâs not much more to be said besides small talk so you choose to mull over what you know of Nate since Vance and Liam start to chat amongst themselves about something chore-like.
Frankly, you wouldnât be giving the asshole the mind of thought if your situation was different but the fact that you will be stuck near Nate for the next few days does raise someânot so kid-friendly thoughts. Some involve minor body dismemberment but you try to stomp down those particular ones as swiftly as you can, knowing that they shouldnât be entertained lest you abandon your morals.
You wouldnât be thinking of him either if he was equally as hateful of you as most in the village if he wasnât so hostile. But he is and that can pose an issue due to the aggro you receive when threatened. No one has attacked you yet butâif itâs as hard as it is to hold back when youâre only verbally attackedâyou know that itâll be near impossible to force your hand back. You need to avoid anyone or anything that can tip you off.
You canât tell these people that you have an aggro. It will reinforce what they already think of you. An uncontained monster. Yes, they may be true in a wayâbut youâre not your avatar. Youâre just stuck in your avatarâ. Wahhh! What a conundrum! A stink hole is what this isâ.
You wish you had gotten a little more out of Liam though. He confirmed what youâre already aware of and thatâs it. Vance was more informative than Liam was and he hadnât even said anything while the two of you were talking. Itâs what he said back in Barryâs house that gives you a bit of insight as to what may have and does occur around here.
Seeing as how these three young men, still boys in your eyes, havenât been visited by any parental figures since your appearanceâis a little self-explanatory. Maybe they do have families and theyâve seen them before you started expanding your sensesâbut as for Nateâ. The fact that he isnât being punished by a parent but rather Barry speaks some levels as to how his family life is. You could make a guess and say monsters had something to do with it but it may be a different scenario. With that thought, youâre to make sure not to bring up family around him either.
Hmmâwell, as long as youâre careful with what you say and stay away from him you think youâll be fine.
Besides the issue with Nate, thereâs another thing that you want to know about but canât ask outright.
What is the thing Liam and Nate said they felt from you?
You can hear similar discussions throughout Bourn from others about a presence you exude. You donât have any negative stats that produce fear, intimidation, petrification, or the likeâthough that doesnât sound like what everyone is describing it as. They would have and still be acting differently if you didâ. Such as praying for holy intervention, turning tail and running for the mountains...or being belly-up dead. At your level, most stats like that could be deadly to low-level mobs, such as aura of despair. Thankfully, thatâs not the case for you.
So what are they feeling? Itâs a strong feeling is all you can gatherâ. What do you have strong of?... Is it a power thing? Your LV? Your MP or HP? Your overall base stats? But how would they sense that if thatâs what it is? Thatâs not how Yggdrasil worked, albeit some NPCs would notice your strength...and that players can use spells to detect certain statsâ.
Though this isnât your game! It doesnât seem like it is. There are similarities but there are key differences.
Is it a skill or does everyone feel this âœpresenceâ from you? Mm...canât be certain. Youâll have to work that info out of them when you have the chance or listen in to what everyone inquires of one another.
The figures who speak in depth with one another as to the feeling you give off are part of the few who are called retireesâat least from what various people have called them. You donât know much about why theyâre called so but when you had left the barn for the first time most of the people who you could see that made up the village were older men. Yes, there are women and children but the majority youâve seen are men around your age irl.
Is this a retirement village? You donât think thereâs such a thing as retirement in this time period, not to mention you can hear these people doing work along with others. Hmmm. That doesnât change what theyâre being called. There must be a reason why things are going on like this around hereâis it a military thing? They served the king of this land and now they spend the rest of their days off in a village in the countryside? Maybe. Besides that, the only thing youâre getting from them as to the identity of the feeling you give off is âDangerous.â
It might be a level thing. If theyâre anything like basic farmer NPCs, their levels are going to range from 1 to 5. Even if theyâre a little higher on the LV scale, compared to them your avatar is on an ungodly level. Is it because they can feel the level gap?...
*Sigh, only time can tell at this rate. You canât speed run here.
Besides, now that the barn is insight there are greater matters than to mull the what-ifs.
âœIâll run ahead. You two can wait by the fence while I grab Barry and some others.â Liam nods as he speeds off, leaving you and Vance to watch him jog away to the slightly crowded space ahead.
As you arenât presently falling to your death or making deals with an angry mob, you can finally observe the structure of the building you fell into. To you, it appears like a huge log cabin. Unlike the stone houses that make up most of the buildings here in Bourn, the barn is completely made out of wood only exempting the tiles that make up its roof. It has a few rectangular windows lining the middle, long but no taller than a head. You assume they are there to allow air circulation within the stank place. Much needed as your upgraded smelling capacity agrees to the shit hole the place reeks of.
What keeps a large center of your focus, however, is the evident gaping hole in the roof of the structure. Itâs larger than what you guessed it was. The entire surface wasnât destroyed but it looks like you took out a support beam when you broke through it, causing a cave-in around the general area. You can only guess what that says for the state of the second-floor flooring and the items packed there.
Despite the damage, many are gathered about making an effort to clear the debris and clean up. No one is on the roof yet as stability isnât assured but you can make out a few heads popping out of the gap as they collect tiles. Itâs good that theyâre right on top of this. If they let it sit they can risk further damage caused by natural elements.
âœUh, I guessâI did a number over there.â
No response follows so you look elsewhere to where Vanceâs eyes flow.
Not surprising, itâs the gazes of the villagers as you two approach. Youâre still off a way but you could guess itâs hard to miss a naked rainbow anomaly walking around with bugs swarming them. They call each other's names and point your way as you approach. Slurs spew, similar to the night priorâ
âœItâs thereâ
âœItâs the monster!â
âœWe should go-â
âœWhat are those things around them?â
âœBugs, it looks it. Disgustingâ
âœWhy is it coming over here?! Isnât it supposed to be locked away somewhere?!
Some flee the scene at the mere sight, those mostly being bystanders whoâve come to look at the hole. Others stand and watch or mind their own business with work but fervent talk continues nevertheless as word spreads of your coming.
âœIs it true that itâs friendly? Itâs walking with Vance.â
âœI heard it has a sack of gold. Where does it keep it?â
âœIsnât someone going to take it away?! Why isnât anyone doing anything about it wandering around?!â
âœIâd feel better if it was bound some wayââ
âœA leash would be nice, I agree.â
âœCome this way-â
âœWhat do you think it is? Everyone is saying itâs a fairyâ
âœI got shivers again. It has to be evil.â
âœStay in hereâ
âœWhy didnât Vance listen?!â
âœI heard it can fly so why isnât it flying away?â
âœUgh, damn itâ
âœLetâs ask Liam heâs headed this wayââ
Mmmâyeah. Not so different from last night. But itâs what you told Vance. If they donât see you it could cause problems further down the line. Might as well rip off the band-aidâbut is the wound too fresh? Itâs not like you did anything disastrousâthough a few conversations you overheard do cause issues for concern.
Money must be extremely tight if thereâs talk of selling their children into slavery.
Your stomach turns uncomfortably.
You have all the gold in the worldâyou can end their poverty for generations to comeâ. But itâs all that you have. If you give away your belongings before you can secure a place for yourself, youâll be catering to disaster. You could die if you make a mistake like that. Plus, this isnât the only village in this kingdom, youâre sure. Many others could be suffering in poverty. If you give away what you have now, you wonât be able to help others down the line. You need a source of income before that. And giving away gold like that could cause an inflation, making the coin worthless. You could crash the market economy essentially. Many more issues come off of the act of pouring out your wallet willy-nilly, therefore, you cast the idea aside.
So if this deal works, Bourn can receive help from you if they want. But this means that they need to let you go first.
âœSÅ, this way.â A hushed tone comes from behind as the dark archer gestures for you to follow him, stepping around you before directing you to a rickety fence adjacent to the barn. Beyond the fence is the cropsâor would be crops.
Since itâs late spring, most of the tillage is just that. Soft soil being weeded and watered periodically by those tending the land. However, you can make out little green sprouts starting to make their way out of the dirt and in the middle pastures of the fields are older crops, likely preserved from the year(s) prior. They stand tall, over the heads of all those who pass and go in.
Hmmâwithin those plants must be the black dust. Obviously, the ones youâre looking at arenât the said plant. What do those grow? How do they know how to grow them? Itâs fascinating to see in person.
Civilians werenât allowed near croplands as they were very governmentally mandated due to their value and rarity. Good land to farm on was hard to come by. Not an understatement in any sense. Theyâre treasured similar to the little national parks left around. Itâs a global crime for a nation of any kind to harm croplands in any sort of way, even those whose land the farms reap from. Itâs cause enough for war to be waged and punishable by death of the individual(s) responsible and that of their families too.
However, as far as youâre aware, there are no crops present in Japan due to the amount of pollution your land faces, that itâs prone to natural disasters, and has very little land suitable for cultivation. Even a hundred years ago, before the ice caps melted and rose the sea level by seventy meters, merely twelve percent of the land was used for cultivation.
History proves that there were efforts made to expand this percentile. Altering mountainsides into paddy fields. Higher pay and better conditions for farmers. Upgraded supply chains to better distribute their produce. All to improve the overall food self-sufficiency rate of the islands. Japan still had to and still does rely on imported goods but the percentile of crops did go up.
All that effort was taken away in less than a century and Japan lost its entire agricultural industry.
There are likely hidden underground plantations on the continent somewhere. You wouldnât doubt some of those with limitless wallets have farms as such stationed around so they can sustain themselves while the world dies. You wouldnât know. Youâre just a game designer. A successful one all because Japan is currently the greatest technologically innovative country in the world, giving you access to technology to make your ideas real.
You continue to follow Vance off to the side of the fence as you draw ever closer to the barn and you understand why heâs leading you like this. It puts distance between you and the people of Bourn and displays a direct path which you two will head down so people could stay away.
You donât mind, more inquisitive of the crops. âœWhat are you growing?â
âœHere?â Vance turns his head to the left to the ones closest to where you two pass by.
âœWell, these and anything that is further out.â
âœNearest to us are veggies, gourdes, and roots, a few fruits as well. Further out, along the stream, is our wheat and barley. They make out the largest portion of crops we grow but they wonât be coming for a while. Out there, the crops that remain there, are a mixture of corn, beans, and other towering stocks. They can survive winter if tended to, so they remain there. Everything else either dies in winter or is harvested in full.â
âœNeat! What will be ready first?â
âœThe fruits. The end of summer is when they are ready for picking.â
âœWhat type of fruits do you have?â
âœA few types of tomatoes. Green, globe, and Campari as far as Iâm aware.â
A swallow is your immediate response.
Tomatoes?! Uwah~ Youâd love to try one! Youâve had tomato-flavored consumables before but what does a tomato taste like on its own? Is it anything like what youâve had before? Whatâs the difference between the preservatives you had and the raw ones? Not to mention the texture. Whatâs that like?
You know a small portion of recipes due to the food system in various games and the documentaries youâve watched. Could you make something? Hmmm, you never really cooked before since most of everything was either premade, preserved, pills, or were sustenance packets. Not to mention you never really had the timeâbut that doesnât mean you donât know the Basics.
Should you take the time to learn to cook in this new world? Thatâwould be awesome.
Are salads a thing yet? That would be easy. If you have access to manipulate your classes and abilities, it could be easy! With your Beast Taming skills, you could gather all sorts of creatures to harvest off of easily. Not to mention your Druid skills. You got a couple of other spells that could help you like Create Water for some fresh water if you arenât in access to it already. A couple of fire-oriented spells can help you cook. Temperature Change could also help you with heating water, maybe for tea? Ice-type spells to preserve your food, maybe even to serve desserts such as ice cream? You would have the freshest produce to cook and experiment with. And if you can swap your classes as you could in Yggdrasil, you could take advantage of other Job perks such as Expert, Farmer, Craftsman, Chef, Alchemist, Summoner, and possibly a few others!
You...you've never had most of the things that start to rain across your mind as you brainstorm. Meats and plants! All are considered to be extravagant. Only the sickenly rich could afford them since the ingredients are so rare...but here, you have no limit! You could do anything in this new world. You could finally have the chance to eat such foods! Share it with others! Noodles arenât a thing here! You could explore and invent new recipes and flavor combinations! You can fulfill your small dream of tasting such things!
â.
â.
But can your avatar eat?
It was never specified whether or not SÅsaku-sha could eat or not since, technically, the avatar isnât your player personaâbut an NPC that could be inhabited via you.
You still refer to them as your avatar or your player model but it doesnât deny the fact of what they were programmed as.
When you werenât logged into Yggdrasil, SÅ would still be active doing the basic command of patroling. Thatâs about it. It canât pick up items while in this dormant state as you would have to worry about things being displaced and trying to rearrange your inventory before a raid. Although this meant you couldnât have SÅ do menial tasks like farming or maintenance while logged off, it didnât pose any issue in the long run. There were already NPCs whose sole job was to do such and SÅsaku-sha could assist in such matters in other ways that donât have them collecting items on your off time.
Logging back in would always be a surprise for you as you never knew where you were or what you were about to spawn into. In SÅâs room. The sky arena. The baths. The stables. In front of an NPC like you were in mid-conversation. An office meeting. In the middle of a black-jack match. Etcetera. Though, sometimes your default spawn would be the arena since SÅsaku-sha will despawn if any Players enter your realm. This is to avoid the raiders attacking your avatar without you in the pilot seat.
However, when that wasnât the case, youâd finish whatever SÅ would be doing to not let the task be left hanging for you to forget about. You found it to be quite exciting at times as you as it was always a surprise. You once spawned in during the middle of a wedding reception between a Satyr and an Alseid of yours. It was quite a pleasant surprise, especially since you had a bad day that day. Enjoying the occasion to the fullest left you on a good note.
A pleased sigh escapes your chest as you come to a stop beside Vance, leaning up against the fence nearly adjacent to the farm doors, waiting for the chieftain to make his way to you.
Uwah~ Recalling that memory puts butterflies in your stomachâ. N-not literally though, despite all of them fluttering near you. Though youâre getting distracted easily by your own doing. You were debating if you could eat or notâ.
Mmmmâ
Honestlyâyou donât think SÅ can.
It didnât work earlier and you donât know the first thing about the biology of your avatar. And itâs not like you can do anything to figure it out. You donât feel hungry and you donât want to ask for food. Youâd be put in larger debt. And who would be willing to give you food just so you can play around with it? These people need it and youâre not sure if you doâ.
But what if you do need to eat?
Ahhhâthat puts a sudden pit uncomfortably below your chest.
Great, another thing to worry aboutâcould you starve? Despite your doubt about the existence of SÅâs digestive system, it doesnât dispute the ratio of it being there. Yes, nearly three-fourths of you are sure this body canât eatâgahh! But what if youâre wrong?!
This is more important than your magic issue!
You can live without magic, for sure. That wonât kill you right off unlike the danger of starvation, something youâre too familiar with.
How can you resolve this issue?! You need something to consume first-URk! Can you eat the same things as humans can?! What if you feed off of blood or souls or something alien to you?! Your avatar already does something similar to absorbing souls! Is that what you have to do?!
Your skin shifts to a tone it hasnât before at the petrifying concept, a light grey with squiggles of varying muddy cool hues.
Vance turns his gaze your way when the swift shift of colors was enough to be caught in his peripherals. âœSÅ?â
âœMmm.â
âœYour skin.â
âœIâm aware.â
He lets the silence sit for a moment but does inquire more. âœWhat does it mean?â
âœ...Not goodâW-wait-â You cut in realizing how that can be taken out of context into a bad light- âœWhat I mean isâuh, I was thinking ofâhow I could die.â
Yeah, no way were you going to bring up the soul eater concept you may be.
âœ...Fear?â
âœU-uahânoânoâI donât think so. This is something similar but not that. I look very muddy and dark when Iâm fearful. Thisâmay be a combination of a few thingsâhorror I can straight up confirm as well as disgust. It may be a few other things but Iâm repulsed and terrified by my thoughts.â
You donât want to consider if souls taste good or not. You just wanted to try a tomato, waahâ
An odd shadow befalls his brow as they furrow. âœ...What kind of deathâmakes you that terrified?â
âœ...â What can you say to that? You werenât even thinking of explicit deaths though starvation is one. What would you look like if you starved in this body? Would it be like a human? Boney, shriveled, and bloated stomach? Do you have bone or muscle mass?
The young man watches as you start to rub the side of your chest awaiting your answer, a thought passing through his mind that he stores away for later as to why youâre moving as such. You, on the other hand, do this to explore your avatarâs structure.
â.No ribs. You don't feel any bone structure at all. However, youâre still hard to a point. You can only press so hard until it starts to hurt but thereâs give to your fleshâif it even is flesh.
You grab your bicep next to find the muscleâ.only to have the same result. No definitive muscle mass underneath your hard skin, only little give to the surface.
Whatâthe hell are you made of? You know you have blood. Itâs in your avatarâs lore. Do you have a heart then?
You grip your neck slightly to find a pulseâ.
Nothing.
Nothing?!
Do you have any internal organs?! You have pain receptors, you know that much, but are they nerves?
Wahhh! Why did you think it was okay to make your avatar like this?!
Theyâre an otherworldly being for goodness sake! Of course, SÅ isnât going to have a biology humans can comprehend.
But now youâre a human trapped in an alien body!!
You bury your hands in your palms followed by a groan. Seeing your distressed state, Vance turns away to leave you be, no longer invested in conversation having come to his own conclusions.
Gahh! This is stupid! You hate this! You fucking hate this! RraAAUGHhâhaaaâ. Whatâs the point?
Your hands drag agonizingly slow down your blank face, pulling on the hard skin to stimulate some kind of reliever to the stress youâre experiencing.
Thereâs no point in worrying. Itâll get you nowhereâexcept to a new problem. But you can only handle one at a time right now. Soâfocus on what you can do.
See if SÅsaku-sha needs to eat human food. If not, move on.
But how can you retrieve food?
â.
Thereâare seeds and plants in your inventory, or should be. They are for your Druid capabilities when you need to grow a foreign plant you canât with typical growth or summon spells. You can try something with those since you know your inventory worksâ
You only have so many of those seeds though. You shouldnât take from a limited resource of yours when you can use it later to make moreânot to mention you donât think theyâd taste goodâ
You can try growing one of them with a spellâ. If you can figure out your magic you could eat what you can harvest from it.
But you only have a very small amount of non-combative or non-harmful seedlings with you, such as those listed in the healer category. If you grow it, you wonât have the time to harvest the seeds from it if the carriage is leaving for E-Rantel soon. Not to mention leaving the plant here in Bourn. What would the villagers do with an unknown plant grown from a monster? Burn it likely. Thatâd piss you off. And if you lose this bet, you canât come back. Youâd be abandoning a limited and rare resource of yours. Would the villagers be okay with you growing an unknown plant in the first place? What would they do?
Yeah, terrible idea. You canât use your growths for this. So what can you try to snack on without asking for food? Hmmmâ
Looking around doesnât stick much out to your flavor palette. Youâre behind a dirty barn. Anything edible surrounding you consists of dirt, some grass, ingrown sprouts in the fields, the wildflowers beneath your feet, the bugs swarming you, and humans; more than half you donât consider.
This leaves the flowers and ingrown sprouts. You know insects carry a lot ofânutrients(?) but you donât take it into account when you have other options. Howeverâitâs a choice between an unknown flower or an edible plant youâre more acquainted withâ.
SÅsaku-sha should be immune to poisoning and disease if these flowers have that effect, but youâre not certain if they still do. Youâd risk making yourself sick even though the flowers appear harmless. However, youâre positive theyâre not poisonous. The animals around you are drawn to the flowers and love them. On top of that, none of them have died. Theyâve appeared more vigorous after consuming them in a way. Not to mention that the flowers are letting off a pleasantly sweet smell, comparatively honey-like or similar to candy. All in all, they may not be bad to tryâ
Then again...behind the fence youâre leaning against is a small little sprout of either a fruit or a vegetable. You can have something considered actual food. Yes, youâre aware of flowers that can be used as ingredients for foodsâbut to have something youâve always wanted to try out? A real fruit or vegetable? Uwah~
You swallow instinctively.
But none of the crops are near ready for harvest. You wonât be able to get anything from the one behind you unless you use magic to grow the sprout to maturityâand would the villagers be mad if you took a bit of their harvest? Mmmmâthoughâthis could be a good chance for you to try out your magic. When will you have the next opportunity? Youâre not doing anything but waiting anyhow? Why not kill two birds with one stone? See if you can use magic and if you can eat.
But what if you mess up your magic? If you can still use it, how can you control the spell you put out? Do you have your spell slots still?
You can hear Liam talking to Barry, Nate, and a few others and itâs only a matter of time before they comeâ. Should you do this? Hmmmâwhat the heck. Why not? This is important to your survival anyhow.
Okay thenâ.
What should you try out?
The flowers.
The sprout.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
62â†'129
Weâre getting personalized now. I mean, does it really matter which you choose? Do you think it matters in the long run? Why would I give you a choice like this if it didnât matter? Itâs not like I put double meanings to everything, do I? Itâs up to you~
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DEAL OF GOLD 3:1
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold.
Chapter Notes
I know I missed another month, but work has been killing me. Long story short, my workplace has been busting my tail with 55 hour weeks on minimum wage. I put my foot down and told them I canât keep being used like that, especially since I just underwent surgery. They got livid, said some awful stuff, and insisted that I start work again two days after the operation when Iâm supposed to be in recovery. Needless to say, Iâm done with that place. So, with the time I have now, I was able to make another update! Hope y'all enjoy!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
Now isnât the time to be making risky moves in front of scared people. If you started to perform magic of any kind, you can only imagine how alarmed theyâd become. Besides, youâre quite curious about these flowers.
Therefore, leaning down and careful of your movement, you pluck three thin stems from between your feet with a slight wince. Standing straight once again, you draw your hand closer to your face to observe the delicate flowers, Vance side-eyeing you as you do so.
Theyâre small, each bud about the size of your pinky nail, however, the petals are all unique in their own way; which you know is impossible biologicallyâat least you believe so. Some have round petals, some have pointy ones, and some are curly even when they grow from the same stim, shifting their shapes as the moments tick by. Theyâre of similar shades though, having copied the color of your skin tone when they grew, and have an iridescent sheen when twirled in the light. Your non-existent eyes widen at the sight of the flowers pulsating and squirming as if they are breathing, pondering if they are feeling pain at the moment by the way theyâre movingâ.
âœPrettyââ You hum warmly, âœSorry I picked you.â
Now, how to eat if you canâ.
You wish you could check your stats right now but thatâs out of the question with no toolbar or menu. You can only guess with what you already know.
Nothing will happen if you canât eat but youâre testing if you can/need to. So putting that frame of mind on, youâre assuming that would put you in a category of either eating being unnecessary or itâs vital. Youâre leaning more so towards unnecessary since your avatar never had to eat while in-game and you donât feel hungryâstill, you canât rule out necessity.
For Yggdrasil standards, if a player has the Eating Unnecessary perk it means that their avatar canât eat...but for a few races, such as some types of spirits, automatons, and more, can eat or can only eat certain things. It was mainly a way for characters to gain buffs from certain meals, such as a few deity races with nectar or ichor and a handful of undead with the spirit or flesh of the living. Sometimes, certain races had to eat certain things to activate abilities, spells, and more.
Is that your case now? How does this go into play as a Creator? You canât compare it to other races since itâs a race of its ownâhermmmâ.maybe youâre thinking too in the boxâshould you get a look from the outside? Looking at this from a different perspective may helpâ
âœHey, Vance?â He doesnât respond, merely turning his head your way to show heâs listening. âœIfâhow should I put thisâ. Imagine a scenario thatâthereâs something you need to eat but are having difficulty doing so. How would you go about eating it?â
He quirks a brow at the odd quarry. âœIs there a reason Iâd be having trouble eating it?â
âœYes but Iâm not going to give you a specific reason. That is up to you to deduce-ah, reason out on your own. Give me a reason for any scenario where that would occur.â
âœOkayââ Eyes squinting in puzzlement, he indulges you. âœIf it tastes bad Iâd try to get it down as quickly as I can without it touching my tongue, drinking water to flush the flavor away. If itâs too hardâIâd guess itâd depend on why it is. Iâd find a way to break it apart so that I wouldnât choke on it. Iâd do the same thing with something too big or tough. Something too hot, Iâd blow on it or wait for it to cool downâ.andâif itâs something morally wrong to eatâI donât know. I wouldnât want to even if I had to; thoughâI wouldnât say I would pass on it if it meant my lifeâ. Thatâs all the reasons I can come up withâ. Why do you ask?â
âœTrying to figure something out is allââ A sigh ends your note.
Well that didnât help. Though you canât blame him. Youâre being cryptic. Itâs not like you can ask him a direct question about what youâre trying to achieve. He may be put off or downright discouraging. Plus, he knows less about SÅsaku-sha than you. He wouldnât know where to start. Not to mention a lack of goal to achieve with your inquiries can produce greater creative solutions to your predicament. Itâs exactly why youâre seeking help outside the box in the first place. Maybe you can poke at his imagination a bit?
âœHereâs another scenario. Let's say itâs not one of the reasons you listed. Say your lips were sealed together so you could no longer open them. How would you eat then?â
Disturbance slowly creeps on his features, âœ...Is this something to do with the horrible death you were thinking of earlier?â
âœNoâwell, not really. J-just, entertain me with this. What would your solution to something like that be?â
âœ...How are my lips sealed? Is it some kind of sticky substance?â
âœNo. For this example, the skin of your lips have fused so you no longer have a mouth to open.â
No words come in response for a good moment or so but Vance eventually does speak, âœI can only eat from my mouthâsoâIâd believe Iâd have to make one.â
âœMake what?â
âœMake a mouth. If I had nothing, Iâd try making a mouth. If itâs just the skin of my face thatâs the issue, Iâd cut it so Iâd have a mouth again.â
Make a mouth?
Make a mouthâ.
â.
â.
God damn it. Youâre an idiot. Why didnât you think of that?!
Yes, when you tried to drink the tea Barry gave you, you assumed a mouth would appear or that youâd drink it some other way. However, you never tried to have your avatar form one! You just expected one to appear without putting work into it!
This is something thatâd normally snap to your head while playing your avatar but...maybe youâre confusing this reality with the reality of Earth, where magic and supernatural abilities don't exist. Abilities such as-
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«
It would allow you to obtain a form thatâd give you the ability to eat! It is a skill specific races and magic users have which allows them to accomplish tasks their primary forms would not! A perfect example of that are DoppelgÃngers!
You nod swiftly, âœThat is a good suggestion! Thank you!â
Perturbed is a good description of what the boy appears to be. âœ...You bring up a lot of morbid things.â
You shrug in reply, busy trying to connect some dots.
This is a terrific solution, though, it does raise some thoughts with it.
If you have to rely on âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, or any other transformative spell of yours, just to eat it may very well mean that you donât need to eat; giving a greater probability to the presence of the Eating Unnecessary perk on your person. Thatâs not entirely bad news. In actuality, this may mean that you wonât die of starvation. Itâs not certain, just a greater chance of it being so.
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« isnât a skill native to the Creator classâthough that shouldnât be too much of an issue. Being a Creator gives freedom over all low-level perks, skills, and spells of all races as long as they don't clash with your current job classes...so it may be possible for you to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« that way. An admin key so to say.
However, one of the reasons you chose flowers was to avoid practicing magic in front of a crowdâguess this was unavoidable. Oh well.
Your biggest concern with trying the cast is your change in controls over your prowess. Thereâs been not a lick of tests tried out on how your abilities have been altered. You may not be able to pull off such a task.
Even if you make the cast work, what if you screw it up in a different way? What if you turn into some horrid frothing beast?! With this alien of a body, you wouldnât be surprised. You could even compare your avatar to a Lovecraftian. You canât even imagine what would happen to these peopleâs minds if you turned into one of the old ones.
A sigh slithers out along with the dark purple and green splotches bubbling up along your exterior. There are some things that...exist that arenât meant to be seenâ.
Wait-
This may not be Yggdrasilâbutâif youâre here does that mean Lovecraftâs beasts are real things now?
â.
Your heart drops.
Shit. Do you have to live in a reality knowing that abominations like the crawling chaos or the slumbering god exist? That reality as you know is just a dream fabricated by Aza-NONONONOO! Donât think the name. Donât think the name! Donât THINK of the NAME! Doing so is very taboo and you donât need the extra trouble. You donât need to poke the bear with the stick, the bear being the ruler of the Outer Gods and the incarnation of chaos.
Yeah. No thank you. Youâre going to distract yourself by dealing with the now. There are certainly things best left in the dark.
You rub your neck, trying to dispel the mental crisis that had settled on you only seconds prior, the dark purple splotches slowly fading.
The uncertainties are there and are legitimate. Youâre...you were considered very powerful by Yggdrasil standards. Even on SÅsaku-shaâs character sheet, your avatar is labeled as âthe most powerful being.â If you use your abilities wrong you could hurt those around you...maybe even more than that.
Swallowing to the vision of you becoming some celestial, genocide-craved, atrocity, you contemplate on.
Your ability to control your avatarâs powers have been compromised meaning those around you and yourself are in greater danger of disasterâ
Your gaze drops to the delicate flowers sitting between your fingers.
Smallâshimmeringâsweet and soft, the small growths are. Although they are literal weeds pulled out from beneath your feet, theyâre appealing to every one of your senses and appear way more appetizing than anything that youâve ever had on a plate.
â.
â.
Come on...
Is it worth possibly summoning an armageddon incarnate of yourself just to taste something other than artificial paste?
â.
You eye the glistening petals and leaves, a vibrant assortment of shapes and colors, and more with a gaze full of desire.
Yes.
Youâll regret it later if it turns out for the worst but the temptation is too great. Besides, you hardly think becoming a monster is that great of a factor here. Low chances and allâ
âœThe fry who never lets curiosity guide its fin shall never see the glory of the seaââ You mumble before you realize what you've done. Lord, another one.
âœHuh?â
âœItâs nothing. Donât mind me.â You reassure Vance although he continues to give you an odd look.
In other words, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Youâre willing to give this a try if itâll help your chance of survival. This is something youâd have inevitably had to doâso better now than never.
You nod, trying to hype yourself up for the task.
So how do you go about using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«? Is it similar to how you use Ascend? Is it your will and intent and the rest follows? But you havenât even tried to see if you can access your spell slots yet. Yes, you couldnât access your menu but what if your casts are separate from the menu? Your inventory is still here despite no menu for it and you used the same method accessing it as Ascend. Should you replicate that process?
Raising your free hand you try to pull up your spell slots-
Nothing.
You try again with more focus and will being poured into the motion-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to do it the old way and go through the menu now that you know more about how to use SÅsaku-shaâs abilities? It didn't work last night...but maybe now? Okay, letâs open the menu-
Nothing.
Mphâagain-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to switch up your arms? Though unlikely, you give it a shot and run both processes again-
Nothing.
âœWhat are you doing?â
âœStretching my limbs.â You reply sarcastically to Vance, not bothering to explain what it is youâre trying to achieve. He doesnât look like he believes you either but doesnât push you for the truth, only continuing to keep a scrutinizing watch over your actions.
Neither of those workedâhuh. Sounds about right. Your guess about spells being similar to your inventory is likely the case then. Youâll have to be direct for this to work. No list and selection. Straight-up magic.
But before you try to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, youâre aware you need a body to replicate into. Itâs a spell that doesnât allow you to make a unique form but rather copy one that youâve seen. Simply put, you canât grow a mouth out of your already existing avatar.
There are plenty of individuals around which you can turn into but youâd risk being accused of trying to steal their identity. No problem, you have a nearly infinite inventory of players and NPCs you have stored in bank to recall for situations like these. Thatâs not including the real-life examples stored in your head which you can choose from if thatâs even possible here. Heck, you may be able to turn back into the real you.
The issue with this is if those faces were transferred here along with you. You have no idea. Your abilities may have been reset and you canât use any of your memories previous to this situation as a guideâ.you canât tell until you start testing the unknown. Ugh, but right now isnât the best timeâ. But when will there ever be a right time?
When you start the journey with the boys, youâll be stuck at their sides. Nate will likely attack you if you try anything. Not to mention the time youâll have in Re-Estize. That will be days of you cast into the unknown, pondering how to control your avatar, and wondering if youâre going to starve to death.
No. You need to do something now while the opportunity is still availableâeven if there is an audience.
Speaking of which, one being very attentive to your every move should likely be warned about what youâre going to try.
âœHey, Vance?â He doesnât visibly show heâs listening to you this time but you know he still is. âœIâm going to try something in a second. Donât start panicking- Hey, donât give me that look! It will only affect me, okay?â
âœHow will it affect you?â
âœIâmay look a little different in a sec.â
He squints. âœ...How?â
âœErrâIâmânot so sure. Think about it as if Iâm going to change to a different skin color.â
âœ...Thatâs it?â
âœ...Something like that. I wouldnât be bringing this up if this wasnât something I have to do.â
âœWhy couldnât you have done so while we were away from everyone?â Frustration carries on his tone and you shrink a little in response.
âœTrust me. I would have done so if it had come to my mind then. Iâm not doing this to cause undue stress on anyone. As I reiterate, this will only affect me and that I have to do it.â
âœCanât you wait?â
âœIâve thought of thatâbut no. Iâd be risking my life more so the longer I wait.â His head jerks up a bit, his unrelenting gaze prompting you with an unsaid question of what you mean. You shake your head instead. âœItâs complicated. Nothing I want to do is harmful to anyone in this village; as long as you all welcome me, I can swear my name on that.â
As the words come out of your mouth, you swear that you see a glimmer of something yellow around your peripherals, though you donât know how that is possible when your vision extends from everywhere.
Before you could switch a part of your focus to what the heck that was, Vance cuts in. âœWhy are you doing it?â
âœ...To preserve my well-being? I already said so.â
âœNot that. How is it going to help you?â
Isâhe truly interested orâis he seeking a way to arrange a rain check for your attempt?... The latter, yeah. Heâs likely looking for an alternative to the unknown tryst you have brought to light. If heâs any what concerned for you itâs a hundred percent on the backburner.
âœItâs a way for me to adjust to aânew environment.â A new body is a better word to describe it. His expression remains hardened so you take the time to go into more detail to butter him up a bit without giving too much away. âœâdo you remember what we talked about with animals changing color?â
Itâs as if the gears click in his head. âœAhâbut you said yours only represents your feelings?â
âœYes, they do. But I didnât say only. They could mean something elseâwhich is why I need to try this thing real quick, okay?â
His lip curls slightly in displeasure, like he tastes something bad, but after a moment he lowers his head in a reluctant nod.
After a swift thank you, your head turns back to the flowers in your clutches.
Great! Now how to utilize your avatarâs abilitiesâ.
The total number of magic spells in Yggdrasil, from tiers one to ten, plus super tier, was well over six thousand. These were split into various trees thatâd be compatible with some races while it wouldnât with others. Some spells require certain conditions to work like the type of biome the player is in, needed tasks completed beforehand, items that need to be held, can only be used on certain levels, and so on. Normally a level-100 player could use about three hundred but there are some instances where players have found loopholes and were able to have more. Your avatar...since it was the being that created Yggdrasil... can access all the spells contained in the game, though the conditions for the spells still have to be met for you to use them.
It is an insane amount, you know, but it had made sense that SÅsaku-sha would have that kind of ability if they were able to provide the rest of the nine worlds with magical powers. It was also a way for you to adjust your avatar to the players youâd be put up against. And since you are aware of all that was programmed into your game, you had memorized every MG ability.
Anything magic-related available to you is what falls into your current classes, all low-tier casts, and what you have in your inventory. âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« should be no problem.
Activation is the key. How comparatively different is casting magic from using the skills youâve unlocked thus far?
Ascend feels like nothing on your part. Little to no effort whatsoever in controlling it. Whatever you want, it follows. As if youâre walking on airâ.
â.
...Could it really be wanting?
Hmmmââwantââ. Could you use magic if you actively want to or have the will to use magic?
...It canât hurt to try? But for this to work, you need to settle on a look as brought up before. You canât try it without a template to copy.
You need to change your appearance to appear like a human again. Thereâs no point in changing your form to look like another monster in these peopleâs eyesâ. Butânot just any human, however.
Youâll need a form that has similarities to the natives of this world. If you appear too foreign, youâll draw eyes which slightly defeats the purpose of fitting in, meaning youâll need to replicate what youâve seen in Bourn as a reference. You wonât try to copy anyone youâve seen here, as youâve concluded before, butâyou canât guarantee how your avatarâs abilities have been affected from coming hereâ.
Uwahâyou would love to appear as yourselfâbut you also donât want to use your actual identity in this world as you canât say for certain how it could endanger you. You have to take a new look. A new alter ego. This way, your interactions with the natives of this new world will run a bit smootherâ. Therefore-
What do you want to appear as?
Male
Female
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'124â†'130
The choice left at the end of this chapter doesn't necessarily mean much. All it will affect is what gender you'll identify as when you're not SÅsaku-sha, how others will treat you, and small differences from the other gender path. Don't worry and think it'll change the story completely, it won't really. All this means is that it can relate to you more as a character and that I can also post chapters far more frequently since they'll be similar.
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DEAL OF GOLD 3:2
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold.
Chapter Notes
I know I missed another month, but work has been killing me. Long story short, my workplace has been busting my tail with 55 hour weeks on minimum wage. I put my foot down and told them I canât keep being used like that, especially since I just underwent surgery. They got livid, said some awful stuff, and insisted that I start work again two days after the operation when Iâm supposed to be in recovery. Needless to say, Iâm done with that place. So, with the time I have now, I was able to make another update! Hope y'all enjoy!
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Why would you give up on a chance to have actual food? The flowers follow you everywhere. When will you have another chance for a real grown fruit or vegetable? Youâve fantasized about having something like this most of your life.
Sure, youâve had a few actual fruits and veggies in your lifetime, all while still living with your parents, but they were allâvery sad and witheredânot to mention decades ago. Youâve long forgotten the flavor they carriedâexcept that strawberry you had when you were eleven.
It was a party, upscale. You were there with your family to âmake face.â At one point, a few hours in, you had snuck off and found a reserved section for the exclusives, people with gold for blood. Usually, theyâd have scanners or bots operating at the entrances to make sure no unwelcome guests could waltz in but it was a mere two android bouncersâ.dressed very skimpy. The creep who hosted the party had a thing for surrounding himself with half-naked individuals, that didnât exclude his work robots.
You half understood why at the timeâfor various reasonsâbut that wasnât your focus. With your small size and the large number of drapes hanging from the walls, youâd passed them.
That was an eye-opening experience. How differently those people looked, acted, talked, and dressed. It was as if youâd walked through a portal into a completely new world. They were all so self-absorbed. What they have, what they want, who they know, what they could do, and what shares they were a part of. You couldnât understand any of it at the time but what did compute to your little noggin was that they not once brought up anything everyday people like you would worry about as if they werenât afflicted by the world around them.
Untouchable.
But you didnât sneak in to watch. What drew you in was the smell. They had food you hadnât known existed until then and you wanted a bite. Thankfully, the food bar was situated near the wall where you could stay hidden. You probably couldâve gotten away with a lot more if you had tried, but when you saw the strawberry tarts your sole focus went to them.
You had grabbed enough for you and your family, wrapped them in a napkin, and made a hasty retreat. You thought youâd achieved a great victoryâthoughâ.when you showed your parents what you had gotten for you all to shareâ.
Oh boyâ.
There was a swift retreat from the party and youâd never been punished more severely in your life. You thought you were going to die at the time and hated them for itâ. However, years later, youâd come to learn why you were disciplined in such a way, and thinking back, yeah, it was a very stupid thing you had done. You couldâve completely screwed your entire family if youâd been caught. Your lives would have been in the gutter, not in the figurative sense.
Even so, those treats werenât thrown away.
No. There could be no evidence left behind. Especially one so damning and rare. Each of you had promptly eaten your share after a promise of never speaking a word of the occasion anywhere but within the familyâ.
Itâwas a sour-sweetâmade your tongue buzz and your eyes widened when the taste registered. Rich and heavy. How much your mouth watered while you chewed the little desert. Almost made it worth the beating youâd gotten. None of them had to say it, but your family eyed you while they ate. Their gazes of course held an extreme level of disappointment in your actionsâbut gratitude as well.
Could this be a similar experience? You need to figure out how to use your magic first.
You turn around so your front faces the expanse of the cropland, leaning your head over the railing of the fence to focus on a little green sprout in the dirt, Vance side-eyeing you as you do so.
The sprout is two inches high with a few stems coming off from the center, the leaves odd in shape. Tomato? Is it? Vance said that they were close to the fence lineâand it looks like a tomato sprout to youâbut you have no idea other than what youâve seen in documentaries and games.
So how are you going to grow the plant? You need your magic to work.
Your biggest concern with trying the cast is your change in controls over your prowess. Thereâs been not a lick of tests tried out on how your abilities have been altered. You may not be able to pull off such a task.
Even if you make a cast work, what if you screw it up in a different way? What if you cast an attack rather than a growth spell? What if you grow it and you turn it into a type of plant monster?
You rub your neck, trying to dispel the mental crisis that has settled on you.
The uncertainties are there and are legitimate. Youâre...you were considered very powerful by Yggdrasil standards. Even on SÅsaku-shaâs character sheet, your avatar is labeled as âthe most powerful being.â If you use your abilities wrong you could hurt those around you...maybe even more than that.
The ability to control your avatarâs powers has been compromised meaning those around you and yourself are in greater danger of disasterâ
Your gaze drops to the delicate greenery in the soil below.
â.
â.
âœ*Sigh, the fry who never lets curiosity guide its fin shall never see the glory of the seaââ You mumble before you realize what you've done. Lord, another one.
âœHuh?â
âœItâs nothing. Donât mind me.â You reassure Vance although he continues to give you an odd look.
In other words, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Fear will hold you back from achieving results. Youâre willing to give this a try if itâll help your chance of survival. This is something youâd inevitably have to doâso better now than never.
You nod, trying to hype yourself up for the task.
So how do you go about using a growth spell such as âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«? Is it similar to how you use Ascend? Is it your will and intent and the rest follows? But you havenât even tried to see if you can access your spell slots yet. Yes, you couldnât access your menu but what if your casts are separate from the menu? Your inventory is still here despite no menu for it and you used the same method accessing it as Ascend. Should you replicate that process?
Raising your free hand you try to pull up your spell slots-
Nothing.
You try again with more focus and will being poured into the motion-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to do it the old way and go through the menu now that you know more about how to use SÅsaku-shaâs abilities? It didn't work last night...but maybe now? Okay, letâs open the menu-
Nothing.
Mphâagain-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to switch up your arms? Though unlikely, you give it a shot and run both processes again-
Nothing.
âœWhat are you doing?â
âœStretching my limbs.â You reply sarcastically to Vance, not bothering to explain what it is youâre trying to achieve. He doesnât look like he believes you either but doesnât push you for the truth, only continuing to keep a scrutinizing watch over your actions.
Neither of those workedâhuh. Sounds about right. Your guess about spells being similar to your inventory is likely the case then. Youâll have to be direct for this to work. No list and selection. Straight-up magic.
Rrahh! This sucks! Your abilities may have been reset and you canât use any of your memories previous to this situation as a guideâ.you canât tell until you start testing the unknown. Ugh, but right now isnât the best timeâ. But when will there ever be a right time?
When you start the journey with the boys, youâll be stuck at their sides. Nate will likely attack you if you try anything. Not to mention the time youâll have in Re-Estize. That will be days of you cast into the unknown, pondering how to control your avatar, and wondering if youâre going to starve to death.
No. You need to do something now while the opportunity is still availableâeven if there is an audience.
Speaking of which, one being very attentive to your every move should likely be warned about what youâre going to try.
âœHey, Vance?â He doesnât visibly show heâs listening to you but you know he still is. âœIâm going to try something in a second. Donât start panicking- Hey, donât give me that look! It will only affect that sprout right there, okay?â
âœWhy are you trying something?â
âœIâm not doing this to cause undue stress on anyone. Believe me, I wouldn't be doing this now if I didn't need to.â
His lip furrows. âœNeed to?â
âœI-itâs something important to my well-being. Iâdonât want to get into all the details but Iâd be risking my life more so the longer I wait.â His head jerks up a bit, his unrelenting gaze prompting you with an unsaid question of what you mean. You shake your head instead. âœItâs complicated. Nothing I want to do is harmful to anyone in this village; as long as you all welcome me, I can swear my name on that.â
As the words come out of your mouth, you swear that you see a glimmer of something yellow around your peripherals, though you donât know how that is possible when your vision extends from everywhere.
Before you could switch a part of your focus to what the heck that was, Vance cuts in. âœWhat are you trying to do?â
âœOh, wellââ You point again at the small green. âœIâm going to try and grow that sprout to maturity.â
The moment your words come out of your mouth, his face goes blank. You watch him as he remains still where he is, processing your words until a quiet, âœ...What?â tumbles out.
âœ...I said I wanted to try and grow the plant?â
Silence settles again between you two. Itâs an odd thing to watch. Vance looks back and forth between you and the sprout you pointed out, blinking as if he doesnât believe the words you said.
However, youâre on a set time limit and not in the mood to fiddle your thumbs while Vance finishes whatever is going on in his head. âœVance. May I?â
He jerks stiffly, but after a hesitant moment he lowers his head in an expectant nod.
After a swift thank you, your head turns back to the little sprout.
Great! Now how to utilize your avatarâs abilitiesâ.
The total number of magic spells in Yggdrasil, from tiers one to ten, plus super tier, was well over six thousand. These were split into various trees thatâd be compatible with some races while it wouldnât with others. Some spells require certain conditions to work like the type of biome the player is in, needed tasks completed beforehand, items that need to be held, can only be used on certain levels, and so on. Normally a level-100 player could use about three hundred but there are some instances where players have found loopholes and were able to have more. Your avatar...since it was the being that created Yggdrasil... can access all the spells contained in the game, though the conditions for the spells still have to be met for you to use them.
It is an insane amount, you know, but it had made sense that SÅsaku-sha would have that kind of ability if they were able to provide the rest of the nine worlds with magical powers. It was also a way for you to adjust your avatar to the players youâd be put up against. And since you are aware of all that was programmed into your game, you had memorized every MG ability.
Anything magic-related available to you is what falls into your current classes, all low-tier casts, and what you have in your inventory. âŸªGrow PlantâŸ« should be no problem.
Activation is the key. How comparatively different is casting magic from using the skills youâve unlocked thus far?
Ascend feels like nothing on your part. Little to no effort whatsoever in controlling it. Whatever you want, it follows. As if youâre walking on airâ.
â.
...Could it really be wanting?
Hmmmââwantââ. Could you use magic if you actively want to or have the will to use magic?
...It canât hurt to try?
Your dominant arm is maneuvered out in front of your form, palm out facing the ground where the plant is, gaze honed in at the one particular point. Not only yours, however, but Vance also turned his attention to face where youâre pointed at as well as any villager capable of looking your way.
Ugh, why does there have to be an audience?... Better make this work or itâll be embarrassing!
Feeling the weight of expectation on your shoulders, you envision the plant growing the same way they were animated in Yggdrasil when assisted with magic. Your arm tenses with determinationâand, with a firm voice, you call out, âœâŸªGrow Plant!âŸ«â
â†:ï¡ï¥ïŸSHHIING!:ï¥ïŸâœ§
A manifestation of light swirls into existence with a flume of emerald rings against your palm, each two rotating slowly in opposite directions.
âœWha-â
Near immediate, before any shocked gasps could exit anyone, the sprout is captured in the exact glow your magic rings have and it starts to rise.
Inch by inch, further it climbs and stem by stem, new bushy green leaves crowd around the main body. Its base thickens to withstand the strain of the new weight, roots bursting through the earth and snake out to stabilize.
Beholding the spellâs work, youâre mesmerized by the otherworldly rapid expansion while the organism blossoms in size, from being mere inches to reaching your knees, then your waist, your chest, shoulders, head, and beyond. Yellow star-like flowers bloom, droop, and pop into buds of green before swelling larger and larger until theyâre a perfect shade of red.
Vance backs away during the whole ordeal until you drop your arm, ending the cast as the bush towers at a nearly whopping two and a half meters, thick and full of the fruit you were hoping for-
Globe tomatoes!
Ghosts of aghast ramblings anew but your mind segments it off to a separate plane, subconsciously listening in while you split further off to your hands and the tall tower of a tomato plant.
Your magic WORKS!!! You still possess your avatarâs MG abilities!!
Your fists clench in excitement as you observe your work with a burst of green pigments across your form.
Haha! Itâs weird!... Familiar but foreign.
The animation of a magic circle is the same. The design of the ring complex with higher tiers causes new rings to follow the rounded line from the circumference, engulfing and projecting out further from the center. Circles and diamonds collected within the intricate designs of the cast mark the center, outward flowing the words FIREWALL thatâd be in the language of your choiceâ.
Except it wasnât.
It would be Japanese for you, as that is-was your default, howeverâor rather a second ago it was in the language of this worldâs tongue. You could read it still with your perk All Tongueâand it says the same FIREWALL text.
Familiar but foreign.
The alien sensation of loss draining paired with the cast sits in the back of your mind. Itâs hardly there but itâs enough information for you to puzzle that the sensation is the drawing of your mana. Youâd barely noticed it at firstâbut as you held the cast while active, you felt the transference of unreal becoming a physical manifestation to power your will.
You can still feel the pool to an extentâvery faint as a seventh sense. The gradual swelling back up of your mana is what you assume it is. Like hearing a drip of a faucet filling a pool back to its full capacity.
While it is interestingâthis whole intention thing is confusingâ. Worrying too if you linger on the process.
While you spoke the incantation phrase for the cast, it doesnât cancel out that it could be only will and not word. Only time can test.
What if you want to do something you shouldnât? Lashing out for one is an impulse that you find hard to maintain for some reason and it scares you.
What if one day something tips you over the edge or something brushes you wrong? Nate for example.
Will you truly become a monster then? Will you truly lose your humanity?
You fear what you can become if you donât practice self-control. You know the not-so-distant experiences of being threatened causes your mind to go elsewhere when youâre triggered. It seems like you lose most to all sense of rationality. Youâve never felt anything quite like it before, nor anything as strong. Emotion blinds you in those moments and you have to fight your entire body to stop you from acting out those emotions. Your only barrier from your wrath at those times is your mind and even that is sketchy.
As you thought before, your mind just goes someplace during those times, and something...vile and...sick takes its place. Your mind is your own enemy in this body and tends to make you more aggressive than anything youâre accustomed to.
Youâll do everything in your power to prevent that from occurring.
You just hope that the day never comes that impulse outways logic.
God have mercy on all the day it occurs-
"SÅâ" The inquiry from your right pulls you to turn Vanceâs way.
"Yes?"
He licks his lips, eyes wide with the most emotion you've ever seen on the young man, while he steps closer after retreating a few steps before. "This isâ. What?" He doesn't find the right words he has to say till he makes it to your side again, turning his neck up to size up the growth. "What kind of spell was that?"
"It was a Druid cast in the Transmutation category called âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«."
You pause for a second but nothing occurs when you utter the incantation.
Not names alone then. Got it. Intention is key.
Vance shakes his head as he reaches out to pinch one of the extending branches seeing how lush green they are. If you could, you'd say his eyes are sparkling in awe by the way he roams the bush.
"Iâhaven't heard of something like thisâIsn't thisâan extremely difficult spell to cast?"
"What?" You almost laugh. "A growth spell hard? It's only a third-tier cast."
He jerks his head to you at a speed you'd never thought possible with his scrawny figure. "T-third?!"
"Yeah. That's what I said." You scratch your neck in a mirthful manner, amused by this extreme shift in emotions. "I didn't even use the spell to its full potential. It has a high range and other perks but I simply focused it on this one target-errâtomato plant. Speaking of which-" Reaching out to a particular globe you'd been eyeing, you pluck a tomato that would fit perfectly into the palm of a regular person but is slightly smaller in your avatarâs. "-ah! There we go!"
