Chapter 64: Human form

...Ring! "Uh? Oh, all right." ❮ Your Character has successfully been created — You qualify for starting the Game. ❯ That's the moment I was hit with loads of notifications again. Somehow used to the System's interventions, I didn't sweat it. Crossing my arms upon my chest, with a listless look on my face, I waited for it to speak. ❮ Isekai Production presents...

❮ ...

❮ The Game. ❯ Original name if you ask me. ❮ Brought up and presented to you by — Director, Hiromasa Tomoyami; Co-director, Shigeru Kurasa; Producer, B L A N K. ❯

❮ "O-Okay... Introduction. Is it recording? Hm? Oh! Ahem! ...Once upon a time... in a World of fantasy... there was a Player. This Player just so happens to be you! So... Become the King going all a Guwah! and all Paaah! Beat up your enemies in the same way! Wahahah! Work up your way to the top — gain new skills, make new friends, share with them a world full of extraordinary wonders, live thrilling and compelling adventurers... and mostly, enjoy the Game! ...This is what Mr. Hiromasa and Mr. Shigeru told me a game was for, after all! To be enjoyed! So, erm, your name is Skill, you're mine, and you better give it your whole! Otherwise, you won't enjoy it one bit, teehee! You go then, my hero! ...Nailed it. This should do for the introduction... Err... what's the stop recording command again.... Oh, there it is! System: discontinue registe— " ❯

I wondered what the heck that was... but only for a moment. Was that supposed to be some excited girl... saying all of that... to me? Well? Let's just forget about it.

After all, efficient brains tend to automatically delete useless information. Or so is what I thought at the moment with no desire to trouble myself with that... person speaking at the other end of what seemed to be a recording.

That was just a recording, and the feminine, toneless monotonous voice of the System was the one who spoke, except it wasn't so listless and monotonous, but rather joyous and lively. Was the same female-like voice who spoke in the recording the same voice with which the System spoke?

It seemed evident. But anyway, I didn't want to pay any mind to that. I just obtained my Character and felt so full of energy. All I wanted, presently, was a foe to crush; I wanted to see the change in strength.

With another notification, the System curtly welcomed me to the Game, apparently. Then all the information and welcoming about the Game thing were brought to an end. I wasn't finished with the System, however.

To my discontentment, all at once, as if it had been forced to accumulate all of it up until now, the System threw at me dozens of notifications. It spoke of many things. I had obtained Titles, and the System said to "Open your Status and check" them all up. As I obtained many titles, the same notification was repeated quite a few times.

Then, the System notified me about my third reward of the Character's Creation quest that was unchecked. I had to see the Dryad—she was standing by a dozen meters away.

The System then carried on its long speech and informed me that I had reached a certain level 42, the System proposed that I open up the same 'Status Tab' and add my 'Bonus Stat Points' directly from it. The System never had once before spoken this much. It became annoying. When the System finally enjoined me to open up the Skill Tab with a yes or no question, I said no. I'd see about that later. Or maybe never. The System, in its hurry, finally gave me one last notification.

❮ The Skill Interface has been closed. To reopen it, the Player needs to—

But I just discarded it. At the time, I didn't know that my hastiness would cause me trouble later on. Because I didn't heed the only notification I needed to attentively listen to, I'd take about a month before I'd be able to reopen that Skill Interface and truly figure the System out. Shoot.

Standing alone in the middle of the devastated land, scorched pond, and hollowed tree—I decisively nodded to myself, getting ready to move out at once. So I jumped up so high I was in the clouds, and at once flew to distant lands in order to— That was a joke.

As epic and powerful as I may have been, all I did was wrap my arms around myself in a frenzy, shaking all over due to the cold. "Brrr... It's cold out here...!" My voice was shaky. Hugging my shoulders, I tried to warm myself up at least a little. "A-Aren't I totally naked, after all!" And it was at that time that I noticed. First off, I was naked and cold. Secondly, I noticed my voice.

Well. I was disappointed to see my Character wasn't as sturdy, fat, and tall as the Robustorc the Fortress, so my head dropped down in defeat. Instead, I was no taller than the elven princess from before, I think. My youthful appearance was that of a young, teenage boy.

Groping my chest, there were no breasts on its surface anymore. And my hair wasn't so long with the same greenish silver color. Pulling at the bangs on my forehead, I could make out the hair's pitch-black color which I probably inherited from the black swordsman of the restaurant. Touching my ears, they were only the slightest pointy. And finally observing my facial features with Mana Perception, I observed they were more delicate, feminine, and refined on a smooth silk-like skin than rough and barbaric, unlike the sturdiest orc's beast-like features.

"Jeez..." I sighed. "I can't be that robust macho orc after all..." I totally dropped down to the ground in defeat, but it goes without saying that in a month from now, I'd more than be happy not to be some sort of crude-looking inhuman beast. I must have simply been tired at the moment. At least, I was a male. Well, it always came naturally to me to consider I was a male, so that wasn't a surprise. The knowledgeable old man had informed me as much, too.

But anyway, I still did disable my human form for a second—which made the System ring a notification out at me saying the Character's Manifestation had been turned off but could be summoned back at any time—and assumed the same somewhat human-like-shaped body of water resembling an androgynous fairy of water.

My original form, in a way. After a minute of waiting, I was glad to see that now that I had created my character, I wasn't compelled to 'dwell' in a new 'Receptacle' in order to 'ensure survival' or go on with the 'quest'.

Physical attacks would barely work on me in that shapeless form—the cold didn't affect me. Moving up to the Dryad NPC, I was congratulated for my rewards and granted the last one of them. As I turned back to the human form, I was applauded by the blithe Dryad who said I had done beautifully. "Aren't you angry I obliterated your place, though? Look at the gigantic tree and pond—"

"Player. Will you receive your reward, then?"

"Yes." After I said as much, I received the Rookie's Equipment reward. Remember the mass of pure mana I had seen twice before? Albeit in a lesser quantity, it appeared again. Enveloping me with its light, said rookie's equipment appeared on me and was automatically equipped. So that was the item 'Set of Equipment x1', eh? A white shirt appeared on my chest, a regular tunic covered it up, and breeches were for pants. I was still barefoot and four weapons were produced out of thin air before they dropped on the ground. There was a sword, a set of daggers, a bow, and a wand. Snatching a dagger, I was done here.

Finally, I could go and see the world. I appeared, or spawned, in a certain restaurant, but aside from a few hours of visiting my natal village, the rest of my week had been full of troubles and I kept running from them.

Now, I hoped I was free to choose where I wanted to go. And my destination was that city. To the city the big guy adventurer had told me about. A capital. Full of people and wondrous ideas. I had yet to reach it. And also, I had yet to find my home. The monster's home. Where I belonged. Where I needed to be.

Where I was loved, accepted, and happy. Why do I mention it now, however? It was because I was about to find it. My home, it had been with me all along. With the turn of events, I would just go and reclaim it.

The hill. I rested on top of it. To the North, the old man had said. Once I was done, I'd need to go to the North. There, he would come and find me. But for now, I had spotted that one foe I wanted to crush in order to figure out my powers.

Stepping out of the hill, I had a bird's eye view of the forest surrounding me. There, I found my elf White-haired. With him, there was his voice. His voice was raised, it yelled, and it begged. If not for the heavy rain pounding the earth so loudly, my keen ears would have picked up his voice already.

To my surprise, he wasn't alone. And he yelled, implored, and supplicated, devastated as he was.