A real tomato!! It feels smooth and it is a gorgeous glossy ruby of a fruit. Nice weight to add! It doesn't smell like much on the outside, simply a faint grassy tartness, but you imagine when you finally burst into this globe, it'll be glorious!
You want to devour this thing right now.
"You're sayingâthat this spell you just used is nothing to you?!"
"I wouldn't say thatâuhâ" Whatâs an excuse that doesn't reveal too much of your avatarâs powers? "I can't do it forever. It's like lifting weights. At some point, you'll need to rest. You get it?"
He scrunches his brows. "...but you can do it for a long time?"
"YeahâI canâ." Thereâs a system that if you reach a high enough level in a job class with access to the spell, you can stand and cast the spell for eight hours in-game time and it'll enrich a farmland plot for an entire year in Yggdrasil terms so that they can grow produce twice as plentiful. A level 100 player could likely do this for a little over twelve hours Earth time. With your level 300MP Capâyou could do it for days without break. Not to mention your avatarâs perk Life accelerates restoration by double normal speed, meaning if you ever lost all your MP at once, instead of waiting twenty-four hours for it to run its course before it fills up to max, it'd only take twelve for you depending on conditions.
Soâyou could stand here for days, maybe weeks, using this third-tier spell if youâd wish.
Vance lets go of the branch, and a tremor of a whisper shakes out of his gullet with reverence, "Howâstrong are you?"
You shrug, not intending on spilling the beans but rather to figure out your new goal:
How to eat if you can.
You wish you could check your stats right now but thatâs out of the question with no toolbar or menu. You can only guess with what you already know.
Nothing will happen if you canât eat but youâre testing if you can/need to. So putting that frame of mind on, youâre assuming that would put you in a category of either eating being unnecessary or itâs vital. Youâre leaning more so towards unnecessary since your avatar never had to eat while in-game and you donât feel hungryâstill, you canât rule out necessity.
For Yggdrasil standards, if a player has the Eating Unnecessary perk it means that their avatar canât eat...but for a few races, such as some types of spirits, automatons, and more, can eat or can only eat certain things. It was mainly a way for characters to gain buffs from certain meals, such as a few deity races with nectar or ichor and a handful of undead with the spirit or flesh of the living. Sometimes, certain races had to eat certain things to activate abilities, spells, and more.
Is that your case now? How does this go into play as a Creator? You canât compare it to other races since itâs a race of its ownâhermmmâ.maybe youâre thinking too in the boxâshould you get a look from the outside? Looking at this from a different perspective may helpâ
âœHey, Vance?â He immediately focuses back on you at your prompt. âœIfâhow should I put thisâ. Imagine a scenario thatâthereâs something you need to eat but are having difficulty doing so. How would you go about eating it?â
He quirks a brow at the odd quarry and eyes the tomato in your hand. âœIs there a reason Iâd be having trouble eating it?â
âœYes but Iâm not going to give you a specific reason. That is up to you to deduce-ah, reason out on your own. Give me a reason for any scenario where that would occur.â
âœOkayââ Eyes squinting in puzzlement, he indulges you. âœIf it tastes bad Iâd try to get it down as quickly as I can without it touching my tongue, drinking water to flush the flavor away. If itâs too hardâIâd guess itâd depend on why it is. Iâd find a way to break it apart so that I wouldnât choke on it. Iâd do the same thing with something too big or tough. Something too hot, Iâd blow on it or wait for it to cool downâ.andâif itâs something morally wrong to eatâI donât know. I wouldnât want to even if I had to; thoughâI wouldnât say I would pass on it if it meant my lifeâ. Thatâs all the reasons I can come up withâ. Does this have something to do with the tomato?â
âœUhâit's a general issue, more like. Don't worry. Nothing is wrong with the tomatoes if you're concerned. I'mâtrying to figure something out is allââ A sigh ends your note.
Well that didnât help. Though you canât blame him. Youâre being cryptic. Itâs not like you can ask him a direct question about what youâre trying to achieve. He may be put off or downright discouraging. Plus, he knows less about SÅsaku-sha than you. He wouldnât know where to start. Not to mention a lack of goal to achieve with your inquiries can produce greater creative solutions to your predicament. Itâs exactly why youâre seeking help outside the box in the first place. Maybe you can poke at his imagination a bit?
âœHereâs another scenario. Let's say itâs not one of the reasons you listed. Say your lips were sealed together so you could no longer open them. How would you eat then?â
Disturbance slowly creeps on his features, âœ...Is this something to do with the horrible death you were thinking of earlier?â
âœNoâwell, not really. J-just, entertain me with this. What would your solution to something like that be?â
âœ...How are my lips sealed? Is it some kind of sticky substance?â
âœNo. For this example, the skin of your lips have fused so you no longer have a mouth to open.â
No words come in response for a good moment or so but Vance eventually does speak, âœI can only eat from my mouthâsoâIâd believe Iâd have to make one.â
âœMake what?â
âœMake a mouth. If I had nothing, Iâd try making a mouth. If itâs just the skin of my face thatâs the issue, Iâd cut it so Iâd have a mouth again.â
Make a mouth?
Make a mouthâ.
â.
â.
God damn it. Youâre an idiot. Why didnât you think of that?!
Yes, when you tried to drink the tea Barry gave you, you assumed a mouth would appear or that youâd drink it some other way. However, you never tried to have your avatar form one! You just expected one to appear without putting work into it!
This is something thatâd normally snap to your head while playing your avatar but...maybe youâre confusing this reality with the reality of Earth, where magic and supernatural abilities don't exist. Abilities such as-
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«
It would allow you to obtain a form thatâd give you the ability to eat! It is a skill specific races and magic users have which allows them to accomplish tasks their primary forms would not! A perfect example of that are DoppelgÃngers!
You nod swiftly, âœThat is a good suggestion! Thank you!â
Perturbed is a good description of what the boy appears to be. âœ...You bring up a lot of morbid things.â
You shrug in reply, busy trying to connect some dots.
This is a terrific solution, though, it does raise some thoughts with it.
If you have to rely on âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, or any other transformative spell of yours, just to eat it may very well mean that you donât need to eat; giving a greater probability to the presence of the Eating Unnecessary perk on your person. Thatâs not entirely bad news. In actuality, this may mean that you wonât die of starvation. Itâs not certain, just a greater chance of it being so.
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« isnât a skill native to the Creator classâthough that shouldnât be too much of an issue. Being a Creator gives freedom over all low-level perks, skills, and spells of all races as long as they don't clash with your current job classes...so it may be possible for you to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« that way. An admin key so to say.
Now that you know the gist of activating casts, this should be a piece of cake!
But before you try to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, youâre aware you need a body to replicate into. Itâs a spell that doesnât allow you to make a unique form but rather copy one that youâve seen. Simply put, you canât grow a mouth out of your already existing avatar.
There are plenty of individuals around which you can turn into but youâd risk being accused of trying to steal their identity. No problem, you have a nearly infinite inventory of players and NPCs you have stored in bank to recall for situations like these. Thatâs not including the real-life examples stored in your head which you can choose from if thatâs even possible here. Heck, you may be able to turn back into the real you.
The issue with this is if those faces were transferred here along with you. You have no idea. Your abilities may have been reset in this case and you canât use any of your memories previous to this situation as a guideâ.you canât tell until you start testing the unknown again.
âœHey, Vance?â He nods for you to continue. âœIâm going to try something else now. This time, it will only affect me, okay?â
âœ...How will it affect you?â
âœIâmay look a little different in a sec.â
He squints. âœ...How?â
âœErrâIâmânot so sure. Think about it as if Iâm going to change to a different skin color.â
âœ...Thatâs it?â
âœ...Something like that. Itâs a way for me to adjust to aânew environment.â A new body is a better word to describe it. His expression remains hardened so you take the time to go into more detail to butter him up a bit without giving too much away. âœâdo you remember what we talked about with animals changing color?â
Itâs as if the gears click in his head. âœAhâbut you said yours only represents your feelings?â
âœYes, they do. But I didnât say only. They could mean something elseâwhich is why I need to try this thing real quick, okay?â
His lip curls slightly in displeasure, like he tastes something bad, but after a moment he looks back to the tomato bush and dips his head in a firm nod.
After shared gratitude, you turn back to the tomato in your clutches.
Okay, time to try a new spell! But for this to work, you need to settle on a look as brought up before. You canât try it without a template to copy.
You need to change your appearance to appear like a human again. Thereâs no point in changing your form to look like another monster in these peopleâs eyesâ. Butânot just any human, however.
Youâll need a form that has similarities to the natives of this world. If you appear too foreign, youâll draw eyes which slightly defeats the purpose of fitting in, meaning youâll need to replicate what youâve seen in Bourn as a reference. You wonât try to copy anyone youâve seen here, as youâve concluded before, butâyou canât guarantee how your avatarâs abilities have been affected from coming here, even with your growth spell being generally the same.
Uwahâyou would love to appear as yourselfâbut you also donât want to use your actual identity in this world as you canât say for certain how it could endanger you. You have to take a new look. A new alter ego. This way, your interactions with the natives of this new world will run a bit smootherâ. Therefore-
What do you want to appear as?
Male
Female
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'124â†'131
The choice left at the end of this chapter doesn't necessarily mean much. All it will affect is what gender you'll identify as when you're not SÅsaku-sha, how others will treat you, and small differences from the other gender path. Don't worry and think it'll change the story completely, it won't really. All this means is that it can relate to you more as a character and that I can also post chapters far more frequently since they'll be similar.
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DEAL OF GOLD 3:3
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold.
Chapter Notes
I know I missed another month, but work has been killing me. Long story short, my workplace has been busting my tail with 55 hour weeks on minimum wage. I put my foot down and told them I canât keep being used like that, especially since I just underwent surgery. They got livid, said some awful stuff, and insisted that I start work again two days after the operation when Iâm supposed to be in recovery. Needless to say, Iâm done with that place. So, with the time I have now, I was able to make another update! Hope y'all enjoy!
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Now isnât the time to be making risky moves in front of scared people. If you started to perform magic of any kind, you can only imagine how alarmed theyâd become. Besides, youâre quite curious about these flowers.
Therefore, leaning down and careful of your movement, you pluck three thin stems from between your feet with a slight wince. Standing straight once again, you draw your hand closer to your face to observe the delicate flowers, Vance side-eyeing you as you do so.
Theyâre small, each bud about the size of your pinky nail, however, the petals are all unique in their own way; which you know is impossible biologicallyâat least you believe so. Some have round petals, some have pointy ones, and some are curly even when they grow from the same stim, shifting their shapes as the moments tick by. Theyâre of similar shades though, having copied the color of your skin tone when they grew, and have an iridescent sheen when twirled in the light. Your non-existent eyes widen at the sight of the flowers pulsating and squirming as if they are breathing, pondering if they are feeling pain at the moment by the way theyâre movingâ.
âœPrettyââ You hum warmly, âœSorry I picked you.â
Now, how to eat if you canâ.
You wish you could check your stats right now but thatâs out of the question with no toolbar or menu. You can only guess with what you already know.
Nothing will happen if you canât eat but youâre testing if you can/need to. So putting that frame of mind on, youâre assuming that would put you in a category of either eating being unnecessary or itâs vital. Youâre leaning more so towards unnecessary since your avatar never had to eat while in-game and you donât feel hungryâstill, you canât rule out necessity.
For Yggdrasil standards, if a player has the Eating Unnecessary perk it means that their avatar canât eat...but for a few races, such as some types of spirits, automatons, and more, can eat or can only eat certain things. It was mainly a way for characters to gain buffs from certain meals, such as a few deity races with nectar or ichor and a handful of undead with the spirit or flesh of the living. Sometimes, certain races had to eat certain things to activate abilities, spells, and more.
Is that your case now? How does this go into play as a Creator? You canât compare it to other races since itâs a race of its ownâhermmmâ.maybe youâre thinking too in the boxâshould you get a look from the outside? Looking at this from a different perspective may helpâ
âœHey, Vance?â He doesnât respond, merely turning his head your way to show heâs listening. âœIfâhow should I put thisâ. Imagine a scenario thatâthereâs something you need to eat but are having difficulty doing so. How would you go about eating it?â
He quirks a brow at the odd quarry. âœIs there a reason Iâd be having trouble eating it?â
âœYes but Iâm not going to give you a specific reason. That is up to you to deduce-ah, reason out on your own. Give me a reason for any scenario where that would occur.â
âœOkayââ Eyes squinting in puzzlement, he indulges you. âœIf it tastes bad Iâd try to get it down as quickly as I can without it touching my tongue, drinking water to flush the flavor away. If itâs too hardâIâd guess itâd depend on why it is. Iâd find a way to break it apart so that I wouldnât choke on it. Iâd do the same thing with something too big or tough. Something too hot, Iâd blow on it or wait for it to cool downâ.andâif itâs something morally wrong to eatâI donât know. I wouldnât want to even if I had to; thoughâI wouldnât say I would pass on it if it meant my lifeâ. Thatâs all the reasons I can come up withâ. Why do you ask?â
âœTrying to figure something out is allââ A sigh ends your note.
Well that didnât help. Though you canât blame him. Youâre being cryptic. Itâs not like you can ask him a direct question about what youâre trying to achieve. He may be put off or downright discouraging. Plus, he knows less about SÅsaku-sha than you. He wouldnât know where to start. Not to mention a lack of goal to achieve with your inquiries can produce greater creative solutions to your predicament. Itâs exactly why youâre seeking help outside the box in the first place. Maybe you can poke at his imagination a bit?
âœHereâs another scenario. Let's say itâs not one of the reasons you listed. Say your lips were sealed together so you could no longer open them. How would you eat then?â
Disturbance slowly creeps on his features, âœ...Is this something to do with the horrible death you were thinking of earlier?â
âœNoâwell, not really. J-just, entertain me with this. What would your solution to something like that be?â
âœ...How are my lips sealed? Is it some kind of sticky substance?â
âœNo. For this example, the skin of your lips have fused so you no longer have a mouth to open.â
No words come in response for a good moment or so but Vance eventually does speak, âœI can only eat from my mouthâsoâIâd believe Iâd have to make one.â
âœMake what?â
âœMake a mouth. If I had nothing, Iâd try making a mouth. If itâs just the skin of my face thatâs the issue, Iâd cut it so Iâd have a mouth again.â
Make a mouth?
Make a mouthâ.
â.
â.
God damn it. Youâre an idiot. Why didnât you think of that?!
Yes, when you tried to drink the tea Barry gave you, you assumed a mouth would appear or that youâd drink it some other way. However, you never tried to have your avatar form one! You just expected one to appear without putting work into it!
This is something thatâd normally snap to your head while playing your avatar but...maybe youâre confusing this reality with the reality of Earth, where magic and supernatural abilities don't exist. Abilities such as-
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«
It would allow you to obtain a form thatâd give you the ability to eat! It is a skill specific races and magic users have which allows them to accomplish tasks their primary forms would not! A perfect example of that are DoppelgÃngers!
You nod swiftly, âœThat is a good suggestion! Thank you!â
Perturbed is a good description of what the boy appears to be. âœ...You bring up a lot of morbid things.â
You shrug in reply, busy trying to connect some dots.
This is a terrific solution, though, it does raise some thoughts with it.
If you have to rely on âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, or any other transformative spell of yours, just to eat it may very well mean that you donât need to eat; giving a greater probability to the presence of the Eating Unnecessary perk on your person. Thatâs not entirely bad news. In actuality, this may mean that you wonât die of starvation. Itâs not certain, just a greater chance of it being so.
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« isnât a skill native to the Creator classâthough that shouldnât be too much of an issue. Being a Creator gives freedom over all low-level perks, skills, and spells of all races as long as they don't clash with your current job classes...so it may be possible for you to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« that way. An admin key so to say.
However, one of the reasons you chose flowers was to avoid practicing magic in front of a crowdâguess this was unavoidable. Oh well.
Your biggest concern with trying the cast is your change in controls over your prowess. Thereâs been not a lick of tests tried out on how your abilities have been altered. You may not be able to pull off such a task.
Even if you make the cast work, what if you screw it up in a different way? What if you turn into some horrid frothing beast?! With this alien of a body, you wouldnât be surprised. You could even compare your avatar to a Lovecraftian. You canât even imagine what would happen to these peopleâs minds if you turned into one of the old ones.
A sigh slithers out along with the dark purple and green splotches bubbling up along your exterior. There are some things that...exist that arenât meant to be seenâ.
Wait-
This may not be Yggdrasilâbutâif youâre here does that mean Lovecraftâs beasts are real things now?
â.
Your heart drops.
Shit. Do you have to live in a reality knowing that abominations like the crawling chaos or the slumbering god exist? That reality as you know is just a dream fabricated by Aza-NONONONOO! Donât think the name. Donât think the name! Donât THINK of the NAME! Doing so is very taboo and you donât need the extra trouble. You donât need to poke the bear with the stick, the bear being the ruler of the Outer Gods and the incarnation of chaos.
Yeah. No thank you. Youâre going to distract yourself by dealing with the now. There are certainly things best left in the dark.
You rub your neck, trying to dispel the mental crisis that had settled on you only seconds prior, the dark purple splotches slowly fading.
The uncertainties are there and are legitimate. Youâre...you were considered very powerful by Yggdrasil standards. Even on SÅsaku-shaâs character sheet, your avatar is labeled as âthe most powerful being.â If you use your abilities wrong you could hurt those around you...maybe even more than that.
Swallowing to the vision of you becoming some celestial, genocide-craved, atrocity, you contemplate on.
Your ability to control your avatarâs powers have been compromised meaning those around you and yourself are in greater danger of disasterâ
Your gaze drops to the delicate flowers sitting between your fingers.
Smallâshimmeringâsweet and soft, the small growths are. Although they are literal weeds pulled out from beneath your feet, theyâre appealing to every one of your senses and appear way more appetizing than anything that youâve ever had on a plate.
â.
â.
Come on...
Is it worth possibly summoning an armageddon incarnate of yourself just to taste something other than artificial paste?
â.
You eye the glistening petals and leaves, a vibrant assortment of shapes and colors, and more with a gaze full of desire.
Yes.
Youâll regret it later if it turns out for the worst but the temptation is too great. Besides, you hardly think becoming a monster is that great of a factor here. Low chances and allâ
âœThe fry who never lets curiosity guide its fin shall never see the glory of the seaââ You mumble before you realize what you've done. Lord, another one.
âœHuh?â
âœItâs nothing. Donât mind me.â You reassure Vance although he continues to give you an odd look.
In other words, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Youâre willing to give this a try if itâll help your chance of survival. This is something youâd have inevitably had to doâso better now than never.
You nod, trying to hype yourself up for the task.
So how do you go about using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«? Is it similar to how you use Ascend? Is it your will and intent and the rest follows? But you havenât even tried to see if you can access your spell slots yet. Yes, you couldnât access your menu but what if your casts are separate from the menu? Your inventory is still here despite no menu for it and you used the same method accessing it as Ascend. Should you replicate that process?
Raising your free hand you try to pull up your spell slots-
Nothing.
You try again with more focus and will being poured into the motion-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to do it the old way and go through the menu now that you know more about how to use SÅsaku-shaâs abilities? It didn't work last night...but maybe now? Okay, letâs open the menu-
Nothing.
Mphâagain-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to switch up your arms? Though unlikely, you give it a shot and run both processes again-
Nothing.
âœWhat are you doing?â
âœStretching my limbs.â You reply sarcastically to Vance, not bothering to explain what it is youâre trying to achieve. He doesnât look like he believes you either but doesnât push you for the truth, only continuing to keep a scrutinizing watch over your actions.
Neither of those workedâhuh. Sounds about right. Your guess about spells being similar to your inventory is likely the case then. Youâll have to be direct for this to work. No list and selection. Straight-up magic.
But before you try to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, youâre aware you need a body to replicate into. Itâs a spell that doesnât allow you to make a unique form but rather copy one that youâve seen. Simply put, you canât grow a mouth out of your already existing avatar.
There are plenty of individuals around which you can turn into but youâd risk being accused of trying to steal their identity. No problem, you have a nearly infinite inventory of players and NPCs you have stored in bank to recall for situations like these. Thatâs not including the real-life examples stored in your head which you can choose from if thatâs even possible here. Heck, you may be able to turn back into the real you.
The issue with this is if those faces were transferred here along with you. You have no idea. Your abilities may have been reset and you canât use any of your memories previous to this situation as a guideâ.you canât tell until you start testing the unknown. Ugh, but right now isnât the best timeâ. But when will there ever be a right time?
When you start the journey with the boys, youâll be stuck at their sides. Nate will likely attack you if you try anything. Not to mention the time youâll have in Re-Estize. That will be days of you cast into the unknown, pondering how to control your avatar, and wondering if youâre going to starve to death.
No. You need to do something now while the opportunity is still availableâeven if there is an audience.
Speaking of which, one being very attentive to your every move should likely be warned about what youâre going to try.
âœHey, Vance?â He doesnât visibly show heâs listening to you this time but you know he still is. âœIâm going to try something in a second. Donât start panicking- Hey, donât give me that look! It will only affect me, okay?â
âœHow will it affect you?â
âœIâmay look a little different in a sec.â
He squints. âœ...How?â
âœErrâIâmânot so sure. Think about it as if Iâm going to change to a different skin color.â
âœ...Thatâs it?â
âœ...Something like that. I wouldnât be bringing this up if this wasnât something I have to do.â
âœWhy couldnât you have done so while we were away from everyone?â Frustration carries on his tone and you shrink a little in response.
âœTrust me. I would have done so if it had come to my mind then. Iâm not doing this to cause undue stress on anyone. As I reiterate, this will only affect me and that I have to do it.â
âœCanât you wait?â
âœIâve thought of thatâbut no. Iâd be risking my life more so the longer I wait.â His head jerks up a bit, his unrelenting gaze prompting you with an unsaid question of what you mean. You shake your head instead. âœItâs complicated. Nothing I want to do is harmful to anyone in this village; as long as you all welcome me, I can swear my name on that.â
As the words come out of your mouth, you swear that you see a glimmer of something yellow around your peripherals, though you donât know how that is possible when your vision extends from everywhere.
Before you could switch a part of your focus to what the heck that was, Vance cuts in. âœWhy are you doing it?â
âœ...To preserve my well-being? I already said so.â
âœNot that. How is it going to help you?â
Isâhe truly interested orâis he seeking a way to arrange a rain check for your attempt?... The latter, yeah. Heâs likely looking for an alternative to the unknown tryst you have brought to light. If heâs any what concerned for you itâs a hundred percent on the backburner.
âœItâs a way for me to adjust to aânew environment.â A new body is a better word to describe it. His expression remains hardened so you take the time to go into more detail to butter him up a bit without giving too much away. âœâdo you remember what we talked about with animals changing color?â
Itâs as if the gears click in his head. âœAhâbut you said yours only represents your feelings?â
âœYes, they do. But I didnât say only. They could mean something elseâwhich is why I need to try this thing real quick, okay?â
His lip curls slightly in displeasure, like he tastes something bad, but after a moment he lowers his head in a reluctant nod.
After a swift thank you, your head turns back to the flowers in your clutches.
Great! Now how to utilize your avatarâs abilitiesâ.
The total number of magic spells in Yggdrasil, from tiers one to ten, plus super tier, was well over six thousand. These were split into various trees thatâd be compatible with some races while it wouldnât with others. Some spells require certain conditions to work like the type of biome the player is in, needed tasks completed beforehand, items that need to be held, can only be used on certain levels, and so on. Normally a level-100 player could use about three hundred but there are some instances where players have found loopholes and were able to have more. Your avatar...since it was the being that created Yggdrasil... can access all the spells contained in the game, though the conditions for the spells still have to be met for you to use them.
It is an insane amount, you know, but it had made sense that SÅsaku-sha would have that kind of ability if they were able to provide the rest of the nine worlds with magical powers. It was also a way for you to adjust your avatar to the players youâd be put up against. And since you are aware of all that was programmed into your game, you had memorized every MG ability.
Anything magic-related available to you is what falls into your current classes, all low-tier casts, and what you have in your inventory. âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« should be no problem.
Activation is the key. How comparatively different is casting magic from using the skills youâve unlocked thus far?
Ascend feels like nothing on your part. Little to no effort whatsoever in controlling it. Whatever you want, it follows. As if youâre walking on airâ.
â.
...Could it really be wanting?
Hmmmââwantââ. Could you use magic if you actively want to or have the will to use magic?
...It canât hurt to try? But for this to work, you need to settle on a look as brought up before. You canât try it without a template to copy.
You need to change your appearance to appear like a human again. Thereâs no point in changing your form to look like another monster in these peopleâs eyesâ. Butânot just any human, however.
Youâll need a form that has similarities to the natives of this world. If you appear too foreign, youâll draw eyes which slightly defeats the purpose of fitting in, meaning youâll need to replicate what youâve seen in Bourn as a reference. You wonât try to copy anyone youâve seen here, as youâve concluded before, butâyou canât guarantee how your avatarâs abilities have been affected from coming hereâ.
Uwahâyou would love to appear as yourselfâbut you also donât want to use your actual identity in this world as you canât say for certain how it could endanger you. You have to take a new look. A new alter ego. This way, your interactions with the natives of this new world will run a bit smootherâ. Therefore-
What do you want to appear as?
Male
Female
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'125â†'132
The choice left at the end of this chapter doesn't necessarily mean much. All it will affect is what gender you'll identify as when you're not SÅsaku-sha, how others will treat you, and small differences from the other gender path. Don't worry and think it'll change the story completely, it won't really. All this means is that it can relate to you more as a character and that I can also post chapters far more frequently since they'll be similar.
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DEAL OF GOLD 3:4
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold.
Chapter Notes
I know I missed another month, but work has been killing me. Long story short, my workplace has been busting my tail with 55 hour weeks on minimum wage. I put my foot down and told them I canât keep being used like that, especially since I just underwent surgery. They got livid, said some awful stuff, and insisted that I start work again two days after the operation when Iâm supposed to be in recovery. Needless to say, Iâm done with that place. So, with the time I have now, I was able to make another update! Hope y'all enjoy!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
Why would you give up on a chance to have actual food? The flowers follow you everywhere. When will you have another chance for a real grown fruit or vegetable? Youâve fantasized about having something like this most of your life.
Sure, youâve had a few actual fruits and veggies in your lifetime, all while still living with your parents, but they were allâvery sad and witheredânot to mention decades ago. Youâve long forgotten the flavor they carriedâexcept that strawberry you had when you were eleven.
It was a party, upscale. You were there with your family to âmake face.â At one point, a few hours in, you had snuck off and found a reserved section for the exclusives, people with gold for blood. Usually, theyâd have scanners or bots operating at the entrances to make sure no unwelcome guests could waltz in but it was a mere two android bouncersâ.dressed very skimpy. The creep who hosted the party had a thing for surrounding himself with half-naked individuals, that didnât exclude his work robots.
You half understood why at the timeâfor various reasonsâbut that wasnât your focus. With your small size and the large number of drapes hanging from the walls, youâd passed them.
That was an eye-opening experience. How differently those people looked, acted, talked, and dressed. It was as if youâd walked through a portal into a completely new world. They were all so self-absorbed. What they have, what they want, who they know, what they could do, and what shares they were a part of. You couldnât understand any of it at the time but what did compute to your little noggin was that they not once brought up anything everyday people like you would worry about as if they werenât afflicted by the world around them.
Untouchable.
But you didnât sneak in to watch. What drew you in was the smell. They had food you hadnât known existed until then and you wanted a bite. Thankfully, the food bar was situated near the wall where you could stay hidden. You probably couldâve gotten away with a lot more if you had tried, but when you saw the strawberry tarts your sole focus went to them.
You had grabbed enough for you and your family, wrapped them in a napkin, and made a hasty retreat. You thought youâd achieved a great victoryâthoughâ.when you showed your parents what you had gotten for you all to shareâ.
Oh boyâ.
There was a swift retreat from the party and youâd never been punished more severely in your life. You thought you were going to die at the time and hated them for itâ. However, years later, youâd come to learn why you were disciplined in such a way, and thinking back, yeah, it was a very stupid thing you had done. You couldâve completely screwed your entire family if youâd been caught. Your lives would have been in the gutter, not in the figurative sense.
Even so, those treats werenât thrown away.
No. There could be no evidence left behind. Especially one so damning and rare. Each of you had promptly eaten your share after a promise of never speaking a word of the occasion anywhere but within the familyâ.
Itâwas a sour-sweetâmade your tongue buzz and your eyes widened when the taste registered. Rich and heavy. How much your mouth watered while you chewed the little desert. Almost made it worth the beating youâd gotten. None of them had to say it, but your family eyed you while they ate. Their gazes of course held an extreme level of disappointment in your actionsâbut gratitude as well.
Could this be a similar experience? You need to figure out how to use your magic first.
You turn around so your front faces the expanse of the cropland, leaning your head over the railing of the fence to focus on a little green sprout in the dirt, Vance side-eyeing you as you do so.
The sprout is two inches high with a few stems coming off from the center, the leaves odd in shape. Tomato? Is it? Vance said that they were close to the fence lineâand it looks like a tomato sprout to youâbut you have no idea other than what youâve seen in documentaries and games.
So how are you going to grow the plant? You need your magic to work.
Your biggest concern with trying the cast is your change in controls over your prowess. Thereâs been not a lick of tests tried out on how your abilities have been altered. You may not be able to pull off such a task.
Even if you make a cast work, what if you screw it up in a different way? What if you cast an attack rather than a growth spell? What if you grow it and you turn it into a type of plant monster?
You rub your neck, trying to dispel the mental crisis that has settled on you.
The uncertainties are there and are legitimate. Youâre...you were considered very powerful by Yggdrasil standards. Even on SÅsaku-shaâs character sheet, your avatar is labeled as âthe most powerful being.â If you use your abilities wrong you could hurt those around you...maybe even more than that.
The ability to control your avatarâs powers has been compromised meaning those around you and yourself are in greater danger of disasterâ
Your gaze drops to the delicate greenery in the soil below.
â.
â.
âœ*Sigh, the fry who never lets curiosity guide its fin shall never see the glory of the seaââ You mumble before you realize what you've done. Lord, another one.
âœHuh?â
âœItâs nothing. Donât mind me.â You reassure Vance although he continues to give you an odd look.
In other words, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Fear will hold you back from achieving results. Youâre willing to give this a try if itâll help your chance of survival. This is something youâd inevitably have to doâso better now than never.
You nod, trying to hype yourself up for the task.
So how do you go about using a growth spell such as âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«? Is it similar to how you use Ascend? Is it your will and intent and the rest follows? But you havenât even tried to see if you can access your spell slots yet. Yes, you couldnât access your menu but what if your casts are separate from the menu? Your inventory is still here despite no menu for it and you used the same method accessing it as Ascend. Should you replicate that process?
Raising your free hand you try to pull up your spell slots-
Nothing.
You try again with more focus and will being poured into the motion-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to do it the old way and go through the menu now that you know more about how to use SÅsaku-shaâs abilities? It didn't work last night...but maybe now? Okay, letâs open the menu-
Nothing.
Mphâagain-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to switch up your arms? Though unlikely, you give it a shot and run both processes again-
Nothing.
âœWhat are you doing?â
âœStretching my limbs.â You reply sarcastically to Vance, not bothering to explain what it is youâre trying to achieve. He doesnât look like he believes you either but doesnât push you for the truth, only continuing to keep a scrutinizing watch over your actions.
Neither of those workedâhuh. Sounds about right. Your guess about spells being similar to your inventory is likely the case then. Youâll have to be direct for this to work. No list and selection. Straight-up magic.
Rrahh! This sucks! Your abilities may have been reset and you canât use any of your memories previous to this situation as a guideâ.you canât tell until you start testing the unknown. Ugh, but right now isnât the best timeâ. But when will there ever be a right time?
When you start the journey with the boys, youâll be stuck at their sides. Nate will likely attack you if you try anything. Not to mention the time youâll have in Re-Estize. That will be days of you cast into the unknown, pondering how to control your avatar, and wondering if youâre going to starve to death.
No. You need to do something now while the opportunity is still availableâeven if there is an audience.
Speaking of which, one being very attentive to your every move should likely be warned about what youâre going to try.
âœHey, Vance?â He doesnât visibly show heâs listening to you but you know he still is. âœIâm going to try something in a second. Donât start panicking- Hey, donât give me that look! It will only affect that sprout right there, okay?â
âœWhy are you trying something?â
âœIâm not doing this to cause undue stress on anyone. Believe me, I wouldn't be doing this now if I didn't need to.â
His lip furrows. âœNeed to?â
âœI-itâs something important to my well-being. Iâdonât want to get into all the details but Iâd be risking my life more so the longer I wait.â His head jerks up a bit, his unrelenting gaze prompting you with an unsaid question of what you mean. You shake your head instead. âœItâs complicated. Nothing I want to do is harmful to anyone in this village; as long as you all welcome me, I can swear my name on that.â
As the words come out of your mouth, you swear that you see a glimmer of something yellow around your peripherals, though you donât know how that is possible when your vision extends from everywhere.
Before you could switch a part of your focus to what the heck that was, Vance cuts in. âœWhat are you trying to do?â
âœOh, wellââ You point again at the small green. âœIâm going to try and grow that sprout to maturity.â
The moment your words come out of your mouth, his face goes blank. You watch him as he remains still where he is, processing your words until a quiet, âœ...What?â tumbles out.
âœ...I said I wanted to try and grow the plant?â
Silence settles again between you two. Itâs an odd thing to watch. Vance looks back and forth between you and the sprout you pointed out, blinking as if he doesnât believe the words you said.
However, youâre on a set time limit and not in the mood to fiddle your thumbs while Vance finishes whatever is going on in his head. âœVance. May I?â
He jerks stiffly, but after a hesitant moment he lowers his head in an expectant nod.
After a swift thank you, your head turns back to the little sprout.
Great! Now how to utilize your avatarâs abilitiesâ.
The total number of magic spells in Yggdrasil, from tiers one to ten, plus super tier, was well over six thousand. These were split into various trees thatâd be compatible with some races while it wouldnât with others. Some spells require certain conditions to work like the type of biome the player is in, needed tasks completed beforehand, items that need to be held, can only be used on certain levels, and so on. Normally a level-100 player could use about three hundred but there are some instances where players have found loopholes and were able to have more. Your avatar...since it was the being that created Yggdrasil... can access all the spells contained in the game, though the conditions for the spells still have to be met for you to use them.
It is an insane amount, you know, but it had made sense that SÅsaku-sha would have that kind of ability if they were able to provide the rest of the nine worlds with magical powers. It was also a way for you to adjust your avatar to the players youâd be put up against. And since you are aware of all that was programmed into your game, you had memorized every MG ability.
Anything magic-related available to you is what falls into your current classes, all low-tier casts, and what you have in your inventory. âŸªGrow PlantâŸ« should be no problem.
Activation is the key. How comparatively different is casting magic from using the skills youâve unlocked thus far?
Ascend feels like nothing on your part. Little to no effort whatsoever in controlling it. Whatever you want, it follows. As if youâre walking on airâ.
â.
...Could it really be wanting?
Hmmmââwantââ. Could you use magic if you actively want to or have the will to use magic?
...It canât hurt to try?
Your dominant arm is maneuvered out in front of your form, palm out facing the ground where the plant is, gaze honed in at the one particular point. Not only yours, however, but Vance also turned his attention to face where youâre pointed at as well as any villager capable of looking your way.
Ugh, why does there have to be an audience?... Better make this work or itâll be embarrassing!
Feeling the weight of expectation on your shoulders, you envision the plant growing the same way they were animated in Yggdrasil when assisted with magic. Your arm tenses with determinationâand, with a firm voice, you call out, âœâŸªGrow Plant!âŸ«â
â†:ï¡ï¥ïŸSHHIING!:ï¥ïŸâœ§
A manifestation of light swirls into existence with a flume of emerald rings against your palm, each two rotating slowly in opposite directions.
âœWha-â
Near immediate, before any shocked gasps could exit anyone, the sprout is captured in the exact glow your magic rings have and it starts to rise.
Inch by inch, further it climbs and stem by stem, new bushy green leaves crowd around the main body. Its base thickens to withstand the strain of the new weight, roots bursting through the earth and snake out to stabilize.
Beholding the spellâs work, youâre mesmerized by the otherworldly rapid expansion while the organism blossoms in size, from being mere inches to reaching your knees, then your waist, your chest, shoulders, head, and beyond. Yellow star-like flowers bloom, droop, and pop into buds of green before swelling larger and larger until theyâre a perfect shade of red.
Vance backs away during the whole ordeal until you drop your arm, ending the cast as the bush towers at a nearly whopping two and a half meters, thick and full of the fruit you were hoping for-
Globe tomatoes!
Ghosts of aghast ramblings anew but your mind segments it off to a separate plane, subconsciously listening in while you split further off to your hands and the tall tower of a tomato plant.
Your magic WORKS!!! You still possess your avatarâs MG abilities!!
Your fists clench in excitement as you observe your work with a burst of green pigments across your form.
Haha! Itâs weird!... Familiar but foreign.
The animation of a magic circle is the same. The design of the ring complex with higher tiers causes new rings to follow the rounded line from the circumference, engulfing and projecting out further from the center. Circles and diamonds collected within the intricate designs of the cast mark the center, outward flowing the words FIREWALL thatâd be in the language of your choiceâ.
Except it wasnât.
It would be Japanese for you, as that is-was your default, howeverâor rather a second ago it was in the language of this worldâs tongue. You could read it still with your perk All Tongueâand it says the same FIREWALL text.
Familiar but foreign.
The alien sensation of loss draining paired with the cast sits in the back of your mind. Itâs hardly there but itâs enough information for you to puzzle that the sensation is the drawing of your mana. Youâd barely noticed it at firstâbut as you held the cast while active, you felt the transference of unreal becoming a physical manifestation to power your will.
You can still feel the pool to an extentâvery faint as a seventh sense. The gradual swelling back up of your mana is what you assume it is. Like hearing a drip of a faucet filling a pool back to its full capacity.
While it is interestingâthis whole intention thing is confusingâ. Worrying too if you linger on the process.
While you spoke the incantation phrase for the cast, it doesnât cancel out that it could be only will and not word. Only time can test.
What if you want to do something you shouldnât? Lashing out for one is an impulse that you find hard to maintain for some reason and it scares you.
What if one day something tips you over the edge or something brushes you wrong? Nate for example.
Will you truly become a monster then? Will you truly lose your humanity?
You fear what you can become if you donât practice self-control. You know the not-so-distant experiences of being threatened causes your mind to go elsewhere when youâre triggered. It seems like you lose most to all sense of rationality. Youâve never felt anything quite like it before, nor anything as strong. Emotion blinds you in those moments and you have to fight your entire body to stop you from acting out those emotions. Your only barrier from your wrath at those times is your mind and even that is sketchy.
As you thought before, your mind just goes someplace during those times, and something...vile and...sick takes its place. Your mind is your own enemy in this body and tends to make you more aggressive than anything youâre accustomed to.
Youâll do everything in your power to prevent that from occurring.
You just hope that the day never comes that impulse outways logic.
God have mercy on all the day it occurs-
"SÅâ" The inquiry from your right pulls you to turn Vanceâs way.
"Yes?"
He licks his lips, eyes wide with the most emotion you've ever seen on the young man, while he steps closer after retreating a few steps before. "This isâ. What?" He doesn't find the right words he has to say till he makes it to your side again, turning his neck up to size up the growth. "What kind of spell was that?"
"It was a Druid cast in the Transmutation category called âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«."
You pause for a second but nothing occurs when you utter the incantation.
Not names alone then. Got it. Intention is key.
Vance shakes his head as he reaches out to pinch one of the extending branches seeing how lush green they are. If you could, you'd say his eyes are sparkling in awe by the way he roams the bush.
"Iâhaven't heard of something like thisâIsn't thisâan extremely difficult spell to cast?"
"What?" You almost laugh. "A growth spell hard? It's only a third-tier cast."
He jerks his head to you at a speed you'd never thought possible with his scrawny figure. "T-third?!"
"Yeah. That's what I said." You scratch your neck in a mirthful manner, amused by this extreme shift in emotions. "I didn't even use the spell to its full potential. It has a high range and other perks but I simply focused it on this one target-errâtomato plant. Speaking of which-" Reaching out to a particular globe you'd been eyeing, you pluck a tomato that would fit perfectly into the palm of a regular person but is slightly smaller in your avatarâs. "-ah! There we go!"
A real tomato!! It feels smooth and it is a gorgeous glossy ruby of a fruit. Nice weight to add! It doesn't smell like much on the outside, simply a faint grassy tartness, but you imagine when you finally burst into this globe, it'll be glorious!
You want to devour this thing right now.
"You're sayingâthat this spell you just used is nothing to you?!"
"I wouldn't say thatâuhâ" Whatâs an excuse that doesn't reveal too much of your avatarâs powers? "I can't do it forever. It's like lifting weights. At some point, you'll need to rest. You get it?"
He scrunches his brows. "...but you can do it for a long time?"
"YeahâI canâ." Thereâs a system that if you reach a high enough level in a job class with access to the spell, you can stand and cast the spell for eight hours in-game time and it'll enrich a farmland plot for an entire year in Yggdrasil terms so that they can grow produce twice as plentiful. A level 100 player could likely do this for a little over twelve hours Earth time. With your level 300MP Capâyou could do it for days without break. Not to mention your avatarâs perk Life accelerates restoration by double normal speed, meaning if you ever lost all your MP at once, instead of waiting twenty-four hours for it to run its course before it fills up to max, it'd only take twelve for you depending on conditions.
Soâyou could stand here for days, maybe weeks, using this third-tier spell if youâd wish.
Vance lets go of the branch, and a tremor of a whisper shakes out of his gullet with reverence, "Howâstrong are you?"
You shrug, not intending on spilling the beans but rather to figure out your new goal:
How to eat if you can.
You wish you could check your stats right now but thatâs out of the question with no toolbar or menu. You can only guess with what you already know.
Nothing will happen if you canât eat but youâre testing if you can/need to. So putting that frame of mind on, youâre assuming that would put you in a category of either eating being unnecessary or itâs vital. Youâre leaning more so towards unnecessary since your avatar never had to eat while in-game and you donât feel hungryâstill, you canât rule out necessity.
For Yggdrasil standards, if a player has the Eating Unnecessary perk it means that their avatar canât eat...but for a few races, such as some types of spirits, automatons, and more, can eat or can only eat certain things. It was mainly a way for characters to gain buffs from certain meals, such as a few deity races with nectar or ichor and a handful of undead with the spirit or flesh of the living. Sometimes, certain races had to eat certain things to activate abilities, spells, and more.
Is that your case now? How does this go into play as a Creator? You canât compare it to other races since itâs a race of its ownâhermmmâ.maybe youâre thinking too in the boxâshould you get a look from the outside? Looking at this from a different perspective may helpâ
âœHey, Vance?â He immediately focuses back on you at your prompt. âœIfâhow should I put thisâ. Imagine a scenario thatâthereâs something you need to eat but are having difficulty doing so. How would you go about eating it?â
He quirks a brow at the odd quarry and eyes the tomato in your hand. âœIs there a reason Iâd be having trouble eating it?â
âœYes but Iâm not going to give you a specific reason. That is up to you to deduce-ah, reason out on your own. Give me a reason for any scenario where that would occur.â
âœOkayââ Eyes squinting in puzzlement, he indulges you. âœIf it tastes bad Iâd try to get it down as quickly as I can without it touching my tongue, drinking water to flush the flavor away. If itâs too hardâIâd guess itâd depend on why it is. Iâd find a way to break it apart so that I wouldnât choke on it. Iâd do the same thing with something too big or tough. Something too hot, Iâd blow on it or wait for it to cool downâ.andâif itâs something morally wrong to eatâI donât know. I wouldnât want to even if I had to; thoughâI wouldnât say I would pass on it if it meant my lifeâ. Thatâs all the reasons I can come up withâ. Does this have something to do with the tomato?â
âœUhâit's a general issue, more like. Don't worry. Nothing is wrong with the tomatoes if you're concerned. I'mâtrying to figure something out is allââ A sigh ends your note.
Well that didnât help. Though you canât blame him. Youâre being cryptic. Itâs not like you can ask him a direct question about what youâre trying to achieve. He may be put off or downright discouraging. Plus, he knows less about SÅsaku-sha than you. He wouldnât know where to start. Not to mention a lack of goal to achieve with your inquiries can produce greater creative solutions to your predicament. Itâs exactly why youâre seeking help outside the box in the first place. Maybe you can poke at his imagination a bit?
âœHereâs another scenario. Let's say itâs not one of the reasons you listed. Say your lips were sealed together so you could no longer open them. How would you eat then?â
Disturbance slowly creeps on his features, âœ...Is this something to do with the horrible death you were thinking of earlier?â
âœNoâwell, not really. J-just, entertain me with this. What would your solution to something like that be?â
âœ...How are my lips sealed? Is it some kind of sticky substance?â
âœNo. For this example, the skin of your lips have fused so you no longer have a mouth to open.â
No words come in response for a good moment or so but Vance eventually does speak, âœI can only eat from my mouthâsoâIâd believe Iâd have to make one.â
âœMake what?â
âœMake a mouth. If I had nothing, Iâd try making a mouth. If itâs just the skin of my face thatâs the issue, Iâd cut it so Iâd have a mouth again.â
Make a mouth?
Make a mouthâ.
â.
â.
God damn it. Youâre an idiot. Why didnât you think of that?!
Yes, when you tried to drink the tea Barry gave you, you assumed a mouth would appear or that youâd drink it some other way. However, you never tried to have your avatar form one! You just expected one to appear without putting work into it!
This is something thatâd normally snap to your head while playing your avatar but...maybe youâre confusing this reality with the reality of Earth, where magic and supernatural abilities don't exist. Abilities such as-
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«
It would allow you to obtain a form thatâd give you the ability to eat! It is a skill specific races and magic users have which allows them to accomplish tasks their primary forms would not! A perfect example of that are DoppelgÃngers!
You nod swiftly, âœThat is a good suggestion! Thank you!â
Perturbed is a good description of what the boy appears to be. âœ...You bring up a lot of morbid things.â
You shrug in reply, busy trying to connect some dots.
This is a terrific solution, though, it does raise some thoughts with it.
If you have to rely on âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, or any other transformative spell of yours, just to eat it may very well mean that you donât need to eat; giving a greater probability to the presence of the Eating Unnecessary perk on your person. Thatâs not entirely bad news. In actuality, this may mean that you wonât die of starvation. Itâs not certain, just a greater chance of it being so.
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« isnât a skill native to the Creator classâthough that shouldnât be too much of an issue. Being a Creator gives freedom over all low-level perks, skills, and spells of all races as long as they don't clash with your current job classes...so it may be possible for you to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« that way. An admin key so to say.
Now that you know the gist of activating casts, this should be a piece of cake!
But before you try to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, youâre aware you need a body to replicate into. Itâs a spell that doesnât allow you to make a unique form but rather copy one that youâve seen. Simply put, you canât grow a mouth out of your already existing avatar.
There are plenty of individuals around which you can turn into but youâd risk being accused of trying to steal their identity. No problem, you have a nearly infinite inventory of players and NPCs you have stored in bank to recall for situations like these. Thatâs not including the real-life examples stored in your head which you can choose from if thatâs even possible here. Heck, you may be able to turn back into the real you.
The issue with this is if those faces were transferred here along with you. You have no idea. Your abilities may have been reset in this case and you canât use any of your memories previous to this situation as a guideâ.you canât tell until you start testing the unknown again.
âœHey, Vance?â He nods for you to continue. âœIâm going to try something else now. This time, it will only affect me, okay?â
âœ...How will it affect you?â
âœIâmay look a little different in a sec.â
He squints. âœ...How?â
âœErrâIâmânot so sure. Think about it as if Iâm going to change to a different skin color.â
âœ...Thatâs it?â
âœ...Something like that. Itâs a way for me to adjust to aânew environment.â A new body is a better word to describe it. His expression remains hardened so you take the time to go into more detail to butter him up a bit without giving too much away. âœâdo you remember what we talked about with animals changing color?â
Itâs as if the gears click in his head. âœAhâbut you said yours only represents your feelings?â
âœYes, they do. But I didnât say only. They could mean something elseâwhich is why I need to try this thing real quick, okay?â
His lip curls slightly in displeasure, like he tastes something bad, but after a moment he looks back to the tomato bush and dips his head in a firm nod.
After shared gratitude, you turn back to the tomato in your clutches.
Okay, time to try a new spell! But for this to work, you need to settle on a look as brought up before. You canât try it without a template to copy.
You need to change your appearance to appear like a human again. Thereâs no point in changing your form to look like another monster in these peopleâs eyesâ. Butânot just any human, however.
Youâll need a form that has similarities to the natives of this world. If you appear too foreign, youâll draw eyes which slightly defeats the purpose of fitting in, meaning youâll need to replicate what youâve seen in Bourn as a reference. You wonât try to copy anyone youâve seen here, as youâve concluded before, butâyou canât guarantee how your avatarâs abilities have been affected from coming here, even with your growth spell being generally the same.
Uwahâyou would love to appear as yourselfâbut you also donât want to use your actual identity in this world as you canât say for certain how it could endanger you. You have to take a new look. A new alter ego. This way, your interactions with the natives of this new world will run a bit smootherâ. Therefore-
What do you want to appear as?
Male
Female
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'125â†'133
The choice left at the end of this chapter doesn't necessarily mean much. All it will affect is what gender you'll identify as when you're not SÅsaku-sha, how others will treat you, and small differences from the other gender path. Don't worry and think it'll change the story completely, it won't really. All this means is that it can relate to you more as a character and that I can also post chapters far more frequently since they'll be similar.
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DEAL OF GOLD 3:5
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold.
Chapter Notes
I know I missed another month, but work has been killing me. Long story short, my workplace has been busting my tail with 55 hour weeks on minimum wage. I put my foot down and told them I canât keep being used like that, especially since I just underwent surgery. They got livid, said some awful stuff, and insisted that I start work again two days after the operation when Iâm supposed to be in recovery. Needless to say, Iâm done with that place. So, with the time I have now, I was able to make another update! Hope y'all enjoy!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
Now isnât the time to be making risky moves in front of scared people. If you started to perform magic of any kind, you can only imagine how alarmed theyâd become. Besides, youâre quite curious about these flowers.
Therefore, leaning down and careful of your movement, you pluck three thin stems from between your feet with a slight wince. Standing straight once again, you draw your hand closer to your face to observe the delicate flowers, Vance side-eyeing you as you do so.
Theyâre small, each bud about the size of your pinky nail, however, the petals are all unique in their own way; which you know is impossible biologicallyâat least you believe so. Some have round petals, some have pointy ones, and some are curly even when they grow from the same stim, shifting their shapes as the moments tick by. Theyâre of similar shades though, having copied the color of your skin tone when they grew, and have an iridescent sheen when twirled in the light. Your non-existent eyes widen at the sight of the flowers pulsating and squirming as if they are breathing, pondering if they are feeling pain at the moment by the way theyâre movingâ.
âœPrettyââ You hum warmly, âœSorry I picked you.â
Now, how to eat if you canâ.
You wish you could check your stats right now but thatâs out of the question with no toolbar or menu. You can only guess with what you already know.
Nothing will happen if you canât eat but youâre testing if you can/need to. So putting that frame of mind on, youâre assuming that would put you in a category of either eating being unnecessary or itâs vital. Youâre leaning more so towards unnecessary since your avatar never had to eat while in-game and you donât feel hungryâstill, you canât rule out necessity.
For Yggdrasil standards, if a player has the Eating Unnecessary perk it means that their avatar canât eat...but for a few races, such as some types of spirits, automatons, and more, can eat or can only eat certain things. It was mainly a way for characters to gain buffs from certain meals, such as a few deity races with nectar or ichor and a handful of undead with the spirit or flesh of the living. Sometimes, certain races had to eat certain things to activate abilities, spells, and more.
Is that your case now? How does this go into play as a Creator? You canât compare it to other races since itâs a race of its ownâhermmmâ.maybe youâre thinking too in the boxâshould you get a look from the outside? Looking at this from a different perspective may helpâ
âœHey, Vance?â He doesnât respond, merely turning his head your way to show heâs listening. âœIfâhow should I put thisâ. Imagine a scenario thatâthereâs something you need to eat but are having difficulty doing so. How would you go about eating it?â
He quirks a brow at the odd quarry. âœIs there a reason Iâd be having trouble eating it?â
âœYes but Iâm not going to give you a specific reason. That is up to you to deduce-ah, reason out on your own. Give me a reason for any scenario where that would occur.â
âœOkayââ Eyes squinting in puzzlement, he indulges you. âœIf it tastes bad Iâd try to get it down as quickly as I can without it touching my tongue, drinking water to flush the flavor away. If itâs too hardâIâd guess itâd depend on why it is. Iâd find a way to break it apart so that I wouldnât choke on it. Iâd do the same thing with something too big or tough. Something too hot, Iâd blow on it or wait for it to cool downâ.andâif itâs something morally wrong to eatâI donât know. I wouldnât want to even if I had to; thoughâI wouldnât say I would pass on it if it meant my lifeâ. Thatâs all the reasons I can come up withâ. Why do you ask?â
âœTrying to figure something out is allââ A sigh ends your note.
Well that didnât help. Though you canât blame him. Youâre being cryptic. Itâs not like you can ask him a direct question about what youâre trying to achieve. He may be put off or downright discouraging. Plus, he knows less about SÅsaku-sha than you. He wouldnât know where to start. Not to mention a lack of goal to achieve with your inquiries can produce greater creative solutions to your predicament. Itâs exactly why youâre seeking help outside the box in the first place. Maybe you can poke at his imagination a bit?
âœHereâs another scenario. Let's say itâs not one of the reasons you listed. Say your lips were sealed together so you could no longer open them. How would you eat then?â
Disturbance slowly creeps on his features, âœ...Is this something to do with the horrible death you were thinking of earlier?â
âœNoâwell, not really. J-just, entertain me with this. What would your solution to something like that be?â
âœ...How are my lips sealed? Is it some kind of sticky substance?â
âœNo. For this example, the skin of your lips have fused so you no longer have a mouth to open.â
No words come in response for a good moment or so but Vance eventually does speak, âœI can only eat from my mouthâsoâIâd believe Iâd have to make one.â
âœMake what?â
âœMake a mouth. If I had nothing, Iâd try making a mouth. If itâs just the skin of my face thatâs the issue, Iâd cut it so Iâd have a mouth again.â
Make a mouth?
Make a mouthâ.
â.
â.
God damn it. Youâre an idiot. Why didnât you think of that?!
Yes, when you tried to drink the tea Barry gave you, you assumed a mouth would appear or that youâd drink it some other way. However, you never tried to have your avatar form one! You just expected one to appear without putting work into it!
This is something thatâd normally snap to your head while playing your avatar but...maybe youâre confusing this reality with the reality of Earth, where magic and supernatural abilities don't exist. Abilities such as-
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«
It would allow you to obtain a form thatâd give you the ability to eat! It is a skill specific races and magic users have which allows them to accomplish tasks their primary forms would not! A perfect example of that are DoppelgÃngers!
You nod swiftly, âœThat is a good suggestion! Thank you!â
Perturbed is a good description of what the boy appears to be. âœ...You bring up a lot of morbid things.â
You shrug in reply, busy trying to connect some dots.
This is a terrific solution, though, it does raise some thoughts with it.
If you have to rely on âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, or any other transformative spell of yours, just to eat it may very well mean that you donât need to eat; giving a greater probability to the presence of the Eating Unnecessary perk on your person. Thatâs not entirely bad news. In actuality, this may mean that you wonât die of starvation. Itâs not certain, just a greater chance of it being so.
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« isnât a skill native to the Creator classâthough that shouldnât be too much of an issue. Being a Creator gives freedom over all low-level perks, skills, and spells of all races as long as they don't clash with your current job classes...so it may be possible for you to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« that way. An admin key so to say.
However, one of the reasons you chose flowers was to avoid practicing magic in front of a crowdâguess this was unavoidable. Oh well.
Your biggest concern with trying the cast is your change in controls over your prowess. Thereâs been not a lick of tests tried out on how your abilities have been altered. You may not be able to pull off such a task.
Even if you make the cast work, what if you screw it up in a different way? What if you turn into some horrid frothing beast?! With this alien of a body, you wouldnât be surprised. You could even compare your avatar to a Lovecraftian. You canât even imagine what would happen to these peopleâs minds if you turned into one of the old ones.
A sigh slithers out along with the dark purple and green splotches bubbling up along your exterior. There are some things that...exist that arenât meant to be seenâ.
Wait-
This may not be Yggdrasilâbutâif youâre here does that mean Lovecraftâs beasts are real things now?
â.
Your heart drops.
Shit. Do you have to live in a reality knowing that abominations like the crawling chaos or the slumbering god exist? That reality as you know is just a dream fabricated by Aza-NONONONOO! Donât think the name. Donât think the name! Donât THINK of the NAME! Doing so is very taboo and you donât need the extra trouble. You donât need to poke the bear with the stick, the bear being the ruler of the Outer Gods and the incarnation of chaos.
Yeah. No thank you. Youâre going to distract yourself by dealing with the now. There are certainly things best left in the dark.
You rub your neck, trying to dispel the mental crisis that had settled on you only seconds prior, the dark purple splotches slowly fading.
The uncertainties are there and are legitimate. Youâre...you were considered very powerful by Yggdrasil standards. Even on SÅsaku-shaâs character sheet, your avatar is labeled as âthe most powerful being.â If you use your abilities wrong you could hurt those around you...maybe even more than that.
Swallowing to the vision of you becoming some celestial, genocide-craved, atrocity, you contemplate on.
Your ability to control your avatarâs powers have been compromised meaning those around you and yourself are in greater danger of disasterâ
Your gaze drops to the delicate flowers sitting between your fingers.
Smallâshimmeringâsweet and soft, the small growths are. Although they are literal weeds pulled out from beneath your feet, theyâre appealing to every one of your senses and appear way more appetizing than anything that youâve ever had on a plate.
â.
â.
Come on...
Is it worth possibly summoning an armageddon incarnate of yourself just to taste something other than artificial paste?
â.
You eye the glistening petals and leaves, a vibrant assortment of shapes and colors, and more with a gaze full of desire.
Yes.
Youâll regret it later if it turns out for the worst but the temptation is too great. Besides, you hardly think becoming a monster is that great of a factor here. Low chances and allâ
âœThe fry who never lets curiosity guide its fin shall never see the glory of the seaââ You mumble before you realize what you've done. Lord, another one.
âœHuh?â
âœItâs nothing. Donât mind me.â You reassure Vance although he continues to give you an odd look.
In other words, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Youâre willing to give this a try if itâll help your chance of survival. This is something youâd have inevitably had to doâso better now than never.
You nod, trying to hype yourself up for the task.
So how do you go about using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«? Is it similar to how you use Ascend? Is it your will and intent and the rest follows? But you havenât even tried to see if you can access your spell slots yet. Yes, you couldnât access your menu but what if your casts are separate from the menu? Your inventory is still here despite no menu for it and you used the same method accessing it as Ascend. Should you replicate that process?
Raising your free hand you try to pull up your spell slots-
Nothing.
You try again with more focus and will being poured into the motion-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to do it the old way and go through the menu now that you know more about how to use SÅsaku-shaâs abilities? It didn't work last night...but maybe now? Okay, letâs open the menu-
Nothing.
Mphâagain-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to switch up your arms? Though unlikely, you give it a shot and run both processes again-
Nothing.
âœWhat are you doing?â
âœStretching my limbs.â You reply sarcastically to Vance, not bothering to explain what it is youâre trying to achieve. He doesnât look like he believes you either but doesnât push you for the truth, only continuing to keep a scrutinizing watch over your actions.
Neither of those workedâhuh. Sounds about right. Your guess about spells being similar to your inventory is likely the case then. Youâll have to be direct for this to work. No list and selection. Straight-up magic.
But before you try to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, youâre aware you need a body to replicate into. Itâs a spell that doesnât allow you to make a unique form but rather copy one that youâve seen. Simply put, you canât grow a mouth out of your already existing avatar.
There are plenty of individuals around which you can turn into but youâd risk being accused of trying to steal their identity. No problem, you have a nearly infinite inventory of players and NPCs you have stored in bank to recall for situations like these. Thatâs not including the real-life examples stored in your head which you can choose from if thatâs even possible here. Heck, you may be able to turn back into the real you.
The issue with this is if those faces were transferred here along with you. You have no idea. Your abilities may have been reset and you canât use any of your memories previous to this situation as a guideâ.you canât tell until you start testing the unknown. Ugh, but right now isnât the best timeâ. But when will there ever be a right time?
When you start the journey with the boys, youâll be stuck at their sides. Nate will likely attack you if you try anything. Not to mention the time youâll have in Re-Estize. That will be days of you cast into the unknown, pondering how to control your avatar, and wondering if youâre going to starve to death.
No. You need to do something now while the opportunity is still availableâeven if there is an audience.
Speaking of which, one being very attentive to your every move should likely be warned about what youâre going to try.
âœHey, Vance?â He doesnât visibly show heâs listening to you this time but you know he still is. âœIâm going to try something in a second. Donât start panicking- Hey, donât give me that look! It will only affect me, okay?â
âœHow will it affect you?â
âœIâmay look a little different in a sec.â
He squints. âœ...How?â
âœErrâIâmânot so sure. Think about it as if Iâm going to change to a different skin color.â
âœ...Thatâs it?â
âœ...Something like that. I wouldnât be bringing this up if this wasnât something I have to do.â
âœWhy couldnât you have done so while we were away from everyone?â Frustration carries on his tone and you shrink a little in response.
âœTrust me. I would have done so if it had come to my mind then. Iâm not doing this to cause undue stress on anyone. As I reiterate, this will only affect me and that I have to do it.â
âœCanât you wait?â
âœIâve thought of thatâbut no. Iâd be risking my life more so the longer I wait.â His head jerks up a bit, his unrelenting gaze prompting you with an unsaid question of what you mean. You shake your head instead. âœItâs complicated. Nothing I want to do is harmful to anyone in this village; as long as you all welcome me, I can swear my name on that.â
As the words come out of your mouth, you swear that you see a glimmer of something yellow around your peripherals, though you donât know how that is possible when your vision extends from everywhere.
Before you could switch a part of your focus to what the heck that was, Vance cuts in. âœWhy are you doing it?â
âœ...To preserve my well-being? I already said so.â
âœNot that. How is it going to help you?â
Isâhe truly interested orâis he seeking a way to arrange a rain check for your attempt?... The latter, yeah. Heâs likely looking for an alternative to the unknown tryst you have brought to light. If heâs any what concerned for you itâs a hundred percent on the backburner.
âœItâs a way for me to adjust to aânew environment.â A new body is a better word to describe it. His expression remains hardened so you take the time to go into more detail to butter him up a bit without giving too much away. âœâdo you remember what we talked about with animals changing color?â
Itâs as if the gears click in his head. âœAhâbut you said yours only represents your feelings?â
âœYes, they do. But I didnât say only. They could mean something elseâwhich is why I need to try this thing real quick, okay?â
His lip curls slightly in displeasure, like he tastes something bad, but after a moment he lowers his head in a reluctant nod.
After a swift thank you, your head turns back to the flowers in your clutches.
Great! Now how to utilize your avatarâs abilitiesâ.
The total number of magic spells in Yggdrasil, from tiers one to ten, plus super tier, was well over six thousand. These were split into various trees thatâd be compatible with some races while it wouldnât with others. Some spells require certain conditions to work like the type of biome the player is in, needed tasks completed beforehand, items that need to be held, can only be used on certain levels, and so on. Normally a level-100 player could use about three hundred but there are some instances where players have found loopholes and were able to have more. Your avatar...since it was the being that created Yggdrasil... can access all the spells contained in the game, though the conditions for the spells still have to be met for you to use them.
It is an insane amount, you know, but it had made sense that SÅsaku-sha would have that kind of ability if they were able to provide the rest of the nine worlds with magical powers. It was also a way for you to adjust your avatar to the players youâd be put up against. And since you are aware of all that was programmed into your game, you had memorized every MG ability.
Anything magic-related available to you is what falls into your current classes, all low-tier casts, and what you have in your inventory. âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« should be no problem.
Activation is the key. How comparatively different is casting magic from using the skills youâve unlocked thus far?
Ascend feels like nothing on your part. Little to no effort whatsoever in controlling it. Whatever you want, it follows. As if youâre walking on airâ.
â.
...Could it really be wanting?
Hmmmââwantââ. Could you use magic if you actively want to or have the will to use magic?
...It canât hurt to try? But for this to work, you need to settle on a look as brought up before. You canât try it without a template to copy.
You need to change your appearance to appear like a human again. Thereâs no point in changing your form to look like another monster in these peopleâs eyesâ. Butânot just any human, however.
Youâll need a form that has similarities to the natives of this world. If you appear too foreign, youâll draw eyes which slightly defeats the purpose of fitting in, meaning youâll need to replicate what youâve seen in Bourn as a reference. You wonât try to copy anyone youâve seen here, as youâve concluded before, butâyou canât guarantee how your avatarâs abilities have been affected from coming hereâ.
Uwahâyou would love to appear as yourselfâbut you also donât want to use your actual identity in this world as you canât say for certain how it could endanger you. You have to take a new look. A new alter ego. This way, your interactions with the natives of this new world will run a bit smootherâ. Therefore-
What do you want to appear as?
Male
Female
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'126â†'134
The choice left at the end of this chapter doesn't necessarily mean much. All it will affect is what gender you'll identify as when you're not SÅsaku-sha, how others will treat you, and small differences from the other gender path. Don't worry and think it'll change the story completely, it won't really. All this means is that it can relate to you more as a character and that I can also post chapters far more frequently since they'll be similar.
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DEAL OF GOLD 3:6
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold.
Chapter Notes
I know I missed another month, but work has been killing me. Long story short, my workplace has been busting my tail with 55 hour weeks on minimum wage. I put my foot down and told them I canât keep being used like that, especially since I just underwent surgery. They got livid, said some awful stuff, and insisted that I start work again two days after the operation when Iâm supposed to be in recovery. Needless to say, Iâm done with that place. So, with the time I have now, I was able to make another update! Hope y'all enjoy!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
Why would you give up on a chance to have actual food? The flowers follow you everywhere. When will you have another chance for a real grown fruit or vegetable? Youâve fantasized about having something like this most of your life.
Sure, youâve had a few actual fruits and veggies in your lifetime, all while still living with your parents, but they were allâvery sad and witheredânot to mention decades ago. Youâve long forgotten the flavor they carriedâexcept that strawberry you had when you were eleven.
It was a party, upscale. You were there with your family to âmake face.â At one point, a few hours in, you had snuck off and found a reserved section for the exclusives, people with gold for blood. Usually, theyâd have scanners or bots operating at the entrances to make sure no unwelcome guests could waltz in but it was a mere two android bouncersâ.dressed very skimpy. The creep who hosted the party had a thing for surrounding himself with half-naked individuals, that didnât exclude his work robots.
You half understood why at the timeâfor various reasonsâbut that wasnât your focus. With your small size and the large number of drapes hanging from the walls, youâd passed them.
That was an eye-opening experience. How differently those people looked, acted, talked, and dressed. It was as if youâd walked through a portal into a completely new world. They were all so self-absorbed. What they have, what they want, who they know, what they could do, and what shares they were a part of. You couldnât understand any of it at the time but what did compute to your little noggin was that they not once brought up anything everyday people like you would worry about as if they werenât afflicted by the world around them.
Untouchable.
But you didnât sneak in to watch. What drew you in was the smell. They had food you hadnât known existed until then and you wanted a bite. Thankfully, the food bar was situated near the wall where you could stay hidden. You probably couldâve gotten away with a lot more if you had tried, but when you saw the strawberry tarts your sole focus went to them.
You had grabbed enough for you and your family, wrapped them in a napkin, and made a hasty retreat. You thought youâd achieved a great victoryâthoughâ.when you showed your parents what you had gotten for you all to shareâ.
Oh boyâ.
There was a swift retreat from the party and youâd never been punished more severely in your life. You thought you were going to die at the time and hated them for itâ. However, years later, youâd come to learn why you were disciplined in such a way, and thinking back, yeah, it was a very stupid thing you had done. You couldâve completely screwed your entire family if youâd been caught. Your lives would have been in the gutter, not in the figurative sense.
Even so, those treats werenât thrown away.
No. There could be no evidence left behind. Especially one so damning and rare. Each of you had promptly eaten your share after a promise of never speaking a word of the occasion anywhere but within the familyâ.
Itâwas a sour-sweetâmade your tongue buzz and your eyes widened when the taste registered. Rich and heavy. How much your mouth watered while you chewed the little desert. Almost made it worth the beating youâd gotten. None of them had to say it, but your family eyed you while they ate. Their gazes of course held an extreme level of disappointment in your actionsâbut gratitude as well.
Could this be a similar experience? You need to figure out how to use your magic first.
You turn around so your front faces the expanse of the cropland, leaning your head over the railing of the fence to focus on a little green sprout in the dirt, Vance side-eyeing you as you do so.
The sprout is two inches high with a few stems coming off from the center, the leaves odd in shape. Tomato? Is it? Vance said that they were close to the fence lineâand it looks like a tomato sprout to youâbut you have no idea other than what youâve seen in documentaries and games.
So how are you going to grow the plant? You need your magic to work.
Your biggest concern with trying the cast is your change in controls over your prowess. Thereâs been not a lick of tests tried out on how your abilities have been altered. You may not be able to pull off such a task.
Even if you make a cast work, what if you screw it up in a different way? What if you cast an attack rather than a growth spell? What if you grow it and you turn it into a type of plant monster?
You rub your neck, trying to dispel the mental crisis that has settled on you.
The uncertainties are there and are legitimate. Youâre...you were considered very powerful by Yggdrasil standards. Even on SÅsaku-shaâs character sheet, your avatar is labeled as âthe most powerful being.â If you use your abilities wrong you could hurt those around you...maybe even more than that.
The ability to control your avatarâs powers has been compromised meaning those around you and yourself are in greater danger of disasterâ
Your gaze drops to the delicate greenery in the soil below.
â.
â.
âœ*Sigh, the fry who never lets curiosity guide its fin shall never see the glory of the seaââ You mumble before you realize what you've done. Lord, another one.
âœHuh?â
âœItâs nothing. Donât mind me.â You reassure Vance although he continues to give you an odd look.
In other words, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Fear will hold you back from achieving results. Youâre willing to give this a try if itâll help your chance of survival. This is something youâd inevitably have to doâso better now than never.
You nod, trying to hype yourself up for the task.
So how do you go about using a growth spell such as âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«? Is it similar to how you use Ascend? Is it your will and intent and the rest follows? But you havenât even tried to see if you can access your spell slots yet. Yes, you couldnât access your menu but what if your casts are separate from the menu? Your inventory is still here despite no menu for it and you used the same method accessing it as Ascend. Should you replicate that process?
Raising your free hand you try to pull up your spell slots-
Nothing.
You try again with more focus and will being poured into the motion-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to do it the old way and go through the menu now that you know more about how to use SÅsaku-shaâs abilities? It didn't work last night...but maybe now? Okay, letâs open the menu-
Nothing.
Mphâagain-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to switch up your arms? Though unlikely, you give it a shot and run both processes again-
Nothing.
âœWhat are you doing?â
âœStretching my limbs.â You reply sarcastically to Vance, not bothering to explain what it is youâre trying to achieve. He doesnât look like he believes you either but doesnât push you for the truth, only continuing to keep a scrutinizing watch over your actions.
Neither of those workedâhuh. Sounds about right. Your guess about spells being similar to your inventory is likely the case then. Youâll have to be direct for this to work. No list and selection. Straight-up magic.
Rrahh! This sucks! Your abilities may have been reset and you canât use any of your memories previous to this situation as a guideâ.you canât tell until you start testing the unknown. Ugh, but right now isnât the best timeâ. But when will there ever be a right time?
When you start the journey with the boys, youâll be stuck at their sides. Nate will likely attack you if you try anything. Not to mention the time youâll have in Re-Estize. That will be days of you cast into the unknown, pondering how to control your avatar, and wondering if youâre going to starve to death.
No. You need to do something now while the opportunity is still availableâeven if there is an audience.
Speaking of which, one being very attentive to your every move should likely be warned about what youâre going to try.
âœHey, Vance?â He doesnât visibly show heâs listening to you but you know he still is. âœIâm going to try something in a second. Donât start panicking- Hey, donât give me that look! It will only affect that sprout right there, okay?â
âœWhy are you trying something?â
âœIâm not doing this to cause undue stress on anyone. Believe me, I wouldn't be doing this now if I didn't need to.â
His lip furrows. âœNeed to?â
âœI-itâs something important to my well-being. Iâdonât want to get into all the details but Iâd be risking my life more so the longer I wait.â His head jerks up a bit, his unrelenting gaze prompting you with an unsaid question of what you mean. You shake your head instead. âœItâs complicated. Nothing I want to do is harmful to anyone in this village; as long as you all welcome me, I can swear my name on that.â
As the words come out of your mouth, you swear that you see a glimmer of something yellow around your peripherals, though you donât know how that is possible when your vision extends from everywhere.
Before you could switch a part of your focus to what the heck that was, Vance cuts in. âœWhat are you trying to do?â
âœOh, wellââ You point again at the small green. âœIâm going to try and grow that sprout to maturity.â
The moment your words come out of your mouth, his face goes blank. You watch him as he remains still where he is, processing your words until a quiet, âœ...What?â tumbles out.
âœ...I said I wanted to try and grow the plant?â
Silence settles again between you two. Itâs an odd thing to watch. Vance looks back and forth between you and the sprout you pointed out, blinking as if he doesnât believe the words you said.
However, youâre on a set time limit and not in the mood to fiddle your thumbs while Vance finishes whatever is going on in his head. âœVance. May I?â
He jerks stiffly, but after a hesitant moment he lowers his head in an expectant nod.
After a swift thank you, your head turns back to the little sprout.
Great! Now how to utilize your avatarâs abilitiesâ.
The total number of magic spells in Yggdrasil, from tiers one to ten, plus super tier, was well over six thousand. These were split into various trees thatâd be compatible with some races while it wouldnât with others. Some spells require certain conditions to work like the type of biome the player is in, needed tasks completed beforehand, items that need to be held, can only be used on certain levels, and so on. Normally a level-100 player could use about three hundred but there are some instances where players have found loopholes and were able to have more. Your avatar...since it was the being that created Yggdrasil... can access all the spells contained in the game, though the conditions for the spells still have to be met for you to use them.
It is an insane amount, you know, but it had made sense that SÅsaku-sha would have that kind of ability if they were able to provide the rest of the nine worlds with magical powers. It was also a way for you to adjust your avatar to the players youâd be put up against. And since you are aware of all that was programmed into your game, you had memorized every MG ability.
Anything magic-related available to you is what falls into your current classes, all low-tier casts, and what you have in your inventory. âŸªGrow PlantâŸ« should be no problem.
Activation is the key. How comparatively different is casting magic from using the skills youâve unlocked thus far?
Ascend feels like nothing on your part. Little to no effort whatsoever in controlling it. Whatever you want, it follows. As if youâre walking on airâ.
â.
...Could it really be wanting?
Hmmmââwantââ. Could you use magic if you actively want to or have the will to use magic?
...It canât hurt to try?
Your dominant arm is maneuvered out in front of your form, palm out facing the ground where the plant is, gaze honed in at the one particular point. Not only yours, however, but Vance also turned his attention to face where youâre pointed at as well as any villager capable of looking your way.
Ugh, why does there have to be an audience?... Better make this work or itâll be embarrassing!
Feeling the weight of expectation on your shoulders, you envision the plant growing the same way they were animated in Yggdrasil when assisted with magic. Your arm tenses with determinationâand, with a firm voice, you call out, âœâŸªGrow Plant!âŸ«â
â†:ï¡ï¥ïŸSHHIING!:ï¥ïŸâœ§
A manifestation of light swirls into existence with a flume of emerald rings against your palm, each two rotating slowly in opposite directions.
âœWha-â
Near immediate, before any shocked gasps could exit anyone, the sprout is captured in the exact glow your magic rings have and it starts to rise.
Inch by inch, further it climbs and stem by stem, new bushy green leaves crowd around the main body. Its base thickens to withstand the strain of the new weight, roots bursting through the earth and snake out to stabilize.
Beholding the spellâs work, youâre mesmerized by the otherworldly rapid expansion while the organism blossoms in size, from being mere inches to reaching your knees, then your waist, your chest, shoulders, head, and beyond. Yellow star-like flowers bloom, droop, and pop into buds of green before swelling larger and larger until theyâre a perfect shade of red.
Vance backs away during the whole ordeal until you drop your arm, ending the cast as the bush towers at a nearly whopping two and a half meters, thick and full of the fruit you were hoping for-
Globe tomatoes!
Ghosts of aghast ramblings anew but your mind segments it off to a separate plane, subconsciously listening in while you split further off to your hands and the tall tower of a tomato plant.
Your magic WORKS!!! You still possess your avatarâs MG abilities!!
Your fists clench in excitement as you observe your work with a burst of green pigments across your form.
Haha! Itâs weird!... Familiar but foreign.
The animation of a magic circle is the same. The design of the ring complex with higher tiers causes new rings to follow the rounded line from the circumference, engulfing and projecting out further from the center. Circles and diamonds collected within the intricate designs of the cast mark the center, outward flowing the words FIREWALL thatâd be in the language of your choiceâ.
Except it wasnât.
It would be Japanese for you, as that is-was your default, howeverâor rather a second ago it was in the language of this worldâs tongue. You could read it still with your perk All Tongueâand it says the same FIREWALL text.
Familiar but foreign.
The alien sensation of loss draining paired with the cast sits in the back of your mind. Itâs hardly there but itâs enough information for you to puzzle that the sensation is the drawing of your mana. Youâd barely noticed it at firstâbut as you held the cast while active, you felt the transference of unreal becoming a physical manifestation to power your will.
You can still feel the pool to an extentâvery faint as a seventh sense. The gradual swelling back up of your mana is what you assume it is. Like hearing a drip of a faucet filling a pool back to its full capacity.
While it is interestingâthis whole intention thing is confusingâ. Worrying too if you linger on the process.
While you spoke the incantation phrase for the cast, it doesnât cancel out that it could be only will and not word. Only time can test.
What if you want to do something you shouldnât? Lashing out for one is an impulse that you find hard to maintain for some reason and it scares you.
What if one day something tips you over the edge or something brushes you wrong? Nate for example.
Will you truly become a monster then? Will you truly lose your humanity?
You fear what you can become if you donât practice self-control. You know the not-so-distant experiences of being threatened causes your mind to go elsewhere when youâre triggered. It seems like you lose most to all sense of rationality. Youâve never felt anything quite like it before, nor anything as strong. Emotion blinds you in those moments and you have to fight your entire body to stop you from acting out those emotions. Your only barrier from your wrath at those times is your mind and even that is sketchy.
As you thought before, your mind just goes someplace during those times, and something...vile and...sick takes its place. Your mind is your own enemy in this body and tends to make you more aggressive than anything youâre accustomed to.
Youâll do everything in your power to prevent that from occurring.
You just hope that the day never comes that impulse outways logic.
God have mercy on all the day it occurs-
"SÅâ" The inquiry from your right pulls you to turn Vanceâs way.
"Yes?"
He licks his lips, eyes wide with the most emotion you've ever seen on the young man, while he steps closer after retreating a few steps before. "This isâ. What?" He doesn't find the right words he has to say till he makes it to your side again, turning his neck up to size up the growth. "What kind of spell was that?"
"It was a Druid cast in the Transmutation category called âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«."
You pause for a second but nothing occurs when you utter the incantation.
Not names alone then. Got it. Intention is key.
Vance shakes his head as he reaches out to pinch one of the extending branches seeing how lush green they are. If you could, you'd say his eyes are sparkling in awe by the way he roams the bush.
"Iâhaven't heard of something like thisâIsn't thisâan extremely difficult spell to cast?"
"What?" You almost laugh. "A growth spell hard? It's only a third-tier cast."
He jerks his head to you at a speed you'd never thought possible with his scrawny figure. "T-third?!"
"Yeah. That's what I said." You scratch your neck in a mirthful manner, amused by this extreme shift in emotions. "I didn't even use the spell to its full potential. It has a high range and other perks but I simply focused it on this one target-errâtomato plant. Speaking of which-" Reaching out to a particular globe you'd been eyeing, you pluck a tomato that would fit perfectly into the palm of a regular person but is slightly smaller in your avatarâs. "-ah! There we go!"
A real tomato!! It feels smooth and it is a gorgeous glossy ruby of a fruit. Nice weight to add! It doesn't smell like much on the outside, simply a faint grassy tartness, but you imagine when you finally burst into this globe, it'll be glorious!
You want to devour this thing right now.
"You're sayingâthat this spell you just used is nothing to you?!"
"I wouldn't say thatâuhâ" Whatâs an excuse that doesn't reveal too much of your avatarâs powers? "I can't do it forever. It's like lifting weights. At some point, you'll need to rest. You get it?"
He scrunches his brows. "...but you can do it for a long time?"
"YeahâI canâ." Thereâs a system that if you reach a high enough level in a job class with access to the spell, you can stand and cast the spell for eight hours in-game time and it'll enrich a farmland plot for an entire year in Yggdrasil terms so that they can grow produce twice as plentiful. A level 100 player could likely do this for a little over twelve hours Earth time. With your level 300MP Capâyou could do it for days without break. Not to mention your avatarâs perk Life accelerates restoration by double normal speed, meaning if you ever lost all your MP at once, instead of waiting twenty-four hours for it to run its course before it fills up to max, it'd only take twelve for you depending on conditions.
Soâyou could stand here for days, maybe weeks, using this third-tier spell if youâd wish.
Vance lets go of the branch, and a tremor of a whisper shakes out of his gullet with reverence, "Howâstrong are you?"
You shrug, not intending on spilling the beans but rather to figure out your new goal:
How to eat if you can.
You wish you could check your stats right now but thatâs out of the question with no toolbar or menu. You can only guess with what you already know.
Nothing will happen if you canât eat but youâre testing if you can/need to. So putting that frame of mind on, youâre assuming that would put you in a category of either eating being unnecessary or itâs vital. Youâre leaning more so towards unnecessary since your avatar never had to eat while in-game and you donât feel hungryâstill, you canât rule out necessity.
For Yggdrasil standards, if a player has the Eating Unnecessary perk it means that their avatar canât eat...but for a few races, such as some types of spirits, automatons, and more, can eat or can only eat certain things. It was mainly a way for characters to gain buffs from certain meals, such as a few deity races with nectar or ichor and a handful of undead with the spirit or flesh of the living. Sometimes, certain races had to eat certain things to activate abilities, spells, and more.
Is that your case now? How does this go into play as a Creator? You canât compare it to other races since itâs a race of its ownâhermmmâ.maybe youâre thinking too in the boxâshould you get a look from the outside? Looking at this from a different perspective may helpâ
âœHey, Vance?â He immediately focuses back on you at your prompt. âœIfâhow should I put thisâ. Imagine a scenario thatâthereâs something you need to eat but are having difficulty doing so. How would you go about eating it?â
He quirks a brow at the odd quarry and eyes the tomato in your hand. âœIs there a reason Iâd be having trouble eating it?â
âœYes but Iâm not going to give you a specific reason. That is up to you to deduce-ah, reason out on your own. Give me a reason for any scenario where that would occur.â
âœOkayââ Eyes squinting in puzzlement, he indulges you. âœIf it tastes bad Iâd try to get it down as quickly as I can without it touching my tongue, drinking water to flush the flavor away. If itâs too hardâIâd guess itâd depend on why it is. Iâd find a way to break it apart so that I wouldnât choke on it. Iâd do the same thing with something too big or tough. Something too hot, Iâd blow on it or wait for it to cool downâ.andâif itâs something morally wrong to eatâI donât know. I wouldnât want to even if I had to; thoughâI wouldnât say I would pass on it if it meant my lifeâ. Thatâs all the reasons I can come up withâ. Does this have something to do with the tomato?â
âœUhâit's a general issue, more like. Don't worry. Nothing is wrong with the tomatoes if you're concerned. I'mâtrying to figure something out is allââ A sigh ends your note.
Well that didnât help. Though you canât blame him. Youâre being cryptic. Itâs not like you can ask him a direct question about what youâre trying to achieve. He may be put off or downright discouraging. Plus, he knows less about SÅsaku-sha than you. He wouldnât know where to start. Not to mention a lack of goal to achieve with your inquiries can produce greater creative solutions to your predicament. Itâs exactly why youâre seeking help outside the box in the first place. Maybe you can poke at his imagination a bit?
âœHereâs another scenario. Let's say itâs not one of the reasons you listed. Say your lips were sealed together so you could no longer open them. How would you eat then?â
Disturbance slowly creeps on his features, âœ...Is this something to do with the horrible death you were thinking of earlier?â
âœNoâwell, not really. J-just, entertain me with this. What would your solution to something like that be?â
âœ...How are my lips sealed? Is it some kind of sticky substance?â
âœNo. For this example, the skin of your lips have fused so you no longer have a mouth to open.â
No words come in response for a good moment or so but Vance eventually does speak, âœI can only eat from my mouthâsoâIâd believe Iâd have to make one.â
âœMake what?â
âœMake a mouth. If I had nothing, Iâd try making a mouth. If itâs just the skin of my face thatâs the issue, Iâd cut it so Iâd have a mouth again.â
Make a mouth?
Make a mouthâ.
â.
â.
God damn it. Youâre an idiot. Why didnât you think of that?!
Yes, when you tried to drink the tea Barry gave you, you assumed a mouth would appear or that youâd drink it some other way. However, you never tried to have your avatar form one! You just expected one to appear without putting work into it!
This is something thatâd normally snap to your head while playing your avatar but...maybe youâre confusing this reality with the reality of Earth, where magic and supernatural abilities don't exist. Abilities such as-
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«
It would allow you to obtain a form thatâd give you the ability to eat! It is a skill specific races and magic users have which allows them to accomplish tasks their primary forms would not! A perfect example of that are DoppelgÃngers!
You nod swiftly, âœThat is a good suggestion! Thank you!â
Perturbed is a good description of what the boy appears to be. âœ...You bring up a lot of morbid things.â
You shrug in reply, busy trying to connect some dots.
This is a terrific solution, though, it does raise some thoughts with it.
If you have to rely on âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, or any other transformative spell of yours, just to eat it may very well mean that you donât need to eat; giving a greater probability to the presence of the Eating Unnecessary perk on your person. Thatâs not entirely bad news. In actuality, this may mean that you wonât die of starvation. Itâs not certain, just a greater chance of it being so.
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« isnât a skill native to the Creator classâthough that shouldnât be too much of an issue. Being a Creator gives freedom over all low-level perks, skills, and spells of all races as long as they don't clash with your current job classes...so it may be possible for you to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« that way. An admin key so to say.
Now that you know the gist of activating casts, this should be a piece of cake!
But before you try to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, youâre aware you need a body to replicate into. Itâs a spell that doesnât allow you to make a unique form but rather copy one that youâve seen. Simply put, you canât grow a mouth out of your already existing avatar.
There are plenty of individuals around which you can turn into but youâd risk being accused of trying to steal their identity. No problem, you have a nearly infinite inventory of players and NPCs you have stored in bank to recall for situations like these. Thatâs not including the real-life examples stored in your head which you can choose from if thatâs even possible here. Heck, you may be able to turn back into the real you.
The issue with this is if those faces were transferred here along with you. You have no idea. Your abilities may have been reset in this case and you canât use any of your memories previous to this situation as a guideâ.you canât tell until you start testing the unknown again.
âœHey, Vance?â He nods for you to continue. âœIâm going to try something else now. This time, it will only affect me, okay?â
âœ...How will it affect you?â
âœIâmay look a little different in a sec.â
He squints. âœ...How?â
âœErrâIâmânot so sure. Think about it as if Iâm going to change to a different skin color.â
âœ...Thatâs it?â
âœ...Something like that. Itâs a way for me to adjust to aânew environment.â A new body is a better word to describe it. His expression remains hardened so you take the time to go into more detail to butter him up a bit without giving too much away. âœâdo you remember what we talked about with animals changing color?â
Itâs as if the gears click in his head. âœAhâbut you said yours only represents your feelings?â
âœYes, they do. But I didnât say only. They could mean something elseâwhich is why I need to try this thing real quick, okay?â
His lip curls slightly in displeasure, like he tastes something bad, but after a moment he looks back to the tomato bush and dips his head in a firm nod.
After shared gratitude, you turn back to the tomato in your clutches.
Okay, time to try a new spell! But for this to work, you need to settle on a look as brought up before. You canât try it without a template to copy.
You need to change your appearance to appear like a human again. Thereâs no point in changing your form to look like another monster in these peopleâs eyesâ. Butânot just any human, however.
Youâll need a form that has similarities to the natives of this world. If you appear too foreign, youâll draw eyes which slightly defeats the purpose of fitting in, meaning youâll need to replicate what youâve seen in Bourn as a reference. You wonât try to copy anyone youâve seen here, as youâve concluded before, butâyou canât guarantee how your avatarâs abilities have been affected from coming here, even with your growth spell being generally the same.
Uwahâyou would love to appear as yourselfâbut you also donât want to use your actual identity in this world as you canât say for certain how it could endanger you. You have to take a new look. A new alter ego. This way, your interactions with the natives of this new world will run a bit smootherâ. Therefore-
What do you want to appear as?
Male
Female
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'126â†'135
The choice left at the end of this chapter doesn't necessarily mean much. All it will affect is what gender you'll identify as when you're not SÅsaku-sha, how others will treat you, and small differences from the other gender path. Don't worry and think it'll change the story completely, it won't really. All this means is that it can relate to you more as a character and that I can also post chapters far more frequently since they'll be similar.
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DEAL OF GOLD 3:7
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold.
Chapter Notes
I know I missed another month, but work has been killing me. Long story short, my workplace has been busting my tail with 55 hour weeks on minimum wage. I put my foot down and told them I canât keep being used like that, especially since I just underwent surgery. They got livid, said some awful stuff, and insisted that I start work again two days after the operation when Iâm supposed to be in recovery. Needless to say, Iâm done with that place. So, with the time I have now, I was able to make another update! Hope y'all enjoy!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
Now isnât the time to be making risky moves in front of scared people. If you started to perform magic of any kind, you can only imagine how alarmed theyâd become. Besides, youâre quite curious about these flowers.
Therefore, leaning down and careful of your movement, you pluck three thin stems from between your feet with a slight wince. Standing straight once again, you draw your hand closer to your face to observe the delicate flowers, Vance side-eyeing you as you do so.
Theyâre small, each bud about the size of your pinky nail, however, the petals are all unique in their own way; which you know is impossible biologicallyâat least you believe so. Some have round petals, some have pointy ones, and some are curly even when they grow from the same stim, shifting their shapes as the moments tick by. Theyâre of similar shades though, having copied the color of your skin tone when they grew, and have an iridescent sheen when twirled in the light. Your non-existent eyes widen at the sight of the flowers pulsating and squirming as if they are breathing, pondering if they are feeling pain at the moment by the way theyâre movingâ.
âœPrettyââ You hum warmly, âœSorry I picked you.â
Now, how to eat if you canâ.
You wish you could check your stats right now but thatâs out of the question with no toolbar or menu. You can only guess with what you already know.
Nothing will happen if you canât eat but youâre testing if you can/need to. So putting that frame of mind on, youâre assuming that would put you in a category of either eating being unnecessary or itâs vital. Youâre leaning more so towards unnecessary since your avatar never had to eat while in-game and you donât feel hungryâstill, you canât rule out necessity.
For Yggdrasil standards, if a player has the Eating Unnecessary perk it means that their avatar canât eat...but for a few races, such as some types of spirits, automatons, and more, can eat or can only eat certain things. It was mainly a way for characters to gain buffs from certain meals, such as a few deity races with nectar or ichor and a handful of undead with the spirit or flesh of the living. Sometimes, certain races had to eat certain things to activate abilities, spells, and more.
Is that your case now? How does this go into play as a Creator? You canât compare it to other races since itâs a race of its ownâhermmmâ.maybe youâre thinking too in the boxâshould you get a look from the outside? Looking at this from a different perspective may helpâ
âœHey, Vance?â He doesnât respond, merely turning his head your way to show heâs listening. âœIfâhow should I put thisâ. Imagine a scenario thatâthereâs something you need to eat but are having difficulty doing so. How would you go about eating it?â
He quirks a brow at the odd quarry. âœIs there a reason Iâd be having trouble eating it?â
âœYes but Iâm not going to give you a specific reason. That is up to you to deduce-ah, reason out on your own. Give me a reason for any scenario where that would occur.â
âœOkayââ Eyes squinting in puzzlement, he indulges you. âœIf it tastes bad Iâd try to get it down as quickly as I can without it touching my tongue, drinking water to flush the flavor away. If itâs too hardâIâd guess itâd depend on why it is. Iâd find a way to break it apart so that I wouldnât choke on it. Iâd do the same thing with something too big or tough. Something too hot, Iâd blow on it or wait for it to cool downâ.andâif itâs something morally wrong to eatâI donât know. I wouldnât want to even if I had to; thoughâI wouldnât say I would pass on it if it meant my lifeâ. Thatâs all the reasons I can come up withâ. Why do you ask?â
âœTrying to figure something out is allââ A sigh ends your note.
Well that didnât help. Though you canât blame him. Youâre being cryptic. Itâs not like you can ask him a direct question about what youâre trying to achieve. He may be put off or downright discouraging. Plus, he knows less about SÅsaku-sha than you. He wouldnât know where to start. Not to mention a lack of goal to achieve with your inquiries can produce greater creative solutions to your predicament. Itâs exactly why youâre seeking help outside the box in the first place. Maybe you can poke at his imagination a bit?
âœHereâs another scenario. Let's say itâs not one of the reasons you listed. Say your lips were sealed together so you could no longer open them. How would you eat then?â
Disturbance slowly creeps on his features, âœ...Is this something to do with the horrible death you were thinking of earlier?â
âœNoâwell, not really. J-just, entertain me with this. What would your solution to something like that be?â
âœ...How are my lips sealed? Is it some kind of sticky substance?â
âœNo. For this example, the skin of your lips have fused so you no longer have a mouth to open.â
No words come in response for a good moment or so but Vance eventually does speak, âœI can only eat from my mouthâsoâIâd believe Iâd have to make one.â
âœMake what?â
âœMake a mouth. If I had nothing, Iâd try making a mouth. If itâs just the skin of my face thatâs the issue, Iâd cut it so Iâd have a mouth again.â
Make a mouth?
Make a mouthâ.
â.
â.
God damn it. Youâre an idiot. Why didnât you think of that?!
Yes, when you tried to drink the tea Barry gave you, you assumed a mouth would appear or that youâd drink it some other way. However, you never tried to have your avatar form one! You just expected one to appear without putting work into it!
This is something thatâd normally snap to your head while playing your avatar but...maybe youâre confusing this reality with the reality of Earth, where magic and supernatural abilities don't exist. Abilities such as-
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«
It would allow you to obtain a form thatâd give you the ability to eat! It is a skill specific races and magic users have which allows them to accomplish tasks their primary forms would not! A perfect example of that are DoppelgÃngers!
You nod swiftly, âœThat is a good suggestion! Thank you!â
Perturbed is a good description of what the boy appears to be. âœ...You bring up a lot of morbid things.â
You shrug in reply, busy trying to connect some dots.
This is a terrific solution, though, it does raise some thoughts with it.
If you have to rely on âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, or any other transformative spell of yours, just to eat it may very well mean that you donât need to eat; giving a greater probability to the presence of the Eating Unnecessary perk on your person. Thatâs not entirely bad news. In actuality, this may mean that you wonât die of starvation. Itâs not certain, just a greater chance of it being so.
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« isnât a skill native to the Creator classâthough that shouldnât be too much of an issue. Being a Creator gives freedom over all low-level perks, skills, and spells of all races as long as they don't clash with your current job classes...so it may be possible for you to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« that way. An admin key so to say.
However, one of the reasons you chose flowers was to avoid practicing magic in front of a crowdâguess this was unavoidable. Oh well.
Your biggest concern with trying the cast is your change in controls over your prowess. Thereâs been not a lick of tests tried out on how your abilities have been altered. You may not be able to pull off such a task.
Even if you make the cast work, what if you screw it up in a different way? What if you turn into some horrid frothing beast?! With this alien of a body, you wouldnât be surprised. You could even compare your avatar to a Lovecraftian. You canât even imagine what would happen to these peopleâs minds if you turned into one of the old ones.
A sigh slithers out along with the dark purple and green splotches bubbling up along your exterior. There are some things that...exist that arenât meant to be seenâ.
Wait-
This may not be Yggdrasilâbutâif youâre here does that mean Lovecraftâs beasts are real things now?
â.
Your heart drops.
Shit. Do you have to live in a reality knowing that abominations like the crawling chaos or the slumbering god exist? That reality as you know is just a dream fabricated by Aza-NONONONOO! Donât think the name. Donât think the name! Donât THINK of the NAME! Doing so is very taboo and you donât need the extra trouble. You donât need to poke the bear with the stick, the bear being the ruler of the Outer Gods and the incarnation of chaos.
Yeah. No thank you. Youâre going to distract yourself by dealing with the now. There are certainly things best left in the dark.
You rub your neck, trying to dispel the mental crisis that had settled on you only seconds prior, the dark purple splotches slowly fading.
The uncertainties are there and are legitimate. Youâre...you were considered very powerful by Yggdrasil standards. Even on SÅsaku-shaâs character sheet, your avatar is labeled as âthe most powerful being.â If you use your abilities wrong you could hurt those around you...maybe even more than that.
Swallowing to the vision of you becoming some celestial, genocide-craved, atrocity, you contemplate on.
Your ability to control your avatarâs powers have been compromised meaning those around you and yourself are in greater danger of disasterâ
Your gaze drops to the delicate flowers sitting between your fingers.
Smallâshimmeringâsweet and soft, the small growths are. Although they are literal weeds pulled out from beneath your feet, theyâre appealing to every one of your senses and appear way more appetizing than anything that youâve ever had on a plate.
â.
â.
Come on...
Is it worth possibly summoning an armageddon incarnate of yourself just to taste something other than artificial paste?
â.
You eye the glistening petals and leaves, a vibrant assortment of shapes and colors, and more with a gaze full of desire.
Yes.
Youâll regret it later if it turns out for the worst but the temptation is too great. Besides, you hardly think becoming a monster is that great of a factor here. Low chances and allâ
âœThe fry who never lets curiosity guide its fin shall never see the glory of the seaââ You mumble before you realize what you've done. Lord, another one.
âœHuh?â
âœItâs nothing. Donât mind me.â You reassure Vance although he continues to give you an odd look.
In other words, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Youâre willing to give this a try if itâll help your chance of survival. This is something youâd have inevitably had to doâso better now than never.
You nod, trying to hype yourself up for the task.
So how do you go about using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«? Is it similar to how you use Ascend? Is it your will and intent and the rest follows? But you havenât even tried to see if you can access your spell slots yet. Yes, you couldnât access your menu but what if your casts are separate from the menu? Your inventory is still here despite no menu for it and you used the same method accessing it as Ascend. Should you replicate that process?
Raising your free hand you try to pull up your spell slots-
Nothing.
You try again with more focus and will being poured into the motion-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to do it the old way and go through the menu now that you know more about how to use SÅsaku-shaâs abilities? It didn't work last night...but maybe now? Okay, letâs open the menu-
Nothing.
Mphâagain-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to switch up your arms? Though unlikely, you give it a shot and run both processes again-
Nothing.
âœWhat are you doing?â
âœStretching my limbs.â You reply sarcastically to Vance, not bothering to explain what it is youâre trying to achieve. He doesnât look like he believes you either but doesnât push you for the truth, only continuing to keep a scrutinizing watch over your actions.
Neither of those workedâhuh. Sounds about right. Your guess about spells being similar to your inventory is likely the case then. Youâll have to be direct for this to work. No list and selection. Straight-up magic.
But before you try to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, youâre aware you need a body to replicate into. Itâs a spell that doesnât allow you to make a unique form but rather copy one that youâve seen. Simply put, you canât grow a mouth out of your already existing avatar.
There are plenty of individuals around which you can turn into but youâd risk being accused of trying to steal their identity. No problem, you have a nearly infinite inventory of players and NPCs you have stored in bank to recall for situations like these. Thatâs not including the real-life examples stored in your head which you can choose from if thatâs even possible here. Heck, you may be able to turn back into the real you.
The issue with this is if those faces were transferred here along with you. You have no idea. Your abilities may have been reset and you canât use any of your memories previous to this situation as a guideâ.you canât tell until you start testing the unknown. Ugh, but right now isnât the best timeâ. But when will there ever be a right time?
When you start the journey with the boys, youâll be stuck at their sides. Nate will likely attack you if you try anything. Not to mention the time youâll have in Re-Estize. That will be days of you cast into the unknown, pondering how to control your avatar, and wondering if youâre going to starve to death.
No. You need to do something now while the opportunity is still availableâeven if there is an audience.
Speaking of which, one being very attentive to your every move should likely be warned about what youâre going to try.
âœHey, Vance?â He doesnât visibly show heâs listening to you this time but you know he still is. âœIâm going to try something in a second. Donât start panicking- Hey, donât give me that look! It will only affect me, okay?â
âœHow will it affect you?â
âœIâmay look a little different in a sec.â
He squints. âœ...How?â
âœErrâIâmânot so sure. Think about it as if Iâm going to change to a different skin color.â
âœ...Thatâs it?â
âœ...Something like that. I wouldnât be bringing this up if this wasnât something I have to do.â
âœWhy couldnât you have done so while we were away from everyone?â Frustration carries on his tone and you shrink a little in response.
âœTrust me. I would have done so if it had come to my mind then. Iâm not doing this to cause undue stress on anyone. As I reiterate, this will only affect me and that I have to do it.â
âœCanât you wait?â
âœIâve thought of thatâbut no. Iâd be risking my life more so the longer I wait.â His head jerks up a bit, his unrelenting gaze prompting you with an unsaid question of what you mean. You shake your head instead. âœItâs complicated. Nothing I want to do is harmful to anyone in this village; as long as you all welcome me, I can swear my name on that.â
As the words come out of your mouth, you swear that you see a glimmer of something yellow around your peripherals, though you donât know how that is possible when your vision extends from everywhere.
Before you could switch a part of your focus to what the heck that was, Vance cuts in. âœWhy are you doing it?â
âœ...To preserve my well-being? I already said so.â
âœNot that. How is it going to help you?â
Isâhe truly interested orâis he seeking a way to arrange a rain check for your attempt?... The latter, yeah. Heâs likely looking for an alternative to the unknown tryst you have brought to light. If heâs any what concerned for you itâs a hundred percent on the backburner.
âœItâs a way for me to adjust to aânew environment.â A new body is a better word to describe it. His expression remains hardened so you take the time to go into more detail to butter him up a bit without giving too much away. âœâdo you remember what we talked about with animals changing color?â
Itâs as if the gears click in his head. âœAhâbut you said yours only represents your feelings?â
âœYes, they do. But I didnât say only. They could mean something elseâwhich is why I need to try this thing real quick, okay?â
His lip curls slightly in displeasure, like he tastes something bad, but after a moment he lowers his head in a reluctant nod.
After a swift thank you, your head turns back to the flowers in your clutches.
Great! Now how to utilize your avatarâs abilitiesâ.
The total number of magic spells in Yggdrasil, from tiers one to ten, plus super tier, was well over six thousand. These were split into various trees thatâd be compatible with some races while it wouldnât with others. Some spells require certain conditions to work like the type of biome the player is in, needed tasks completed beforehand, items that need to be held, can only be used on certain levels, and so on. Normally a level-100 player could use about three hundred but there are some instances where players have found loopholes and were able to have more. Your avatar...since it was the being that created Yggdrasil... can access all the spells contained in the game, though the conditions for the spells still have to be met for you to use them.
It is an insane amount, you know, but it had made sense that SÅsaku-sha would have that kind of ability if they were able to provide the rest of the nine worlds with magical powers. It was also a way for you to adjust your avatar to the players youâd be put up against. And since you are aware of all that was programmed into your game, you had memorized every MG ability.
Anything magic-related available to you is what falls into your current classes, all low-tier casts, and what you have in your inventory. âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« should be no problem.
Activation is the key. How comparatively different is casting magic from using the skills youâve unlocked thus far?
Ascend feels like nothing on your part. Little to no effort whatsoever in controlling it. Whatever you want, it follows. As if youâre walking on airâ.
â.
...Could it really be wanting?
Hmmmââwantââ. Could you use magic if you actively want to or have the will to use magic?
...It canât hurt to try? But for this to work, you need to settle on a look as brought up before. You canât try it without a template to copy.
You need to change your appearance to appear like a human again. Thereâs no point in changing your form to look like another monster in these peopleâs eyesâ. Butânot just any human, however.
Youâll need a form that has similarities to the natives of this world. If you appear too foreign, youâll draw eyes which slightly defeats the purpose of fitting in, meaning youâll need to replicate what youâve seen in Bourn as a reference. You wonât try to copy anyone youâve seen here, as youâve concluded before, butâyou canât guarantee how your avatarâs abilities have been affected from coming hereâ.
Uwahâyou would love to appear as yourselfâbut you also donât want to use your actual identity in this world as you canât say for certain how it could endanger you. You have to take a new look. A new alter ego. This way, your interactions with the natives of this new world will run a bit smootherâ. Therefore-
What do you want to appear as?
Male
Female
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'127â†'136
The choice left at the end of this chapter doesn't necessarily mean much. All it will affect is what gender you'll identify as when you're not SÅsaku-sha, how others will treat you, and small differences from the other gender path. Don't worry and think it'll change the story completely, it won't really. All this means is that it can relate to you more as a character and that I can also post chapters far more frequently since they'll be similar.
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DEAL OF GOLD 3:8
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold.
Chapter Notes
I know I missed another month, but work has been killing me. Long story short, my workplace has been busting my tail with 55 hour weeks on minimum wage. I put my foot down and told them I canât keep being used like that, especially since I just underwent surgery. They got livid, said some awful stuff, and insisted that I start work again two days after the operation when Iâm supposed to be in recovery. Needless to say, Iâm done with that place. So, with the time I have now, I was able to make another update! Hope y'all enjoy!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
Why would you give up on a chance to have actual food? The flowers follow you everywhere. When will you have another chance for a real grown fruit or vegetable? Youâve fantasized about having something like this most of your life.
Sure, youâve had a few actual fruits and veggies in your lifetime, all while still living with your parents, but they were allâvery sad and witheredânot to mention decades ago. Youâve long forgotten the flavor they carriedâexcept that strawberry you had when you were eleven.
It was a party, upscale. You were there with your family to âmake face.â At one point, a few hours in, you had snuck off and found a reserved section for the exclusives, people with gold for blood. Usually, theyâd have scanners or bots operating at the entrances to make sure no unwelcome guests could waltz in but it was a mere two android bouncersâ.dressed very skimpy. The creep who hosted the party had a thing for surrounding himself with half-naked individuals, that didnât exclude his work robots.
You half understood why at the timeâfor various reasonsâbut that wasnât your focus. With your small size and the large number of drapes hanging from the walls, youâd passed them.
That was an eye-opening experience. How differently those people looked, acted, talked, and dressed. It was as if youâd walked through a portal into a completely new world. They were all so self-absorbed. What they have, what they want, who they know, what they could do, and what shares they were a part of. You couldnât understand any of it at the time but what did compute to your little noggin was that they not once brought up anything everyday people like you would worry about as if they werenât afflicted by the world around them.
Untouchable.
But you didnât sneak in to watch. What drew you in was the smell. They had food you hadnât known existed until then and you wanted a bite. Thankfully, the food bar was situated near the wall where you could stay hidden. You probably couldâve gotten away with a lot more if you had tried, but when you saw the strawberry tarts your sole focus went to them.
You had grabbed enough for you and your family, wrapped them in a napkin, and made a hasty retreat. You thought youâd achieved a great victoryâthoughâ.when you showed your parents what you had gotten for you all to shareâ.
Oh boyâ.
There was a swift retreat from the party and youâd never been punished more severely in your life. You thought you were going to die at the time and hated them for itâ. However, years later, youâd come to learn why you were disciplined in such a way, and thinking back, yeah, it was a very stupid thing you had done. You couldâve completely screwed your entire family if youâd been caught. Your lives would have been in the gutter, not in the figurative sense.
Even so, those treats werenât thrown away.
No. There could be no evidence left behind. Especially one so damning and rare. Each of you had promptly eaten your share after a promise of never speaking a word of the occasion anywhere but within the familyâ.
Itâwas a sour-sweetâmade your tongue buzz and your eyes widened when the taste registered. Rich and heavy. How much your mouth watered while you chewed the little desert. Almost made it worth the beating youâd gotten. None of them had to say it, but your family eyed you while they ate. Their gazes of course held an extreme level of disappointment in your actionsâbut gratitude as well.
Could this be a similar experience? You need to figure out how to use your magic first.
You turn around so your front faces the expanse of the cropland, leaning your head over the railing of the fence to focus on a little green sprout in the dirt, Vance side-eyeing you as you do so.
The sprout is two inches high with a few stems coming off from the center, the leaves odd in shape. Tomato? Is it? Vance said that they were close to the fence lineâand it looks like a tomato sprout to youâbut you have no idea other than what youâve seen in documentaries and games.
So how are you going to grow the plant? You need your magic to work.
Your biggest concern with trying the cast is your change in controls over your prowess. Thereâs been not a lick of tests tried out on how your abilities have been altered. You may not be able to pull off such a task.
Even if you make a cast work, what if you screw it up in a different way? What if you cast an attack rather than a growth spell? What if you grow it and you turn it into a type of plant monster?
You rub your neck, trying to dispel the mental crisis that has settled on you.
The uncertainties are there and are legitimate. Youâre...you were considered very powerful by Yggdrasil standards. Even on SÅsaku-shaâs character sheet, your avatar is labeled as âthe most powerful being.â If you use your abilities wrong you could hurt those around you...maybe even more than that.
The ability to control your avatarâs powers has been compromised meaning those around you and yourself are in greater danger of disasterâ
Your gaze drops to the delicate greenery in the soil below.
â.
â.
âœ*Sigh, the fry who never lets curiosity guide its fin shall never see the glory of the seaââ You mumble before you realize what you've done. Lord, another one.
âœHuh?â
âœItâs nothing. Donât mind me.â You reassure Vance although he continues to give you an odd look.
In other words, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Fear will hold you back from achieving results. Youâre willing to give this a try if itâll help your chance of survival. This is something youâd inevitably have to doâso better now than never.
You nod, trying to hype yourself up for the task.
So how do you go about using a growth spell such as âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«? Is it similar to how you use Ascend? Is it your will and intent and the rest follows? But you havenât even tried to see if you can access your spell slots yet. Yes, you couldnât access your menu but what if your casts are separate from the menu? Your inventory is still here despite no menu for it and you used the same method accessing it as Ascend. Should you replicate that process?
Raising your free hand you try to pull up your spell slots-
Nothing.
You try again with more focus and will being poured into the motion-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to do it the old way and go through the menu now that you know more about how to use SÅsaku-shaâs abilities? It didn't work last night...but maybe now? Okay, letâs open the menu-
Nothing.
Mphâagain-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to switch up your arms? Though unlikely, you give it a shot and run both processes again-
Nothing.
âœWhat are you doing?â
âœStretching my limbs.â You reply sarcastically to Vance, not bothering to explain what it is youâre trying to achieve. He doesnât look like he believes you either but doesnât push you for the truth, only continuing to keep a scrutinizing watch over your actions.
Neither of those workedâhuh. Sounds about right. Your guess about spells being similar to your inventory is likely the case then. Youâll have to be direct for this to work. No list and selection. Straight-up magic.
Rrahh! This sucks! Your abilities may have been reset and you canât use any of your memories previous to this situation as a guideâ.you canât tell until you start testing the unknown. Ugh, but right now isnât the best timeâ. But when will there ever be a right time?
When you start the journey with the boys, youâll be stuck at their sides. Nate will likely attack you if you try anything. Not to mention the time youâll have in Re-Estize. That will be days of you cast into the unknown, pondering how to control your avatar, and wondering if youâre going to starve to death.
No. You need to do something now while the opportunity is still availableâeven if there is an audience.
Speaking of which, one being very attentive to your every move should likely be warned about what youâre going to try.
âœHey, Vance?â He doesnât visibly show heâs listening to you but you know he still is. âœIâm going to try something in a second. Donât start panicking- Hey, donât give me that look! It will only affect that sprout right there, okay?â
âœWhy are you trying something?â
âœIâm not doing this to cause undue stress on anyone. Believe me, I wouldn't be doing this now if I didn't need to.â
His lip furrows. âœNeed to?â
âœI-itâs something important to my well-being. Iâdonât want to get into all the details but Iâd be risking my life more so the longer I wait.â His head jerks up a bit, his unrelenting gaze prompting you with an unsaid question of what you mean. You shake your head instead. âœItâs complicated. Nothing I want to do is harmful to anyone in this village; as long as you all welcome me, I can swear my name on that.â
As the words come out of your mouth, you swear that you see a glimmer of something yellow around your peripherals, though you donât know how that is possible when your vision extends from everywhere.
Before you could switch a part of your focus to what the heck that was, Vance cuts in. âœWhat are you trying to do?â
âœOh, wellââ You point again at the small green. âœIâm going to try and grow that sprout to maturity.â
The moment your words come out of your mouth, his face goes blank. You watch him as he remains still where he is, processing your words until a quiet, âœ...What?â tumbles out.
âœ...I said I wanted to try and grow the plant?â
Silence settles again between you two. Itâs an odd thing to watch. Vance looks back and forth between you and the sprout you pointed out, blinking as if he doesnât believe the words you said.
However, youâre on a set time limit and not in the mood to fiddle your thumbs while Vance finishes whatever is going on in his head. âœVance. May I?â
He jerks stiffly, but after a hesitant moment he lowers his head in an expectant nod.
After a swift thank you, your head turns back to the little sprout.
Great! Now how to utilize your avatarâs abilitiesâ.
The total number of magic spells in Yggdrasil, from tiers one to ten, plus super tier, was well over six thousand. These were split into various trees thatâd be compatible with some races while it wouldnât with others. Some spells require certain conditions to work like the type of biome the player is in, needed tasks completed beforehand, items that need to be held, can only be used on certain levels, and so on. Normally a level-100 player could use about three hundred but there are some instances where players have found loopholes and were able to have more. Your avatar...since it was the being that created Yggdrasil... can access all the spells contained in the game, though the conditions for the spells still have to be met for you to use them.
It is an insane amount, you know, but it had made sense that SÅsaku-sha would have that kind of ability if they were able to provide the rest of the nine worlds with magical powers. It was also a way for you to adjust your avatar to the players youâd be put up against. And since you are aware of all that was programmed into your game, you had memorized every MG ability.
Anything magic-related available to you is what falls into your current classes, all low-tier casts, and what you have in your inventory. âŸªGrow PlantâŸ« should be no problem.
Activation is the key. How comparatively different is casting magic from using the skills youâve unlocked thus far?
Ascend feels like nothing on your part. Little to no effort whatsoever in controlling it. Whatever you want, it follows. As if youâre walking on airâ.
â.
...Could it really be wanting?
Hmmmââwantââ. Could you use magic if you actively want to or have the will to use magic?
...It canât hurt to try?
Your dominant arm is maneuvered out in front of your form, palm out facing the ground where the plant is, gaze honed in at the one particular point. Not only yours, however, but Vance also turned his attention to face where youâre pointed at as well as any villager capable of looking your way.
Ugh, why does there have to be an audience?... Better make this work or itâll be embarrassing!
Feeling the weight of expectation on your shoulders, you envision the plant growing the same way they were animated in Yggdrasil when assisted with magic. Your arm tenses with determinationâand, with a firm voice, you call out, âœâŸªGrow Plant!âŸ«â
â†:ï¡ï¥ïŸSHHIING!:ï¥ïŸâœ§
A manifestation of light swirls into existence with a flume of emerald rings against your palm, each two rotating slowly in opposite directions.
âœWha-â
Near immediate, before any shocked gasps could exit anyone, the sprout is captured in the exact glow your magic rings have and it starts to rise.
Inch by inch, further it climbs and stem by stem, new bushy green leaves crowd around the main body. Its base thickens to withstand the strain of the new weight, roots bursting through the earth and snake out to stabilize.
Beholding the spellâs work, youâre mesmerized by the otherworldly rapid expansion while the organism blossoms in size, from being mere inches to reaching your knees, then your waist, your chest, shoulders, head, and beyond. Yellow star-like flowers bloom, droop, and pop into buds of green before swelling larger and larger until theyâre a perfect shade of red.
Vance backs away during the whole ordeal until you drop your arm, ending the cast as the bush towers at a nearly whopping two and a half meters, thick and full of the fruit you were hoping for-
Globe tomatoes!
Ghosts of aghast ramblings anew but your mind segments it off to a separate plane, subconsciously listening in while you split further off to your hands and the tall tower of a tomato plant.
Your magic WORKS!!! You still possess your avatarâs MG abilities!!
Your fists clench in excitement as you observe your work with a burst of green pigments across your form.
Haha! Itâs weird!... Familiar but foreign.
The animation of a magic circle is the same. The design of the ring complex with higher tiers causes new rings to follow the rounded line from the circumference, engulfing and projecting out further from the center. Circles and diamonds collected within the intricate designs of the cast mark the center, outward flowing the words FIREWALL thatâd be in the language of your choiceâ.
Except it wasnât.
It would be Japanese for you, as that is-was your default, howeverâor rather a second ago it was in the language of this worldâs tongue. You could read it still with your perk All Tongueâand it says the same FIREWALL text.
Familiar but foreign.
The alien sensation of loss draining paired with the cast sits in the back of your mind. Itâs hardly there but itâs enough information for you to puzzle that the sensation is the drawing of your mana. Youâd barely noticed it at firstâbut as you held the cast while active, you felt the transference of unreal becoming a physical manifestation to power your will.
You can still feel the pool to an extentâvery faint as a seventh sense. The gradual swelling back up of your mana is what you assume it is. Like hearing a drip of a faucet filling a pool back to its full capacity.
While it is interestingâthis whole intention thing is confusingâ. Worrying too if you linger on the process.
While you spoke the incantation phrase for the cast, it doesnât cancel out that it could be only will and not word. Only time can test.
What if you want to do something you shouldnât? Lashing out for one is an impulse that you find hard to maintain for some reason and it scares you.
What if one day something tips you over the edge or something brushes you wrong? Nate for example.
Will you truly become a monster then? Will you truly lose your humanity?
You fear what you can become if you donât practice self-control. You know the not-so-distant experiences of being threatened causes your mind to go elsewhere when youâre triggered. It seems like you lose most to all sense of rationality. Youâve never felt anything quite like it before, nor anything as strong. Emotion blinds you in those moments and you have to fight your entire body to stop you from acting out those emotions. Your only barrier from your wrath at those times is your mind and even that is sketchy.
As you thought before, your mind just goes someplace during those times, and something...vile and...sick takes its place. Your mind is your own enemy in this body and tends to make you more aggressive than anything youâre accustomed to.
Youâll do everything in your power to prevent that from occurring.
You just hope that the day never comes that impulse outways logic.
God have mercy on all the day it occurs-
"SÅâ" The inquiry from your right pulls you to turn Vanceâs way.
"Yes?"
He licks his lips, eyes wide with the most emotion you've ever seen on the young man, while he steps closer after retreating a few steps before. "This isâ. What?" He doesn't find the right words he has to say till he makes it to your side again, turning his neck up to size up the growth. "What kind of spell was that?"
"It was a Druid cast in the Transmutation category called âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«."
You pause for a second but nothing occurs when you utter the incantation.
Not names alone then. Got it. Intention is key.
Vance shakes his head as he reaches out to pinch one of the extending branches seeing how lush green they are. If you could, you'd say his eyes are sparkling in awe by the way he roams the bush.
"Iâhaven't heard of something like thisâIsn't thisâan extremely difficult spell to cast?"
"What?" You almost laugh. "A growth spell hard? It's only a third-tier cast."
He jerks his head to you at a speed you'd never thought possible with his scrawny figure. "T-third?!"
"Yeah. That's what I said." You scratch your neck in a mirthful manner, amused by this extreme shift in emotions. "I didn't even use the spell to its full potential. It has a high range and other perks but I simply focused it on this one target-errâtomato plant. Speaking of which-" Reaching out to a particular globe you'd been eyeing, you pluck a tomato that would fit perfectly into the palm of a regular person but is slightly smaller in your avatarâs. "-ah! There we go!"
A real tomato!! It feels smooth and it is a gorgeous glossy ruby of a fruit. Nice weight to add! It doesn't smell like much on the outside, simply a faint grassy tartness, but you imagine when you finally burst into this globe, it'll be glorious!
You want to devour this thing right now.
"You're sayingâthat this spell you just used is nothing to you?!"
"I wouldn't say thatâuhâ" Whatâs an excuse that doesn't reveal too much of your avatarâs powers? "I can't do it forever. It's like lifting weights. At some point, you'll need to rest. You get it?"
He scrunches his brows. "...but you can do it for a long time?"
"YeahâI canâ." Thereâs a system that if you reach a high enough level in a job class with access to the spell, you can stand and cast the spell for eight hours in-game time and it'll enrich a farmland plot for an entire year in Yggdrasil terms so that they can grow produce twice as plentiful. A level 100 player could likely do this for a little over twelve hours Earth time. With your level 300MP Capâyou could do it for days without break. Not to mention your avatarâs perk Life accelerates restoration by double normal speed, meaning if you ever lost all your MP at once, instead of waiting twenty-four hours for it to run its course before it fills up to max, it'd only take twelve for you depending on conditions.
Soâyou could stand here for days, maybe weeks, using this third-tier spell if youâd wish.
Vance lets go of the branch, and a tremor of a whisper shakes out of his gullet with reverence, "Howâstrong are you?"
You shrug, not intending on spilling the beans but rather to figure out your new goal:
How to eat if you can.
You wish you could check your stats right now but thatâs out of the question with no toolbar or menu. You can only guess with what you already know.
Nothing will happen if you canât eat but youâre testing if you can/need to. So putting that frame of mind on, youâre assuming that would put you in a category of either eating being unnecessary or itâs vital. Youâre leaning more so towards unnecessary since your avatar never had to eat while in-game and you donât feel hungryâstill, you canât rule out necessity.
For Yggdrasil standards, if a player has the Eating Unnecessary perk it means that their avatar canât eat...but for a few races, such as some types of spirits, automatons, and more, can eat or can only eat certain things. It was mainly a way for characters to gain buffs from certain meals, such as a few deity races with nectar or ichor and a handful of undead with the spirit or flesh of the living. Sometimes, certain races had to eat certain things to activate abilities, spells, and more.
Is that your case now? How does this go into play as a Creator? You canât compare it to other races since itâs a race of its ownâhermmmâ.maybe youâre thinking too in the boxâshould you get a look from the outside? Looking at this from a different perspective may helpâ
âœHey, Vance?â He immediately focuses back on you at your prompt. âœIfâhow should I put thisâ. Imagine a scenario thatâthereâs something you need to eat but are having difficulty doing so. How would you go about eating it?â
He quirks a brow at the odd quarry and eyes the tomato in your hand. âœIs there a reason Iâd be having trouble eating it?â
âœYes but Iâm not going to give you a specific reason. That is up to you to deduce-ah, reason out on your own. Give me a reason for any scenario where that would occur.â
âœOkayââ Eyes squinting in puzzlement, he indulges you. âœIf it tastes bad Iâd try to get it down as quickly as I can without it touching my tongue, drinking water to flush the flavor away. If itâs too hardâIâd guess itâd depend on why it is. Iâd find a way to break it apart so that I wouldnât choke on it. Iâd do the same thing with something too big or tough. Something too hot, Iâd blow on it or wait for it to cool downâ.andâif itâs something morally wrong to eatâI donât know. I wouldnât want to even if I had to; thoughâI wouldnât say I would pass on it if it meant my lifeâ. Thatâs all the reasons I can come up withâ. Does this have something to do with the tomato?â
âœUhâit's a general issue, more like. Don't worry. Nothing is wrong with the tomatoes if you're concerned. I'mâtrying to figure something out is allââ A sigh ends your note.
Well that didnât help. Though you canât blame him. Youâre being cryptic. Itâs not like you can ask him a direct question about what youâre trying to achieve. He may be put off or downright discouraging. Plus, he knows less about SÅsaku-sha than you. He wouldnât know where to start. Not to mention a lack of goal to achieve with your inquiries can produce greater creative solutions to your predicament. Itâs exactly why youâre seeking help outside the box in the first place. Maybe you can poke at his imagination a bit?
âœHereâs another scenario. Let's say itâs not one of the reasons you listed. Say your lips were sealed together so you could no longer open them. How would you eat then?â
Disturbance slowly creeps on his features, âœ...Is this something to do with the horrible death you were thinking of earlier?â
âœNoâwell, not really. J-just, entertain me with this. What would your solution to something like that be?â
âœ...How are my lips sealed? Is it some kind of sticky substance?â
âœNo. For this example, the skin of your lips have fused so you no longer have a mouth to open.â
No words come in response for a good moment or so but Vance eventually does speak, âœI can only eat from my mouthâsoâIâd believe Iâd have to make one.â
âœMake what?â
âœMake a mouth. If I had nothing, Iâd try making a mouth. If itâs just the skin of my face thatâs the issue, Iâd cut it so Iâd have a mouth again.â
Make a mouth?
Make a mouthâ.
â.
â.
God damn it. Youâre an idiot. Why didnât you think of that?!
Yes, when you tried to drink the tea Barry gave you, you assumed a mouth would appear or that youâd drink it some other way. However, you never tried to have your avatar form one! You just expected one to appear without putting work into it!
This is something thatâd normally snap to your head while playing your avatar but...maybe youâre confusing this reality with the reality of Earth, where magic and supernatural abilities don't exist. Abilities such as-
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«
It would allow you to obtain a form thatâd give you the ability to eat! It is a skill specific races and magic users have which allows them to accomplish tasks their primary forms would not! A perfect example of that are DoppelgÃngers!
You nod swiftly, âœThat is a good suggestion! Thank you!â
Perturbed is a good description of what the boy appears to be. âœ...You bring up a lot of morbid things.â
You shrug in reply, busy trying to connect some dots.
This is a terrific solution, though, it does raise some thoughts with it.
If you have to rely on âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, or any other transformative spell of yours, just to eat it may very well mean that you donât need to eat; giving a greater probability to the presence of the Eating Unnecessary perk on your person. Thatâs not entirely bad news. In actuality, this may mean that you wonât die of starvation. Itâs not certain, just a greater chance of it being so.
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« isnât a skill native to the Creator classâthough that shouldnât be too much of an issue. Being a Creator gives freedom over all low-level perks, skills, and spells of all races as long as they don't clash with your current job classes...so it may be possible for you to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« that way. An admin key so to say.
Now that you know the gist of activating casts, this should be a piece of cake!
But before you try to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, youâre aware you need a body to replicate into. Itâs a spell that doesnât allow you to make a unique form but rather copy one that youâve seen. Simply put, you canât grow a mouth out of your already existing avatar.
There are plenty of individuals around which you can turn into but youâd risk being accused of trying to steal their identity. No problem, you have a nearly infinite inventory of players and NPCs you have stored in bank to recall for situations like these. Thatâs not including the real-life examples stored in your head which you can choose from if thatâs even possible here. Heck, you may be able to turn back into the real you.
The issue with this is if those faces were transferred here along with you. You have no idea. Your abilities may have been reset in this case and you canât use any of your memories previous to this situation as a guideâ.you canât tell until you start testing the unknown again.
âœHey, Vance?â He nods for you to continue. âœIâm going to try something else now. This time, it will only affect me, okay?â
âœ...How will it affect you?â
âœIâmay look a little different in a sec.â
He squints. âœ...How?â
âœErrâIâmânot so sure. Think about it as if Iâm going to change to a different skin color.â
âœ...Thatâs it?â
âœ...Something like that. Itâs a way for me to adjust to aânew environment.â A new body is a better word to describe it. His expression remains hardened so you take the time to go into more detail to butter him up a bit without giving too much away. âœâdo you remember what we talked about with animals changing color?â
Itâs as if the gears click in his head. âœAhâbut you said yours only represents your feelings?â
âœYes, they do. But I didnât say only. They could mean something elseâwhich is why I need to try this thing real quick, okay?â
His lip curls slightly in displeasure, like he tastes something bad, but after a moment he looks back to the tomato bush and dips his head in a firm nod.
After shared gratitude, you turn back to the tomato in your clutches.
Okay, time to try a new spell! But for this to work, you need to settle on a look as brought up before. You canât try it without a template to copy.
You need to change your appearance to appear like a human again. Thereâs no point in changing your form to look like another monster in these peopleâs eyesâ. Butânot just any human, however.
Youâll need a form that has similarities to the natives of this world. If you appear too foreign, youâll draw eyes which slightly defeats the purpose of fitting in, meaning youâll need to replicate what youâve seen in Bourn as a reference. You wonât try to copy anyone youâve seen here, as youâve concluded before, butâyou canât guarantee how your avatarâs abilities have been affected from coming here, even with your growth spell being generally the same.
Uwahâyou would love to appear as yourselfâbut you also donât want to use your actual identity in this world as you canât say for certain how it could endanger you. You have to take a new look. A new alter ego. This way, your interactions with the natives of this new world will run a bit smootherâ. Therefore-
What do you want to appear as?
Male
Female
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'127â†'137
The choice left at the end of this chapter doesn't necessarily mean much. All it will affect is what gender you'll identify as when you're not SÅsaku-sha, how others will treat you, and small differences from the other gender path. Don't worry and think it'll change the story completely, it won't really. All this means is that it can relate to you more as a character and that I can also post chapters far more frequently since they'll be similar.
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DEAL OF GOLD 3:9
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold.
Chapter Notes
I know I missed another month, but work has been killing me. Long story short, my workplace has been busting my tail with 55 hour weeks on minimum wage. I put my foot down and told them I canât keep being used like that, especially since I just underwent surgery. They got livid, said some awful stuff, and insisted that I start work again two days after the operation when Iâm supposed to be in recovery. Needless to say, Iâm done with that place. So, with the time I have now, I was able to make another update! Hope y'all enjoy!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
Now isnât the time to be making risky moves in front of scared people. If you started to perform magic of any kind, you can only imagine how alarmed theyâd become. Besides, youâre quite curious about these flowers.
Therefore, leaning down and careful of your movement, you pluck three thin stems from between your feet with a slight wince. Standing straight once again, you draw your hand closer to your face to observe the delicate flowers, Vance side-eyeing you as you do so.
Theyâre small, each bud about the size of your pinky nail, however, the petals are all unique in their own way; which you know is impossible biologicallyâat least you believe so. Some have round petals, some have pointy ones, and some are curly even when they grow from the same stim, shifting their shapes as the moments tick by. Theyâre of similar shades though, having copied the color of your skin tone when they grew, and have an iridescent sheen when twirled in the light. Your non-existent eyes widen at the sight of the flowers pulsating and squirming as if they are breathing, pondering if they are feeling pain at the moment by the way theyâre movingâ.
âœPrettyââ You hum warmly, âœSorry I picked you.â
Now, how to eat if you canâ.
You wish you could check your stats right now but thatâs out of the question with no toolbar or menu. You can only guess with what you already know.
Nothing will happen if you canât eat but youâre testing if you can/need to. So putting that frame of mind on, youâre assuming that would put you in a category of either eating being unnecessary or itâs vital. Youâre leaning more so towards unnecessary since your avatar never had to eat while in-game and you donât feel hungryâstill, you canât rule out necessity.
For Yggdrasil standards, if a player has the Eating Unnecessary perk it means that their avatar canât eat...but for a few races, such as some types of spirits, automatons, and more, can eat or can only eat certain things. It was mainly a way for characters to gain buffs from certain meals, such as a few deity races with nectar or ichor and a handful of undead with the spirit or flesh of the living. Sometimes, certain races had to eat certain things to activate abilities, spells, and more.
Is that your case now? How does this go into play as a Creator? You canât compare it to other races since itâs a race of its ownâhermmmâ.maybe youâre thinking too in the boxâshould you get a look from the outside? Looking at this from a different perspective may helpâ
âœHey, Vance?â He doesnât respond, merely turning his head your way to show heâs listening. âœIfâhow should I put thisâ. Imagine a scenario thatâthereâs something you need to eat but are having difficulty doing so. How would you go about eating it?â
He quirks a brow at the odd quarry. âœIs there a reason Iâd be having trouble eating it?â
âœYes but Iâm not going to give you a specific reason. That is up to you to deduce-ah, reason out on your own. Give me a reason for any scenario where that would occur.â
âœOkayââ Eyes squinting in puzzlement, he indulges you. âœIf it tastes bad Iâd try to get it down as quickly as I can without it touching my tongue, drinking water to flush the flavor away. If itâs too hardâIâd guess itâd depend on why it is. Iâd find a way to break it apart so that I wouldnât choke on it. Iâd do the same thing with something too big or tough. Something too hot, Iâd blow on it or wait for it to cool downâ.andâif itâs something morally wrong to eatâI donât know. I wouldnât want to even if I had to; thoughâI wouldnât say I would pass on it if it meant my lifeâ. Thatâs all the reasons I can come up withâ. Why do you ask?â
âœTrying to figure something out is allââ A sigh ends your note.
Well that didnât help. Though you canât blame him. Youâre being cryptic. Itâs not like you can ask him a direct question about what youâre trying to achieve. He may be put off or downright discouraging. Plus, he knows less about SÅsaku-sha than you. He wouldnât know where to start. Not to mention a lack of goal to achieve with your inquiries can produce greater creative solutions to your predicament. Itâs exactly why youâre seeking help outside the box in the first place. Maybe you can poke at his imagination a bit?
âœHereâs another scenario. Let's say itâs not one of the reasons you listed. Say your lips were sealed together so you could no longer open them. How would you eat then?â
Disturbance slowly creeps on his features, âœ...Is this something to do with the horrible death you were thinking of earlier?â
âœNoâwell, not really. J-just, entertain me with this. What would your solution to something like that be?â
âœ...How are my lips sealed? Is it some kind of sticky substance?â
âœNo. For this example, the skin of your lips have fused so you no longer have a mouth to open.â
No words come in response for a good moment or so but Vance eventually does speak, âœI can only eat from my mouthâsoâIâd believe Iâd have to make one.â
âœMake what?â
âœMake a mouth. If I had nothing, Iâd try making a mouth. If itâs just the skin of my face thatâs the issue, Iâd cut it so Iâd have a mouth again.â
Make a mouth?
Make a mouthâ.
â.
â.
God damn it. Youâre an idiot. Why didnât you think of that?!
Yes, when you tried to drink the tea Barry gave you, you assumed a mouth would appear or that youâd drink it some other way. However, you never tried to have your avatar form one! You just expected one to appear without putting work into it!
This is something thatâd normally snap to your head while playing your avatar but...maybe youâre confusing this reality with the reality of Earth, where magic and supernatural abilities don't exist. Abilities such as-
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«
It would allow you to obtain a form thatâd give you the ability to eat! It is a skill specific races and magic users have which allows them to accomplish tasks their primary forms would not! A perfect example of that are DoppelgÃngers!
You nod swiftly, âœThat is a good suggestion! Thank you!â
Perturbed is a good description of what the boy appears to be. âœ...You bring up a lot of morbid things.â
You shrug in reply, busy trying to connect some dots.
This is a terrific solution, though, it does raise some thoughts with it.
If you have to rely on âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, or any other transformative spell of yours, just to eat it may very well mean that you donât need to eat; giving a greater probability to the presence of the Eating Unnecessary perk on your person. Thatâs not entirely bad news. In actuality, this may mean that you wonât die of starvation. Itâs not certain, just a greater chance of it being so.
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« isnât a skill native to the Creator classâthough that shouldnât be too much of an issue. Being a Creator gives freedom over all low-level perks, skills, and spells of all races as long as they don't clash with your current job classes...so it may be possible for you to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« that way. An admin key so to say.
However, one of the reasons you chose flowers was to avoid practicing magic in front of a crowdâguess this was unavoidable. Oh well.
Your biggest concern with trying the cast is your change in controls over your prowess. Thereâs been not a lick of tests tried out on how your abilities have been altered. You may not be able to pull off such a task.
Even if you make the cast work, what if you screw it up in a different way? What if you turn into some horrid frothing beast?! With this alien of a body, you wouldnât be surprised. You could even compare your avatar to a Lovecraftian. You canât even imagine what would happen to these peopleâs minds if you turned into one of the old ones.
A sigh slithers out along with the dark purple and green splotches bubbling up along your exterior. There are some things that...exist that arenât meant to be seenâ.
Wait-
This may not be Yggdrasilâbutâif youâre here does that mean Lovecraftâs beasts are real things now?
â.
Your heart drops.
Shit. Do you have to live in a reality knowing that abominations like the crawling chaos or the slumbering god exist? That reality as you know is just a dream fabricated by Aza-NONONONOO! Donât think the name. Donât think the name! Donât THINK of the NAME! Doing so is very taboo and you donât need the extra trouble. You donât need to poke the bear with the stick, the bear being the ruler of the Outer Gods and the incarnation of chaos.
Yeah. No thank you. Youâre going to distract yourself by dealing with the now. There are certainly things best left in the dark.
You rub your neck, trying to dispel the mental crisis that had settled on you only seconds prior, the dark purple splotches slowly fading.
The uncertainties are there and are legitimate. Youâre...you were considered very powerful by Yggdrasil standards. Even on SÅsaku-shaâs character sheet, your avatar is labeled as âthe most powerful being.â If you use your abilities wrong you could hurt those around you...maybe even more than that.
Swallowing to the vision of you becoming some celestial, genocide-craved, atrocity, you contemplate on.
Your ability to control your avatarâs powers have been compromised meaning those around you and yourself are in greater danger of disasterâ
Your gaze drops to the delicate flowers sitting between your fingers.
Smallâshimmeringâsweet and soft, the small growths are. Although they are literal weeds pulled out from beneath your feet, theyâre appealing to every one of your senses and appear way more appetizing than anything that youâve ever had on a plate.
â.
â.
Come on...
Is it worth possibly summoning an armageddon incarnate of yourself just to taste something other than artificial paste?
â.
You eye the glistening petals and leaves, a vibrant assortment of shapes and colors, and more with a gaze full of desire.
Yes.
Youâll regret it later if it turns out for the worst but the temptation is too great. Besides, you hardly think becoming a monster is that great of a factor here. Low chances and allâ
âœThe fry who never lets curiosity guide its fin shall never see the glory of the seaââ You mumble before you realize what you've done. Lord, another one.
âœHuh?â
âœItâs nothing. Donât mind me.â You reassure Vance although he continues to give you an odd look.
In other words, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Youâre willing to give this a try if itâll help your chance of survival. This is something youâd have inevitably had to doâso better now than never.
You nod, trying to hype yourself up for the task.
So how do you go about using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«? Is it similar to how you use Ascend? Is it your will and intent and the rest follows? But you havenât even tried to see if you can access your spell slots yet. Yes, you couldnât access your menu but what if your casts are separate from the menu? Your inventory is still here despite no menu for it and you used the same method accessing it as Ascend. Should you replicate that process?
Raising your free hand you try to pull up your spell slots-
Nothing.
You try again with more focus and will being poured into the motion-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to do it the old way and go through the menu now that you know more about how to use SÅsaku-shaâs abilities? It didn't work last night...but maybe now? Okay, letâs open the menu-
Nothing.
Mphâagain-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to switch up your arms? Though unlikely, you give it a shot and run both processes again-
Nothing.
âœWhat are you doing?â
âœStretching my limbs.â You reply sarcastically to Vance, not bothering to explain what it is youâre trying to achieve. He doesnât look like he believes you either but doesnât push you for the truth, only continuing to keep a scrutinizing watch over your actions.
Neither of those workedâhuh. Sounds about right. Your guess about spells being similar to your inventory is likely the case then. Youâll have to be direct for this to work. No list and selection. Straight-up magic.
But before you try to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, youâre aware you need a body to replicate into. Itâs a spell that doesnât allow you to make a unique form but rather copy one that youâve seen. Simply put, you canât grow a mouth out of your already existing avatar.
There are plenty of individuals around which you can turn into but youâd risk being accused of trying to steal their identity. No problem, you have a nearly infinite inventory of players and NPCs you have stored in bank to recall for situations like these. Thatâs not including the real-life examples stored in your head which you can choose from if thatâs even possible here. Heck, you may be able to turn back into the real you.
The issue with this is if those faces were transferred here along with you. You have no idea. Your abilities may have been reset and you canât use any of your memories previous to this situation as a guideâ.you canât tell until you start testing the unknown. Ugh, but right now isnât the best timeâ. But when will there ever be a right time?
When you start the journey with the boys, youâll be stuck at their sides. Nate will likely attack you if you try anything. Not to mention the time youâll have in Re-Estize. That will be days of you cast into the unknown, pondering how to control your avatar, and wondering if youâre going to starve to death.
No. You need to do something now while the opportunity is still availableâeven if there is an audience.
Speaking of which, one being very attentive to your every move should likely be warned about what youâre going to try.
âœHey, Vance?â He doesnât visibly show heâs listening to you this time but you know he still is. âœIâm going to try something in a second. Donât start panicking- Hey, donât give me that look! It will only affect me, okay?â
âœHow will it affect you?â
âœIâmay look a little different in a sec.â
He squints. âœ...How?â
âœErrâIâmânot so sure. Think about it as if Iâm going to change to a different skin color.â
âœ...Thatâs it?â
âœ...Something like that. I wouldnât be bringing this up if this wasnât something I have to do.â
âœWhy couldnât you have done so while we were away from everyone?â Frustration carries on his tone and you shrink a little in response.
âœTrust me. I would have done so if it had come to my mind then. Iâm not doing this to cause undue stress on anyone. As I reiterate, this will only affect me and that I have to do it.â
âœCanât you wait?â
âœIâve thought of thatâbut no. Iâd be risking my life more so the longer I wait.â His head jerks up a bit, his unrelenting gaze prompting you with an unsaid question of what you mean. You shake your head instead. âœItâs complicated. Nothing I want to do is harmful to anyone in this village; as long as you all welcome me, I can swear my name on that.â
As the words come out of your mouth, you swear that you see a glimmer of something yellow around your peripherals, though you donât know how that is possible when your vision extends from everywhere.
Before you could switch a part of your focus to what the heck that was, Vance cuts in. âœWhy are you doing it?â
âœ...To preserve my well-being? I already said so.â
âœNot that. How is it going to help you?â
Isâhe truly interested orâis he seeking a way to arrange a rain check for your attempt?... The latter, yeah. Heâs likely looking for an alternative to the unknown tryst you have brought to light. If heâs any what concerned for you itâs a hundred percent on the backburner.
âœItâs a way for me to adjust to aânew environment.â A new body is a better word to describe it. His expression remains hardened so you take the time to go into more detail to butter him up a bit without giving too much away. âœâdo you remember what we talked about with animals changing color?â
Itâs as if the gears click in his head. âœAhâbut you said yours only represents your feelings?â
âœYes, they do. But I didnât say only. They could mean something elseâwhich is why I need to try this thing real quick, okay?â
His lip curls slightly in displeasure, like he tastes something bad, but after a moment he lowers his head in a reluctant nod.
After a swift thank you, your head turns back to the flowers in your clutches.
Great! Now how to utilize your avatarâs abilitiesâ.
The total number of magic spells in Yggdrasil, from tiers one to ten, plus super tier, was well over six thousand. These were split into various trees thatâd be compatible with some races while it wouldnât with others. Some spells require certain conditions to work like the type of biome the player is in, needed tasks completed beforehand, items that need to be held, can only be used on certain levels, and so on. Normally a level-100 player could use about three hundred but there are some instances where players have found loopholes and were able to have more. Your avatar...since it was the being that created Yggdrasil... can access all the spells contained in the game, though the conditions for the spells still have to be met for you to use them.
It is an insane amount, you know, but it had made sense that SÅsaku-sha would have that kind of ability if they were able to provide the rest of the nine worlds with magical powers. It was also a way for you to adjust your avatar to the players youâd be put up against. And since you are aware of all that was programmed into your game, you had memorized every MG ability.
Anything magic-related available to you is what falls into your current classes, all low-tier casts, and what you have in your inventory. âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« should be no problem.
Activation is the key. How comparatively different is casting magic from using the skills youâve unlocked thus far?
Ascend feels like nothing on your part. Little to no effort whatsoever in controlling it. Whatever you want, it follows. As if youâre walking on airâ.
â.
...Could it really be wanting?
Hmmmââwantââ. Could you use magic if you actively want to or have the will to use magic?
...It canât hurt to try? But for this to work, you need to settle on a look as brought up before. You canât try it without a template to copy.
You need to change your appearance to appear like a human again. Thereâs no point in changing your form to look like another monster in these peopleâs eyesâ. Butânot just any human, however.
Youâll need a form that has similarities to the natives of this world. If you appear too foreign, youâll draw eyes which slightly defeats the purpose of fitting in, meaning youâll need to replicate what youâve seen in Bourn as a reference. You wonât try to copy anyone youâve seen here, as youâve concluded before, butâyou canât guarantee how your avatarâs abilities have been affected from coming hereâ.
Uwahâyou would love to appear as yourselfâbut you also donât want to use your actual identity in this world as you canât say for certain how it could endanger you. You have to take a new look. A new alter ego. This way, your interactions with the natives of this new world will run a bit smootherâ. Therefore-
What do you want to appear as?
Male
Female
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
62â†'128â†'138
The choice left at the end of this chapter doesn't necessarily mean much. All it will affect is what gender you'll identify as when you're not SÅsaku-sha, how others will treat you, and small differences from the other gender path. Don't worry and think it'll change the story completely, it won't really. All this means is that it can relate to you more as a character and that I can also post chapters far more frequently since they'll be similar.
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DEAL OF GOLD 3:10
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold.
Chapter Notes
I know I missed another month, but work has been killing me. Long story short, my workplace has been busting my tail with 55 hour weeks on minimum wage. I put my foot down and told them I canât keep being used like that, especially since I just underwent surgery. They got livid, said some awful stuff, and insisted that I start work again two days after the operation when Iâm supposed to be in recovery. Needless to say, Iâm done with that place. So, with the time I have now, I was able to make another update! Hope y'all enjoy!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
Why would you give up on a chance to have actual food? The flowers follow you everywhere. When will you have another chance for a real grown fruit or vegetable? Youâve fantasized about having something like this most of your life.
Sure, youâve had a few actual fruits and veggies in your lifetime, all while still living with your parents, but they were allâvery sad and witheredânot to mention decades ago. Youâve long forgotten the flavor they carriedâexcept that strawberry you had when you were eleven.
It was a party, upscale. You were there with your family to âmake face.â At one point, a few hours in, you had snuck off and found a reserved section for the exclusives, people with gold for blood. Usually, theyâd have scanners or bots operating at the entrances to make sure no unwelcome guests could waltz in but it was a mere two android bouncersâ.dressed very skimpy. The creep who hosted the party had a thing for surrounding himself with half-naked individuals, that didnât exclude his work robots.
You half understood why at the timeâfor various reasonsâbut that wasnât your focus. With your small size and the large number of drapes hanging from the walls, youâd passed them.
That was an eye-opening experience. How differently those people looked, acted, talked, and dressed. It was as if youâd walked through a portal into a completely new world. They were all so self-absorbed. What they have, what they want, who they know, what they could do, and what shares they were a part of. You couldnât understand any of it at the time but what did compute to your little noggin was that they not once brought up anything everyday people like you would worry about as if they werenât afflicted by the world around them.
Untouchable.
But you didnât sneak in to watch. What drew you in was the smell. They had food you hadnât known existed until then and you wanted a bite. Thankfully, the food bar was situated near the wall where you could stay hidden. You probably couldâve gotten away with a lot more if you had tried, but when you saw the strawberry tarts your sole focus went to them.
You had grabbed enough for you and your family, wrapped them in a napkin, and made a hasty retreat. You thought youâd achieved a great victoryâthoughâ.when you showed your parents what you had gotten for you all to shareâ.
Oh boyâ.
There was a swift retreat from the party and youâd never been punished more severely in your life. You thought you were going to die at the time and hated them for itâ. However, years later, youâd come to learn why you were disciplined in such a way, and thinking back, yeah, it was a very stupid thing you had done. You couldâve completely screwed your entire family if youâd been caught. Your lives would have been in the gutter, not in the figurative sense.
Even so, those treats werenât thrown away.
No. There could be no evidence left behind. Especially one so damning and rare. Each of you had promptly eaten your share after a promise of never speaking a word of the occasion anywhere but within the familyâ.
Itâwas a sour-sweetâmade your tongue buzz and your eyes widened when the taste registered. Rich and heavy. How much your mouth watered while you chewed the little desert. Almost made it worth the beating youâd gotten. None of them had to say it, but your family eyed you while they ate. Their gazes of course held an extreme level of disappointment in your actionsâbut gratitude as well.
Could this be a similar experience? You need to figure out how to use your magic first.
You turn around so your front faces the expanse of the cropland, leaning your head over the railing of the fence to focus on a little green sprout in the dirt, Vance side-eyeing you as you do so.
The sprout is two inches high with a few stems coming off from the center, the leaves odd in shape. Tomato? Is it? Vance said that they were close to the fence lineâand it looks like a tomato sprout to youâbut you have no idea other than what youâve seen in documentaries and games.
So how are you going to grow the plant? You need your magic to work.
Your biggest concern with trying the cast is your change in controls over your prowess. Thereâs been not a lick of tests tried out on how your abilities have been altered. You may not be able to pull off such a task.
Even if you make a cast work, what if you screw it up in a different way? What if you cast an attack rather than a growth spell? What if you grow it and you turn it into a type of plant monster?
You rub your neck, trying to dispel the mental crisis that has settled on you.
The uncertainties are there and are legitimate. Youâre...you were considered very powerful by Yggdrasil standards. Even on SÅsaku-shaâs character sheet, your avatar is labeled as âthe most powerful being.â If you use your abilities wrong you could hurt those around you...maybe even more than that.
The ability to control your avatarâs powers has been compromised meaning those around you and yourself are in greater danger of disasterâ
Your gaze drops to the delicate greenery in the soil below.
â.
â.
âœ*Sigh, the fry who never lets curiosity guide its fin shall never see the glory of the seaââ You mumble before you realize what you've done. Lord, another one.
âœHuh?â
âœItâs nothing. Donât mind me.â You reassure Vance although he continues to give you an odd look.
In other words, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Fear will hold you back from achieving results. Youâre willing to give this a try if itâll help your chance of survival. This is something youâd inevitably have to doâso better now than never.
You nod, trying to hype yourself up for the task.
So how do you go about using a growth spell such as âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«? Is it similar to how you use Ascend? Is it your will and intent and the rest follows? But you havenât even tried to see if you can access your spell slots yet. Yes, you couldnât access your menu but what if your casts are separate from the menu? Your inventory is still here despite no menu for it and you used the same method accessing it as Ascend. Should you replicate that process?
Raising your free hand you try to pull up your spell slots-
Nothing.
You try again with more focus and will being poured into the motion-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to do it the old way and go through the menu now that you know more about how to use SÅsaku-shaâs abilities? It didn't work last night...but maybe now? Okay, letâs open the menu-
Nothing.
Mphâagain-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to switch up your arms? Though unlikely, you give it a shot and run both processes again-
Nothing.
âœWhat are you doing?â
âœStretching my limbs.â You reply sarcastically to Vance, not bothering to explain what it is youâre trying to achieve. He doesnât look like he believes you either but doesnât push you for the truth, only continuing to keep a scrutinizing watch over your actions.
Neither of those workedâhuh. Sounds about right. Your guess about spells being similar to your inventory is likely the case then. Youâll have to be direct for this to work. No list and selection. Straight-up magic.
Rrahh! This sucks! Your abilities may have been reset and you canât use any of your memories previous to this situation as a guideâ.you canât tell until you start testing the unknown. Ugh, but right now isnât the best timeâ. But when will there ever be a right time?
When you start the journey with the boys, youâll be stuck at their sides. Nate will likely attack you if you try anything. Not to mention the time youâll have in Re-Estize. That will be days of you cast into the unknown, pondering how to control your avatar, and wondering if youâre going to starve to death.
No. You need to do something now while the opportunity is still availableâeven if there is an audience.
Speaking of which, one being very attentive to your every move should likely be warned about what youâre going to try.
âœHey, Vance?â He doesnât visibly show heâs listening to you but you know he still is. âœIâm going to try something in a second. Donât start panicking- Hey, donât give me that look! It will only affect that sprout right there, okay?â
âœWhy are you trying something?â
âœIâm not doing this to cause undue stress on anyone. Believe me, I wouldn't be doing this now if I didn't need to.â
His lip furrows. âœNeed to?â
âœI-itâs something important to my well-being. Iâdonât want to get into all the details but Iâd be risking my life more so the longer I wait.â His head jerks up a bit, his unrelenting gaze prompting you with an unsaid question of what you mean. You shake your head instead. âœItâs complicated. Nothing I want to do is harmful to anyone in this village; as long as you all welcome me, I can swear my name on that.â
As the words come out of your mouth, you swear that you see a glimmer of something yellow around your peripherals, though you donât know how that is possible when your vision extends from everywhere.
Before you could switch a part of your focus to what the heck that was, Vance cuts in. âœWhat are you trying to do?â
âœOh, wellââ You point again at the small green. âœIâm going to try and grow that sprout to maturity.â
The moment your words come out of your mouth, his face goes blank. You watch him as he remains still where he is, processing your words until a quiet, âœ...What?â tumbles out.
âœ...I said I wanted to try and grow the plant?â
Silence settles again between you two. Itâs an odd thing to watch. Vance looks back and forth between you and the sprout you pointed out, blinking as if he doesnât believe the words you said.
However, youâre on a set time limit and not in the mood to fiddle your thumbs while Vance finishes whatever is going on in his head. âœVance. May I?â
He jerks stiffly, but after a hesitant moment he lowers his head in an expectant nod.
After a swift thank you, your head turns back to the little sprout.
Great! Now how to utilize your avatarâs abilitiesâ.
The total number of magic spells in Yggdrasil, from tiers one to ten, plus super tier, was well over six thousand. These were split into various trees thatâd be compatible with some races while it wouldnât with others. Some spells require certain conditions to work like the type of biome the player is in, needed tasks completed beforehand, items that need to be held, can only be used on certain levels, and so on. Normally a level-100 player could use about three hundred but there are some instances where players have found loopholes and were able to have more. Your avatar...since it was the being that created Yggdrasil... can access all the spells contained in the game, though the conditions for the spells still have to be met for you to use them.
It is an insane amount, you know, but it had made sense that SÅsaku-sha would have that kind of ability if they were able to provide the rest of the nine worlds with magical powers. It was also a way for you to adjust your avatar to the players youâd be put up against. And since you are aware of all that was programmed into your game, you had memorized every MG ability.
Anything magic-related available to you is what falls into your current classes, all low-tier casts, and what you have in your inventory. âŸªGrow PlantâŸ« should be no problem.
Activation is the key. How comparatively different is casting magic from using the skills youâve unlocked thus far?
Ascend feels like nothing on your part. Little to no effort whatsoever in controlling it. Whatever you want, it follows. As if youâre walking on airâ.
â.
...Could it really be wanting?
Hmmmââwantââ. Could you use magic if you actively want to or have the will to use magic?
...It canât hurt to try?
Your dominant arm is maneuvered out in front of your form, palm out facing the ground where the plant is, gaze honed in at the one particular point. Not only yours, however, but Vance also turned his attention to face where youâre pointed at as well as any villager capable of looking your way.
Ugh, why does there have to be an audience?... Better make this work or itâll be embarrassing!
Feeling the weight of expectation on your shoulders, you envision the plant growing the same way they were animated in Yggdrasil when assisted with magic. Your arm tenses with determinationâand, with a firm voice, you call out, âœâŸªGrow Plant!âŸ«â
â†:ï¡ï¥ïŸSHHIING!:ï¥ïŸâœ§
A manifestation of light swirls into existence with a flume of emerald rings against your palm, each two rotating slowly in opposite directions.
âœWha-â
Near immediate, before any shocked gasps could exit anyone, the sprout is captured in the exact glow your magic rings have and it starts to rise.
Inch by inch, further it climbs and stem by stem, new bushy green leaves crowd around the main body. Its base thickens to withstand the strain of the new weight, roots bursting through the earth and snake out to stabilize.
Beholding the spellâs work, youâre mesmerized by the otherworldly rapid expansion while the organism blossoms in size, from being mere inches to reaching your knees, then your waist, your chest, shoulders, head, and beyond. Yellow star-like flowers bloom, droop, and pop into buds of green before swelling larger and larger until theyâre a perfect shade of red.
Vance backs away during the whole ordeal until you drop your arm, ending the cast as the bush towers at a nearly whopping two and a half meters, thick and full of the fruit you were hoping for-
Globe tomatoes!
Ghosts of aghast ramblings anew but your mind segments it off to a separate plane, subconsciously listening in while you split further off to your hands and the tall tower of a tomato plant.
Your magic WORKS!!! You still possess your avatarâs MG abilities!!
Your fists clench in excitement as you observe your work with a burst of green pigments across your form.
Haha! Itâs weird!... Familiar but foreign.
The animation of a magic circle is the same. The design of the ring complex with higher tiers causes new rings to follow the rounded line from the circumference, engulfing and projecting out further from the center. Circles and diamonds collected within the intricate designs of the cast mark the center, outward flowing the words FIREWALL thatâd be in the language of your choiceâ.
Except it wasnât.
It would be Japanese for you, as that is-was your default, howeverâor rather a second ago it was in the language of this worldâs tongue. You could read it still with your perk All Tongueâand it says the same FIREWALL text.
Familiar but foreign.
The alien sensation of loss draining paired with the cast sits in the back of your mind. Itâs hardly there but itâs enough information for you to puzzle that the sensation is the drawing of your mana. Youâd barely noticed it at firstâbut as you held the cast while active, you felt the transference of unreal becoming a physical manifestation to power your will.
You can still feel the pool to an extentâvery faint as a seventh sense. The gradual swelling back up of your mana is what you assume it is. Like hearing a drip of a faucet filling a pool back to its full capacity.
While it is interestingâthis whole intention thing is confusingâ. Worrying too if you linger on the process.
While you spoke the incantation phrase for the cast, it doesnât cancel out that it could be only will and not word. Only time can test.
What if you want to do something you shouldnât? Lashing out for one is an impulse that you find hard to maintain for some reason and it scares you.
What if one day something tips you over the edge or something brushes you wrong? Nate for example.
Will you truly become a monster then? Will you truly lose your humanity?
You fear what you can become if you donât practice self-control. You know the not-so-distant experiences of being threatened causes your mind to go elsewhere when youâre triggered. It seems like you lose most to all sense of rationality. Youâve never felt anything quite like it before, nor anything as strong. Emotion blinds you in those moments and you have to fight your entire body to stop you from acting out those emotions. Your only barrier from your wrath at those times is your mind and even that is sketchy.
As you thought before, your mind just goes someplace during those times, and something...vile and...sick takes its place. Your mind is your own enemy in this body and tends to make you more aggressive than anything youâre accustomed to.
Youâll do everything in your power to prevent that from occurring.
You just hope that the day never comes that impulse outways logic.
God have mercy on all the day it occurs-
"SÅâ" The inquiry from your right pulls you to turn Vanceâs way.
"Yes?"
He licks his lips, eyes wide with the most emotion you've ever seen on the young man, while he steps closer after retreating a few steps before. "This isâ. What?" He doesn't find the right words he has to say till he makes it to your side again, turning his neck up to size up the growth. "What kind of spell was that?"
"It was a Druid cast in the Transmutation category called âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«."
You pause for a second but nothing occurs when you utter the incantation.
Not names alone then. Got it. Intention is key.
Vance shakes his head as he reaches out to pinch one of the extending branches seeing how lush green they are. If you could, you'd say his eyes are sparkling in awe by the way he roams the bush.
"Iâhaven't heard of something like thisâIsn't thisâan extremely difficult spell to cast?"
"What?" You almost laugh. "A growth spell hard? It's only a third-tier cast."
He jerks his head to you at a speed you'd never thought possible with his scrawny figure. "T-third?!"
"Yeah. That's what I said." You scratch your neck in a mirthful manner, amused by this extreme shift in emotions. "I didn't even use the spell to its full potential. It has a high range and other perks but I simply focused it on this one target-errâtomato plant. Speaking of which-" Reaching out to a particular globe you'd been eyeing, you pluck a tomato that would fit perfectly into the palm of a regular person but is slightly smaller in your avatarâs. "-ah! There we go!"
A real tomato!! It feels smooth and it is a gorgeous glossy ruby of a fruit. Nice weight to add! It doesn't smell like much on the outside, simply a faint grassy tartness, but you imagine when you finally burst into this globe, it'll be glorious!
You want to devour this thing right now.
"You're sayingâthat this spell you just used is nothing to you?!"
"I wouldn't say thatâuhâ" Whatâs an excuse that doesn't reveal too much of your avatarâs powers? "I can't do it forever. It's like lifting weights. At some point, you'll need to rest. You get it?"
He scrunches his brows. "...but you can do it for a long time?"
"YeahâI canâ." Thereâs a system that if you reach a high enough level in a job class with access to the spell, you can stand and cast the spell for eight hours in-game time and it'll enrich a farmland plot for an entire year in Yggdrasil terms so that they can grow produce twice as plentiful. A level 100 player could likely do this for a little over twelve hours Earth time. With your level 300MP Capâyou could do it for days without break. Not to mention your avatarâs perk Life accelerates restoration by double normal speed, meaning if you ever lost all your MP at once, instead of waiting twenty-four hours for it to run its course before it fills up to max, it'd only take twelve for you depending on conditions.
Soâyou could stand here for days, maybe weeks, using this third-tier spell if youâd wish.
Vance lets go of the branch, and a tremor of a whisper shakes out of his gullet with reverence, "Howâstrong are you?"
You shrug, not intending on spilling the beans but rather to figure out your new goal:
How to eat if you can.
You wish you could check your stats right now but thatâs out of the question with no toolbar or menu. You can only guess with what you already know.
Nothing will happen if you canât eat but youâre testing if you can/need to. So putting that frame of mind on, youâre assuming that would put you in a category of either eating being unnecessary or itâs vital. Youâre leaning more so towards unnecessary since your avatar never had to eat while in-game and you donât feel hungryâstill, you canât rule out necessity.
For Yggdrasil standards, if a player has the Eating Unnecessary perk it means that their avatar canât eat...but for a few races, such as some types of spirits, automatons, and more, can eat or can only eat certain things. It was mainly a way for characters to gain buffs from certain meals, such as a few deity races with nectar or ichor and a handful of undead with the spirit or flesh of the living. Sometimes, certain races had to eat certain things to activate abilities, spells, and more.
Is that your case now? How does this go into play as a Creator? You canât compare it to other races since itâs a race of its ownâhermmmâ.maybe youâre thinking too in the boxâshould you get a look from the outside? Looking at this from a different perspective may helpâ
âœHey, Vance?â He immediately focuses back on you at your prompt. âœIfâhow should I put thisâ. Imagine a scenario thatâthereâs something you need to eat but are having difficulty doing so. How would you go about eating it?â
He quirks a brow at the odd quarry and eyes the tomato in your hand. âœIs there a reason Iâd be having trouble eating it?â
âœYes but Iâm not going to give you a specific reason. That is up to you to deduce-ah, reason out on your own. Give me a reason for any scenario where that would occur.â
âœOkayââ Eyes squinting in puzzlement, he indulges you. âœIf it tastes bad Iâd try to get it down as quickly as I can without it touching my tongue, drinking water to flush the flavor away. If itâs too hardâIâd guess itâd depend on why it is. Iâd find a way to break it apart so that I wouldnât choke on it. Iâd do the same thing with something too big or tough. Something too hot, Iâd blow on it or wait for it to cool downâ.andâif itâs something morally wrong to eatâI donât know. I wouldnât want to even if I had to; thoughâI wouldnât say I would pass on it if it meant my lifeâ. Thatâs all the reasons I can come up withâ. Does this have something to do with the tomato?â
âœUhâit's a general issue, more like. Don't worry. Nothing is wrong with the tomatoes if you're concerned. I'mâtrying to figure something out is allââ A sigh ends your note.
Well that didnât help. Though you canât blame him. Youâre being cryptic. Itâs not like you can ask him a direct question about what youâre trying to achieve. He may be put off or downright discouraging. Plus, he knows less about SÅsaku-sha than you. He wouldnât know where to start. Not to mention a lack of goal to achieve with your inquiries can produce greater creative solutions to your predicament. Itâs exactly why youâre seeking help outside the box in the first place. Maybe you can poke at his imagination a bit?
âœHereâs another scenario. Let's say itâs not one of the reasons you listed. Say your lips were sealed together so you could no longer open them. How would you eat then?â
Disturbance slowly creeps on his features, âœ...Is this something to do with the horrible death you were thinking of earlier?â
âœNoâwell, not really. J-just, entertain me with this. What would your solution to something like that be?â
âœ...How are my lips sealed? Is it some kind of sticky substance?â
âœNo. For this example, the skin of your lips have fused so you no longer have a mouth to open.â
No words come in response for a good moment or so but Vance eventually does speak, âœI can only eat from my mouthâsoâIâd believe Iâd have to make one.â
âœMake what?â
âœMake a mouth. If I had nothing, Iâd try making a mouth. If itâs just the skin of my face thatâs the issue, Iâd cut it so Iâd have a mouth again.â
Make a mouth?
Make a mouthâ.
â.
â.
God damn it. Youâre an idiot. Why didnât you think of that?!
Yes, when you tried to drink the tea Barry gave you, you assumed a mouth would appear or that youâd drink it some other way. However, you never tried to have your avatar form one! You just expected one to appear without putting work into it!
This is something thatâd normally snap to your head while playing your avatar but...maybe youâre confusing this reality with the reality of Earth, where magic and supernatural abilities don't exist. Abilities such as-
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«
It would allow you to obtain a form thatâd give you the ability to eat! It is a skill specific races and magic users have which allows them to accomplish tasks their primary forms would not! A perfect example of that are DoppelgÃngers!
You nod swiftly, âœThat is a good suggestion! Thank you!â
Perturbed is a good description of what the boy appears to be. âœ...You bring up a lot of morbid things.â
You shrug in reply, busy trying to connect some dots.
This is a terrific solution, though, it does raise some thoughts with it.
If you have to rely on âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, or any other transformative spell of yours, just to eat it may very well mean that you donât need to eat; giving a greater probability to the presence of the Eating Unnecessary perk on your person. Thatâs not entirely bad news. In actuality, this may mean that you wonât die of starvation. Itâs not certain, just a greater chance of it being so.
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« isnât a skill native to the Creator classâthough that shouldnât be too much of an issue. Being a Creator gives freedom over all low-level perks, skills, and spells of all races as long as they don't clash with your current job classes...so it may be possible for you to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« that way. An admin key so to say.
Now that you know the gist of activating casts, this should be a piece of cake!
But before you try to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, youâre aware you need a body to replicate into. Itâs a spell that doesnât allow you to make a unique form but rather copy one that youâve seen. Simply put, you canât grow a mouth out of your already existing avatar.
There are plenty of individuals around which you can turn into but youâd risk being accused of trying to steal their identity. No problem, you have a nearly infinite inventory of players and NPCs you have stored in bank to recall for situations like these. Thatâs not including the real-life examples stored in your head which you can choose from if thatâs even possible here. Heck, you may be able to turn back into the real you.
The issue with this is if those faces were transferred here along with you. You have no idea. Your abilities may have been reset in this case and you canât use any of your memories previous to this situation as a guideâ.you canât tell until you start testing the unknown again.
âœHey, Vance?â He nods for you to continue. âœIâm going to try something else now. This time, it will only affect me, okay?â
âœ...How will it affect you?â
âœIâmay look a little different in a sec.â
He squints. âœ...How?â
âœErrâIâmânot so sure. Think about it as if Iâm going to change to a different skin color.â
âœ...Thatâs it?â
âœ...Something like that. Itâs a way for me to adjust to aânew environment.â A new body is a better word to describe it. His expression remains hardened so you take the time to go into more detail to butter him up a bit without giving too much away. âœâdo you remember what we talked about with animals changing color?â
Itâs as if the gears click in his head. âœAhâbut you said yours only represents your feelings?â
âœYes, they do. But I didnât say only. They could mean something elseâwhich is why I need to try this thing real quick, okay?â
His lip curls slightly in displeasure, like he tastes something bad, but after a moment he looks back to the tomato bush and dips his head in a firm nod.
After shared gratitude, you turn back to the tomato in your clutches.
Okay, time to try a new spell! But for this to work, you need to settle on a look as brought up before. You canât try it without a template to copy.
You need to change your appearance to appear like a human again. Thereâs no point in changing your form to look like another monster in these peopleâs eyesâ. Butânot just any human, however.
Youâll need a form that has similarities to the natives of this world. If you appear too foreign, youâll draw eyes which slightly defeats the purpose of fitting in, meaning youâll need to replicate what youâve seen in Bourn as a reference. You wonât try to copy anyone youâve seen here, as youâve concluded before, butâyou canât guarantee how your avatarâs abilities have been affected from coming here, even with your growth spell being generally the same.
Uwahâyou would love to appear as yourselfâbut you also donât want to use your actual identity in this world as you canât say for certain how it could endanger you. You have to take a new look. A new alter ego. This way, your interactions with the natives of this new world will run a bit smootherâ. Therefore-
What do you want to appear as?
Male
Female
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
62â†'128â†'139
The choice left at the end of this chapter doesn't necessarily mean much. All it will affect is what gender you'll identify as when you're not SÅsaku-sha, how others will treat you, and small differences from the other gender path. Don't worry and think it'll change the story completely, it won't really. All this means is that it can relate to you more as a character and that I can also post chapters far more frequently since they'll be similar.
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DEAL OF GOLD 3:11
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold.
Chapter Notes
I know I missed another month, but work has been killing me. Long story short, my workplace has been busting my tail with 55 hour weeks on minimum wage. I put my foot down and told them I canât keep being used like that, especially since I just underwent surgery. They got livid, said some awful stuff, and insisted that I start work again two days after the operation when Iâm supposed to be in recovery. Needless to say, Iâm done with that place. So, with the time I have now, I was able to make another update! Hope y'all enjoy!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
Now isnât the time to be making risky moves in front of scared people. If you started to perform magic of any kind, you can only imagine how alarmed theyâd become. Besides, youâre quite curious about these flowers.
Therefore, leaning down and careful of your movement, you pluck three thin stems from between your feet with a slight wince. Standing straight once again, you draw your hand closer to your face to observe the delicate flowers, Vance side-eyeing you as you do so.
Theyâre small, each bud about the size of your pinky nail, however, the petals are all unique in their own way; which you know is impossible biologicallyâat least you believe so. Some have round petals, some have pointy ones, and some are curly even when they grow from the same stim, shifting their shapes as the moments tick by. Theyâre of similar shades though, having copied the color of your skin tone when they grew, and have an iridescent sheen when twirled in the light. Your non-existent eyes widen at the sight of the flowers pulsating and squirming as if they are breathing, pondering if they are feeling pain at the moment by the way theyâre movingâ.
âœPrettyââ You hum warmly, âœSorry I picked you.â
Now, how to eat if you canâ.
You wish you could check your stats right now but thatâs out of the question with no toolbar or menu. You can only guess with what you already know.
Nothing will happen if you canât eat but youâre testing if you can/need to. So putting that frame of mind on, youâre assuming that would put you in a category of either eating being unnecessary or itâs vital. Youâre leaning more so towards unnecessary since your avatar never had to eat while in-game and you donât feel hungryâstill, you canât rule out necessity.
For Yggdrasil standards, if a player has the Eating Unnecessary perk it means that their avatar canât eat...but for a few races, such as some types of spirits, automatons, and more, can eat or can only eat certain things. It was mainly a way for characters to gain buffs from certain meals, such as a few deity races with nectar or ichor and a handful of undead with the spirit or flesh of the living. Sometimes, certain races had to eat certain things to activate abilities, spells, and more.
Is that your case now? How does this go into play as a Creator? You canât compare it to other races since itâs a race of its ownâhermmmâ.maybe youâre thinking too in the boxâshould you get a look from the outside? Looking at this from a different perspective may helpâ
âœHey, Vance?â He doesnât respond, merely turning his head your way to show heâs listening. âœIfâhow should I put thisâ. Imagine a scenario thatâthereâs something you need to eat but are having difficulty doing so. How would you go about eating it?â
He quirks a brow at the odd quarry. âœIs there a reason Iâd be having trouble eating it?â
âœYes but Iâm not going to give you a specific reason. That is up to you to deduce-ah, reason out on your own. Give me a reason for any scenario where that would occur.â
âœOkayââ Eyes squinting in puzzlement, he indulges you. âœIf it tastes bad Iâd try to get it down as quickly as I can without it touching my tongue, drinking water to flush the flavor away. If itâs too hardâIâd guess itâd depend on why it is. Iâd find a way to break it apart so that I wouldnât choke on it. Iâd do the same thing with something too big or tough. Something too hot, Iâd blow on it or wait for it to cool downâ.andâif itâs something morally wrong to eatâI donât know. I wouldnât want to even if I had to; thoughâI wouldnât say I would pass on it if it meant my lifeâ. Thatâs all the reasons I can come up withâ. Why do you ask?â
âœTrying to figure something out is allââ A sigh ends your note.
Well that didnât help. Though you canât blame him. Youâre being cryptic. Itâs not like you can ask him a direct question about what youâre trying to achieve. He may be put off or downright discouraging. Plus, he knows less about SÅsaku-sha than you. He wouldnât know where to start. Not to mention a lack of goal to achieve with your inquiries can produce greater creative solutions to your predicament. Itâs exactly why youâre seeking help outside the box in the first place. Maybe you can poke at his imagination a bit?
âœHereâs another scenario. Let's say itâs not one of the reasons you listed. Say your lips were sealed together so you could no longer open them. How would you eat then?â
Disturbance slowly creeps on his features, âœ...Is this something to do with the horrible death you were thinking of earlier?â
âœNoâwell, not really. J-just, entertain me with this. What would your solution to something like that be?â
âœ...How are my lips sealed? Is it some kind of sticky substance?â
âœNo. For this example, the skin of your lips have fused so you no longer have a mouth to open.â
No words come in response for a good moment or so but Vance eventually does speak, âœI can only eat from my mouthâsoâIâd believe Iâd have to make one.â
âœMake what?â
âœMake a mouth. If I had nothing, Iâd try making a mouth. If itâs just the skin of my face thatâs the issue, Iâd cut it so Iâd have a mouth again.â
Make a mouth?
Make a mouthâ.
â.
â.
God damn it. Youâre an idiot. Why didnât you think of that?!
Yes, when you tried to drink the tea Barry gave you, you assumed a mouth would appear or that youâd drink it some other way. However, you never tried to have your avatar form one! You just expected one to appear without putting work into it!
This is something thatâd normally snap to your head while playing your avatar but...maybe youâre confusing this reality with the reality of Earth, where magic and supernatural abilities don't exist. Abilities such as-
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«
It would allow you to obtain a form thatâd give you the ability to eat! It is a skill specific races and magic users have which allows them to accomplish tasks their primary forms would not! A perfect example of that are DoppelgÃngers!
You nod swiftly, âœThat is a good suggestion! Thank you!â
Perturbed is a good description of what the boy appears to be. âœ...You bring up a lot of morbid things.â
You shrug in reply, busy trying to connect some dots.
This is a terrific solution, though, it does raise some thoughts with it.
If you have to rely on âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, or any other transformative spell of yours, just to eat it may very well mean that you donât need to eat; giving a greater probability to the presence of the Eating Unnecessary perk on your person. Thatâs not entirely bad news. In actuality, this may mean that you wonât die of starvation. Itâs not certain, just a greater chance of it being so.
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« isnât a skill native to the Creator classâthough that shouldnât be too much of an issue. Being a Creator gives freedom over all low-level perks, skills, and spells of all races as long as they don't clash with your current job classes...so it may be possible for you to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« that way. An admin key so to say.
However, one of the reasons you chose flowers was to avoid practicing magic in front of a crowdâguess this was unavoidable. Oh well.
Your biggest concern with trying the cast is your change in controls over your prowess. Thereâs been not a lick of tests tried out on how your abilities have been altered. You may not be able to pull off such a task.
Even if you make the cast work, what if you screw it up in a different way? What if you turn into some horrid frothing beast?! With this alien of a body, you wouldnât be surprised. You could even compare your avatar to a Lovecraftian. You canât even imagine what would happen to these peopleâs minds if you turned into one of the old ones.
A sigh slithers out along with the dark purple and green splotches bubbling up along your exterior. There are some things that...exist that arenât meant to be seenâ.
Wait-
This may not be Yggdrasilâbutâif youâre here does that mean Lovecraftâs beasts are real things now?
â.
Your heart drops.
Shit. Do you have to live in a reality knowing that abominations like the crawling chaos or the slumbering god exist? That reality as you know is just a dream fabricated by Aza-NONONONOO! Donât think the name. Donât think the name! Donât THINK of the NAME! Doing so is very taboo and you donât need the extra trouble. You donât need to poke the bear with the stick, the bear being the ruler of the Outer Gods and the incarnation of chaos.
Yeah. No thank you. Youâre going to distract yourself by dealing with the now. There are certainly things best left in the dark.
You rub your neck, trying to dispel the mental crisis that had settled on you only seconds prior, the dark purple splotches slowly fading.
The uncertainties are there and are legitimate. Youâre...you were considered very powerful by Yggdrasil standards. Even on SÅsaku-shaâs character sheet, your avatar is labeled as âthe most powerful being.â If you use your abilities wrong you could hurt those around you...maybe even more than that.
Swallowing to the vision of you becoming some celestial, genocide-craved, atrocity, you contemplate on.
Your ability to control your avatarâs powers have been compromised meaning those around you and yourself are in greater danger of disasterâ
Your gaze drops to the delicate flowers sitting between your fingers.
Smallâshimmeringâsweet and soft, the small growths are. Although they are literal weeds pulled out from beneath your feet, theyâre appealing to every one of your senses and appear way more appetizing than anything that youâve ever had on a plate.
â.
â.
Come on...
Is it worth possibly summoning an armageddon incarnate of yourself just to taste something other than artificial paste?
â.
You eye the glistening petals and leaves, a vibrant assortment of shapes and colors, and more with a gaze full of desire.
Yes.
Youâll regret it later if it turns out for the worst but the temptation is too great. Besides, you hardly think becoming a monster is that great of a factor here. Low chances and allâ
âœThe fry who never lets curiosity guide its fin shall never see the glory of the seaââ You mumble before you realize what you've done. Lord, another one.
âœHuh?â
âœItâs nothing. Donât mind me.â You reassure Vance although he continues to give you an odd look.
In other words, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Youâre willing to give this a try if itâll help your chance of survival. This is something youâd have inevitably had to doâso better now than never.
You nod, trying to hype yourself up for the task.
So how do you go about using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«? Is it similar to how you use Ascend? Is it your will and intent and the rest follows? But you havenât even tried to see if you can access your spell slots yet. Yes, you couldnât access your menu but what if your casts are separate from the menu? Your inventory is still here despite no menu for it and you used the same method accessing it as Ascend. Should you replicate that process?
Raising your free hand you try to pull up your spell slots-
Nothing.
You try again with more focus and will being poured into the motion-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to do it the old way and go through the menu now that you know more about how to use SÅsaku-shaâs abilities? It didn't work last night...but maybe now? Okay, letâs open the menu-
Nothing.
Mphâagain-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to switch up your arms? Though unlikely, you give it a shot and run both processes again-
Nothing.
âœWhat are you doing?â
âœStretching my limbs.â You reply sarcastically to Vance, not bothering to explain what it is youâre trying to achieve. He doesnât look like he believes you either but doesnât push you for the truth, only continuing to keep a scrutinizing watch over your actions.
Neither of those workedâhuh. Sounds about right. Your guess about spells being similar to your inventory is likely the case then. Youâll have to be direct for this to work. No list and selection. Straight-up magic.
But before you try to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, youâre aware you need a body to replicate into. Itâs a spell that doesnât allow you to make a unique form but rather copy one that youâve seen. Simply put, you canât grow a mouth out of your already existing avatar.
There are plenty of individuals around which you can turn into but youâd risk being accused of trying to steal their identity. No problem, you have a nearly infinite inventory of players and NPCs you have stored in bank to recall for situations like these. Thatâs not including the real-life examples stored in your head which you can choose from if thatâs even possible here. Heck, you may be able to turn back into the real you.
The issue with this is if those faces were transferred here along with you. You have no idea. Your abilities may have been reset and you canât use any of your memories previous to this situation as a guideâ.you canât tell until you start testing the unknown. Ugh, but right now isnât the best timeâ. But when will there ever be a right time?
When you start the journey with the boys, youâll be stuck at their sides. Nate will likely attack you if you try anything. Not to mention the time youâll have in Re-Estize. That will be days of you cast into the unknown, pondering how to control your avatar, and wondering if youâre going to starve to death.
No. You need to do something now while the opportunity is still availableâeven if there is an audience.
Speaking of which, one being very attentive to your every move should likely be warned about what youâre going to try.
âœHey, Vance?â He doesnât visibly show heâs listening to you this time but you know he still is. âœIâm going to try something in a second. Donât start panicking- Hey, donât give me that look! It will only affect me, okay?â
âœHow will it affect you?â
âœIâmay look a little different in a sec.â
He squints. âœ...How?â
âœErrâIâmânot so sure. Think about it as if Iâm going to change to a different skin color.â
âœ...Thatâs it?â
âœ...Something like that. I wouldnât be bringing this up if this wasnât something I have to do.â
âœWhy couldnât you have done so while we were away from everyone?â Frustration carries on his tone and you shrink a little in response.
âœTrust me. I would have done so if it had come to my mind then. Iâm not doing this to cause undue stress on anyone. As I reiterate, this will only affect me and that I have to do it.â
âœCanât you wait?â
âœIâve thought of thatâbut no. Iâd be risking my life more so the longer I wait.â His head jerks up a bit, his unrelenting gaze prompting you with an unsaid question of what you mean. You shake your head instead. âœItâs complicated. Nothing I want to do is harmful to anyone in this village; as long as you all welcome me, I can swear my name on that.â
As the words come out of your mouth, you swear that you see a glimmer of something yellow around your peripherals, though you donât know how that is possible when your vision extends from everywhere.
Before you could switch a part of your focus to what the heck that was, Vance cuts in. âœWhy are you doing it?â
âœ...To preserve my well-being? I already said so.â
âœNot that. How is it going to help you?â
Isâhe truly interested orâis he seeking a way to arrange a rain check for your attempt?... The latter, yeah. Heâs likely looking for an alternative to the unknown tryst you have brought to light. If heâs any what concerned for you itâs a hundred percent on the backburner.
âœItâs a way for me to adjust to aânew environment.â A new body is a better word to describe it. His expression remains hardened so you take the time to go into more detail to butter him up a bit without giving too much away. âœâdo you remember what we talked about with animals changing color?â
Itâs as if the gears click in his head. âœAhâbut you said yours only represents your feelings?â
âœYes, they do. But I didnât say only. They could mean something elseâwhich is why I need to try this thing real quick, okay?â
His lip curls slightly in displeasure, like he tastes something bad, but after a moment he lowers his head in a reluctant nod.
After a swift thank you, your head turns back to the flowers in your clutches.
Great! Now how to utilize your avatarâs abilitiesâ.
The total number of magic spells in Yggdrasil, from tiers one to ten, plus super tier, was well over six thousand. These were split into various trees thatâd be compatible with some races while it wouldnât with others. Some spells require certain conditions to work like the type of biome the player is in, needed tasks completed beforehand, items that need to be held, can only be used on certain levels, and so on. Normally a level-100 player could use about three hundred but there are some instances where players have found loopholes and were able to have more. Your avatar...since it was the being that created Yggdrasil... can access all the spells contained in the game, though the conditions for the spells still have to be met for you to use them.
It is an insane amount, you know, but it had made sense that SÅsaku-sha would have that kind of ability if they were able to provide the rest of the nine worlds with magical powers. It was also a way for you to adjust your avatar to the players youâd be put up against. And since you are aware of all that was programmed into your game, you had memorized every MG ability.
Anything magic-related available to you is what falls into your current classes, all low-tier casts, and what you have in your inventory. âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« should be no problem.
Activation is the key. How comparatively different is casting magic from using the skills youâve unlocked thus far?
Ascend feels like nothing on your part. Little to no effort whatsoever in controlling it. Whatever you want, it follows. As if youâre walking on airâ.
â.
...Could it really be wanting?
Hmmmââwantââ. Could you use magic if you actively want to or have the will to use magic?
...It canât hurt to try? But for this to work, you need to settle on a look as brought up before. You canât try it without a template to copy.
You need to change your appearance to appear like a human again. Thereâs no point in changing your form to look like another monster in these peopleâs eyesâ. Butânot just any human, however.
Youâll need a form that has similarities to the natives of this world. If you appear too foreign, youâll draw eyes which slightly defeats the purpose of fitting in, meaning youâll need to replicate what youâve seen in Bourn as a reference. You wonât try to copy anyone youâve seen here, as youâve concluded before, butâyou canât guarantee how your avatarâs abilities have been affected from coming hereâ.
Uwahâyou would love to appear as yourselfâbut you also donât want to use your actual identity in this world as you canât say for certain how it could endanger you. You have to take a new look. A new alter ego. This way, your interactions with the natives of this new world will run a bit smootherâ. Therefore-
What do you want to appear as?
Male
Female
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
62â†'129â†'140
The choice left at the end of this chapter doesn't necessarily mean much. All it will affect is what gender you'll identify as when you're not SÅsaku-sha, how others will treat you, and small differences from the other gender path. Don't worry and think it'll change the story completely, it won't really. All this means is that it can relate to you more as a character and that I can also post chapters far more frequently since they'll be similar.
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DEAL OF GOLD 3:12
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold.
Chapter Notes
I know I missed another month, but work has been killing me. Long story short, my workplace has been busting my tail with 55 hour weeks on minimum wage. I put my foot down and told them I canât keep being used like that, especially since I just underwent surgery. They got livid, said some awful stuff, and insisted that I start work again two days after the operation when Iâm supposed to be in recovery. Needless to say, Iâm done with that place. So, with the time I have now, I was able to make another update! Hope y'all enjoy!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
Why would you give up on a chance to have actual food? The flowers follow you everywhere. When will you have another chance for a real grown fruit or vegetable? Youâve fantasized about having something like this most of your life.
Sure, youâve had a few actual fruits and veggies in your lifetime, all while still living with your parents, but they were allâvery sad and witheredânot to mention decades ago. Youâve long forgotten the flavor they carriedâexcept that strawberry you had when you were eleven.
It was a party, upscale. You were there with your family to âmake face.â At one point, a few hours in, you had snuck off and found a reserved section for the exclusives, people with gold for blood. Usually, theyâd have scanners or bots operating at the entrances to make sure no unwelcome guests could waltz in but it was a mere two android bouncersâ.dressed very skimpy. The creep who hosted the party had a thing for surrounding himself with half-naked individuals, that didnât exclude his work robots.
You half understood why at the timeâfor various reasonsâbut that wasnât your focus. With your small size and the large number of drapes hanging from the walls, youâd passed them.
That was an eye-opening experience. How differently those people looked, acted, talked, and dressed. It was as if youâd walked through a portal into a completely new world. They were all so self-absorbed. What they have, what they want, who they know, what they could do, and what shares they were a part of. You couldnât understand any of it at the time but what did compute to your little noggin was that they not once brought up anything everyday people like you would worry about as if they werenât afflicted by the world around them.
Untouchable.
But you didnât sneak in to watch. What drew you in was the smell. They had food you hadnât known existed until then and you wanted a bite. Thankfully, the food bar was situated near the wall where you could stay hidden. You probably couldâve gotten away with a lot more if you had tried, but when you saw the strawberry tarts your sole focus went to them.
You had grabbed enough for you and your family, wrapped them in a napkin, and made a hasty retreat. You thought youâd achieved a great victoryâthoughâ.when you showed your parents what you had gotten for you all to shareâ.
Oh boyâ.
There was a swift retreat from the party and youâd never been punished more severely in your life. You thought you were going to die at the time and hated them for itâ. However, years later, youâd come to learn why you were disciplined in such a way, and thinking back, yeah, it was a very stupid thing you had done. You couldâve completely screwed your entire family if youâd been caught. Your lives would have been in the gutter, not in the figurative sense.
Even so, those treats werenât thrown away.
No. There could be no evidence left behind. Especially one so damning and rare. Each of you had promptly eaten your share after a promise of never speaking a word of the occasion anywhere but within the familyâ.
Itâwas a sour-sweetâmade your tongue buzz and your eyes widened when the taste registered. Rich and heavy. How much your mouth watered while you chewed the little desert. Almost made it worth the beating youâd gotten. None of them had to say it, but your family eyed you while they ate. Their gazes of course held an extreme level of disappointment in your actionsâbut gratitude as well.
Could this be a similar experience? You need to figure out how to use your magic first.
You turn around so your front faces the expanse of the cropland, leaning your head over the railing of the fence to focus on a little green sprout in the dirt, Vance side-eyeing you as you do so.
The sprout is two inches high with a few stems coming off from the center, the leaves odd in shape. Tomato? Is it? Vance said that they were close to the fence lineâand it looks like a tomato sprout to youâbut you have no idea other than what youâve seen in documentaries and games.
So how are you going to grow the plant? You need your magic to work.
Your biggest concern with trying the cast is your change in controls over your prowess. Thereâs been not a lick of tests tried out on how your abilities have been altered. You may not be able to pull off such a task.
Even if you make a cast work, what if you screw it up in a different way? What if you cast an attack rather than a growth spell? What if you grow it and you turn it into a type of plant monster?
You rub your neck, trying to dispel the mental crisis that has settled on you.
The uncertainties are there and are legitimate. Youâre...you were considered very powerful by Yggdrasil standards. Even on SÅsaku-shaâs character sheet, your avatar is labeled as âthe most powerful being.â If you use your abilities wrong you could hurt those around you...maybe even more than that.
The ability to control your avatarâs powers has been compromised meaning those around you and yourself are in greater danger of disasterâ
Your gaze drops to the delicate greenery in the soil below.
â.
â.
âœ*Sigh, the fry who never lets curiosity guide its fin shall never see the glory of the seaââ You mumble before you realize what you've done. Lord, another one.
âœHuh?â
âœItâs nothing. Donât mind me.â You reassure Vance although he continues to give you an odd look.
In other words, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Fear will hold you back from achieving results. Youâre willing to give this a try if itâll help your chance of survival. This is something youâd inevitably have to doâso better now than never.
You nod, trying to hype yourself up for the task.
So how do you go about using a growth spell such as âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«? Is it similar to how you use Ascend? Is it your will and intent and the rest follows? But you havenât even tried to see if you can access your spell slots yet. Yes, you couldnât access your menu but what if your casts are separate from the menu? Your inventory is still here despite no menu for it and you used the same method accessing it as Ascend. Should you replicate that process?
Raising your free hand you try to pull up your spell slots-
Nothing.
You try again with more focus and will being poured into the motion-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to do it the old way and go through the menu now that you know more about how to use SÅsaku-shaâs abilities? It didn't work last night...but maybe now? Okay, letâs open the menu-
Nothing.
Mphâagain-
Nothing.
Maybe you need to switch up your arms? Though unlikely, you give it a shot and run both processes again-
Nothing.
âœWhat are you doing?â
âœStretching my limbs.â You reply sarcastically to Vance, not bothering to explain what it is youâre trying to achieve. He doesnât look like he believes you either but doesnât push you for the truth, only continuing to keep a scrutinizing watch over your actions.
Neither of those workedâhuh. Sounds about right. Your guess about spells being similar to your inventory is likely the case then. Youâll have to be direct for this to work. No list and selection. Straight-up magic.
Rrahh! This sucks! Your abilities may have been reset and you canât use any of your memories previous to this situation as a guideâ.you canât tell until you start testing the unknown. Ugh, but right now isnât the best timeâ. But when will there ever be a right time?
When you start the journey with the boys, youâll be stuck at their sides. Nate will likely attack you if you try anything. Not to mention the time youâll have in Re-Estize. That will be days of you cast into the unknown, pondering how to control your avatar, and wondering if youâre going to starve to death.
No. You need to do something now while the opportunity is still availableâeven if there is an audience.
Speaking of which, one being very attentive to your every move should likely be warned about what youâre going to try.
âœHey, Vance?â He doesnât visibly show heâs listening to you but you know he still is. âœIâm going to try something in a second. Donât start panicking- Hey, donât give me that look! It will only affect that sprout right there, okay?â
âœWhy are you trying something?â
âœIâm not doing this to cause undue stress on anyone. Believe me, I wouldn't be doing this now if I didn't need to.â
His lip furrows. âœNeed to?â
âœI-itâs something important to my well-being. Iâdonât want to get into all the details but Iâd be risking my life more so the longer I wait.â His head jerks up a bit, his unrelenting gaze prompting you with an unsaid question of what you mean. You shake your head instead. âœItâs complicated. Nothing I want to do is harmful to anyone in this village; as long as you all welcome me, I can swear my name on that.â
As the words come out of your mouth, you swear that you see a glimmer of something yellow around your peripherals, though you donât know how that is possible when your vision extends from everywhere.
Before you could switch a part of your focus to what the heck that was, Vance cuts in. âœWhat are you trying to do?â
âœOh, wellââ You point again at the small green. âœIâm going to try and grow that sprout to maturity.â
The moment your words come out of your mouth, his face goes blank. You watch him as he remains still where he is, processing your words until a quiet, âœ...What?â tumbles out.
âœ...I said I wanted to try and grow the plant?â
Silence settles again between you two. Itâs an odd thing to watch. Vance looks back and forth between you and the sprout you pointed out, blinking as if he doesnât believe the words you said.
However, youâre on a set time limit and not in the mood to fiddle your thumbs while Vance finishes whatever is going on in his head. âœVance. May I?â
He jerks stiffly, but after a hesitant moment he lowers his head in an expectant nod.
After a swift thank you, your head turns back to the little sprout.
Great! Now how to utilize your avatarâs abilitiesâ.
The total number of magic spells in Yggdrasil, from tiers one to ten, plus super tier, was well over six thousand. These were split into various trees thatâd be compatible with some races while it wouldnât with others. Some spells require certain conditions to work like the type of biome the player is in, needed tasks completed beforehand, items that need to be held, can only be used on certain levels, and so on. Normally a level-100 player could use about three hundred but there are some instances where players have found loopholes and were able to have more. Your avatar...since it was the being that created Yggdrasil... can access all the spells contained in the game, though the conditions for the spells still have to be met for you to use them.
It is an insane amount, you know, but it had made sense that SÅsaku-sha would have that kind of ability if they were able to provide the rest of the nine worlds with magical powers. It was also a way for you to adjust your avatar to the players youâd be put up against. And since you are aware of all that was programmed into your game, you had memorized every MG ability.
Anything magic-related available to you is what falls into your current classes, all low-tier casts, and what you have in your inventory. âŸªGrow PlantâŸ« should be no problem.
Activation is the key. How comparatively different is casting magic from using the skills youâve unlocked thus far?
Ascend feels like nothing on your part. Little to no effort whatsoever in controlling it. Whatever you want, it follows. As if youâre walking on airâ.
â.
...Could it really be wanting?
Hmmmââwantââ. Could you use magic if you actively want to or have the will to use magic?
...It canât hurt to try?
Your dominant arm is maneuvered out in front of your form, palm out facing the ground where the plant is, gaze honed in at the one particular point. Not only yours, however, but Vance also turned his attention to face where youâre pointed at as well as any villager capable of looking your way.
Ugh, why does there have to be an audience?... Better make this work or itâll be embarrassing!
Feeling the weight of expectation on your shoulders, you envision the plant growing the same way they were animated in Yggdrasil when assisted with magic. Your arm tenses with determinationâand, with a firm voice, you call out, âœâŸªGrow Plant!âŸ«â
â†:ï¡ï¥ïŸSHHIING!:ï¥ïŸâœ§
A manifestation of light swirls into existence with a flume of emerald rings against your palm, each two rotating slowly in opposite directions.
âœWha-â
Near immediate, before any shocked gasps could exit anyone, the sprout is captured in the exact glow your magic rings have and it starts to rise.
Inch by inch, further it climbs and stem by stem, new bushy green leaves crowd around the main body. Its base thickens to withstand the strain of the new weight, roots bursting through the earth and snake out to stabilize.
Beholding the spellâs work, youâre mesmerized by the otherworldly rapid expansion while the organism blossoms in size, from being mere inches to reaching your knees, then your waist, your chest, shoulders, head, and beyond. Yellow star-like flowers bloom, droop, and pop into buds of green before swelling larger and larger until theyâre a perfect shade of red.
Vance backs away during the whole ordeal until you drop your arm, ending the cast as the bush towers at a nearly whopping two and a half meters, thick and full of the fruit you were hoping for-
Globe tomatoes!
Ghosts of aghast ramblings anew but your mind segments it off to a separate plane, subconsciously listening in while you split further off to your hands and the tall tower of a tomato plant.
Your magic WORKS!!! You still possess your avatarâs MG abilities!!
Your fists clench in excitement as you observe your work with a burst of green pigments across your form.
Haha! Itâs weird!... Familiar but foreign.
The animation of a magic circle is the same. The design of the ring complex with higher tiers causes new rings to follow the rounded line from the circumference, engulfing and projecting out further from the center. Circles and diamonds collected within the intricate designs of the cast mark the center, outward flowing the words FIREWALL thatâd be in the language of your choiceâ.
Except it wasnât.
It would be Japanese for you, as that is-was your default, howeverâor rather a second ago it was in the language of this worldâs tongue. You could read it still with your perk All Tongueâand it says the same FIREWALL text.
Familiar but foreign.
The alien sensation of loss draining paired with the cast sits in the back of your mind. Itâs hardly there but itâs enough information for you to puzzle that the sensation is the drawing of your mana. Youâd barely noticed it at firstâbut as you held the cast while active, you felt the transference of unreal becoming a physical manifestation to power your will.
You can still feel the pool to an extentâvery faint as a seventh sense. The gradual swelling back up of your mana is what you assume it is. Like hearing a drip of a faucet filling a pool back to its full capacity.
While it is interestingâthis whole intention thing is confusingâ. Worrying too if you linger on the process.
While you spoke the incantation phrase for the cast, it doesnât cancel out that it could be only will and not word. Only time can test.
What if you want to do something you shouldnât? Lashing out for one is an impulse that you find hard to maintain for some reason and it scares you.
What if one day something tips you over the edge or something brushes you wrong? Nate for example.
Will you truly become a monster then? Will you truly lose your humanity?
You fear what you can become if you donât practice self-control. You know the not-so-distant experiences of being threatened causes your mind to go elsewhere when youâre triggered. It seems like you lose most to all sense of rationality. Youâve never felt anything quite like it before, nor anything as strong. Emotion blinds you in those moments and you have to fight your entire body to stop you from acting out those emotions. Your only barrier from your wrath at those times is your mind and even that is sketchy.
As you thought before, your mind just goes someplace during those times, and something...vile and...sick takes its place. Your mind is your own enemy in this body and tends to make you more aggressive than anything youâre accustomed to.
Youâll do everything in your power to prevent that from occurring.
You just hope that the day never comes that impulse outways logic.
God have mercy on all the day it occurs-
"SÅâ" The inquiry from your right pulls you to turn Vanceâs way.
"Yes?"
He licks his lips, eyes wide with the most emotion you've ever seen on the young man, while he steps closer after retreating a few steps before. "This isâ. What?" He doesn't find the right words he has to say till he makes it to your side again, turning his neck up to size up the growth. "What kind of spell was that?"
"It was a Druid cast in the Transmutation category called âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«."
You pause for a second but nothing occurs when you utter the incantation.
Not names alone then. Got it. Intention is key.
Vance shakes his head as he reaches out to pinch one of the extending branches seeing how lush green they are. If you could, you'd say his eyes are sparkling in awe by the way he roams the bush.
"Iâhaven't heard of something like thisâIsn't thisâan extremely difficult spell to cast?"
"What?" You almost laugh. "A growth spell hard? It's only a third-tier cast."
He jerks his head to you at a speed you'd never thought possible with his scrawny figure. "T-third?!"
"Yeah. That's what I said." You scratch your neck in a mirthful manner, amused by this extreme shift in emotions. "I didn't even use the spell to its full potential. It has a high range and other perks but I simply focused it on this one target-errâtomato plant. Speaking of which-" Reaching out to a particular globe you'd been eyeing, you pluck a tomato that would fit perfectly into the palm of a regular person but is slightly smaller in your avatarâs. "-ah! There we go!"
A real tomato!! It feels smooth and it is a gorgeous glossy ruby of a fruit. Nice weight to add! It doesn't smell like much on the outside, simply a faint grassy tartness, but you imagine when you finally burst into this globe, it'll be glorious!
You want to devour this thing right now.
"You're sayingâthat this spell you just used is nothing to you?!"
"I wouldn't say thatâuhâ" Whatâs an excuse that doesn't reveal too much of your avatarâs powers? "I can't do it forever. It's like lifting weights. At some point, you'll need to rest. You get it?"
He scrunches his brows. "...but you can do it for a long time?"
"YeahâI canâ." Thereâs a system that if you reach a high enough level in a job class with access to the spell, you can stand and cast the spell for eight hours in-game time and it'll enrich a farmland plot for an entire year in Yggdrasil terms so that they can grow produce twice as plentiful. A level 100 player could likely do this for a little over twelve hours Earth time. With your level 300MP Capâyou could do it for days without break. Not to mention your avatarâs perk Life accelerates restoration by double normal speed, meaning if you ever lost all your MP at once, instead of waiting twenty-four hours for it to run its course before it fills up to max, it'd only take twelve for you depending on conditions.
Soâyou could stand here for days, maybe weeks, using this third-tier spell if youâd wish.
Vance lets go of the branch, and a tremor of a whisper shakes out of his gullet with reverence, "Howâstrong are you?"
You shrug, not intending on spilling the beans but rather to figure out your new goal:
How to eat if you can.
You wish you could check your stats right now but thatâs out of the question with no toolbar or menu. You can only guess with what you already know.
Nothing will happen if you canât eat but youâre testing if you can/need to. So putting that frame of mind on, youâre assuming that would put you in a category of either eating being unnecessary or itâs vital. Youâre leaning more so towards unnecessary since your avatar never had to eat while in-game and you donât feel hungryâstill, you canât rule out necessity.
For Yggdrasil standards, if a player has the Eating Unnecessary perk it means that their avatar canât eat...but for a few races, such as some types of spirits, automatons, and more, can eat or can only eat certain things. It was mainly a way for characters to gain buffs from certain meals, such as a few deity races with nectar or ichor and a handful of undead with the spirit or flesh of the living. Sometimes, certain races had to eat certain things to activate abilities, spells, and more.
Is that your case now? How does this go into play as a Creator? You canât compare it to other races since itâs a race of its ownâhermmmâ.maybe youâre thinking too in the boxâshould you get a look from the outside? Looking at this from a different perspective may helpâ
âœHey, Vance?â He immediately focuses back on you at your prompt. âœIfâhow should I put thisâ. Imagine a scenario thatâthereâs something you need to eat but are having difficulty doing so. How would you go about eating it?â
He quirks a brow at the odd quarry and eyes the tomato in your hand. âœIs there a reason Iâd be having trouble eating it?â
âœYes but Iâm not going to give you a specific reason. That is up to you to deduce-ah, reason out on your own. Give me a reason for any scenario where that would occur.â
âœOkayââ Eyes squinting in puzzlement, he indulges you. âœIf it tastes bad Iâd try to get it down as quickly as I can without it touching my tongue, drinking water to flush the flavor away. If itâs too hardâIâd guess itâd depend on why it is. Iâd find a way to break it apart so that I wouldnât choke on it. Iâd do the same thing with something too big or tough. Something too hot, Iâd blow on it or wait for it to cool downâ.andâif itâs something morally wrong to eatâI donât know. I wouldnât want to even if I had to; thoughâI wouldnât say I would pass on it if it meant my lifeâ. Thatâs all the reasons I can come up withâ. Does this have something to do with the tomato?â
âœUhâit's a general issue, more like. Don't worry. Nothing is wrong with the tomatoes if you're concerned. I'mâtrying to figure something out is allââ A sigh ends your note.
Well that didnât help. Though you canât blame him. Youâre being cryptic. Itâs not like you can ask him a direct question about what youâre trying to achieve. He may be put off or downright discouraging. Plus, he knows less about SÅsaku-sha than you. He wouldnât know where to start. Not to mention a lack of goal to achieve with your inquiries can produce greater creative solutions to your predicament. Itâs exactly why youâre seeking help outside the box in the first place. Maybe you can poke at his imagination a bit?
âœHereâs another scenario. Let's say itâs not one of the reasons you listed. Say your lips were sealed together so you could no longer open them. How would you eat then?â
Disturbance slowly creeps on his features, âœ...Is this something to do with the horrible death you were thinking of earlier?â
âœNoâwell, not really. J-just, entertain me with this. What would your solution to something like that be?â
âœ...How are my lips sealed? Is it some kind of sticky substance?â
âœNo. For this example, the skin of your lips have fused so you no longer have a mouth to open.â
No words come in response for a good moment or so but Vance eventually does speak, âœI can only eat from my mouthâsoâIâd believe Iâd have to make one.â
âœMake what?â
âœMake a mouth. If I had nothing, Iâd try making a mouth. If itâs just the skin of my face thatâs the issue, Iâd cut it so Iâd have a mouth again.â
Make a mouth?
Make a mouthâ.
â.
â.
God damn it. Youâre an idiot. Why didnât you think of that?!
Yes, when you tried to drink the tea Barry gave you, you assumed a mouth would appear or that youâd drink it some other way. However, you never tried to have your avatar form one! You just expected one to appear without putting work into it!
This is something thatâd normally snap to your head while playing your avatar but...maybe youâre confusing this reality with the reality of Earth, where magic and supernatural abilities don't exist. Abilities such as-
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«
It would allow you to obtain a form thatâd give you the ability to eat! It is a skill specific races and magic users have which allows them to accomplish tasks their primary forms would not! A perfect example of that are DoppelgÃngers!
You nod swiftly, âœThat is a good suggestion! Thank you!â
Perturbed is a good description of what the boy appears to be. âœ...You bring up a lot of morbid things.â
You shrug in reply, busy trying to connect some dots.
This is a terrific solution, though, it does raise some thoughts with it.
If you have to rely on âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, or any other transformative spell of yours, just to eat it may very well mean that you donât need to eat; giving a greater probability to the presence of the Eating Unnecessary perk on your person. Thatâs not entirely bad news. In actuality, this may mean that you wonât die of starvation. Itâs not certain, just a greater chance of it being so.
âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« isnât a skill native to the Creator classâthough that shouldnât be too much of an issue. Being a Creator gives freedom over all low-level perks, skills, and spells of all races as long as they don't clash with your current job classes...so it may be possible for you to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« that way. An admin key so to say.
Now that you know the gist of activating casts, this should be a piece of cake!
But before you try to use âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«, youâre aware you need a body to replicate into. Itâs a spell that doesnât allow you to make a unique form but rather copy one that youâve seen. Simply put, you canât grow a mouth out of your already existing avatar.
There are plenty of individuals around which you can turn into but youâd risk being accused of trying to steal their identity. No problem, you have a nearly infinite inventory of players and NPCs you have stored in bank to recall for situations like these. Thatâs not including the real-life examples stored in your head which you can choose from if thatâs even possible here. Heck, you may be able to turn back into the real you.
The issue with this is if those faces were transferred here along with you. You have no idea. Your abilities may have been reset in this case and you canât use any of your memories previous to this situation as a guideâ.you canât tell until you start testing the unknown again.
âœHey, Vance?â He nods for you to continue. âœIâm going to try something else now. This time, it will only affect me, okay?â
âœ...How will it affect you?â
âœIâmay look a little different in a sec.â
He squints. âœ...How?â
âœErrâIâmânot so sure. Think about it as if Iâm going to change to a different skin color.â
âœ...Thatâs it?â
âœ...Something like that. Itâs a way for me to adjust to aânew environment.â A new body is a better word to describe it. His expression remains hardened so you take the time to go into more detail to butter him up a bit without giving too much away. âœâdo you remember what we talked about with animals changing color?â
Itâs as if the gears click in his head. âœAhâbut you said yours only represents your feelings?â
âœYes, they do. But I didnât say only. They could mean something elseâwhich is why I need to try this thing real quick, okay?â
His lip curls slightly in displeasure, like he tastes something bad, but after a moment he looks back to the tomato bush and dips his head in a firm nod.
After shared gratitude, you turn back to the tomato in your clutches.
Okay, time to try a new spell! But for this to work, you need to settle on a look as brought up before. You canât try it without a template to copy.
You need to change your appearance to appear like a human again. Thereâs no point in changing your form to look like another monster in these peopleâs eyesâ. Butânot just any human, however.
Youâll need a form that has similarities to the natives of this world. If you appear too foreign, youâll draw eyes which slightly defeats the purpose of fitting in, meaning youâll need to replicate what youâve seen in Bourn as a reference. You wonât try to copy anyone youâve seen here, as youâve concluded before, butâyou canât guarantee how your avatarâs abilities have been affected from coming here, even with your growth spell being generally the same.
Uwahâyou would love to appear as yourselfâbut you also donât want to use your actual identity in this world as you canât say for certain how it could endanger you. You have to take a new look. A new alter ego. This way, your interactions with the natives of this new world will run a bit smootherâ. Therefore-
What do you want to appear as?
Male
Female
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
62â†'129â†'141
The choice left at the end of this chapter doesn't necessarily mean much. All it will affect is what gender you'll identify as when you're not SÅsaku-sha, how others will treat you, and small differences from the other gender path. Don't worry and think it'll change the story completely, it won't really. All this means is that it can relate to you more as a character and that I can also post chapters far more frequently since they'll be similar.
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DEAL OF GOLD 4:1
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
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A masculine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday guy in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the men of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old man on his own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any men during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot sounds...reasonable? Six feet is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. Plus, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, this is good.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the men are bald. Yes, some of the older men have bald spots but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and Vanceâs black hairâ. None of them have long hair eitherâshort hair might be the norm. The longest youâve seen a man's hair here was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs the longest youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later.
Should you have facial hair? Some of the older men have mustaches and beards...but youâre aiming to appear like an early twenty-year-old. All of the younger men have smooth complectionsâso youâll stick to that code. Similar to the style of your hair, with time you can stylize any facial hair if need be once you learn more.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look like him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœGah! Fuck! Come on!â
âœIt can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a manâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœNo one needs to see that. Especially with the women around.â
âœIs it trying to fool us?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expecting this todayâ
âœNo! Bleck! Someone give it a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœI knew it was a male.â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif he wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only masculine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a manâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, nipples, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your memberâwell, not exactly your manhood but is undoubtedly yours now. Your privates are unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown and it's nearly the length of your entire hand, realizing as you grasp it-
âœSÅŒ! Donât do that!!!â Vance scolds sharply when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your upgrade and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my dick in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'124â†'130â†'142
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 4:2
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
RESET
RELOAD
PREVIOUS
See the end of the chapter for more notes
A feminine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday gal in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the women of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old woman on her own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any women during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. The same can be said for Earth. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot and a few inches sounds...reasonable? Five-seven is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. However, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, youâll avoid those casts as youâd stand out if you were a six foot tall woman.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the women are bald. Yes, some of the older women have balding spots, which most cover up with a handkerchief tied around their head, but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of greyâ. All of the lengths vary, long to short being present; though, you will note that long hair is more common. The longest youâve seen a ladyâs hair here was at hip length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs not the most common length youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later. Plus, you donât need to worry about maintaining a lot of hair right now.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look related to him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœH-holy SHIT!! Fuck!!â
âœI-It can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a CHICKâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœGod damn. Best thing Iâve seen all day!.â
âœIsâit trying to fool us?â âœIs it working?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expectingâthis todayâ
âœSomeone give her a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœIt was a female?!â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif she wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only feminine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a womanâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, breasts, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your privates, unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown. Skimming off that to investigate further, your breasts are about the size of your hand realizing as you grasp one boob-
âœS-SÅŒ! Donât do THAT!!!â Vance scolds sharply in a shrill manner when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your chest and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my boobs in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his, only a tad shorter. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Here-â He fumbles quickly, maneuvering his dark clothing a bit but is able to take his half hood off from around his tools and swiftly hand it off to you- âœuse this to dignify yourselfâ. Hold it in front of your person. It wonât do you much if you put it on like I had.â
You attempt to do as he asks but, with one hand clutching your desired meal, you can only bask the hood like a towel full of holes across your torso messily, hugging it to yourself. It still left a lot for the eye to see with a nipple peeking out above the outline of the cloth and the breeze exposing your lower half every other moment or so. That isnât even speaking about your backside.
An audible gulp registers from Vanceâs ever more flustered state, hands wavering in the air like he wants to adjust the garment he gave you to help you cover more but is hesitant for more than one reason. In his pause youâre able to get a glance at what has lied beneath the cloak heâs given you. More of his navy jumpsuit is visible to the eye, with dark shoulder pads and sleeves cut off at the shoulder so that his thinner garment underneath can be cast down his arms. Above it all, just below his high collar, is a silver dog tag tied around his neck with some twine. It doesnât appear to have anything engraved into the metal but you doubt that it doesnât hold some significance.
âœWe canât leave you open like thisâuhââ Vance shakes his head and mumbles to himself as if in argument of what to do before he lets out a shaky sigh. âœ...I would bring you somewhere toâcover up or at the very least get you out of the openâbut we both know you are a different case andâyouâre here to talk to Barry. Uhâso stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'124â†'130â†'143
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 4:3
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
A masculine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday guy in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the men of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old man on his own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any men during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot sounds...reasonable? Six feet is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. Plus, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, this is good.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the men are bald. Yes, some of the older men have bald spots but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and Vanceâs black hairâ. None of them have long hair eitherâshort hair might be the norm. The longest youâve seen a man's hair here was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs the longest youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later.
Should you have facial hair? Some of the older men have mustaches and beards...but youâre aiming to appear like an early twenty-year-old. All of the younger men have smooth complectionsâso youâll stick to that code. Similar to the style of your hair, with time you can stylize any facial hair if need be once you learn more.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look like him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœGah! Fuck! Come on!â
âœIt can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a manâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœNo one needs to see that. Especially with the women around.â
âœIs it trying to fool us?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expecting this todayâ
âœNo! Bleck! Someone give it a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœI knew it was a male.â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif he wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only masculine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a manâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, nipples, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your memberâwell, not exactly your manhood but is undoubtedly yours now. Your privates are unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown and it's nearly the length of your entire hand, realizing as you grasp it-
âœSÅŒ! Donât do that!!!â Vance scolds sharply when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your upgrade and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my dick in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'124â†'131â†'144
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 4:4
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
A feminine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday gal in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the women of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old woman on her own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any women during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. The same can be said for Earth. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot and a few inches sounds...reasonable? Five-seven is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. However, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, youâll avoid those casts as youâd stand out if you were a six foot tall woman.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the women are bald. Yes, some of the older women have balding spots, which most cover up with a handkerchief tied around their head, but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of greyâ. All of the lengths vary, long to short being present; though, you will note that long hair is more common. The longest youâve seen a ladyâs hair here was at hip length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs not the most common length youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later. Plus, you donât need to worry about maintaining a lot of hair right now.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look related to him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœH-holy SHIT!! Fuck!!â
âœI-It can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a CHICKâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœGod damn. Best thing Iâve seen all day!.â
âœIsâit trying to fool us?â âœIs it working?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expectingâthis todayâ
âœSomeone give her a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœIt was a female?!â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif she wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only feminine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a womanâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, breasts, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your privates, unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown. Skimming off that to investigate further, your breasts are about the size of your hand realizing as you grasp one boob-
âœS-SÅŒ! Donât do THAT!!!â Vance scolds sharply in a shrill manner when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your chest and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my boobs in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his, only a tad shorter. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Here-â He fumbles quickly, maneuvering his dark clothing a bit but is able to take his half hood off from around his tools and swiftly hand it off to you- âœuse this to dignify yourselfâ. Hold it in front of your person. It wonât do you much if you put it on like I had.â
You attempt to do as he asks but, with one hand clutching your desired meal, you can only bask the hood like a towel full of holes across your torso messily, hugging it to yourself. It still left a lot for the eye to see with a nipple peeking out above the outline of the cloth and the breeze exposing your lower half every other moment or so. That isnât even speaking about your backside.
An audible gulp registers from Vanceâs ever more flustered state, hands wavering in the air like he wants to adjust the garment he gave you to help you cover more but is hesitant for more than one reason. In his pause youâre able to get a glance at what has lied beneath the cloak heâs given you. More of his navy jumpsuit is visible to the eye, with dark shoulder pads and sleeves cut off at the shoulder so that his thinner garment underneath can be cast down his arms. Above it all, just below his high collar, is a silver dog tag tied around his neck with some twine. It doesnât appear to have anything engraved into the metal but you doubt that it doesnât hold some significance.
âœWe canât leave you open like thisâuhââ Vance shakes his head and mumbles to himself as if in argument of what to do before he lets out a shaky sigh. âœ...I would bring you somewhere toâcover up or at the very least get you out of the openâbut we both know you are a different case andâyouâre here to talk to Barry. Uhâso stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'124â†'131â†'145
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 4:5
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
A masculine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday guy in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the men of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old man on his own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any men during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot sounds...reasonable? Six feet is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. Plus, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, this is good.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the men are bald. Yes, some of the older men have bald spots but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and Vanceâs black hairâ. None of them have long hair eitherâshort hair might be the norm. The longest youâve seen a man's hair here was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs the longest youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later.
Should you have facial hair? Some of the older men have mustaches and beards...but youâre aiming to appear like an early twenty-year-old. All of the younger men have smooth complectionsâso youâll stick to that code. Similar to the style of your hair, with time you can stylize any facial hair if need be once you learn more.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look like him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœGah! Fuck! Come on!â
âœIt can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a manâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœNo one needs to see that. Especially with the women around.â
âœIs it trying to fool us?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expecting this todayâ
âœNo! Bleck! Someone give it a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœI knew it was a male.â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif he wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only masculine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a manâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, nipples, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your memberâwell, not exactly your manhood but is undoubtedly yours now. Your privates are unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown and it's nearly the length of your entire hand, realizing as you grasp it-
âœSÅŒ! Donât do that!!!â Vance scolds sharply when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your upgrade and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my dick in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'125â†'132â†'146
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yâallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yâallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 4:6
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
A feminine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday gal in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the women of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old woman on her own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any women during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. The same can be said for Earth. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot and a few inches sounds...reasonable? Five-seven is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. However, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, youâll avoid those casts as youâd stand out if you were a six foot tall woman.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the women are bald. Yes, some of the older women have balding spots, which most cover up with a handkerchief tied around their head, but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of greyâ. All of the lengths vary, long to short being present; though, you will note that long hair is more common. The longest youâve seen a ladyâs hair here was at hip length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs not the most common length youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later. Plus, you donât need to worry about maintaining a lot of hair right now.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look related to him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœH-holy SHIT!! Fuck!!â
âœI-It can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a CHICKâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœGod damn. Best thing Iâve seen all day!.â
âœIsâit trying to fool us?â âœIs it working?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expectingâthis todayâ
âœSomeone give her a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœIt was a female?!â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif she wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only feminine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a womanâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, breasts, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your privates, unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown. Skimming off that to investigate further, your breasts are about the size of your hand realizing as you grasp one boob-
âœS-SÅŒ! Donât do THAT!!!â Vance scolds sharply in a shrill manner when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your chest and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my boobs in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his, only a tad shorter. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Here-â He fumbles quickly, maneuvering his dark clothing a bit but is able to take his half hood off from around his tools and swiftly hand it off to you- âœuse this to dignify yourselfâ. Hold it in front of your person. It wonât do you much if you put it on like I had.â
You attempt to do as he asks but, with one hand clutching your desired meal, you can only bask the hood like a towel full of holes across your torso messily, hugging it to yourself. It still left a lot for the eye to see with a nipple peeking out above the outline of the cloth and the breeze exposing your lower half every other moment or so. That isnât even speaking about your backside.
An audible gulp registers from Vanceâs ever more flustered state, hands wavering in the air like he wants to adjust the garment he gave you to help you cover more but is hesitant for more than one reason. In his pause youâre able to get a glance at what has lied beneath the cloak heâs given you. More of his navy jumpsuit is visible to the eye, with dark shoulder pads and sleeves cut off at the shoulder so that his thinner garment underneath can be cast down his arms. Above it all, just below his high collar, is a silver dog tag tied around his neck with some twine. It doesnât appear to have anything engraved into the metal but you doubt that it doesnât hold some significance.
âœWe canât leave you open like thisâuhââ Vance shakes his head and mumbles to himself as if in argument of what to do before he lets out a shaky sigh. âœ...I would bring you somewhere toâcover up or at the very least get you out of the openâbut we both know you are a different case andâyouâre here to talk to Barry. Uhâso stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'125â†'132â†'147
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yâallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yâallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
RESET
RELOAD
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DEAL OF GOLD 4:7
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
RESET
RELOAD
PREVIOUS
See the end of the chapter for more notes
A masculine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday guy in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the men of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old man on his own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any men during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot sounds...reasonable? Six feet is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. Plus, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, this is good.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the men are bald. Yes, some of the older men have bald spots but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and Vanceâs black hairâ. None of them have long hair eitherâshort hair might be the norm. The longest youâve seen a man's hair here was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs the longest youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later.
Should you have facial hair? Some of the older men have mustaches and beards...but youâre aiming to appear like an early twenty-year-old. All of the younger men have smooth complectionsâso youâll stick to that code. Similar to the style of your hair, with time you can stylize any facial hair if need be once you learn more.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look like him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœGah! Fuck! Come on!â
âœIt can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a manâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœNo one needs to see that. Especially with the women around.â
âœIs it trying to fool us?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expecting this todayâ
âœNo! Bleck! Someone give it a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœI knew it was a male.â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif he wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only masculine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a manâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, nipples, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your memberâwell, not exactly your manhood but is undoubtedly yours now. Your privates are unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown and it's nearly the length of your entire hand, realizing as you grasp it-
âœSÅŒ! Donât do that!!!â Vance scolds sharply when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your upgrade and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my dick in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'125â†'133â†'148
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yâallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yâallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 4:8
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
A feminine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday gal in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the women of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old woman on her own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any women during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. The same can be said for Earth. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot and a few inches sounds...reasonable? Five-seven is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. However, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, youâll avoid those casts as youâd stand out if you were a six foot tall woman.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the women are bald. Yes, some of the older women have balding spots, which most cover up with a handkerchief tied around their head, but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of greyâ. All of the lengths vary, long to short being present; though, you will note that long hair is more common. The longest youâve seen a ladyâs hair here was at hip length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs not the most common length youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later. Plus, you donât need to worry about maintaining a lot of hair right now.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look related to him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœH-holy SHIT!! Fuck!!â
âœI-It can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a CHICKâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœGod damn. Best thing Iâve seen all day!.â
âœIsâit trying to fool us?â âœIs it working?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expectingâthis todayâ
âœSomeone give her a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœIt was a female?!â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif she wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only feminine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a womanâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, breasts, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your privates, unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown. Skimming off that to investigate further, your breasts are about the size of your hand realizing as you grasp one boob-
âœS-SÅŒ! Donât do THAT!!!â Vance scolds sharply in a shrill manner when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your chest and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my boobs in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his, only a tad shorter. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Here-â He fumbles quickly, maneuvering his dark clothing a bit but is able to take his half hood off from around his tools and swiftly hand it off to you- âœuse this to dignify yourselfâ. Hold it in front of your person. It wonât do you much if you put it on like I had.â
You attempt to do as he asks but, with one hand clutching your desired meal, you can only bask the hood like a towel full of holes across your torso messily, hugging it to yourself. It still left a lot for the eye to see with a nipple peeking out above the outline of the cloth and the breeze exposing your lower half every other moment or so. That isnât even speaking about your backside.
An audible gulp registers from Vanceâs ever more flustered state, hands wavering in the air like he wants to adjust the garment he gave you to help you cover more but is hesitant for more than one reason. In his pause youâre able to get a glance at what has lied beneath the cloak heâs given you. More of his navy jumpsuit is visible to the eye, with dark shoulder pads and sleeves cut off at the shoulder so that his thinner garment underneath can be cast down his arms. Above it all, just below his high collar, is a silver dog tag tied around his neck with some twine. It doesnât appear to have anything engraved into the metal but you doubt that it doesnât hold some significance.
âœWe canât leave you open like thisâuhââ Vance shakes his head and mumbles to himself as if in argument of what to do before he lets out a shaky sigh. âœ...I would bring you somewhere toâcover up or at the very least get you out of the openâbut we both know you are a different case andâyouâre here to talk to Barry. Uhâso stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'125â†'133â†'149
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yâallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yâallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 4:9
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
A masculine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday guy in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the men of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old man on his own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any men during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot sounds...reasonable? Six feet is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. Plus, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, this is good.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the men are bald. Yes, some of the older men have bald spots but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and Vanceâs black hairâ. None of them have long hair eitherâshort hair might be the norm. The longest youâve seen a man's hair here was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs the longest youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later.
Should you have facial hair? Some of the older men have mustaches and beards...but youâre aiming to appear like an early twenty-year-old. All of the younger men have smooth complectionsâso youâll stick to that code. Similar to the style of your hair, with time you can stylize any facial hair if need be once you learn more.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look like him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœGah! Fuck! Come on!â
âœIt can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a manâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœNo one needs to see that. Especially with the women around.â
âœIs it trying to fool us?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expecting this todayâ
âœNo! Bleck! Someone give it a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœI knew it was a male.â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif he wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only masculine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a manâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, nipples, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your memberâwell, not exactly your manhood but is undoubtedly yours now. Your privates are unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown and it's nearly the length of your entire hand, realizing as you grasp it-
âœSÅŒ! Donât do that!!!â Vance scolds sharply when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your upgrade and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my dick in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'126â†'134â†'150
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yâallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yâallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 4:10
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
A feminine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday gal in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the women of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old woman on her own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any women during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. The same can be said for Earth. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot and a few inches sounds...reasonable? Five-seven is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. However, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, youâll avoid those casts as youâd stand out if you were a six foot tall woman.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the women are bald. Yes, some of the older women have balding spots, which most cover up with a handkerchief tied around their head, but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of greyâ. All of the lengths vary, long to short being present; though, you will note that long hair is more common. The longest youâve seen a ladyâs hair here was at hip length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs not the most common length youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later. Plus, you donât need to worry about maintaining a lot of hair right now.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look related to him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœH-holy SHIT!! Fuck!!â
âœI-It can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a CHICKâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœGod damn. Best thing Iâve seen all day!.â
âœIsâit trying to fool us?â âœIs it working?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expectingâthis todayâ
âœSomeone give her a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœIt was a female?!â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif she wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only feminine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a womanâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, breasts, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your privates, unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown. Skimming off that to investigate further, your breasts are about the size of your hand realizing as you grasp one boob-
âœS-SÅŒ! Donât do THAT!!!â Vance scolds sharply in a shrill manner when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your chest and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my boobs in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his, only a tad shorter. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Here-â He fumbles quickly, maneuvering his dark clothing a bit but is able to take his half hood off from around his tools and swiftly hand it off to you- âœuse this to dignify yourselfâ. Hold it in front of your person. It wonât do you much if you put it on like I had.â
You attempt to do as he asks but, with one hand clutching your desired meal, you can only bask the hood like a towel full of holes across your torso messily, hugging it to yourself. It still left a lot for the eye to see with a nipple peeking out above the outline of the cloth and the breeze exposing your lower half every other moment or so. That isnât even speaking about your backside.
An audible gulp registers from Vanceâs ever more flustered state, hands wavering in the air like he wants to adjust the garment he gave you to help you cover more but is hesitant for more than one reason. In his pause youâre able to get a glance at what has lied beneath the cloak heâs given you. More of his navy jumpsuit is visible to the eye, with dark shoulder pads and sleeves cut off at the shoulder so that his thinner garment underneath can be cast down his arms. Above it all, just below his high collar, is a silver dog tag tied around his neck with some twine. It doesnât appear to have anything engraved into the metal but you doubt that it doesnât hold some significance.
âœWe canât leave you open like thisâuhââ Vance shakes his head and mumbles to himself as if in argument of what to do before he lets out a shaky sigh. âœ...I would bring you somewhere toâcover up or at the very least get you out of the openâbut we both know you are a different case andâyouâre here to talk to Barry. Uhâso stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'126â†'134â†'151
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yâallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yâallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 4:11
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
A masculine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday guy in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the men of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old man on his own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any men during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot sounds...reasonable? Six feet is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. Plus, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, this is good.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the men are bald. Yes, some of the older men have bald spots but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and Vanceâs black hairâ. None of them have long hair eitherâshort hair might be the norm. The longest youâve seen a man's hair here was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs the longest youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later.
Should you have facial hair? Some of the older men have mustaches and beards...but youâre aiming to appear like an early twenty-year-old. All of the younger men have smooth complectionsâso youâll stick to that code. Similar to the style of your hair, with time you can stylize any facial hair if need be once you learn more.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look like him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœGah! Fuck! Come on!â
âœIt can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a manâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœNo one needs to see that. Especially with the women around.â
âœIs it trying to fool us?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expecting this todayâ
âœNo! Bleck! Someone give it a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœI knew it was a male.â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif he wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only masculine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a manâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, nipples, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your memberâwell, not exactly your manhood but is undoubtedly yours now. Your privates are unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown and it's nearly the length of your entire hand, realizing as you grasp it-
âœSÅŒ! Donât do that!!!â Vance scolds sharply when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your upgrade and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my dick in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'126â†'135â†'152
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yâallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yâallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 4:12
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
A feminine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday gal in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the women of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old woman on her own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any women during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. The same can be said for Earth. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot and a few inches sounds...reasonable? Five-seven is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. However, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, youâll avoid those casts as youâd stand out if you were a six foot tall woman.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the women are bald. Yes, some of the older women have balding spots, which most cover up with a handkerchief tied around their head, but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of greyâ. All of the lengths vary, long to short being present; though, you will note that long hair is more common. The longest youâve seen a ladyâs hair here was at hip length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs not the most common length youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later. Plus, you donât need to worry about maintaining a lot of hair right now.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look related to him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœH-holy SHIT!! Fuck!!â
âœI-It can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a CHICKâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœGod damn. Best thing Iâve seen all day!.â
âœIsâit trying to fool us?â âœIs it working?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expectingâthis todayâ
âœSomeone give her a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœIt was a female?!â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif she wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only feminine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a womanâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, breasts, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your privates, unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown. Skimming off that to investigate further, your breasts are about the size of your hand realizing as you grasp one boob-
âœS-SÅŒ! Donât do THAT!!!â Vance scolds sharply in a shrill manner when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your chest and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my boobs in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his, only a tad shorter. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Here-â He fumbles quickly, maneuvering his dark clothing a bit but is able to take his half hood off from around his tools and swiftly hand it off to you- âœuse this to dignify yourselfâ. Hold it in front of your person. It wonât do you much if you put it on like I had.â
You attempt to do as he asks but, with one hand clutching your desired meal, you can only bask the hood like a towel full of holes across your torso messily, hugging it to yourself. It still left a lot for the eye to see with a nipple peeking out above the outline of the cloth and the breeze exposing your lower half every other moment or so. That isnât even speaking about your backside.
An audible gulp registers from Vanceâs ever more flustered state, hands wavering in the air like he wants to adjust the garment he gave you to help you cover more but is hesitant for more than one reason. In his pause youâre able to get a glance at what has lied beneath the cloak heâs given you. More of his navy jumpsuit is visible to the eye, with dark shoulder pads and sleeves cut off at the shoulder so that his thinner garment underneath can be cast down his arms. Above it all, just below his high collar, is a silver dog tag tied around his neck with some twine. It doesnât appear to have anything engraved into the metal but you doubt that it doesnât hold some significance.
âœWe canât leave you open like thisâuhââ Vance shakes his head and mumbles to himself as if in argument of what to do before he lets out a shaky sigh. âœ...I would bring you somewhere toâcover up or at the very least get you out of the openâbut we both know you are a different case andâyouâre here to talk to Barry. Uhâso stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'126â†'135â†'153
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yâallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yâallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
RESET
RELOAD
PREVIOUS
DEAL OF GOLD 4:13
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
RESET
RELOAD
PREVIOUS
See the end of the chapter for more notes
A masculine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday guy in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the men of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old man on his own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any men during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot sounds...reasonable? Six feet is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. Plus, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, this is good.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the men are bald. Yes, some of the older men have bald spots but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and Vanceâs black hairâ. None of them have long hair eitherâshort hair might be the norm. The longest youâve seen a man's hair here was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs the longest youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later.
Should you have facial hair? Some of the older men have mustaches and beards...but youâre aiming to appear like an early twenty-year-old. All of the younger men have smooth complectionsâso youâll stick to that code. Similar to the style of your hair, with time you can stylize any facial hair if need be once you learn more.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look like him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœGah! Fuck! Come on!â
âœIt can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a manâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœNo one needs to see that. Especially with the women around.â
âœIs it trying to fool us?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expecting this todayâ
âœNo! Bleck! Someone give it a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœI knew it was a male.â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif he wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only masculine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a manâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, nipples, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your memberâwell, not exactly your manhood but is undoubtedly yours now. Your privates are unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown and it's nearly the length of your entire hand, realizing as you grasp it-
âœSÅŒ! Donât do that!!!â Vance scolds sharply when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your upgrade and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my dick in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'127â†'136â†'154
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yâallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yâallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 4:14
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
A feminine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday gal in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the women of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old woman on her own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any women during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. The same can be said for Earth. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot and a few inches sounds...reasonable? Five-seven is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. However, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, youâll avoid those casts as youâd stand out if you were a six foot tall woman.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the women are bald. Yes, some of the older women have balding spots, which most cover up with a handkerchief tied around their head, but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of greyâ. All of the lengths vary, long to short being present; though, you will note that long hair is more common. The longest youâve seen a ladyâs hair here was at hip length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs not the most common length youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later. Plus, you donât need to worry about maintaining a lot of hair right now.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look related to him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœH-holy SHIT!! Fuck!!â
âœI-It can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a CHICKâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœGod damn. Best thing Iâve seen all day!.â
âœIsâit trying to fool us?â âœIs it working?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expectingâthis todayâ
âœSomeone give her a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœIt was a female?!â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif she wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only feminine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a womanâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, breasts, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your privates, unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown. Skimming off that to investigate further, your breasts are about the size of your hand realizing as you grasp one boob-
âœS-SÅŒ! Donât do THAT!!!â Vance scolds sharply in a shrill manner when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your chest and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my boobs in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his, only a tad shorter. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Here-â He fumbles quickly, maneuvering his dark clothing a bit but is able to take his half hood off from around his tools and swiftly hand it off to you- âœuse this to dignify yourselfâ. Hold it in front of your person. It wonât do you much if you put it on like I had.â
You attempt to do as he asks but, with one hand clutching your desired meal, you can only bask the hood like a towel full of holes across your torso messily, hugging it to yourself. It still left a lot for the eye to see with a nipple peeking out above the outline of the cloth and the breeze exposing your lower half every other moment or so. That isnât even speaking about your backside.
An audible gulp registers from Vanceâs ever more flustered state, hands wavering in the air like he wants to adjust the garment he gave you to help you cover more but is hesitant for more than one reason. In his pause youâre able to get a glance at what has lied beneath the cloak heâs given you. More of his navy jumpsuit is visible to the eye, with dark shoulder pads and sleeves cut off at the shoulder so that his thinner garment underneath can be cast down his arms. Above it all, just below his high collar, is a silver dog tag tied around his neck with some twine. It doesnât appear to have anything engraved into the metal but you doubt that it doesnât hold some significance.
âœWe canât leave you open like thisâuhââ Vance shakes his head and mumbles to himself as if in argument of what to do before he lets out a shaky sigh. âœ...I would bring you somewhere toâcover up or at the very least get you out of the openâbut we both know you are a different case andâyouâre here to talk to Barry. Uhâso stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'127â†'136â†'155
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yâallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yâallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 4:15
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
A masculine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday guy in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the men of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old man on his own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any men during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot sounds...reasonable? Six feet is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. Plus, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, this is good.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the men are bald. Yes, some of the older men have bald spots but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and Vanceâs black hairâ. None of them have long hair eitherâshort hair might be the norm. The longest youâve seen a man's hair here was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs the longest youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later.
Should you have facial hair? Some of the older men have mustaches and beards...but youâre aiming to appear like an early twenty-year-old. All of the younger men have smooth complectionsâso youâll stick to that code. Similar to the style of your hair, with time you can stylize any facial hair if need be once you learn more.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look like him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœGah! Fuck! Come on!â
âœIt can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a manâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœNo one needs to see that. Especially with the women around.â
âœIs it trying to fool us?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expecting this todayâ
âœNo! Bleck! Someone give it a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœI knew it was a male.â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif he wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only masculine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a manâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, nipples, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your memberâwell, not exactly your manhood but is undoubtedly yours now. Your privates are unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown and it's nearly the length of your entire hand, realizing as you grasp it-
âœSÅŒ! Donât do that!!!â Vance scolds sharply when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your upgrade and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my dick in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'127â†'137â†'156
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yâallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yâallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 4:16
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
A feminine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday gal in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the women of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old woman on her own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any women during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. The same can be said for Earth. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot and a few inches sounds...reasonable? Five-seven is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. However, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, youâll avoid those casts as youâd stand out if you were a six foot tall woman.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the women are bald. Yes, some of the older women have balding spots, which most cover up with a handkerchief tied around their head, but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of greyâ. All of the lengths vary, long to short being present; though, you will note that long hair is more common. The longest youâve seen a ladyâs hair here was at hip length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs not the most common length youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later. Plus, you donât need to worry about maintaining a lot of hair right now.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look related to him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœH-holy SHIT!! Fuck!!â
âœI-It can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a CHICKâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœGod damn. Best thing Iâve seen all day!.â
âœIsâit trying to fool us?â âœIs it working?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expectingâthis todayâ
âœSomeone give her a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœIt was a female?!â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif she wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only feminine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a womanâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, breasts, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your privates, unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown. Skimming off that to investigate further, your breasts are about the size of your hand realizing as you grasp one boob-
âœS-SÅŒ! Donât do THAT!!!â Vance scolds sharply in a shrill manner when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your chest and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my boobs in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his, only a tad shorter. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Here-â He fumbles quickly, maneuvering his dark clothing a bit but is able to take his half hood off from around his tools and swiftly hand it off to you- âœuse this to dignify yourselfâ. Hold it in front of your person. It wonât do you much if you put it on like I had.â
You attempt to do as he asks but, with one hand clutching your desired meal, you can only bask the hood like a towel full of holes across your torso messily, hugging it to yourself. It still left a lot for the eye to see with a nipple peeking out above the outline of the cloth and the breeze exposing your lower half every other moment or so. That isnât even speaking about your backside.
An audible gulp registers from Vanceâs ever more flustered state, hands wavering in the air like he wants to adjust the garment he gave you to help you cover more but is hesitant for more than one reason. In his pause youâre able to get a glance at what has lied beneath the cloak heâs given you. More of his navy jumpsuit is visible to the eye, with dark shoulder pads and sleeves cut off at the shoulder so that his thinner garment underneath can be cast down his arms. Above it all, just below his high collar, is a silver dog tag tied around his neck with some twine. It doesnât appear to have anything engraved into the metal but you doubt that it doesnât hold some significance.
âœWe canât leave you open like thisâuhââ Vance shakes his head and mumbles to himself as if in argument of what to do before he lets out a shaky sigh. âœ...I would bring you somewhere toâcover up or at the very least get you out of the openâbut we both know you are a different case andâyouâre here to talk to Barry. Uhâso stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'127â†'137â†'157
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yâallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yâallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 4:17
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
A masculine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday guy in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the men of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old man on his own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any men during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot sounds...reasonable? Six feet is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. Plus, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, this is good.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the men are bald. Yes, some of the older men have bald spots but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and Vanceâs black hairâ. None of them have long hair eitherâshort hair might be the norm. The longest youâve seen a man's hair here was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs the longest youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later.
Should you have facial hair? Some of the older men have mustaches and beards...but youâre aiming to appear like an early twenty-year-old. All of the younger men have smooth complectionsâso youâll stick to that code. Similar to the style of your hair, with time you can stylize any facial hair if need be once you learn more.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look like him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœGah! Fuck! Come on!â
âœIt can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a manâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœNo one needs to see that. Especially with the women around.â
âœIs it trying to fool us?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expecting this todayâ
âœNo! Bleck! Someone give it a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœI knew it was a male.â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif he wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only masculine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a manâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, nipples, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your memberâwell, not exactly your manhood but is undoubtedly yours now. Your privates are unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown and it's nearly the length of your entire hand, realizing as you grasp it-
âœSÅŒ! Donât do that!!!â Vance scolds sharply when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your upgrade and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my dick in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
62â†'128â†'138â†'158
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yâallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yâallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
RESET
RELOAD
PREVIOUS
DEAL OF GOLD 4:18
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
RESET
RELOAD
PREVIOUS
See the end of the chapter for more notes
A feminine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday gal in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the women of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old woman on her own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any women during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. The same can be said for Earth. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot and a few inches sounds...reasonable? Five-seven is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. However, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, youâll avoid those casts as youâd stand out if you were a six foot tall woman.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the women are bald. Yes, some of the older women have balding spots, which most cover up with a handkerchief tied around their head, but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of greyâ. All of the lengths vary, long to short being present; though, you will note that long hair is more common. The longest youâve seen a ladyâs hair here was at hip length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs not the most common length youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later. Plus, you donât need to worry about maintaining a lot of hair right now.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look related to him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœH-holy SHIT!! Fuck!!â
âœI-It can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a CHICKâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœGod damn. Best thing Iâve seen all day!.â
âœIsâit trying to fool us?â âœIs it working?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expectingâthis todayâ
âœSomeone give her a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœIt was a female?!â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif she wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only feminine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a womanâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, breasts, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your privates, unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown. Skimming off that to investigate further, your breasts are about the size of your hand realizing as you grasp one boob-
âœS-SÅŒ! Donât do THAT!!!â Vance scolds sharply in a shrill manner when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your chest and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my boobs in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his, only a tad shorter. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Here-â He fumbles quickly, maneuvering his dark clothing a bit but is able to take his half hood off from around his tools and swiftly hand it off to you- âœuse this to dignify yourselfâ. Hold it in front of your person. It wonât do you much if you put it on like I had.â
You attempt to do as he asks but, with one hand clutching your desired meal, you can only bask the hood like a towel full of holes across your torso messily, hugging it to yourself. It still left a lot for the eye to see with a nipple peeking out above the outline of the cloth and the breeze exposing your lower half every other moment or so. That isnât even speaking about your backside.
An audible gulp registers from Vanceâs ever more flustered state, hands wavering in the air like he wants to adjust the garment he gave you to help you cover more but is hesitant for more than one reason. In his pause youâre able to get a glance at what has lied beneath the cloak heâs given you. More of his navy jumpsuit is visible to the eye, with dark shoulder pads and sleeves cut off at the shoulder so that his thinner garment underneath can be cast down his arms. Above it all, just below his high collar, is a silver dog tag tied around his neck with some twine. It doesnât appear to have anything engraved into the metal but you doubt that it doesnât hold some significance.
âœWe canât leave you open like thisâuhââ Vance shakes his head and mumbles to himself as if in argument of what to do before he lets out a shaky sigh. âœ...I would bring you somewhere toâcover up or at the very least get you out of the openâbut we both know you are a different case andâyouâre here to talk to Barry. Uhâso stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
62â†'128â†'138â†'159
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yâallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yâallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 4:19
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
A masculine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday guy in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the men of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old man on his own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any men during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot sounds...reasonable? Six feet is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. Plus, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, this is good.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the men are bald. Yes, some of the older men have bald spots but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and Vanceâs black hairâ. None of them have long hair eitherâshort hair might be the norm. The longest youâve seen a man's hair here was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs the longest youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later.
Should you have facial hair? Some of the older men have mustaches and beards...but youâre aiming to appear like an early twenty-year-old. All of the younger men have smooth complectionsâso youâll stick to that code. Similar to the style of your hair, with time you can stylize any facial hair if need be once you learn more.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look like him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœGah! Fuck! Come on!â
âœIt can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a manâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœNo one needs to see that. Especially with the women around.â
âœIs it trying to fool us?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expecting this todayâ
âœNo! Bleck! Someone give it a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœI knew it was a male.â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif he wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only masculine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a manâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, nipples, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your memberâwell, not exactly your manhood but is undoubtedly yours now. Your privates are unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown and it's nearly the length of your entire hand, realizing as you grasp it-
âœSÅŒ! Donât do that!!!â Vance scolds sharply when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your upgrade and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my dick in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
62â†'128â†'139â†'160
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yâallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yâallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 4:20
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
A feminine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday gal in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the women of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old woman on her own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any women during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. The same can be said for Earth. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot and a few inches sounds...reasonable? Five-seven is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. However, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, youâll avoid those casts as youâd stand out if you were a six foot tall woman.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the women are bald. Yes, some of the older women have balding spots, which most cover up with a handkerchief tied around their head, but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of greyâ. All of the lengths vary, long to short being present; though, you will note that long hair is more common. The longest youâve seen a ladyâs hair here was at hip length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs not the most common length youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later. Plus, you donât need to worry about maintaining a lot of hair right now.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look related to him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœH-holy SHIT!! Fuck!!â
âœI-It can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a CHICKâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœGod damn. Best thing Iâve seen all day!.â
âœIsâit trying to fool us?â âœIs it working?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expectingâthis todayâ
âœSomeone give her a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœIt was a female?!â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif she wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only feminine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a womanâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, breasts, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your privates, unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown. Skimming off that to investigate further, your breasts are about the size of your hand realizing as you grasp one boob-
âœS-SÅŒ! Donât do THAT!!!â Vance scolds sharply in a shrill manner when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your chest and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my boobs in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his, only a tad shorter. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Here-â He fumbles quickly, maneuvering his dark clothing a bit but is able to take his half hood off from around his tools and swiftly hand it off to you- âœuse this to dignify yourselfâ. Hold it in front of your person. It wonât do you much if you put it on like I had.â
You attempt to do as he asks but, with one hand clutching your desired meal, you can only bask the hood like a towel full of holes across your torso messily, hugging it to yourself. It still left a lot for the eye to see with a nipple peeking out above the outline of the cloth and the breeze exposing your lower half every other moment or so. That isnât even speaking about your backside.
An audible gulp registers from Vanceâs ever more flustered state, hands wavering in the air like he wants to adjust the garment he gave you to help you cover more but is hesitant for more than one reason. In his pause youâre able to get a glance at what has lied beneath the cloak heâs given you. More of his navy jumpsuit is visible to the eye, with dark shoulder pads and sleeves cut off at the shoulder so that his thinner garment underneath can be cast down his arms. Above it all, just below his high collar, is a silver dog tag tied around his neck with some twine. It doesnât appear to have anything engraved into the metal but you doubt that it doesnât hold some significance.
âœWe canât leave you open like thisâuhââ Vance shakes his head and mumbles to himself as if in argument of what to do before he lets out a shaky sigh. âœ...I would bring you somewhere toâcover up or at the very least get you out of the openâbut we both know you are a different case andâyouâre here to talk to Barry. Uhâso stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
62â†'128â†'139â†'161
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yâallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yâallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 4:21
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
A masculine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday guy in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the men of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old man on his own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any men during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot sounds...reasonable? Six feet is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. Plus, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, this is good.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the men are bald. Yes, some of the older men have bald spots but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and Vanceâs black hairâ. None of them have long hair eitherâshort hair might be the norm. The longest youâve seen a man's hair here was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs the longest youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later.
Should you have facial hair? Some of the older men have mustaches and beards...but youâre aiming to appear like an early twenty-year-old. All of the younger men have smooth complectionsâso youâll stick to that code. Similar to the style of your hair, with time you can stylize any facial hair if need be once you learn more.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look like him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœGah! Fuck! Come on!â
âœIt can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a manâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœNo one needs to see that. Especially with the women around.â
âœIs it trying to fool us?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expecting this todayâ
âœNo! Bleck! Someone give it a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœI knew it was a male.â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif he wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only masculine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a manâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, nipples, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your memberâwell, not exactly your manhood but is undoubtedly yours now. Your privates are unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown and it's nearly the length of your entire hand, realizing as you grasp it-
âœSÅŒ! Donât do that!!!â Vance scolds sharply when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your upgrade and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my dick in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
62â†'129â†'140â†'162
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yâallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yâallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 4:22
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
A feminine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday gal in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the women of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old woman on her own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any women during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. The same can be said for Earth. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot and a few inches sounds...reasonable? Five-seven is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. However, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, youâll avoid those casts as youâd stand out if you were a six foot tall woman.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the women are bald. Yes, some of the older women have balding spots, which most cover up with a handkerchief tied around their head, but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of greyâ. All of the lengths vary, long to short being present; though, you will note that long hair is more common. The longest youâve seen a ladyâs hair here was at hip length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs not the most common length youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later. Plus, you donât need to worry about maintaining a lot of hair right now.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look related to him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœH-holy SHIT!! Fuck!!â
âœI-It can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a CHICKâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœGod damn. Best thing Iâve seen all day!.â
âœIsâit trying to fool us?â âœIs it working?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expectingâthis todayâ
âœSomeone give her a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœIt was a female?!â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif she wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only feminine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a womanâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, breasts, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your privates, unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown. Skimming off that to investigate further, your breasts are about the size of your hand realizing as you grasp one boob-
âœS-SÅŒ! Donât do THAT!!!â Vance scolds sharply in a shrill manner when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your chest and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my boobs in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his, only a tad shorter. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Here-â He fumbles quickly, maneuvering his dark clothing a bit but is able to take his half hood off from around his tools and swiftly hand it off to you- âœuse this to dignify yourselfâ. Hold it in front of your person. It wonât do you much if you put it on like I had.â
You attempt to do as he asks but, with one hand clutching your desired meal, you can only bask the hood like a towel full of holes across your torso messily, hugging it to yourself. It still left a lot for the eye to see with a nipple peeking out above the outline of the cloth and the breeze exposing your lower half every other moment or so. That isnât even speaking about your backside.
An audible gulp registers from Vanceâs ever more flustered state, hands wavering in the air like he wants to adjust the garment he gave you to help you cover more but is hesitant for more than one reason. In his pause youâre able to get a glance at what has lied beneath the cloak heâs given you. More of his navy jumpsuit is visible to the eye, with dark shoulder pads and sleeves cut off at the shoulder so that his thinner garment underneath can be cast down his arms. Above it all, just below his high collar, is a silver dog tag tied around his neck with some twine. It doesnât appear to have anything engraved into the metal but you doubt that it doesnât hold some significance.
âœWe canât leave you open like thisâuhââ Vance shakes his head and mumbles to himself as if in argument of what to do before he lets out a shaky sigh. âœ...I would bring you somewhere toâcover up or at the very least get you out of the openâbut we both know you are a different case andâyouâre here to talk to Barry. Uhâso stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
62â†'129â†'140â†'163
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yâallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yâallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 4:23
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
A masculine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday guy in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the men of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old man on his own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any men during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot sounds...reasonable? Six feet is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. Plus, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, this is good.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the men are bald. Yes, some of the older men have bald spots but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of grey and Vanceâs black hairâ. None of them have long hair eitherâshort hair might be the norm. The longest youâve seen a man's hair here was shoulder length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs the longest youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later.
Should you have facial hair? Some of the older men have mustaches and beards...but youâre aiming to appear like an early twenty-year-old. All of the younger men have smooth complectionsâso youâll stick to that code. Similar to the style of your hair, with time you can stylize any facial hair if need be once you learn more.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look like him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœGah! Fuck! Come on!â
âœIt can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a manâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœNo one needs to see that. Especially with the women around.â
âœIs it trying to fool us?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expecting this todayâ
âœNo! Bleck! Someone give it a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœI knew it was a male.â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif he wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only masculine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a manâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, nipples, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your memberâwell, not exactly your manhood but is undoubtedly yours now. Your privates are unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown and it's nearly the length of your entire hand, realizing as you grasp it-
âœSÅŒ! Donât do that!!!â Vance scolds sharply when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your upgrade and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my dick in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
62â†'129â†'141â†'164
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yâallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yâallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
RESET
RELOAD
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DEAL OF GOLD 4:24
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
Augh! In my defence, Iâd tried to get it on time last month but things got in the way. This chapter is a little short however it wasnât originally. Youâll see in the endnotes why this is the case. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
RESET
RELOAD
PREVIOUS
See the end of the chapter for more notes
A feminine look, thatâs what youâll aim for.
True, you could take a form a little more non-binaryâbut that could raise questions to those you interact with. Draw eyesâ. Itâs safer to blend in with the crowd. Look like an everyday gal in the background.
Humming excitedly, youâre eager to get back in a form youâre comfortable with. It wonât be your old self but the change will be a welcome persona as you can act more naturally, instead of a front for your avatar.
With that settled, you understand that this will be the hard part...youâll have to figure out how to change your appearance into something new.
Maybe envisioning what you want your new form to generally look like is the first step? Itâd save time rather than throwing random faces to the forefront. This way you can deduce which will help you the most!
Time to draw inspiration from what youâve seen so far from the women of Bourn.
Theyâre allâor almost all are Caucasian so appearing white is a must. Though...how white do you want or need to appear? They all have variations which means youâre going to have to shoot in the darkâ. But your goal is to blend in as best you can, and be as average as possible. But that depends on how skin tones are interpreted in this world...hurmâ.
Thenâif youâre comparing this world to Earth, history documentaries had aligned fair skin with nobles as they didnât labor like the less fortunate. Those of the lower class were burned and tanned for working in the sun for long hours. That stigma flipped on the dime centuries later as people with money used it to go out on vacation and spend long hours partying in the sun, while the poor were stuck indoors, stereotypically behind a desk in an office.
The latter case is still the differentiating factor in your present society to an extent. There may not be sunshine cast down on Earthâs surface any longer, but those with money use it to buy tanners while those with stupid amounts of money suntan on top of penthouses and hovercrafts that tower above the smog. Both methods are disastrous to their health but, when you have money that can buy back skin, bones, and organs either by nano-regen, synthetics, bio-replacement, donors, and more, they donât care.
They donât careâ
Tsk! Nevermind. Not the issue here. Since this may be the medieval period, you donât want to appear too white. Fairness could draw unwanted attention your way and people will question your orientation.
Should you appear tan then?...no...no no. You could be mistaken as a farmer or manual laborer when you know nothing of that sortâ. Sure, youâre a Druid but that doesnât account for wisdomâor INT if youâre using gaming terms. Charisma can only get you so far in a real-world scenario. Youâre very limited on the topic which means you canât play the role expertly, though you could try. Nevertheless, that would put unneeded strain on you to hold up that front.
Sure, you have the gift of gab and decades of RP experience, but thereâs only so much you can BS until the cracks in the persona show. Those types of mistakes can be forgiven in a gaming RP. What repercussions could that possibly hold over you? Being chided? Poked fun of? Nothing as extreme as a mistake here. They say first impressions are the most important factors in sociability. Relationships, reputation, social standing, commerce, literally everything that comes with integrating into society. If you seem fake, youâll automatically be put in an unfavorable category amongst those whom youâll meet.
Take for example when you first interacted with those of this village, merely a few hours ago.
You were automatically judged for your avatarâs appearance. Only your actions and word built the rickety bridge which is your connection to Bourn. Not the most stable, nor safe, however, it exists as long as no storms of conflict arise. Being passive and open is the best you could do with the cards you saw handed to you in the heat of the moment.
Was it the best course of action? You have no idea. It probably was since no harm has become of you or anyone elseâ. Youâre simply grateful that it has worked out kindly thus far.
With all that put out, you need to learn from that experience. How should this be any different? If you expect it to be any easier since youâll be human, then youâd be a fool. You lived long enough around people that appearances are more than a look. They display one's character. The saying âDonât judge a book by its coverâ is typically ignored, just as it has so during your time on Earth to the limited one here. No. You have to take in every factor and leave as little room for error as you can.
Tan is off the table then. Besidesâlooking like someone of the lower class, such as a manual laborer, would raise the issue of being walked over with those of greater financial power. Thoughâit may not make much of a difference.
Youâre not a noble or the like. Thereâs bound to be a power system being abused. There wasnât much of a middle class until later. Right now, as you see it, thereâs only the high and low class. You wonât be falling into the prior due to various reasons, many youâve already come to reason against. Youâll blend in more if youâre of low class anywayâ.
But that does make you wonderâif being tan versus a lighter tone would affect the way youâre treated, other than being associated as a manual laborerâ.
...Is racism towards those of different skin tones existent in this world?... Nate is tan and not just the sun-caused type. Youâre certain heâs mixed but donât know how since you havenât seen his parents. Though he is darker in tone than those youâve seen thus far, he seems to be treated fine...even taking the lead in certain aspects.
You shouldnât make assumptions, however. He could have a very tough time being of a different color than those heâs around.
Is he a special case or is skin tone not an issue in this world?
AUGH!! Fuck it all! Youâre glad that at least some things changed for the better as time moved on from this and other ages back in your world. Although racism is still prevalent, itâs no longer a mass society fit on the mindset that theyâre superior to other races. Youâve experienced your fair share of ridicule for your appearance, yes, but those were just a few run-ins with trash peopleâ
â.
â.
So...does it matter here?
T-this is a fantasy world. When it came to racism in fantasy games, stereotypically, it was directed more to classes rather than skin. Or are you thinking wrong? Mmm...actually, isnât racism bad or exaggerated in fantasy worlds?! Uh errrâcrap...what isâ. Doesnât it depend on what universe you look at? Like...sometimes itâs humans vs monsters, the living vs machine, the good guys which include humans vs bad guys, or the opposite where the good guys are the animals vs the bad guys that include humansâ. How about humans vs everyone (including themselves), or nobody is racist at all?!
Take Yggdrasil for example-
Over the first few months of launch, a handful of Yggdrasil's NPCs were programmed to be racist to give a sense of realism to the game as well as to teach morals. Unlike other NPCs, if a player kills or beats these types of NPCs it doesn't affect their Karma...unless they hit a certain kill count in a limited period. Upon learning this, players across the board joined a great purge in exterminating NPCs that had negative remarks about other races. New bots would pop up in time to take their place, so it became routine to snipe them once it is figured out that an NPC holds that mindset.
However, despite all this, the NPCs that were purged were more so humanoids who had anything awful to say about other humanoids, whether it was of skin or class. This left the majority of the racist NPCs that pop up to be non-heteromorphs versus heteromorphs and heteromorphs versus other heteromorphs.
Guess that it didnât hit home close enough for players to bother? Youâre aware some saw it as comicalâ. But because of that neglect, many players picked up on the same mindset of non-humanoids being bad. It didnât help that non-heteromorphs could acquire strong job classes, EXP, items, and so on from the PKs.
Soon enough, five or six months after the launch, the majority of non-humanoid players were tunneling heteromorphs. Parties and guilds were formed specifically for the task. It became a toxic atmosphere where many in the community quit the game because they couldnât leave the safe zones without being sniped. They couldnât change their race either since once you form an avatar you canât choose another ever again. Only those who could appear humanoid were somewhat safe.
There were a lot of issues and hate flying around in that stage of the game. Admins and mods had a lot of work during that time, especially since the maps were so big they couldnât monitor everything. How could you? Yggdrasil had nine realms and digital maps that extended beyond the entire size of Japan! Itâs not like you could have them watch players all the time either. Even if the corp had the manpower, people have lives of their own. Plus, they couldnât just watch players. The job came with other tasks such as doing patches, fixing bugs, producing events and updates, missions, animation stylization, 3 to 4D graphic modeling, menu access, Ygg to global digital currency exchange, market setup, and so much more. There were literal endless lists of things to do for Yggdrasil to keep it up and functional for such a large DMMO-RPG and player base.
So, in the end, as sad as it is to say, keeping up with the bullying that was going on was put on the back burner.
Reports helped pinpoint targets and the aggressors but when you have billions of players on the servers all sending reports, reaction time was slow. The GMs were being overwhelmed and you and the corp that held the rights to your game were slandered for not doing enough to help. The fact that youâve had to make multiple statements to the public asking players to refrain from acting out in such a manner is plain disappointing. Even with the ban threats, there wasnât much you could do besides finding ways to assist those being targeted.
It was a hard time and impossible to stop all the players from PKing due to it being a mechanic in the game. There were safety nets later implemented into Ygg like monitors on the frequency a player was killed by other players, areas which only heterotrophs could access for fast travel and other necessities, and the like to give these players a better chance to avoid being hunted-RahHH! Youâre getting off track!
WHATâS THE CASE HERE?!!
You know that humans of this world have a severe hatred towards monsters such as your avatarâ. Or is it just this village? No, you donât think soâit may be allâ.
Shit! You donât know! Nevertheless, youâll be taking up a human form today.
But what will you look like?!
â.
â.
Should...you risk going for something familiar? Instead of what you see hereâ. Should you...be yourself? Yes, your goal is to fit in...but maybe you can still fit in by being you?... No. As much as you may wish, you canât be you. You canât. You donât want to reveal yourself while in this world until you learn some more. It could be a bridge of safety for your IRL identity, as you don't know how this place connects to Yggdrasil or Earth yet, on top of all the other issues you've thought of.
Then, if youâre going to settle on a skin tone then itâll have to be in the middle. Not too fair and not too tan. Beige it is.
But along the line of skin, how old should you appear?
If you go as you were back on Earth, youâd be seen as an elder due to how short their lifespans are here with lack of healthcare...though it's not like Earth's healthcare can do much better than here with the way the world is.
An old woman on her own is extremely difficult in this period. Not to mention you donât know how long youâll remain in this place. If itâs for years, youâll have to adjust your appearance to look like youâre aging. You might as well appear as young as you can but still old enough to be considered an adult.
Your mind automatically clicks to fifteen or sixteen but you shake your head.
You donât like the idea of taking up the form of a child. Yes, sixteen is what most people consider young adults while those of this time probably see it as marrying age, it makes you feel off as you are fifty-plus years IRL. You get perv and pedo vibes thinking about being inside the body of a teen so you hurriedly add a few more years into your head and reassure yourself that youâre not one of those demons who prey on children.
This is just your look, nothing more.
Next up is height. You highly doubt any women during this time are near your current towering seven feet, especially Caucasians. The same can be said for Earth. You donât want to be a giant gawked at so youâll need to appear shorter. A foot and a few inches sounds...reasonable? Five-seven is still pretty tall but youâll be classified as average...you think. This is taller than many who live around Japan, but globally it's about average. However, a few of the many transmutation spells you got have a height adjustment limit of a foot. Therefore, youâll avoid those casts as youâd stand out if you were a six foot tall woman.
Body type? You should remain healthy in appearance. Not too frail and not too hefty. Youâre also not sure how itâll affect your movement, as your avatarâs base PHY stats are in the nineties. Choosing something similar to your avatar may be in your best interest so as not to risk altering the stats, no matter how low a probability it is.
Though, that has never been a huge issue in the game? Sure, it may deduct the LV bars a few clicks but your PHY stats are so high...would it make a difference?
It made a difference in battle.
â.
Then itâs settled. This new form will be in similar shape to your avatar. Your change in height may already affect the stat anyway; you don't want any more pressure put upon it.
Next is hair. None of the women are bald. Yes, some of the older women have balding spots, which most cover up with a handkerchief tied around their head, but none are completely bald. Meaning you need hair.
Most have brown or blond hair, excluding the crowns of greyâ. All of the lengths vary, long to short being present; though, you will note that long hair is more common. The longest youâve seen a ladyâs hair here was at hip length. Additionally, the texture of all of their locks are either straight or wavy, with no curls or coils.
Youâll have to stick to that bracket.
You can stylize it later but you need to choose the type of hair youâll have. Like you did with the skin tone, picking the middle ground seems like the safest bet. Slightly wavy is good. A mixture of both textures.
Length next...hurmâ. For now...shoulder length is the best bet. Yes, itâs not the most common length youâve seen but this gives you the chance to âœgrow it outâ, âœcut itâ, or stylize it the way you want later. Plus, you donât need to worry about maintaining a lot of hair right now.
Now for color. You donât know if this world has people born with unnatural hair colors like in fantasy worlds but, even if there are, you havenât seen any yet. Besides, it may be dyes people can use. You can only guess they're available to those in great financial positions. Youâll have to stick to the natural colors like the ones youâve seen until you learn moreâ
Although...oddly...the only colors youâre drawn to have are gold blond, stark white, or void black.
â.
Well, since youâre gravitating towards gold, white, or black, that cancels out brown. And as white isnât a common hair color among those whose age youâll depict, white is marked off too. And the only person with black hair here is Vanceâmeaning it may not be a common color. Not wanting to seem like you're trying to look related to him and to be as safe and cookie cutter in appearance as possible, you mark black off too.
This leaves you with blond as your choice.
Augh, okay. You should finish up envisioning the form youâll take before the three come back and ruin your opportunity to try and eat.
All thatâs left is your facial features!
Uwah~ To be human again!... Youâre not used to living in this body. As in really living as your avatar. Acting and being are two completely different things.
You need to learn to live as SÅsaku-sha, though. No matter which transformation spell you choose to change your appearance, thereâs no changing the fact of who you are now.
Rrrâ. While you know you canât do much about that, this is a temporary solution. A precaution until youâre stabilized. Humans are comfortable with what they understand. You can account for this as well, not very keen on your current bodily predicament. This is all a means to survival. It may not be you, but itâll be more like you than your avatar.
Are you sure about that?
âShut up. I need to finish up.â The inner grumble is more aggressive than you intend but it helps clear your thoughts enough to think of your goal.
What should your face look like? All of their complections are jumbled aroundâ Though, a common trait is their thinnish lips and round-almond-shaped eyes. Their noses, however, vary greatly. Thin and wide. Pointy and round. Long and pinched. Whatâs the middle ground?! You donât know what type of genes are flowing through their systems to result in the diversification of their sniffers but itâs making settling on a form all the more difficult.
Augh, never mind. You need to hurry up. Nose...noseâ. Greek? Mmm, no, no...Roman? Mmmm...mh, that might work.
Lips!
Thin-ish with a rosy tent! Check!
Finally eyes!
Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. Uh-huh. Doe eye shape. Good. Lastly, color! Their eye colors consist of greens, blues, hazel, and browns. However, brown held the dominating number of holders-
âœUh-uh, SÅ?!â
âœMmm?-â You hum your response till you notice the way the boy is looking at you- âœWhatâs wrong?â
Waitâwhy is your voice different?
âœLook!â âœWhat?!â
âœO-oh, my!â
âœIt changed!â âœThere!â
âœH-holy SHIT!! Fuck!!â
âœI-It can do that?!â
âœA-are any of you curious?â
âœOIâ
âœItâs a CHICKâ
âœIt could look like this the entire time?!â
âœGod damn. Best thing Iâve seen all day!.â
âœIsâit trying to fool us?â âœIs it working?â
âœItâs doinâ a trick againâ
âœIt turned intoââ
âœI wasnât expectingâthis todayâ
âœSomeone give her a cloth!â
âœW-wowââ
âœIt was a female?!â
âœWould you?â âœWellâif she wasnât a monster.â
With the way the surrounding crowd bursts out in murmur you follow with split attention and notice that the same way he did with the tomato plant before, Vance looks over you up and down like some sort of bizarre specimen. âœ...Youâreâhuman?!â
âœH-huh?!â You peep out in response as Vance starts choking on air, turning away from you as remain where you are confused.
âœYour bodyâthatâs a lot more than what you said itâd beâ. You had to be naked too.â
âœEh?â A single note escapes your lips at their claims. âœBut...Iâve always been naked? Why are you all acting this way now- Wait.â
Your voice! Thatâs why itâs different- Itâs only feminine now!
âœN-noâthis is different than before. Are you able to cover yourself?â
âœCoverâ.â You echo before shifting your focus down to see what Vance is getting at- âœHuhâ. WAIT, WHAT?!â
What meets your shift of vision is not the all too familiar torso of your player model, but someone else's. Namely, a womanâs.
Just as you were envisioning prior, a toned figure stretches from your chest, down your abdomen, pelves, thighs, calves, all the way to your feet in the flowered patches. Thereâs openly more that meets the eye than your previous form. You didnât have anything, it was all flat. Colorful but alien. Now you can see distinct ripples along your new form where muscle and veins seep through. Small details too such as pores, hair, breasts, and a belly button take on a stand against your warm beige skin. Additionally, not missed by you, is the return of your privates, unhidden even with the toughs of pubes growing above like a golden crown. Skimming off that to investigate further, your breasts are about the size of your hand realizing as you grasp one boob-
âœS-SÅŒ! Donât do THAT!!!â Vance scolds sharply in a shrill manner when he peeks back at you. âœAre you insane?!â
âœErk-Eh...Iâm sorry!â You straighten your attention back out from your chest and try your best to ignore the squeals of onlookers. Crap, yeah, your bad. You didnât mean to fondle yourself like some perv. Oh god. Whatâs a good excuse other than being curious?! âœIâI-uh had to make sure everything is...presentâwith this look.â
Nailed it. You totally wonât get charged with public indecency with that statement.
Why yes, officer, I was touching my boobs in front of children but I have a good excuse.
âœIâitâs-ahâ.â Vance cringes with a reddening tent to his cheeks as he tries his best to avoid looking at you. Not to mention this is the most flustered youâve ever seen him. âœ...Just donât do that. Especially here. Youâre out in the open. Is there any way for you to cover up?â
âœUmââ
Do you have anything? Youâmight not right nowâbut usually you have some cloth in your inventory. You could wrap yourself with it like a blanketâ. however, you know if you have one, itâd be a crafting item of high value and you only haveâwhat was it?... How many do you hold most commonly? You canât remember how many and what type. If you soil one of if not the only one you possess, how will you clean it? Wellâ there are some spells for that but still! Being near a dirty farm doesnât help. Itâd be like wearing white shoes on a rainy day. Yeah, no thank you. You could spare a coin or two to these people, but a piece of cloth that could equal a whole stack of gold? Nah. You could craft some high-level items later on with them. Maybe magical ones depending on what the scenario calls for. Youâre not going to ruin that opportunity given your limited resources for some temporary decency.
âœ...No. I donât have anythingâ I-I mean, if I did, I would have been wearing clothes from the moment we met.â
âœ...Iâd think that aâcreature like you would be able to produce something to cover up.â
Well, itâs not like anyone ever needed spells for that in Yggdrasil. There was no nudity within the game. Everyoneâs default player model, if needed, had some sort of undergarment covering their privates. Meaning, you canât poof an outfit into existence with magic. Mmmmâbut if you had used âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« it would have copied whomever you pictured to mindâs outfit as well.
Speaking of which-
âœVance?â
âœWhat is it?â He shuffles uncomfortably at your side, trying to keep eye contact to a minimum as he looks about your surroundings, particularly at those actively gawking at your current state as if he is unsure what to do with you.
âœDo I look like anyone you know?â
âœ...â Despite glancing at you very sparingly, he is able to spare a second longer to overlook your facial features more readilyâespecially now that your height is closer in correlation with his, only a tad shorter. His cheeks redden further as he squinted your way. âœ...NoâIâd remember a face like yoursââ
Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
You place your empty hand on your cheek, meek of your current appearance, while Vance continues, âœIt doesnât matter. We need to cover youââ He looks around for a solution to your predicament, a little frantic in your taste, before he huffs, âœ...SÅ. Here-â He fumbles quickly, maneuvering his dark clothing a bit but is able to take his half hood off from around his tools and swiftly hand it off to you- âœuse this to dignify yourselfâ. Hold it in front of your person. It wonât do you much if you put it on like I had.â
You attempt to do as he asks but, with one hand clutching your desired meal, you can only bask the hood like a towel full of holes across your torso messily, hugging it to yourself. It still left a lot for the eye to see with a nipple peeking out above the outline of the cloth and the breeze exposing your lower half every other moment or so. That isnât even speaking about your backside.
An audible gulp registers from Vanceâs ever more flustered state, hands wavering in the air like he wants to adjust the garment he gave you to help you cover more but is hesitant for more than one reason. In his pause youâre able to get a glance at what has lied beneath the cloak heâs given you. More of his navy jumpsuit is visible to the eye, with dark shoulder pads and sleeves cut off at the shoulder so that his thinner garment underneath can be cast down his arms. Above it all, just below his high collar, is a silver dog tag tied around his neck with some twine. It doesnât appear to have anything engraved into the metal but you doubt that it doesnât hold some significance.
âœWe canât leave you open like thisâuhââ Vance shakes his head and mumbles to himself as if in argument of what to do before he lets out a shaky sigh. âœ...I would bring you somewhere toâcover up or at the very least get you out of the openâbut we both know you are a different case andâyouâre here to talk to Barry. Uhâso stay here for a second. Iâm going to get someone to bring you something.â
Ah! Should you ask him for anything in particular before he runs off?!
Youâd like Vanceâ
âto get a cloth to cover your head.
âto get whatever he has in mind already.
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
62â†'129â†'141â†'165
More customization provided! Nothing that changes the plot for ya.
There was gonna be a lot more but I had to cut it here for inclusion purposesâplus it was getting to long. It was gonna be one long chapter but I cut it into twoâthen three. I was also going to post the second half with this one but it still needed editing and link modifications, so it will have to wait; especially since, due to all the small choices yâallâve been making to shape your ideal insert, thereâs gonna be 48 paths next for part 5 of the DEAL OF GOLD Route. And itâs not all just copy and paste anymore, each chapter is now gonna have some differentiating factors as they split further apart. Ope yâallâre lookinâ forward ta it!
On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:1
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœVance, wait!â He takes a single step away before you call out to him. He doesnât look your way but the fact that heâs remaining still shows that heâs listening. âœCan I request that whatever youâre getting to have me wear also include a fabric that I can wrap around my head with? Not so much as a towel or a scarf but something long and wide enough to wear since I doubt you have the particular cloth Iâm looking for. Itâs important to me that I wear a head covering.â
Yes, it may make you stand out more, since you havenât seen anyone wear head coverings like youâre planning toâbut you canât cast aside your beliefs for something like this. The choice of attire has followed you closely for most of your life as it was the way you were raised. Youâre willing to put up with any remarks anyone has to make, as you have in the past, to continue to be who you are.
Youâll change your looks, sure, but not your being.
You see the side of his face scrunch up slightly but other than that he chips out, âœ...Iâll see what I can do.â and is storming off to the closest individual he can find to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while your arm drops in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around after removing it from your face to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
It was only a moment of separation but you bring your hand back, fingers trailing along your face where insects arenât perched to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your free hand, you find that itâd be a perfect source of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through your free hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of young women who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and giggling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the girls all laughing and catcalling out loud now, before a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Him? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor fellow is stark naked. Who is getting him something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœHeâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know heâs a monster Iâd want to get to know him~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the flowers!
âœHmmââ You twirl the flowers curiously, a small drool starting to puddle in your as the vibrant blooms are lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the mesmerizing sprouts of green.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll beâthe first realish piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is freshâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real, fresh food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the stems has to receive the support of your other in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsoftâand holds an incredibly sweet, herb odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! Multiple indicators of its scent are picked up. The green squiggly leaves and stems. Thatâs the tart like grass and herby. The flowers and the sap collected from where you picked the treat. Sugary and spry-like in scent.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the stem and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the flowers a bit more boldly, tongue traveling up from stem to pedals.
Itâs like electricity when you make contact with the blooms. A shot of energy, like consuming something with a lot of vitamins, indicated along with a flavor you can only describe as devine.
Youâre not hesitant any longer, incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes the entirety of the patch you picked into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the green flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the sappy innards. The white, milky moisture squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the remaining stems with a sticky snap. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! A-are these flowers thatâd grown in the garden of Eden?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The greenery is like nothing you couldâve ever imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to cew, crunching and snapping letting nectar flow out along your maw! The flowers contrast the tang of the leaves and feel soft, fluffy, and delicate, withholding some sort of nostalgia you canât put a finger on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the sour springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You pop the rest of the stems into your mouth to finish the snack, chewing quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your empty hands.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... Even though itâs not real food, more like something akin to grass, how could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you cup a portion of the flowers around yourself as if theyâd disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
You use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'124â†'130â†'142â†'166
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:2
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
You say nothing. You're sure heâll get you proper attire to fit in, not having much preference in what is available. As long as itâs clean, nice, and helps you blend in, youâre satisfied.
He storms off to the closest individual he can find to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while your arm drops in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around after removing it from your face to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
It was only a moment of separation but you bring your hand back, fingers trailing along your face where insects arenât perched to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your free hand, you find that itâd be a perfect source of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through your free hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of young women who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and giggling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the girls all laughing and catcalling out loud now, before a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Him? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor fellow is stark naked. Who is getting him something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœHeâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know heâs a monster Iâd want to get to know him~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the flowers!
âœHmmââ You twirl the flowers curiously, a small drool starting to puddle in your as the vibrant blooms are lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the mesmerizing sprouts of green.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll beâthe first realish piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is freshâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real, fresh food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the stems has to receive the support of your other in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsoftâand holds an incredibly sweet, herb odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! Multiple indicators of its scent are picked up. The green squiggly leaves and stems. Thatâs the tart like grass and herby. The flowers and the sap collected from where you picked the treat. Sugary and spry-like in scent.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the stem and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the flowers a bit more boldly, tongue traveling up from stem to pedals.
Itâs like electricity when you make contact with the blooms. A shot of energy, like consuming something with a lot of vitamins, indicated along with a flavor you can only describe as devine.
Youâre not hesitant any longer, incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes the entirety of the patch you picked into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the green flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the sappy innards. The white, milky moisture squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the remaining stems with a sticky snap. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! A-are these flowers thatâd grown in the garden of Eden?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The greenery is like nothing you couldâve ever imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to cew, crunching and snapping letting nectar flow out along your maw! The flowers contrast the tang of the leaves and feel soft, fluffy, and delicate, withholding some sort of nostalgia you canât put a finger on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the sour springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You pop the rest of the stems into your mouth to finish the snack, chewing quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your empty hands.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... Even though itâs not real food, more like something akin to grass, how could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you cup a portion of the flowers around yourself as if theyâd disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
You use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'124â†'130â†'142â†'167
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:3
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœVance, wait!â He takes a single step away before you call out to him. He doesnât look your way but the fact that heâs remaining still shows that heâs listening. âœCan I request that whatever youâre getting to have me wear also include a fabric that I can wrap around my head with? Not so much as a towel or a scarf but something long and wide enough to wear since I doubt you have the particular cloth Iâm looking for. Itâs important to me that I wear a head covering.â
Yes, it may make you stand out more, since you havenât seen anyone wear head coverings like youâre planning toâbut you canât cast aside your beliefs for something like this. The choice of attire has followed you closely for most of your life as it was the way you were raised. Youâre willing to put up with any remarks anyone has to make, as you have in the past, to continue to be who you are.
Youâll change your looks, sure, but not your being.
You see the side of his face scrunch up slightly but other than that he chips out, âœ...Iâll see what I can do.â and is storming off to the closest individual he can find to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while you fiddle with the hoodâs fabric in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around, the one free of the cloak, to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
You can't feel your face with a hand due to them being occupied to try and get a sense of what you look like now. You do, however, feel the smile by how your skin stretches.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your hands, you find that they'd be perfect sources of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through one of your hands.
Tucking the hood under your arm with the flowers, you hardly begin to will your sight to your free appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of middle aged men who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and chuckling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the men all laughing and catcalling out loud now before theyâre reprimanded by others, just as a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Her? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor girl is stark naked. Who is getting her something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœSheâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know sheâs a monster Iâd want to get to know her~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself, gripping Vanceâs cloak closer to you. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the flowers!
âœHmmââ You twirl the flowers curiously, a small drool starting to puddle in your as the vibrant blooms are lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the mesmerizing sprouts of green.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll beâthe first realish piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is freshâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real, fresh food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the stems has to receive the support of your other, dropping the cloak for it to pool across your hips, in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsoftâand holds an incredibly sweet, herb odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! Multiple indicators of its scent are picked up. The green squiggly leaves and stems. Thatâs the tart like grass and herby. The flowers and the sap collected from where you picked the treat. Sugary and spry-like in scent.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the stem and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the flowers a bit more boldly, tongue traveling up from stem to pedals.
Itâs like electricity when you make contact with the blooms. A shot of energy, like consuming something with a lot of vitamins, indicated along with a flavor you can only describe as devine.
Youâre not hesitant any longer, incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes the entirety of the patch you picked into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the green flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the sappy innards. The white, milky moisture squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the remaining stems with a sticky snap. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! A-are these flowers thatâd grown in the garden of Eden?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The greenery is like nothing you couldâve ever imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to cew, crunching and snapping letting nectar flow out along your maw! The flowers contrast the tang of the leaves and feel soft, fluffy, and delicate, withholding some sort of nostalgia you canât put a finger on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the sour springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You pop the rest of the stems into your mouth to finish the snack, chewing quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your empty hands.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... Even though itâs not real food, more like something akin to grass, how could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you cup a portion of the flowers around yourself as if theyâd disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
You use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'124â†'130â†'143â†'168
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:4
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
You say nothing. You're sure heâll get you proper attire to fit in, not having much preference in what is available. As long as itâs clean, nice, and helps you blend in, youâre satisfied.
He storms off to the closest individual he can find to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while you fiddle with the hoodâs fabric in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of manaâor you donât think you had. You donât know how mana works now since you havenât cast any spells yetâ. Nevertheless, you didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around, the one free of the cloak, to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
You can't feel your face with a hand due to them being occupied to try and get a sense of what you look like now. You do, however, feel the smile by how your skin stretches.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your hands, you find that they'd be perfect sources of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through one of your hands.
Tucking the hood under your arm with the flowers, you hardly begin to will your sight to your free appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of middle aged men who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and chuckling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the men all laughing and catcalling out loud now before theyâre reprimanded by others, just as a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Her? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor girl is stark naked. Who is getting her something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœSheâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know sheâs a monster Iâd want to get to know her~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself, gripping Vanceâs cloak closer to you. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the flowers!
âœHmmââ You twirl the flowers curiously, a small drool starting to puddle in your as the vibrant blooms are lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the mesmerizing sprouts of green.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll beâthe first realish piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is freshâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real, fresh food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the stems has to receive the support of your other, dropping the cloak for it to pool across your hips, in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsoftâand holds an incredibly sweet, herb odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! Multiple indicators of its scent are picked up. The green squiggly leaves and stems. Thatâs the tart like grass and herby. The flowers and the sap collected from where you picked the treat. Sugary and spry-like in scent.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the stem and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the flowers a bit more boldly, tongue traveling up from stem to pedals.
Itâs like electricity when you make contact with the blooms. A shot of energy, like consuming something with a lot of vitamins, indicated along with a flavor you can only describe as devine.
Youâre not hesitant any longer, incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes the entirety of the patch you picked into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the green flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the sappy innards. The white, milky moisture squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the remaining stems with a sticky snap. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! A-are these flowers thatâd grown in the garden of Eden?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The greenery is like nothing you couldâve ever imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to cew, crunching and snapping letting nectar flow out along your maw! The flowers contrast the tang of the leaves and feel soft, fluffy, and delicate, withholding some sort of nostalgia you canât put a finger on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the sour springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You pop the rest of the stems into your mouth to finish the snack, chewing quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your empty hands.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... Even though itâs not real food, more like something akin to grass, how could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you cup a portion of the flowers around yourself as if theyâd disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
You use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'124â†'130â†'143â†'169
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:5
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœVance, wait!â He takes a single step away before you call out to him. He doesnât look your way but the fact that heâs remaining still shows that heâs listening. âœCan I request that whatever youâre getting to have me wear also include a fabric that I can wrap around my head with? Not so much as a towel or a scarf but something long and wide enough to wear since I doubt you have the particular cloth Iâm looking for. Itâs important to me that I wear a head covering.â
Yes, it may make you stand out more, since you havenât seen anyone wear head coverings like youâre planning toâbut you canât cast aside your beliefs for something like this. The choice of attire has followed you closely for most of your life as it was the way you were raised. Youâre willing to put up with any remarks anyone has to make, as you have in the past, to continue to be who you are.
Youâll change your looks, sure, but not your being.
You see the side of his face scrunch up slightly but other than that he chips out, âœ...Iâll see what I can do.â and is storming off to the closest individual, having been slowly approaching after your show of magic with the tomato plant, to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while your arm drops in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around after removing it from your face to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
It was only a moment of separation but you bring your hand back, fingers trailing along your face where insects arenât perched to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your free hand, you find that itâd be a perfect source of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through your free hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of young women who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and giggling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the girls all laughing and catcalling out loud now, before a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Him? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor fellow is stark naked. Who is getting him something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœHeâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know heâs a monster Iâd want to get to know him~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the tomato!
âœMmmhm!â You twirl your tongue, saliva starting to drown the appendage, actually drooling as the ruby globe is lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the immaculate gem of a fruit.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll be the first real piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is real foodâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the tomato has to receive the support of your other in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsmoothâand still holds little odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! All you receive as an indicator of its scent is the green squiggly leaves at the top. Very sour. Tart like grass.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the surface and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the tomato a bit more boldly and you receive the same as before. While hesitant, youâre incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes a third of the fruit into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the red flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the jelly innards. The slimy, chunky filling squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the main body with a sticky squelch. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! I-is this the fucking fruit Eve partook of?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The jelly within it is nothing like youâve ever couldâve imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to hollow out the gooey substance from the shell of the tomato! The gel seed pods hold the greatest tang and feel like squishy spheres around your gums. And when the membrane separates it leaves crunchy little seeds to munch on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the fruitiness springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You take a few more excited chunks out of the bleeding fruit, smaller than the first bite but still sizable enough to flush your cheeks. You chew quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your gift.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... How could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you clutch the tomato closer to yourself as if it would disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
The remaining portion of the tomato is brought past your lips to finish your treat. As you grind it down to paste, you use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'124â†'131â†'144â†'170
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:6
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
You say nothing. You're sure heâll get you proper attire to fit in, not having much preference in what is available. As long as itâs clean, nice, and helps you blend in, youâre satisfied.
He storms off to the closest individual, having been slowly approaching after your show of magic with the tomato plant, to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while your arm drops in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around after removing it from your face to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
It was only a moment of separation but you bring your hand back, fingers trailing along your face where insects arenât perched to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your free hand, you find that itâd be a perfect source of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through your free hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of young women who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and giggling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the girls all laughing and catcalling out loud now, before a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Him? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor fellow is stark naked. Who is getting him something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœHeâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know heâs a monster Iâd want to get to know him~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the tomato!
âœMmmhm!â You twirl your tongue, saliva starting to drown the appendage, actually drooling as the ruby globe is lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the immaculate gem of a fruit.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll be the first real piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is real foodâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the tomato has to receive the support of your other in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsmoothâand still holds little odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! All you receive as an indicator of its scent is the green squiggly leaves at the top. Very sour. Tart like grass.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the surface and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the tomato a bit more boldly and you receive the same as before. While hesitant, youâre incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes a third of the fruit into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the red flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the jelly innards. The slimy, chunky filling squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the main body with a sticky squelch. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! I-is this the fucking fruit Eve partook of?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The jelly within it is nothing like youâve ever couldâve imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to hollow out the gooey substance from the shell of the tomato! The gel seed pods hold the greatest tang and feel like squishy spheres around your gums. And when the membrane separates it leaves crunchy little seeds to munch on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the fruitiness springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You take a few more excited chunks out of the bleeding fruit, smaller than the first bite but still sizable enough to flush your cheeks. You chew quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your gift.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... How could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you clutch the tomato closer to yourself as if it would disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
The remaining portion of the tomato is brought past your lips to finish your treat. As you grind it down to paste, you use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'124â†'131â†'144â†'171
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:7
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœVance, wait!â He takes a single step away before you call out to him. He doesnât look your way but the fact that heâs remaining still shows that heâs listening. âœCan I request that whatever youâre getting to have me wear also include a fabric that I can wrap around my head with? Not so much as a towel or a scarf but something long and wide enough to wear since I doubt you have the particular cloth Iâm looking for. Itâs important to me that I wear a head covering.â
Yes, it may make you stand out more, since you havenât seen anyone wear head coverings like youâre planning toâbut you canât cast aside your beliefs for something like this. The choice of attire has followed you closely for most of your life as it was the way you were raised. Youâre willing to put up with any remarks anyone has to make, as you have in the past, to continue to be who you are.
Youâll change your looks, sure, but not your being.
You see the side of his face scrunch up slightly but other than that he chips out, âœ...Iâll see what I can do.â and is storming off to the closest individual, having been slowly approaching after your show of magic with the tomato plant, to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while you fiddle with the hoodâs fabric in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around, the one free of the cloak, to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
You can't feel your face with a hand due to them being occupied to try and get a sense of what you look like now. You do, however, feel the smile by how your skin stretches.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your hands, you find that they'd be perfect sources of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through one of your hands.
Tucking the hood under your arm with the fruit, you hardly begin to will your sight to your free appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of middle aged men who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and chuckling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the men all laughing and catcalling out loud now before theyâre reprimanded by others, just as a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Her? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor girl is stark naked. Who is getting her something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœSheâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know sheâs a monster Iâd want to get to know her~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself, gripping Vanceâs cloak closer to you. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the tomato!
âœMmmhm!â You twirl your tongue, saliva starting to drown the appendage, actually drooling as the ruby globe is lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the immaculate gem of a fruit.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll be the first real piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is real foodâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the tomato has to receive the support of your other, dropping the cloak for it to pool across your hips, in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsmoothâand still holds little odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! All you receive as an indicator of its scent is the green squiggly leaves at the top. Very sour. Tart like grass.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the surface and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the tomato a bit more boldly and you receive the same as before. While hesitant, youâre incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes a third of the fruit into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the red flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the jelly innards. The slimy, chunky filling squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the main body with a sticky squelch. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! I-is this the fucking fruit Eve partook of?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The jelly within it is nothing like youâve ever couldâve imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to hollow out the gooey substance from the shell of the tomato! The gel seed pods hold the greatest tang and feel like squishy spheres around your gums. And when the membrane separates it leaves crunchy little seeds to munch on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the fruitiness springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You take a few more excited chunks out of the bleeding fruit, smaller than the first bite but still sizable enough to flush your cheeks. You chew quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your gift.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... How could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you clutch the tomato closer to yourself as if it would disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
The remaining portion of the tomato is brought past your lips to finish your treat. As you grind it down to paste, you use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'124â†'131â†'145â†'172
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:8
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
You say nothing. You're sure heâll get you proper attire to fit in, not having much preference in what is available. As long as itâs clean, nice, and helps you blend in, youâre satisfied.
He storms off to the closest individual, having been slowly approaching after your show of magic with the tomato plant, to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while you fiddle with the hoodâs fabric in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around, the one free of the cloak, to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
You can't feel your face with a hand due to them being occupied to try and get a sense of what you look like now. You do, however, feel the smile by how your skin stretches.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your hands, you find that they'd be perfect sources of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through one of your hands.
Tucking the hood under your arm with the fruit, you hardly begin to will your sight to your free appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of middle aged men who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and chuckling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the men all laughing and catcalling out loud now before theyâre reprimanded by others, just as a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Her? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor girl is stark naked. Who is getting her something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœSheâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know sheâs a monster Iâd want to get to know her~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself, gripping Vanceâs cloak closer to you. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the tomato!
âœMmmhm!â You twirl your tongue, saliva starting to drown the appendage, actually drooling as the ruby globe is lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the immaculate gem of a fruit.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll be the first real piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is real foodâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the tomato has to receive the support of your other, dropping the cloak for it to pool across your hips, in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsmoothâand still holds little odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! All you receive as an indicator of its scent is the green squiggly leaves at the top. Very sour. Tart like grass.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the surface and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the tomato a bit more boldly and you receive the same as before. While hesitant, youâre incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes a third of the fruit into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the red flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the jelly innards. The slimy, chunky filling squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the main body with a sticky squelch. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! I-is this the fucking fruit Eve partook of?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The jelly within it is nothing like youâve ever couldâve imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to hollow out the gooey substance from the shell of the tomato! The gel seed pods hold the greatest tang and feel like squishy spheres around your gums. And when the membrane separates it leaves crunchy little seeds to munch on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the fruitiness springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You take a few more excited chunks out of the bleeding fruit, smaller than the first bite but still sizable enough to flush your cheeks. You chew quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your gift.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... How could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you clutch the tomato closer to yourself as if it would disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
The remaining portion of the tomato is brought past your lips to finish your treat. As you grind it down to paste, you use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'124â†'131â†'145â†'173
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:9
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœVance, wait!â He takes a single step away before you call out to him. He doesnât look your way but the fact that heâs remaining still shows that heâs listening. âœCan I request that whatever youâre getting to have me wear also include a fabric that I can wrap around my head with? Not so much as a towel or a scarf but something long and wide enough to wear since I doubt you have the particular cloth Iâm looking for. Itâs important to me that I wear a head covering.â
Yes, it may make you stand out more, since you havenât seen anyone wear head coverings like youâre planning toâbut you canât cast aside your beliefs for something like this. The choice of attire has followed you closely for most of your life as it was the way you were raised. Youâre willing to put up with any remarks anyone has to make, as you have in the past, to continue to be who you are.
Youâll change your looks, sure, but not your being.
You see the side of his face scrunch up slightly but other than that he chips out, âœ...Iâll see what I can do.â and is storming off to the closest individual he can find to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while your arm drops in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around after removing it from your face to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
It was only a moment of separation but you bring your hand back, fingers trailing along your face where insects arenât perched to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your free hand, you find that itâd be a perfect source of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through your free hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of young women who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and giggling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the girls all laughing and catcalling out loud now, before a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Him? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor fellow is stark naked. Who is getting him something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœHeâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know heâs a monster Iâd want to get to know him~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the flowers!
âœHmmââ You twirl the flowers curiously, a small drool starting to puddle in your as the vibrant blooms are lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the mesmerizing sprouts of green.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll beâthe first realish piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is freshâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real, fresh food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the stems has to receive the support of your other in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsoftâand holds an incredibly sweet, herb odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! Multiple indicators of its scent are picked up. The green squiggly leaves and stems. Thatâs the tart like grass and herby. The flowers and the sap collected from where you picked the treat. Sugary and spry-like in scent.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the stem and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the flowers a bit more boldly, tongue traveling up from stem to pedals.
Itâs like electricity when you make contact with the blooms. A shot of energy, like consuming something with a lot of vitamins, indicated along with a flavor you can only describe as devine.
Youâre not hesitant any longer, incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes the entirety of the patch you picked into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the green flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the sappy innards. The white, milky moisture squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the remaining stems with a sticky snap. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! A-are these flowers thatâd grown in the garden of Eden?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The greenery is like nothing you couldâve ever imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to cew, crunching and snapping letting nectar flow out along your maw! The flowers contrast the tang of the leaves and feel soft, fluffy, and delicate, withholding some sort of nostalgia you canât put a finger on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the sour springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You pop the rest of the stems into your mouth to finish the snack, chewing quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your empty hands.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... Even though itâs not real food, more like something akin to grass, how could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you cup a portion of the flowers around yourself as if theyâd disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
You use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'125â†'132â†'146â†'174
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:10
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
You say nothing. You're sure heâll get you proper attire to fit in, not having much preference in what is available. As long as itâs clean, nice, and helps you blend in, youâre satisfied.
He storms off to the closest individual he can find to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while your arm drops in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around after removing it from your face to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
It was only a moment of separation but you bring your hand back, fingers trailing along your face where insects arenât perched to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your free hand, you find that itâd be a perfect source of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through your free hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of young women who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and giggling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the girls all laughing and catcalling out loud now, before a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Him? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor fellow is stark naked. Who is getting him something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœHeâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know heâs a monster Iâd want to get to know him~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the flowers!
âœHmmââ You twirl the flowers curiously, a small drool starting to puddle in your as the vibrant blooms are lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the mesmerizing sprouts of green.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll beâthe first realish piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is freshâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real, fresh food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the stems has to receive the support of your other in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsoftâand holds an incredibly sweet, herb odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! Multiple indicators of its scent are picked up. The green squiggly leaves and stems. Thatâs the tart like grass and herby. The flowers and the sap collected from where you picked the treat. Sugary and spry-like in scent.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the stem and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the flowers a bit more boldly, tongue traveling up from stem to pedals.
Itâs like electricity when you make contact with the blooms. A shot of energy, like consuming something with a lot of vitamins, indicated along with a flavor you can only describe as devine.
Youâre not hesitant any longer, incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes the entirety of the patch you picked into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the green flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the sappy innards. The white, milky moisture squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the remaining stems with a sticky snap. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! A-are these flowers thatâd grown in the garden of Eden?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The greenery is like nothing you couldâve ever imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to cew, crunching and snapping letting nectar flow out along your maw! The flowers contrast the tang of the leaves and feel soft, fluffy, and delicate, withholding some sort of nostalgia you canât put a finger on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the sour springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You pop the rest of the stems into your mouth to finish the snack, chewing quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your empty hands.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... Even though itâs not real food, more like something akin to grass, how could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you cup a portion of the flowers around yourself as if theyâd disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
You use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'125â†'132â†'146â†'175
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:11
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœVance, wait!â He takes a single step away before you call out to him. He doesnât look your way but the fact that heâs remaining still shows that heâs listening. âœCan I request that whatever youâre getting to have me wear also include a fabric that I can wrap around my head with? Not so much as a towel or a scarf but something long and wide enough to wear since I doubt you have the particular cloth Iâm looking for. Itâs important to me that I wear a head covering.â
Yes, it may make you stand out more, since you havenât seen anyone wear head coverings like youâre planning toâbut you canât cast aside your beliefs for something like this. The choice of attire has followed you closely for most of your life as it was the way you were raised. Youâre willing to put up with any remarks anyone has to make, as you have in the past, to continue to be who you are.
Youâll change your looks, sure, but not your being.
You see the side of his face scrunch up slightly but other than that he chips out, âœ...Iâll see what I can do.â and is storming off to the closest individual he can find to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while you fiddle with the hoodâs fabric in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around, the one free of the cloak, to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
You can't feel your face with a hand due to them being occupied to try and get a sense of what you look like now. You do, however, feel the smile by how your skin stretches.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your hands, you find that they'd be perfect sources of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through one of your hands.
Tucking the hood under your arm with the flowers, you hardly begin to will your sight to your free appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of middle aged men who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and chuckling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the men all laughing and catcalling out loud now before theyâre reprimanded by others, just as a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Her? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor girl is stark naked. Who is getting her something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœSheâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know sheâs a monster Iâd want to get to know her~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself, gripping Vanceâs cloak closer to you. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the flowers!
âœHmmââ You twirl the flowers curiously, a small drool starting to puddle in your as the vibrant blooms are lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the mesmerizing sprouts of green.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll beâthe first realish piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is freshâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real, fresh food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the stems has to receive the support of your other, dropping the cloak for it to pool across your hips, in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsoftâand holds an incredibly sweet, herb odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! Multiple indicators of its scent are picked up. The green squiggly leaves and stems. Thatâs the tart like grass and herby. The flowers and the sap collected from where you picked the treat. Sugary and spry-like in scent.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the stem and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the flowers a bit more boldly, tongue traveling up from stem to pedals.
Itâs like electricity when you make contact with the blooms. A shot of energy, like consuming something with a lot of vitamins, indicated along with a flavor you can only describe as devine.
Youâre not hesitant any longer, incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes the entirety of the patch you picked into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the green flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the sappy innards. The white, milky moisture squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the remaining stems with a sticky snap. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! A-are these flowers thatâd grown in the garden of Eden?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The greenery is like nothing you couldâve ever imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to cew, crunching and snapping letting nectar flow out along your maw! The flowers contrast the tang of the leaves and feel soft, fluffy, and delicate, withholding some sort of nostalgia you canât put a finger on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the sour springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You pop the rest of the stems into your mouth to finish the snack, chewing quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your empty hands.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... Even though itâs not real food, more like something akin to grass, how could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you cup a portion of the flowers around yourself as if theyâd disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
You use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'125â†'132â†'147â†'176
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:12
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
You say nothing. You're sure heâll get you proper attire to fit in, not having much preference in what is available. As long as itâs clean, nice, and helps you blend in, youâre satisfied.
He storms off to the closest individual he can find to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while you fiddle with the hoodâs fabric in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of manaâor you donât think you had. You donât know how mana works now since you havenât cast any spells yetâ. Nevertheless, you didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around, the one free of the cloak, to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
You can't feel your face with a hand due to them being occupied to try and get a sense of what you look like now. You do, however, feel the smile by how your skin stretches.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your hands, you find that they'd be perfect sources of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through one of your hands.
Tucking the hood under your arm with the flowers, you hardly begin to will your sight to your free appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of middle aged men who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and chuckling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the men all laughing and catcalling out loud now before theyâre reprimanded by others, just as a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Her? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor girl is stark naked. Who is getting her something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœSheâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know sheâs a monster Iâd want to get to know her~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself, gripping Vanceâs cloak closer to you. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the flowers!
âœHmmââ You twirl the flowers curiously, a small drool starting to puddle in your as the vibrant blooms are lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the mesmerizing sprouts of green.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll beâthe first realish piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is freshâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real, fresh food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the stems has to receive the support of your other, dropping the cloak for it to pool across your hips, in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsoftâand holds an incredibly sweet, herb odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! Multiple indicators of its scent are picked up. The green squiggly leaves and stems. Thatâs the tart like grass and herby. The flowers and the sap collected from where you picked the treat. Sugary and spry-like in scent.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the stem and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the flowers a bit more boldly, tongue traveling up from stem to pedals.
Itâs like electricity when you make contact with the blooms. A shot of energy, like consuming something with a lot of vitamins, indicated along with a flavor you can only describe as devine.
Youâre not hesitant any longer, incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes the entirety of the patch you picked into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the green flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the sappy innards. The white, milky moisture squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the remaining stems with a sticky snap. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! A-are these flowers thatâd grown in the garden of Eden?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The greenery is like nothing you couldâve ever imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to cew, crunching and snapping letting nectar flow out along your maw! The flowers contrast the tang of the leaves and feel soft, fluffy, and delicate, withholding some sort of nostalgia you canât put a finger on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the sour springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You pop the rest of the stems into your mouth to finish the snack, chewing quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your empty hands.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... Even though itâs not real food, more like something akin to grass, how could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you cup a portion of the flowers around yourself as if theyâd disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
You use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'125â†'132â†'146â†'177
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:13
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœVance, wait!â He takes a single step away before you call out to him. He doesnât look your way but the fact that heâs remaining still shows that heâs listening. âœCan I request that whatever youâre getting to have me wear also include a fabric that I can wrap around my head with? Not so much as a towel or a scarf but something long and wide enough to wear since I doubt you have the particular cloth Iâm looking for. Itâs important to me that I wear a head covering.â
Yes, it may make you stand out more, since you havenât seen anyone wear head coverings like youâre planning toâbut you canât cast aside your beliefs for something like this. The choice of attire has followed you closely for most of your life as it was the way you were raised. Youâre willing to put up with any remarks anyone has to make, as you have in the past, to continue to be who you are.
Youâll change your looks, sure, but not your being.
You see the side of his face scrunch up slightly but other than that he chips out, âœ...Iâll see what I can do.â and is storming off to the closest individual, having been slowly approaching after your show of magic with the tomato plant, to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while your arm drops in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around after removing it from your face to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
It was only a moment of separation but you bring your hand back, fingers trailing along your face where insects arenât perched to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your free hand, you find that itâd be a perfect source of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through your free hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of young women who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and giggling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the girls all laughing and catcalling out loud now, before a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Him? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor fellow is stark naked. Who is getting him something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœHeâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know heâs a monster Iâd want to get to know him~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the tomato!
âœMmmhm!â You twirl your tongue, saliva starting to drown the appendage, actually drooling as the ruby globe is lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the immaculate gem of a fruit.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll be the first real piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is real foodâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the tomato has to receive the support of your other in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsmoothâand still holds little odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! All you receive as an indicator of its scent is the green squiggly leaves at the top. Very sour. Tart like grass.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the surface and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the tomato a bit more boldly and you receive the same as before. While hesitant, youâre incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes a third of the fruit into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the red flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the jelly innards. The slimy, chunky filling squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the main body with a sticky squelch. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! I-is this the fucking fruit Eve partook of?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The jelly within it is nothing like youâve ever couldâve imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to hollow out the gooey substance from the shell of the tomato! The gel seed pods hold the greatest tang and feel like squishy spheres around your gums. And when the membrane separates it leaves crunchy little seeds to munch on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the fruitiness springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You take a few more excited chunks out of the bleeding fruit, smaller than the first bite but still sizable enough to flush your cheeks. You chew quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your gift.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... How could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you clutch the tomato closer to yourself as if it would disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
The remaining portion of the tomato is brought past your lips to finish your treat. As you grind it down to paste, you use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'125â†'133â†'148â†'178
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:14
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
You say nothing. You're sure heâll get you proper attire to fit in, not having much preference in what is available. As long as itâs clean, nice, and helps you blend in, youâre satisfied.
He storms off to the closest individual, having been slowly approaching after your show of magic with the tomato plant, to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while your arm drops in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around after removing it from your face to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
It was only a moment of separation but you bring your hand back, fingers trailing along your face where insects arenât perched to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your free hand, you find that itâd be a perfect source of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through your free hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of young women who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and giggling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the girls all laughing and catcalling out loud now, before a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Him? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor fellow is stark naked. Who is getting him something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœHeâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know heâs a monster Iâd want to get to know him~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the tomato!
âœMmmhm!â You twirl your tongue, saliva starting to drown the appendage, actually drooling as the ruby globe is lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the immaculate gem of a fruit.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll be the first real piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is real foodâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the tomato has to receive the support of your other in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsmoothâand still holds little odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! All you receive as an indicator of its scent is the green squiggly leaves at the top. Very sour. Tart like grass.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the surface and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the tomato a bit more boldly and you receive the same as before. While hesitant, youâre incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes a third of the fruit into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the red flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the jelly innards. The slimy, chunky filling squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the main body with a sticky squelch. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! I-is this the fucking fruit Eve partook of?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The jelly within it is nothing like youâve ever couldâve imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to hollow out the gooey substance from the shell of the tomato! The gel seed pods hold the greatest tang and feel like squishy spheres around your gums. And when the membrane separates it leaves crunchy little seeds to munch on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the fruitiness springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You take a few more excited chunks out of the bleeding fruit, smaller than the first bite but still sizable enough to flush your cheeks. You chew quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your gift.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... How could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you clutch the tomato closer to yourself as if it would disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
The remaining portion of the tomato is brought past your lips to finish your treat. As you grind it down to paste, you use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'125â†'133â†'148â†'179
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:15
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœVance, wait!â He takes a single step away before you call out to him. He doesnât look your way but the fact that heâs remaining still shows that heâs listening. âœCan I request that whatever youâre getting to have me wear also include a fabric that I can wrap around my head with? Not so much as a towel or a scarf but something long and wide enough to wear since I doubt you have the particular cloth Iâm looking for. Itâs important to me that I wear a head covering.â
Yes, it may make you stand out more, since you havenât seen anyone wear head coverings like youâre planning toâbut you canât cast aside your beliefs for something like this. The choice of attire has followed you closely for most of your life as it was the way you were raised. Youâre willing to put up with any remarks anyone has to make, as you have in the past, to continue to be who you are.
Youâll change your looks, sure, but not your being.
You see the side of his face scrunch up slightly but other than that he chips out, âœ...Iâll see what I can do.â and is storming off to the closest individual, having been slowly approaching after your show of magic with the tomato plant, to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while you fiddle with the hoodâs fabric in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around, the one free of the cloak, to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
You can't feel your face with a hand due to them being occupied to try and get a sense of what you look like now. You do, however, feel the smile by how your skin stretches.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your hands, you find that they'd be perfect sources of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through one of your hands.
Tucking the hood under your arm with the fruit, you hardly begin to will your sight to your free appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of middle aged men who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and chuckling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the men all laughing and catcalling out loud now before theyâre reprimanded by others, just as a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Her? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor girl is stark naked. Who is getting her something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœSheâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know sheâs a monster Iâd want to get to know her~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself, gripping Vanceâs cloak closer to you. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the tomato!
âœMmmhm!â You twirl your tongue, saliva starting to drown the appendage, actually drooling as the ruby globe is lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the immaculate gem of a fruit.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll be the first real piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is real foodâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the tomato has to receive the support of your other, dropping the cloak for it to pool across your hips, in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsmoothâand still holds little odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! All you receive as an indicator of its scent is the green squiggly leaves at the top. Very sour. Tart like grass.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the surface and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the tomato a bit more boldly and you receive the same as before. While hesitant, youâre incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes a third of the fruit into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the red flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the jelly innards. The slimy, chunky filling squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the main body with a sticky squelch. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! I-is this the fucking fruit Eve partook of?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The jelly within it is nothing like youâve ever couldâve imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to hollow out the gooey substance from the shell of the tomato! The gel seed pods hold the greatest tang and feel like squishy spheres around your gums. And when the membrane separates it leaves crunchy little seeds to munch on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the fruitiness springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You take a few more excited chunks out of the bleeding fruit, smaller than the first bite but still sizable enough to flush your cheeks. You chew quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your gift.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... How could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you clutch the tomato closer to yourself as if it would disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
The remaining portion of the tomato is brought past your lips to finish your treat. As you grind it down to paste, you use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'125â†'133â†'149â†'180
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:16
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
You say nothing. You're sure heâll get you proper attire to fit in, not having much preference in what is available. As long as itâs clean, nice, and helps you blend in, youâre satisfied.
He storms off to the closest individual, having been slowly approaching after your show of magic with the tomato plant, to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while you fiddle with the hoodâs fabric in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around, the one free of the cloak, to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
You can't feel your face with a hand due to them being occupied to try and get a sense of what you look like now. You do, however, feel the smile by how your skin stretches.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your hands, you find that they'd be perfect sources of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through one of your hands.
Tucking the hood under your arm with the fruit, you hardly begin to will your sight to your free appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of middle aged men who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and chuckling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the men all laughing and catcalling out loud now before theyâre reprimanded by others, just as a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Her? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor girl is stark naked. Who is getting her something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœSheâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know sheâs a monster Iâd want to get to know her~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself, gripping Vanceâs cloak closer to you. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the tomato!
âœMmmhm!â You twirl your tongue, saliva starting to drown the appendage, actually drooling as the ruby globe is lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the immaculate gem of a fruit.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll be the first real piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is real foodâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the tomato has to receive the support of your other, dropping the cloak for it to pool across your hips, in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsmoothâand still holds little odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! All you receive as an indicator of its scent is the green squiggly leaves at the top. Very sour. Tart like grass.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the surface and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the tomato a bit more boldly and you receive the same as before. While hesitant, youâre incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes a third of the fruit into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the red flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the jelly innards. The slimy, chunky filling squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the main body with a sticky squelch. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! I-is this the fucking fruit Eve partook of?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The jelly within it is nothing like youâve ever couldâve imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to hollow out the gooey substance from the shell of the tomato! The gel seed pods hold the greatest tang and feel like squishy spheres around your gums. And when the membrane separates it leaves crunchy little seeds to munch on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the fruitiness springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You take a few more excited chunks out of the bleeding fruit, smaller than the first bite but still sizable enough to flush your cheeks. You chew quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your gift.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... How could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you clutch the tomato closer to yourself as if it would disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
The remaining portion of the tomato is brought past your lips to finish your treat. As you grind it down to paste, you use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
60â†'125â†'133â†'149â†'181
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:17
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœVance, wait!â He takes a single step away before you call out to him. He doesnât look your way but the fact that heâs remaining still shows that heâs listening. âœCan I request that whatever youâre getting to have me wear also include a fabric that I can wrap around my head with? Not so much as a towel or a scarf but something long and wide enough to wear since I doubt you have the particular cloth Iâm looking for. Itâs important to me that I wear a head covering.â
Yes, it may make you stand out more, since you havenât seen anyone wear head coverings like youâre planning toâbut you canât cast aside your beliefs for something like this. The choice of attire has followed you closely for most of your life as it was the way you were raised. Youâre willing to put up with any remarks anyone has to make, as you have in the past, to continue to be who you are.
Youâll change your looks, sure, but not your being.
You see the side of his face scrunch up slightly but other than that he chips out, âœ...Iâll see what I can do.â and is storming off to the closest individual he can find to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while your arm drops in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around after removing it from your face to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
It was only a moment of separation but you bring your hand back, fingers trailing along your face where insects arenât perched to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your free hand, you find that itâd be a perfect source of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through your free hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of young women who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and giggling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the girls all laughing and catcalling out loud now, before a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Him? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor fellow is stark naked. Who is getting him something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœHeâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know heâs a monster Iâd want to get to know him~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the flowers!
âœHmmââ You twirl the flowers curiously, a small drool starting to puddle in your as the vibrant blooms are lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the mesmerizing sprouts of green.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll beâthe first realish piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is freshâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real, fresh food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the stems has to receive the support of your other in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsoftâand holds an incredibly sweet, herb odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! Multiple indicators of its scent are picked up. The green squiggly leaves and stems. Thatâs the tart like grass and herby. The flowers and the sap collected from where you picked the treat. Sugary and spry-like in scent.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the stem and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the flowers a bit more boldly, tongue traveling up from stem to pedals.
Itâs like electricity when you make contact with the blooms. A shot of energy, like consuming something with a lot of vitamins, indicated along with a flavor you can only describe as devine.
Youâre not hesitant any longer, incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes the entirety of the patch you picked into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the green flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the sappy innards. The white, milky moisture squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the remaining stems with a sticky snap. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! A-are these flowers thatâd grown in the garden of Eden?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The greenery is like nothing you couldâve ever imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to cew, crunching and snapping letting nectar flow out along your maw! The flowers contrast the tang of the leaves and feel soft, fluffy, and delicate, withholding some sort of nostalgia you canât put a finger on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the sour springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You pop the rest of the stems into your mouth to finish the snack, chewing quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your empty hands.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... Even though itâs not real food, more like something akin to grass, how could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you cup a portion of the flowers around yourself as if theyâd disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
You use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'126â†'134â†'150â†'182
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:18
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
You say nothing. You're sure heâll get you proper attire to fit in, not having much preference in what is available. As long as itâs clean, nice, and helps you blend in, youâre satisfied.
He storms off to the closest individual he can find to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while your arm drops in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around after removing it from your face to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
It was only a moment of separation but you bring your hand back, fingers trailing along your face where insects arenât perched to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your free hand, you find that itâd be a perfect source of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through your free hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of young women who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and giggling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the girls all laughing and catcalling out loud now, before a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Him? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor fellow is stark naked. Who is getting him something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœHeâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know heâs a monster Iâd want to get to know him~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the flowers!
âœHmmââ You twirl the flowers curiously, a small drool starting to puddle in your as the vibrant blooms are lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the mesmerizing sprouts of green.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll beâthe first realish piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is freshâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real, fresh food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the stems has to receive the support of your other in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsoftâand holds an incredibly sweet, herb odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! Multiple indicators of its scent are picked up. The green squiggly leaves and stems. Thatâs the tart like grass and herby. The flowers and the sap collected from where you picked the treat. Sugary and spry-like in scent.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the stem and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the flowers a bit more boldly, tongue traveling up from stem to pedals.
Itâs like electricity when you make contact with the blooms. A shot of energy, like consuming something with a lot of vitamins, indicated along with a flavor you can only describe as devine.
Youâre not hesitant any longer, incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes the entirety of the patch you picked into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the green flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the sappy innards. The white, milky moisture squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the remaining stems with a sticky snap. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! A-are these flowers thatâd grown in the garden of Eden?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The greenery is like nothing you couldâve ever imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to cew, crunching and snapping letting nectar flow out along your maw! The flowers contrast the tang of the leaves and feel soft, fluffy, and delicate, withholding some sort of nostalgia you canât put a finger on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the sour springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You pop the rest of the stems into your mouth to finish the snack, chewing quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your empty hands.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... Even though itâs not real food, more like something akin to grass, how could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you cup a portion of the flowers around yourself as if theyâd disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
You use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'126â†'134â†'150â†'183
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:19
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœVance, wait!â He takes a single step away before you call out to him. He doesnât look your way but the fact that heâs remaining still shows that heâs listening. âœCan I request that whatever youâre getting to have me wear also include a fabric that I can wrap around my head with? Not so much as a towel or a scarf but something long and wide enough to wear since I doubt you have the particular cloth Iâm looking for. Itâs important to me that I wear a head covering.â
Yes, it may make you stand out more, since you havenât seen anyone wear head coverings like youâre planning toâbut you canât cast aside your beliefs for something like this. The choice of attire has followed you closely for most of your life as it was the way you were raised. Youâre willing to put up with any remarks anyone has to make, as you have in the past, to continue to be who you are.
Youâll change your looks, sure, but not your being.
You see the side of his face scrunch up slightly but other than that he chips out, âœ...Iâll see what I can do.â and is storming off to the closest individual he can find to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while you fiddle with the hoodâs fabric in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around, the one free of the cloak, to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
You can't feel your face with a hand due to them being occupied to try and get a sense of what you look like now. You do, however, feel the smile by how your skin stretches.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your hands, you find that they'd be perfect sources of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through one of your hands.
Tucking the hood under your arm with the flowers, you hardly begin to will your sight to your free appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of middle aged men who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and chuckling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the men all laughing and catcalling out loud now before theyâre reprimanded by others, just as a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Her? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor girl is stark naked. Who is getting her something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœSheâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know sheâs a monster Iâd want to get to know her~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself, gripping Vanceâs cloak closer to you. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the flowers!
âœHmmââ You twirl the flowers curiously, a small drool starting to puddle in your as the vibrant blooms are lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the mesmerizing sprouts of green.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll beâthe first realish piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is freshâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real, fresh food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the stems has to receive the support of your other, dropping the cloak for it to pool across your hips, in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsoftâand holds an incredibly sweet, herb odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! Multiple indicators of its scent are picked up. The green squiggly leaves and stems. Thatâs the tart like grass and herby. The flowers and the sap collected from where you picked the treat. Sugary and spry-like in scent.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the stem and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the flowers a bit more boldly, tongue traveling up from stem to pedals.
Itâs like electricity when you make contact with the blooms. A shot of energy, like consuming something with a lot of vitamins, indicated along with a flavor you can only describe as devine.
Youâre not hesitant any longer, incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes the entirety of the patch you picked into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the green flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the sappy innards. The white, milky moisture squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the remaining stems with a sticky snap. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! A-are these flowers thatâd grown in the garden of Eden?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The greenery is like nothing you couldâve ever imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to cew, crunching and snapping letting nectar flow out along your maw! The flowers contrast the tang of the leaves and feel soft, fluffy, and delicate, withholding some sort of nostalgia you canât put a finger on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the sour springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You pop the rest of the stems into your mouth to finish the snack, chewing quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your empty hands.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... Even though itâs not real food, more like something akin to grass, how could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you cup a portion of the flowers around yourself as if theyâd disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
You use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'126â†'134â†'151â†'184
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:20
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
You say nothing. You're sure heâll get you proper attire to fit in, not having much preference in what is available. As long as itâs clean, nice, and helps you blend in, youâre satisfied.
He storms off to the closest individual he can find to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while you fiddle with the hoodâs fabric in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of manaâor you donât think you had. You donât know how mana works now since you havenât cast any spells yetâ. Nevertheless, you didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around, the one free of the cloak, to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
You can't feel your face with a hand due to them being occupied to try and get a sense of what you look like now. You do, however, feel the smile by how your skin stretches.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your hands, you find that they'd be perfect sources of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through one of your hands.
Tucking the hood under your arm with the flowers, you hardly begin to will your sight to your free appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of middle aged men who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and chuckling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the men all laughing and catcalling out loud now before theyâre reprimanded by others, just as a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Her? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor girl is stark naked. Who is getting her something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœSheâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know sheâs a monster Iâd want to get to know her~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself, gripping Vanceâs cloak closer to you. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the flowers!
âœHmmââ You twirl the flowers curiously, a small drool starting to puddle in your as the vibrant blooms are lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the mesmerizing sprouts of green.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll beâthe first realish piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is freshâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real, fresh food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the stems has to receive the support of your other, dropping the cloak for it to pool across your hips, in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsoftâand holds an incredibly sweet, herb odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! Multiple indicators of its scent are picked up. The green squiggly leaves and stems. Thatâs the tart like grass and herby. The flowers and the sap collected from where you picked the treat. Sugary and spry-like in scent.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the stem and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the flowers a bit more boldly, tongue traveling up from stem to pedals.
Itâs like electricity when you make contact with the blooms. A shot of energy, like consuming something with a lot of vitamins, indicated along with a flavor you can only describe as devine.
Youâre not hesitant any longer, incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes the entirety of the patch you picked into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the green flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the sappy innards. The white, milky moisture squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the remaining stems with a sticky snap. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! A-are these flowers thatâd grown in the garden of Eden?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The greenery is like nothing you couldâve ever imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to cew, crunching and snapping letting nectar flow out along your maw! The flowers contrast the tang of the leaves and feel soft, fluffy, and delicate, withholding some sort of nostalgia you canât put a finger on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the sour springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You pop the rest of the stems into your mouth to finish the snack, chewing quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your empty hands.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... Even though itâs not real food, more like something akin to grass, how could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you cup a portion of the flowers around yourself as if theyâd disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
You use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'126â†'134â†'151â†'185
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:21
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœVance, wait!â He takes a single step away before you call out to him. He doesnât look your way but the fact that heâs remaining still shows that heâs listening. âœCan I request that whatever youâre getting to have me wear also include a fabric that I can wrap around my head with? Not so much as a towel or a scarf but something long and wide enough to wear since I doubt you have the particular cloth Iâm looking for. Itâs important to me that I wear a head covering.â
Yes, it may make you stand out more, since you havenât seen anyone wear head coverings like youâre planning toâbut you canât cast aside your beliefs for something like this. The choice of attire has followed you closely for most of your life as it was the way you were raised. Youâre willing to put up with any remarks anyone has to make, as you have in the past, to continue to be who you are.
Youâll change your looks, sure, but not your being.
You see the side of his face scrunch up slightly but other than that he chips out, âœ...Iâll see what I can do.â and is storming off to the closest individual, having been slowly approaching after your show of magic with the tomato plant, to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while your arm drops in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around after removing it from your face to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
It was only a moment of separation but you bring your hand back, fingers trailing along your face where insects arenât perched to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your free hand, you find that itâd be a perfect source of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through your free hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of young women who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and giggling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the girls all laughing and catcalling out loud now, before a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Him? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor fellow is stark naked. Who is getting him something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœHeâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know heâs a monster Iâd want to get to know him~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the tomato!
âœMmmhm!â You twirl your tongue, saliva starting to drown the appendage, actually drooling as the ruby globe is lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the immaculate gem of a fruit.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll be the first real piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is real foodâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the tomato has to receive the support of your other in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsmoothâand still holds little odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! All you receive as an indicator of its scent is the green squiggly leaves at the top. Very sour. Tart like grass.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the surface and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the tomato a bit more boldly and you receive the same as before. While hesitant, youâre incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes a third of the fruit into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the red flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the jelly innards. The slimy, chunky filling squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the main body with a sticky squelch. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! I-is this the fucking fruit Eve partook of?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The jelly within it is nothing like youâve ever couldâve imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to hollow out the gooey substance from the shell of the tomato! The gel seed pods hold the greatest tang and feel like squishy spheres around your gums. And when the membrane separates it leaves crunchy little seeds to munch on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the fruitiness springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You take a few more excited chunks out of the bleeding fruit, smaller than the first bite but still sizable enough to flush your cheeks. You chew quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your gift.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... How could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you clutch the tomato closer to yourself as if it would disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
The remaining portion of the tomato is brought past your lips to finish your treat. As you grind it down to paste, you use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'126â†'135â†'152â†'186
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:22
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
You say nothing. You're sure heâll get you proper attire to fit in, not having much preference in what is available. As long as itâs clean, nice, and helps you blend in, youâre satisfied.
He storms off to the closest individual, having been slowly approaching after your show of magic with the tomato plant, to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while your arm drops in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around after removing it from your face to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
It was only a moment of separation but you bring your hand back, fingers trailing along your face where insects arenât perched to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your free hand, you find that itâd be a perfect source of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through your free hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of young women who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and giggling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the girls all laughing and catcalling out loud now, before a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Him? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor fellow is stark naked. Who is getting him something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœHeâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know heâs a monster Iâd want to get to know him~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the tomato!
âœMmmhm!â You twirl your tongue, saliva starting to drown the appendage, actually drooling as the ruby globe is lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the immaculate gem of a fruit.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll be the first real piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is real foodâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the tomato has to receive the support of your other in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsmoothâand still holds little odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! All you receive as an indicator of its scent is the green squiggly leaves at the top. Very sour. Tart like grass.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the surface and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the tomato a bit more boldly and you receive the same as before. While hesitant, youâre incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes a third of the fruit into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the red flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the jelly innards. The slimy, chunky filling squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the main body with a sticky squelch. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! I-is this the fucking fruit Eve partook of?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The jelly within it is nothing like youâve ever couldâve imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to hollow out the gooey substance from the shell of the tomato! The gel seed pods hold the greatest tang and feel like squishy spheres around your gums. And when the membrane separates it leaves crunchy little seeds to munch on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the fruitiness springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You take a few more excited chunks out of the bleeding fruit, smaller than the first bite but still sizable enough to flush your cheeks. You chew quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your gift.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... How could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you clutch the tomato closer to yourself as if it would disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
The remaining portion of the tomato is brought past your lips to finish your treat. As you grind it down to paste, you use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'126â†'135â†'152â†'187
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:23
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœVance, wait!â He takes a single step away before you call out to him. He doesnât look your way but the fact that heâs remaining still shows that heâs listening. âœCan I request that whatever youâre getting to have me wear also include a fabric that I can wrap around my head with? Not so much as a towel or a scarf but something long and wide enough to wear since I doubt you have the particular cloth Iâm looking for. Itâs important to me that I wear a head covering.â
Yes, it may make you stand out more, since you havenât seen anyone wear head coverings like youâre planning toâbut you canât cast aside your beliefs for something like this. The choice of attire has followed you closely for most of your life as it was the way you were raised. Youâre willing to put up with any remarks anyone has to make, as you have in the past, to continue to be who you are.
Youâll change your looks, sure, but not your being.
You see the side of his face scrunch up slightly but other than that he chips out, âœ...Iâll see what I can do.â and is storming off to the closest individual, having been slowly approaching after your show of magic with the tomato plant, to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while you fiddle with the hoodâs fabric in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around, the one free of the cloak, to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
You can't feel your face with a hand due to them being occupied to try and get a sense of what you look like now. You do, however, feel the smile by how your skin stretches.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your hands, you find that they'd be perfect sources of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through one of your hands.
Tucking the hood under your arm with the fruit, you hardly begin to will your sight to your free appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of middle aged men who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and chuckling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the men all laughing and catcalling out loud now before theyâre reprimanded by others, just as a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Her? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor girl is stark naked. Who is getting her something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœSheâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know sheâs a monster Iâd want to get to know her~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself, gripping Vanceâs cloak closer to you. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the tomato!
âœMmmhm!â You twirl your tongue, saliva starting to drown the appendage, actually drooling as the ruby globe is lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the immaculate gem of a fruit.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll be the first real piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is real foodâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the tomato has to receive the support of your other, dropping the cloak for it to pool across your hips, in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsmoothâand still holds little odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! All you receive as an indicator of its scent is the green squiggly leaves at the top. Very sour. Tart like grass.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the surface and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the tomato a bit more boldly and you receive the same as before. While hesitant, youâre incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes a third of the fruit into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the red flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the jelly innards. The slimy, chunky filling squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the main body with a sticky squelch. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! I-is this the fucking fruit Eve partook of?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The jelly within it is nothing like youâve ever couldâve imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to hollow out the gooey substance from the shell of the tomato! The gel seed pods hold the greatest tang and feel like squishy spheres around your gums. And when the membrane separates it leaves crunchy little seeds to munch on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the fruitiness springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You take a few more excited chunks out of the bleeding fruit, smaller than the first bite but still sizable enough to flush your cheeks. You chew quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your gift.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... How could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you clutch the tomato closer to yourself as if it would disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
The remaining portion of the tomato is brought past your lips to finish your treat. As you grind it down to paste, you use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'126â†'135â†'153â†'188
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:24
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
You say nothing. You're sure heâll get you proper attire to fit in, not having much preference in what is available. As long as itâs clean, nice, and helps you blend in, youâre satisfied.
He storms off to the closest individual, having been slowly approaching after your show of magic with the tomato plant, to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while you fiddle with the hoodâs fabric in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around, the one free of the cloak, to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
You can't feel your face with a hand due to them being occupied to try and get a sense of what you look like now. You do, however, feel the smile by how your skin stretches.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your hands, you find that they'd be perfect sources of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through one of your hands.
Tucking the hood under your arm with the fruit, you hardly begin to will your sight to your free appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of middle aged men who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and chuckling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the men all laughing and catcalling out loud now before theyâre reprimanded by others, just as a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Her? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor girl is stark naked. Who is getting her something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœSheâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know sheâs a monster Iâd want to get to know her~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself, gripping Vanceâs cloak closer to you. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the tomato!
âœMmmhm!â You twirl your tongue, saliva starting to drown the appendage, actually drooling as the ruby globe is lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the immaculate gem of a fruit.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll be the first real piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is real foodâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the tomato has to receive the support of your other, dropping the cloak for it to pool across your hips, in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsmoothâand still holds little odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! All you receive as an indicator of its scent is the green squiggly leaves at the top. Very sour. Tart like grass.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the surface and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the tomato a bit more boldly and you receive the same as before. While hesitant, youâre incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes a third of the fruit into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the red flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the jelly innards. The slimy, chunky filling squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the main body with a sticky squelch. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! I-is this the fucking fruit Eve partook of?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The jelly within it is nothing like youâve ever couldâve imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to hollow out the gooey substance from the shell of the tomato! The gel seed pods hold the greatest tang and feel like squishy spheres around your gums. And when the membrane separates it leaves crunchy little seeds to munch on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the fruitiness springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You take a few more excited chunks out of the bleeding fruit, smaller than the first bite but still sizable enough to flush your cheeks. You chew quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your gift.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... How could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you clutch the tomato closer to yourself as if it would disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
The remaining portion of the tomato is brought past your lips to finish your treat. As you grind it down to paste, you use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'126â†'135â†'153â†'189
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:25
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœVance, wait!â He takes a single step away before you call out to him. He doesnât look your way but the fact that heâs remaining still shows that heâs listening. âœCan I request that whatever youâre getting to have me wear also include a fabric that I can wrap around my head with? Not so much as a towel or a scarf but something long and wide enough to wear since I doubt you have the particular cloth Iâm looking for. Itâs important to me that I wear a head covering.â
Yes, it may make you stand out more, since you havenât seen anyone wear head coverings like youâre planning toâbut you canât cast aside your beliefs for something like this. The choice of attire has followed you closely for most of your life as it was the way you were raised. Youâre willing to put up with any remarks anyone has to make, as you have in the past, to continue to be who you are.
Youâll change your looks, sure, but not your being.
You see the side of his face scrunch up slightly but other than that he chips out, âœ...Iâll see what I can do.â and is storming off to the closest individual he can find to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while your arm drops in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around after removing it from your face to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
It was only a moment of separation but you bring your hand back, fingers trailing along your face where insects arenât perched to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your free hand, you find that itâd be a perfect source of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through your free hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of young women who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and giggling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the girls all laughing and catcalling out loud now, before a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Him? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor fellow is stark naked. Who is getting him something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœHeâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know heâs a monster Iâd want to get to know him~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the flowers!
âœHmmââ You twirl the flowers curiously, a small drool starting to puddle in your as the vibrant blooms are lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the mesmerizing sprouts of green.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll beâthe first realish piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is freshâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real, fresh food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the stems has to receive the support of your other in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsoftâand holds an incredibly sweet, herb odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! Multiple indicators of its scent are picked up. The green squiggly leaves and stems. Thatâs the tart like grass and herby. The flowers and the sap collected from where you picked the treat. Sugary and spry-like in scent.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the stem and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the flowers a bit more boldly, tongue traveling up from stem to pedals.
Itâs like electricity when you make contact with the blooms. A shot of energy, like consuming something with a lot of vitamins, indicated along with a flavor you can only describe as devine.
Youâre not hesitant any longer, incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes the entirety of the patch you picked into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the green flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the sappy innards. The white, milky moisture squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the remaining stems with a sticky snap. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! A-are these flowers thatâd grown in the garden of Eden?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The greenery is like nothing you couldâve ever imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to cew, crunching and snapping letting nectar flow out along your maw! The flowers contrast the tang of the leaves and feel soft, fluffy, and delicate, withholding some sort of nostalgia you canât put a finger on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the sour springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You pop the rest of the stems into your mouth to finish the snack, chewing quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your empty hands.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... Even though itâs not real food, more like something akin to grass, how could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you cup a portion of the flowers around yourself as if theyâd disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
You use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'127â†'136â†'154â†'190
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:26
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
You say nothing. You're sure heâll get you proper attire to fit in, not having much preference in what is available. As long as itâs clean, nice, and helps you blend in, youâre satisfied.
He storms off to the closest individual he can find to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while your arm drops in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around after removing it from your face to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
It was only a moment of separation but you bring your hand back, fingers trailing along your face where insects arenât perched to get a sense of what you look like now. It doesnât help too much...but you can feel the smile on your new face.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your free hand, you find that itâd be a perfect source of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through your free hand.
You hardly begin to will your sight to your appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of young women who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and giggling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the girls all laughing and catcalling out loud now, before a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Him? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor fellow is stark naked. Who is getting him something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœHeâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know heâs a monster Iâd want to get to know him~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the flowers!
âœHmmââ You twirl the flowers curiously, a small drool starting to puddle in your as the vibrant blooms are lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the mesmerizing sprouts of green.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll beâthe first realish piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is freshâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real, fresh food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the stems has to receive the support of your other in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsoftâand holds an incredibly sweet, herb odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! Multiple indicators of its scent are picked up. The green squiggly leaves and stems. Thatâs the tart like grass and herby. The flowers and the sap collected from where you picked the treat. Sugary and spry-like in scent.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the stem and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the flowers a bit more boldly, tongue traveling up from stem to pedals.
Itâs like electricity when you make contact with the blooms. A shot of energy, like consuming something with a lot of vitamins, indicated along with a flavor you can only describe as devine.
Youâre not hesitant any longer, incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes the entirety of the patch you picked into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the green flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the sappy innards. The white, milky moisture squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the remaining stems with a sticky snap. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! A-are these flowers thatâd grown in the garden of Eden?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The greenery is like nothing you couldâve ever imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to cew, crunching and snapping letting nectar flow out along your maw! The flowers contrast the tang of the leaves and feel soft, fluffy, and delicate, withholding some sort of nostalgia you canât put a finger on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the sour springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You pop the rest of the stems into your mouth to finish the snack, chewing quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your empty hands.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... Even though itâs not real food, more like something akin to grass, how could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you cup a portion of the flowers around yourself as if theyâd disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
You use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'127â†'136â†'154â†'191
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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DEAL OF GOLD 5:27
Chapter Summary
You find yourself in an odd situation after you left your realm to enjoy what was left of your game, Yggdrasil, before the shutdown. When you're surrounded by an unknown mob you decide that it's best to face whoever they may be, leading to a deal of gold. After changing into a new human form...
Chapter Notes
This is part 2 to the last update. Itâs late but having your home swamped by a hurricane can do such. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy the chapter! I had fun writing it!
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See the end of the chapter for more notes
âœVance, wait!â He takes a single step away before you call out to him. He doesnât look your way but the fact that heâs remaining still shows that heâs listening. âœCan I request that whatever youâre getting to have me wear also include a fabric that I can wrap around my head with? Not so much as a towel or a scarf but something long and wide enough to wear since I doubt you have the particular cloth Iâm looking for. Itâs important to me that I wear a head covering.â
Yes, it may make you stand out more, since you havenât seen anyone wear head coverings like youâre planning toâbut you canât cast aside your beliefs for something like this. The choice of attire has followed you closely for most of your life as it was the way you were raised. Youâre willing to put up with any remarks anyone has to make, as you have in the past, to continue to be who you are.
Youâll change your looks, sure, but not your being.
You see the side of his face scrunch up slightly but other than that he chips out, âœ...Iâll see what I can do.â and is storming off to the closest individual he can find to do as he said. Thus, leaving you to your thoughts.
â.Soâwhat did he mean before? Do you stand out too much already? Whatâor who do you look like to have him say what he did? Did you mess the look up?... Ugh, what did you even do in the first place?! You didnât even cast a spell yet!!! You were only trying to collect your image before committing to a look!!! You were planning on using magic after you settled on the form you needed but...hmm...did you cast it without you knowing? Is this a special scenario or is it the new normal? You donât have your spell slots now and the fact that you were able to change when you were intending to do so. This is exactly what you were afraid of when it came to controlling your avatarâs powers with âwant.â
âœHuuuâ.â The groan lays thick while you fiddle with the hoodâs fabric in defeat.
âThen again, you donât think that this is due to a spell.
You felt no release of mana. Loss of energy has been something you felt with âŸªGrow PlantâŸ«. You still sense it in a way. Nothing for this. You didnât intend to change at all, not yet at leastâ.
Did your desire to be human again overpower your intent to hold off until you settled on a form? Thatâs not how the previous spell workedâ. It has to be intent...or is it desire? Did you learn wrong? Before, you hadnât wanted something badly so you couldnât test to see if your desire has power over your will... Thatâs a lie. You want to go home...but maybe thatâs something impossible in your current predicament and the power you hold at the moment canât assist you.
But it can assist you with changing identities, as it was possible in Yggdrasil?
â.
Thatâs a high stretch into the dark, butânot impossible. Unfortunately, if that's the case, youâre more than likely screwed later down the line as youâd thought beforeâ.
â.
H-hey, why so pessimistic? Maybe you were so concentrated on putting together a look that you didnât realize you cast a spell?
â.
âNo. Unlikely. You hadnât even decided which spell to use. Sure, it would have likely been âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« but you also had the option such as âŸªDisguise SelfâŸ«, âŸªTransmutationâŸ«, and so on. You didnât even need to take a human form. You couldâve taken a beast form! The Druid cast âŸªShapechangeâŸ« couldâve done just that! You couldâve been any animal companion! A dog, bird, lizard, bug, magical creature, whatnot. Anything!
*Sigh*... At least you know that this isnât an illusion spell. The hair you feel is real, and itâs yours.
There is the possibility...that this is something your own body did...or your avatarâs body did. But you hadnât made SÅsaku-sha with shapeshifting abilities. You need spells to do that. SÅsaku-sha is a Creator. That is their only racial stat. The Creator stat gives your Avatar more freedom to be fluid but not literally! You donât have any job classes or perks that support shapeshifting either. Yes, you get skills, but you still have to meet the requirement to activate them. Thatâs the only reason you had thought of using âŸªAlter SelfâŸ« in the first place.
Though, it doesnât explain why you were able to turn back into a human...well, there are a lot of things that donât have an exclamation for why theyâre happening. This situation for example is the CrÃme de la crÃme of âWHAT THE FUCK?!â
*sigh*...
Well, either way, youâre a human nowâ. Youâll try to figure out what the hell occurred through practice at a more opportune time.
Your new body for example~
Itâs exactly as you pictured...maybe even better. How long ago was it that you were this young? Where your joints donât click and your skin isn't thin and soft.
You twist your arm around, the one free of the cloak, to flex your muscles, watching the flesh shift under your toned skin.
Ahh, no more rainbow mess. And to have a face again.
You can't feel your face with a hand due to them being occupied to try and get a sense of what you look like now. You do, however, feel the smile by how your skin stretches.
Ah! You have a mouth again!
You lick your straight teeth as you try to find out more. Moisture, sweet yet tasteless moisture your tongue supplies to your brain and you swallow involuntarily-
You feel the difference immediately in that motion.
Previously, swallowing had only felt like your muscles were flexing. Now you could feel the gap that exists within your neck and the liquid that's forced down, from a space in your head, through your throat until it settles in your chest.
It's not an alien feeling, as this is what swallowing naturally felt like when you were a human...but you weren't human and the organs allowing you to do this didnât exist in your avatar. Eating wasnât something that could be felt in the game without those illegal extension mods.
Those facts make your skin crawl excitedly as your unforeseen appendage worms within the confines of the moist space in your head, which you quickly puzzle to be your new mouth.
The tongue twitches the more you focus on it, involuntary motions to the spotlight of your mind. As it flicks it rubs against the fleshy folds of your gums and the solid surface of bony extensions. Smooth...the back of your front teeth are smooth...straight.
Youâre quick to master controls over your tongue, muscle memory from being human, guiding it to explore your maw.
The muscles loosen around the bottom of your head where your jaw is, separating the top and bottom of your mouth to give better access to your gliding muscle.
It slips forward, smoothing over a ridge of flesh before sliding through the front of your row of teeth, still all hidden within your head behind a soft wall. Twirling your appendage, you happily realize you donât have fangs-or at least on the front of your mouth. Your front teeth feel nice and rectangular, smooth on the top and sides.
You slide your tongue left, now counting your teeth.
One, two, thre-oh! A canine! Just where it should be! It doesnât feel long...well, you canât tell by feeling alone. It feels slightly longer than the others you explored thus far. But as you slide your tongue further down the ridges, counting four, five, six, seven, and finally eight. Neat, you have wisdom teeth. You repeat the process along with the rest of your teeth, happy to learn that you have all thirty-two of your teeth.
A few of yours had been removed surgically over the years. The cost of growing old, you lament, so youâre quite happy to have a full working set now.
As you steadily retreat your slimy extension back to the front, you smooth it over what should be your cheek.
Itâs squishy, smooth, and moist from what you can feel as your tongue skates across the length until you hit the corner of your lip, the gap to the entrance of your mouth.
You lick your lips absentmindedly, pleased with your investigation but still curious.
What does your face look like? It wasnât directâand maybe youâre reading in between the linesâbut Vance implied that you stand out. What makes your appearance memorable?
A strange clash of eagerness and panic takes hold as you wish for a mirror but you quickly remember your odd extended vision and how youâre able to manipulate it across your new body.
Peering at your hands, you find that they'd be perfect sources of vision if you can transfer your sight to them.
How though?
âœHmmââ Intention? Seems to work on everything more or less. Wouldnât hurt to give it a tryâ.
â.
But youâre human now, right? You canât have your extended vision nowâ.
Or so you thought as you realize youâre still aware of your entire surroundings through your wide view.
â.
Shouldnât you be limited by your racial perks if you're human now? Would it cancel out your Creator benefits? Or is your extended vision a perk not ranked as racial? You certainly know it wasnât one you had before. You may have customized your game settings so that youâd have a wide FoV, but that canât account for this. It was mainly to help you during large PvPs. Any player could do the same.
Either way, you know you can try and use your vision to look through one of your hands.
Tucking the hood under your arm with the flowers, you hardly begin to will your sight to your free appendage, your vision shifting like water out to your palm facing your face.
You canât hold back from blanching slightly at the sight.
âœGOD DAMN, IâM YOUNG!!â
You donât mean to screech so loud the insects surrounding you flee by a meter but youâre taken off guard.
When was the last time you had a smooth face?! Over two or three decades ago, youâre sure! Yes, itâs not your face, but through your palm, you see the pure joy that spreads across your features along with familiar mannerisms peaking through. Youthfulness was a fleeting thing. To have it back so suddenly hits you like a punch to the jaw!! As if you concurred mortality!
With your one free arm, you swish your golden blond hair out of the way to expose more of your appearance. Round ears peak out and you move your hand to observe everything.
Yes, yes! Everything is as you envisioned...well, all except your eyes.
Unlike the brown you intended your irises to appear, they are the same bright gold color of your hair...and you find it okay.
Yes, itâs not a color youâve seen in the village butâyou donât think itâs a highly exotic color either. They may be mistaken for a bright hazel so thereâs no need to try to alter anything. Besides, you donât know how you came to appear this way in the first place and if you try to alter anything now it may affect this look.
If this was activated by your desire or intent, youâre going to will both factors to want this new form to keep hold.
Daring to take a peek at whatever is within the confines of your lips from your prior investigation, your jaw loosens and splits the gap. Your lips separate and the first thing you see is your teeth-
Normal human, white pearly, straight, teeth.
Nice! The cherry on the cake!
The muscles around your lips constrict to form a smile, and you nearly blush.
Wowâyou have a very pleasant smile. Hehâmaybe you see why Vance said heâd remember you. This new look isnât too hard on the eyes. Not hard at all. A treat! With the rising sun catching your golden attributes, it appears like youâre shining yourself. Ethereal almostâ
â.
Is it narcissistic or gay to think that your new look is extremely attractive? Haha! Ah, whatever. Youâd rather love the way you look than hate it. It works well for what you were trying to depict. And itâs still you even if it doesnât look like you, so whatâs wrong with a little self-love?
â.
â.
But other than your delight in your human appearance, is being nice on the eyes going to cause issues for you?
From what you hear around youâ. Oh boy. Hopefully, Vance gets that outfit soon from that Keeth guy.
All in all, youâre very satisfied with the resultsâand you can say forâwell, not a certainty, but youâre pretty confident that this new look isnât the result of âŸªAlter SelfâŸ«. You donât recognize who you are, though you couldâve seen them out of the corner of your eye in passing. But that would have meant that you wouldâve seen this body naked at some point as the spell would have copied their outfit as well otherwiseâ. You donât know, youâre not going to think about it too hard. What matters is that it works.
As your hand hovers to investigate more, you notice something.
Though you look human, youâre not breathing. Whenever you make noise your voice doesnât come out of your mouth nor does it vibrate your throat. Rather, it reverberates through your chest like it had when you still looked like your avatar.
Feeling around like before also produces similar results. When you poked around with the body of your avatar, the closest you can describe the feeling is as if it were clay. Shaped to a form but nothing further underneath to truly tether your shape to actual anatomy. This form is very similar to that in a wayâbut it does have a bit more depth and texture.
Itâsâoddâtrying to put it into words that you can think out. You donât even know how to describe it to yourself. Itâsâyou can relate more to it as a feeling rather than a fact. Abstract in nature. Just as you deduced a while ago, humans have a hard time understanding the unknown and the alienâ.
In conclusion, youâre not humanâbut rather something that looks human.
The smile falls and is replaced with a pout.
This explains why your vision isnât any different either. Your form has changed but youâre still SÅsaku-sha, no matter what you do to change that fact. Not while you remain in this world or realm.
Vision sparring nout, the villagers who had remained after you approached with Vance are blatantly ogling your way from where they reside, as if captivated by your new look. You turn your head one particular way to a group of middle aged men who are chatting around a corner and pointing at you. Upon noticing your sudden attention on them they wave at you pink-faced and chuckling.
Huh. You...arenât used to this type of open flirtation, even in your prime. You wave back before a click of thought enters your mind that has you hugging your middle.
Um...are...are they perturbed by your nude state? Wait. Why doesnât it...bother you? Shouldnât you feel...ashamed or uncomfortable? You practically feel the embarrassment spread across your skin and you turn away red-faced, the men all laughing and catcalling out loud now before theyâre reprimanded by others, just as a golden light flickers across your vision removing those feelings immediately.
â.Ehhhh?!
What the heck was that?! Was that a magical attack?!-Mmm, no, thatâs not right. Taking a quick look around, you're still alone where you stand...so what were the lights?
Was that you? Mmmmâvery likely. Curse your fricked-up abilities. You hope it did nothing else than calm you downâ.
But why did it calm you down? You only got flustered for your open nudity being spied upon by suggestive individuals.
Part of your gaze shifts down to your nude stateâ.
â.
â.
Nope. You remain neutral to it. As you felt with your avatar, it also carries on to this one. Fluterment remains absent. Seems you only became embarrassed when you got lost in your thoughts and spurred on by flirtations.
âœThat is a strange thought. How Iâm fine being nude whenââ You know youâd never be okay with being naked as a humanâa human back on Earth. Aside from the fact that you would possibly die if you went outside without the proper attire, for years you never couldâve imagined interacting with others outside a doctorâs office in your current state. Socially acceptable attire and allâ. âœH-how bizarre. Is it because I created this body this way or becauseâI...had nothing to hide as SÅsaku-sha?â You didnât have anything, it was all flat. You still had an ass but nothing in the frontâbut now that you appear humanâ
â.
â.
Even like this, youâre not ashamed of being nude as SÅsaku-sha as much as your new human form. You feel completely unashamedâ.
Is this part of SÅsaku-shaâs biology? Your avatarâs body is different but...how can that change how your mind works on this matterâ. Well, it has for others so why is this any different? Why are you surprised?
AHH! Forget it! Public nudity is still taboo among people. You can only imagine your reaction to this situation if you were in the shoes of those around youâ.
âthe things theyâre saying thoughâare causing heat to rise back up on your cheeks.
W-why is everyone so brazen? Youâd understand it if it was just one or two individuals. People have personalities and can be shameless when it comes to these sorts of things. That is not the case. Nearly all those around have, one way or another, commented on your body, and are spreading the news which is only drawing more to come see. All this attention is causing rifts to ensue among public opinion.
The all common paranoia still lingers in the form of, âœThe human look is a trap to lower our defenses! Donât be fooled! It wants to look more like us to hide what it truly is.â rants. Then thereâs the, âœOh, itâs like us now. Is it safe to approach it? Her? Iâmâcurious.â quips or the âœThat poor girl is stark naked. Who is getting her something to wearâMe? No way, I donât want to go near that thing or the bugs.â arguments.
And the ones that poke your conscience the most are the, âœSheâs drop dead gorgeous. Almost like an angel. If I didnât know sheâs a monster Iâd want to get to know her~â flirtatious gossip. They donât leave out any detail about what they desire from your new formâ.
You squat and sit down into the flowery patch to better obscure yourself, gripping Vanceâs cloak closer to you. They may not be bold enough to investigate or interact with you but their opting to watch like hawks is enough for you to want to distance yourself. Hunching over your lap so your head hangs low, hair cascading down over your shoulders as a golden curtain, you cradle yourself in a criss-cross position while the fluttering bugs take landfall on you in your perched state.
Youâdonât know what to think of it. Being pursued romantically speaking. In all truthfulness, you canât consider it. There are just too many things to handle and find out before you take care of that matter. Hopefully, no one makes it enough of an issue where itâll get in the way of your urgent tasks.
Such as eating the flowers!
âœHmmââ You twirl the flowers curiously, a small drool starting to puddle in your as the vibrant blooms are lifted closer to your face but no more. You stop shortâsimply staring wide-eyed at the mesmerizing sprouts of green.
â.
Wahh, youâre so indecisive. Youâre going to eat it sooner or later, so why does it matter?...
Because itâll beâthe first realish piece of food youâd ever eat. Not energy tablets, flavored gel packets, artificial supplements, or rotting meals.
This is freshâ
A shiver racks down your spine with a whimper.
Real, fresh food!
So why are you holding off?!! Just dig in!!!
Even with your mental prompting, the hand grasped around the stems has to receive the support of your other, dropping the cloak for it to pool across your hips, in order for you to inch it close enough so that it rests against your lips.
Itâsâsoftâand holds an incredibly sweet, herb odor even while being underneath your nose. Though, you donât think you smell with just your nose anywayâ. Besides the point! Multiple indicators of its scent are picked up. The green squiggly leaves and stems. Thatâs the tart like grass and herby. The flowers and the sap collected from where you picked the treat. Sugary and spry-like in scent.
But what does it taste like?!
Timidly, urging your tongue forward, your appendage makes contact with the stem and you give it a small test lick.
âThatâ.same tartnessâbut different. Mellowed out to an extreme measure where itâs hard to detectâ. And the way the flavor got indicated...almost like a powder but in no way is it so. Just very smooth but with a faint fuzz on the skin.
At least you know you have your sense of taste. That would have been an extreme letdown if it werenât so. But why does your sense of taste work differently from the way your others do? It appears to be limited to your mouth rather than your entire bodyâbut hey, youâre not looking at a gift horse in the mouth. Youâre very grateful it is the way it is.
Again, you lick the flowers a bit more boldly, tongue traveling up from stem to pedals.
Itâs like electricity when you make contact with the blooms. A shot of energy, like consuming something with a lot of vitamins, indicated along with a flavor you can only describe as devine.
Youâre not hesitant any longer, incredibly eager to go further.
This time, your lips part before your teeth do, ready to take the first bite.
S-should youâtake a small bite to savor it?
Hell no! You want the full effect!
Your jaw cracks open wider and welcomes the entirety of the patch you picked into your maw before your fangs descend upon your prize. Youâre slow in doing so, wanting to feel the unraveling of your meal.
It doesnât yield to the pressure you place upon it at first, squishing as you force your teeth down further. Still, when the weight becomes too much to bear, a give finally occurs like a pop. Itâs a mind-numbing buzz, being hit with so many sensations once your teeth start to move further. Between the fissures, you sink further into the green flesh, beyond the surface skin and the line of the malleable, meaty underside to the sappy innards. The white, milky moisture squishes out between the layers and onto the surface of your mouth, informing you that your tongue isnât the only part of your body that can taste. When bone meets bone you pull your hand away, separating the section youâve bitten a chunk off of from the remaining stems with a sticky snap. You maneuver your tongue to reach out and investigate what it is youâve welcomed into yourself-
O-oh, oh s-sweet heavens!!! A-are these flowers thatâd grown in the garden of Eden?! Itâs a sin how this awe-withholding flavor has come to bless your taste buds! Everywhere it spreads electricity, sprightly shocking, mind-tingling at the flooding flavor!
The greenery is like nothing you couldâve ever imagined. Sharp and heavy, absolutely sparking with a sour that makes you quiver. Itâs also fun to cew, crunching and snapping letting nectar flow out along your maw! The flowers contrast the tang of the leaves and feel soft, fluffy, and delicate, withholding some sort of nostalgia you canât put a finger on.
You raise your free hand and lightly cover your lips, almost in a protective way so that you may capture this metamorphic crescendo in full.
The whole is an active dance to the memento mori; sweets and riches carrying the symphony in methodical lows while the sour springs in active highs, both taking turns and becoming ever so closer until they embrace one another as a union in the end. Very romantic in play and very pleasing to experience.
Once the treat has been fully explored, ground down to paste, your tongue scoops it up and assists in swallowing the majority of the bite.
What you donât expect is that you can feel it move down through your throat and settle in your core, continuing to taste it even as it sits in your abdomen.
Bizarre. So anything that goes in your body, wherever it may be located, you will taste and feel it. Bizarre.
It takes two more swallows before youâve cleared your mouth.
You canât help the pleasurable rumble that comes out of your chest, âœ...this is good. This is sooo good~â
You pop the rest of the stems into your mouth to finish the snack, chewing quicker in a manic manner, ecstatic youâve been placed in heaven. For going through a mental hell these past few hours, this is your reward. Your salvation.
Your throat tightens with a heavy lump, weightfulness tugs at glossy eyes, and movements slow to a crawlâ.
Chew
Chew
Swallow
Chew
â.
Chewâ.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
Lip quivers and lids squint, lamentful.
â.
Chewâ.
â.
Swallowâ.
â.
â.
â.
...whyâ
A hiccup jolts your body enough that tears in your eyes finally descend over your lashes and down your face, silently sobbing into your empty hands.
âœ...Whyâ.â The whimper is wet and pained, very similar to how you appear. âœ...It's not fairâ.â
Why couldnât we have this?... Even though itâs not real food, more like something akin to grass, how could this have been taken from all of you by those born before your time? How could they not have cared enough to stop killing the Earth, knowing it would damn humanity for the rest of eternity or till the limited time they placed would wipe out all that could remember their greed?!
Your sorrowful expression twists, knotted in helplessness, and you cup a portion of the flowers around yourself as if theyâd disappear.
The fact that people couldâve prevented Earth from turning out the way it is now is whatâs truly tragic. Money and comfort had greater impact than sustainability and love for fellow man. Still doesâ.and thatâs why you will all die. Your lives will always be signed over to death by another hand, whether privileged or underclass.
Greed and hate were the undoing.
Another hiccup riddles you and you quickly sniff to rid the build-up from tumbling down your face.
â.
Despite the unfairness of the situationâwhat could youâve done to right it any more than what you have? Itâs a losing battle yet you still chose to struggle. At leastânow you know a part of what you were fighting forâ. A shame victory was never an optionâ.
â.
â.
âœI wishâI could share this with all of youâ.â
You use the back of your hands to wipe away your tears, slowly collecting yourself. You donât want to explain to anyone why you were crying-
âœH-hmm?â
The rumble escapes you as you notice the liquid smeared on your hands, and not the remnants of the tomato juices dribbling down the length of your arms.
Gold, shimmering and glittering.
âœWhat the-â You wipe your face again with a still clear portion of one of your hands and the same substance transfers over.
What...is this? Did you cast âŸªTears of JÃ¶rmung-You know what, you're not even going to question it. You're too overwhelmed with emotions to care.
You wipe the glowing liquid on your side with a sniff, glad that no one is near enough to notice your condition.
You just...feelâbetrayedâbut also shocked and blessed to be able to experience all of this life. Not just the fruit but the scenery, animals, sensations, and moreâ Only now do you realizeâthe more you think of the truth of Earthâdo you realize how wonderful this one is-
*Squeal!*
The sudden sound of a pig screeching jolts you out of your thoughts and your head shoots up into the direction of the barn.
â.What-
âœAugh, look there.â
âœMmmph, damned monster has poisoned most of them. Looks like the sprouts are finally taking their toll.â
âœWe need to start separating the ones showing symptoms; so when they start throwing up the healthy wonât be able to eat it and become sick. Iâll grab a blade so we can start making use of the ones that need to be put out of their misery.â
âœSure thing.â
O-ohâthatâs right. You caused thatâ.
â.
Should you intervene?
Noâthere are certain risks involved.
Absolutely!
Chapter End Notes
Your pathway so far:
61â†'127â†'136â†'155â†'192
It may not seem like it but this is a turning point choice, a huge one in some cases. Reeeally think through choices youâve made thus far and how itâll affect this one. This may appear like one everyone would jump on but you have to consider the situation of SÅ, not the position of you as a reader. I may not have explained it much in the notes but every choice youâve made does hold weight, including the content within. I donât throw choices together so thereâs more paths thatâs too much work on my part. If thereâs a choice, thereâs a reason why itâs there and I want you to think it through. I wonât give hints like this forever since these are starter chaptersâ.
Even with that said, Iâm the type whoâd jump on the opportunity to cure the pigs and not even think of what my actions mean. I also hope yâall liked the art work. I tried combining the animeâs and So-binâs style instead of realism for a more crisp edge of Overlord. I may go back and alter some artwork in previous routes at some point for the same reason. On a more solemn note, please read this update regarding GOAWNL. Itâs only temporary but I will be stepping away from this fic. Thank you all for your patience, Iâll be back!
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Simply an update~
Hey, this is simply a update on my status. As I said, I've taken a break from this fic for the time being. If you still haven't seen the post as to why, click this link. I've now completed the Queen of Hearts. You can view my process on Tumblr, DeviantArt, Twitter, and Reddit. You can also view that and more on my where I've already started on the Jack of Hearts. You could watch my progress and have early access before anyone else by becoming a âStar member and supporting my progress and all the other works I produce! Here is an image of what you may find there:
If you want frequent updates on my status simply follow one of my socials. That way I don't have to post a chapter here every time I want to fill you guys in on what's going on. BTW, I'm starting to transfer this work over to Wattpad. I'm not removing this work from A03, I'm only informing you this work exists over on that platform now. It's far from traversed as this piece as I've only transferred a few chapters but I will say some of the story is being edited as it's brought over to Wattpad. There's already some major differences in the Fortress route.
Still, I'm only working on this fic once in a blue moon as I have a lot on my plate. My house has been cleaned but we're replacing a lot of broken stuff now. Otherwise, our living condition is back to normal. I'll sign off here, thank you for your continued patience.
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