n

n

nEli lowered the headset over his eyes.

nIt had come first thing in the morning, and he'd unpackaged it immediately.

nDarkness fell and Eli was standing on a platform in space. No really, some distance to his right, the Horsehead Nebula was twinkling.

nBefore him, several translucent frames hung in mid-air.

nWelcome, Elias Crewan! You have one (1) account

/s on this system.

nYou have one coupon.

nActivate Account

nRegister Account

nThe headset was an RSI product specifically calibrated for the Redlands game, so of course there was the option to register.

nHis public data and Redlands registration was already in the system since he connected his phone to the headset, so it was only a matter of checking if the data that automatically filled in the account form was accurate.

nHis bank account details were also accessible via the headset.

nEli transferred 3800 ecru into his Redlands account. The remaining 2000 ecru left in the bank was enough for living expenses, and his increased electric bills for the next year.

nConverting 3800 ecru to in-game currency meant he now had a starting budget of 380,000 golden drax.

nEli smiled in satisfaction. It was worth the month of little sleep.

nHe tapped on the coupon.

nA buy one month, get one month free that came with the brand new headset. Two months at 195 ecru? A steal.

nHe activated it immediately. That upped his premium months to fifteen.

nThe December of next year was the fourteenth month from now.

nEli took a deep breath, and another.

nHe wanted to live a life he would not regret.

nThis was the first step.

nHe reached for the translucent frame.

nActivate Account

nThe game automatically logged into the character creation area.

nThe space view around him changed to a massive temple, the stone ceiling so far above him he could barely see the repeating curved flower pattern. Around him was a great hall bordered on two sides by a colonnade of white and grey marble. Each column was wider at the base than ten of him spread-eagled finger to finger.

nOn the far side of the hall was open space, an endless blue sky and clouds.

nBetween the columns were sculptures he'd seen before, in this same character creation area. Last time, he didn't know they were symbolic depictions of deities. In fact, in his research, he hadn't come across that data yet.

nThe sculptures towered above the hall, massive and imposing.

nNine of Creation.

nNine of Destruction.

nThe eighteen gods of Zushkenar.

nGods that came to exist, in viscerally real ways, when Redlands became more than a game.

nOf the sculptures closest to him, on his right was a massive tower clock with a single gigantic eye. Chronakem of Destruction.

nOn his left was a single graceful flower, the gently curving stem maybe nine storeys tall. The goddess' worshipers said that it was called the callaflor. Anradeth of Creation.

nThis, now that he knew what he was seeing, now that he had lived in lands they looked over, was something to engender awe.

nThere was no place in Zushkenar where the symbols of the world's deities could all be seen together.

nIt was only here, in the character creation area, that this temple existed.

nEli pressed three fingers of his right hand to the center of his forehead, staring straight down the middle of the sculptures, taking care not to look at any one of them directly. Then made a fist with the same hand and pressed it over his heart.

nThese gods had given the survivors of the Quake nine years of life.

nEven though it was an attempt to not be destroyed themselves, it was still nine years of life that the transmigrators would not otherwise had.

nEli would not worship them.

nHe was not a religious person.

nBut to offer respect was just good sense when coming before beings that could crush continents.

nIn Zushkenar, the gods were present in the everyday lives of the people. Eli had learned their names and legends nearly by osmosis.

nHe pressed his hand to the pedestal in front of him.

nIt shone, and a chime rang crisply through the large hall before him.

nHe whirled, remembering the AI that startled him near to death the last time.

nThere was no one behind him.

n

"Welcome to the Halls of Choosing.

"

n

"Weeping skies!

" Eli cursed and whirled back, grappling for a weapon. The curse that left his mouth was pure Zushkenari. Was he already starting to think like a Zushkenari again? He snorted. He wasn't even there yet.

nThe being, dressed in simple robes, serenely stood beside the pedestal.

n

"Weeping skies,

" Eli seethed,

"don't do that.

"

n

"I apologize. Are you ready to begin?

"

n

"Fine.

" Eli crossed his arms.

"I've come to choose, and all that. Can we get started without the spiel about being watched over by the gods, priest? Or is it priestess.

"

nThe being inclined a hooded head.

"Attendant, should suffice. They

/Them. And by what name would the guest go?

"

nEli hesitated.

nHe'd gone by StrawmanScare before. And people had called him Scare even after the Quake. Should he go with the name?

nHe wavered for a few moments.

n

"Ilas Krow,

" he finally said.

"I-L-A-S then K-R-O-W. He

/Him.

"

nEli chose something close to his real name, so he would remember that from a certain point of view, the game was reality.

nHe wouldn't mind being called Scare, but that name had many bad memories attached to it.

nUsing Ilas Krow would not completely negate that history though.

nHis name from before was referencing a scarecrow after all.

n

"A unique name,

" said the Attendant, accepting it.

"Then, Ilas Krow, you have come to choose where your fate begins. In the world of Zushkenar, there are nine races.

"

nThat was the first time Eli heard the name of the world in this life.

nEveryone else called it Redlands.

nEli tamped down the sudden nostalgia.

n

"Call me Krow.

"

nThe Attendant nodded at his words, then lifted their hand. Large cards started to appear one by one before Eli, as the Attendant named the races.

n

"The Humans. The Dwarvir. The Sirens. The Trollkin, The Magmigant, The Vargvir, The Dryads, The Draculkar, The Mafmet. Choose well, Krow, and live with the strength and cunning of your choice.

"

nEli glanced at the first.

nThe large card depicted two people back to back, with a large mountain city in the background.

nHumans were the usual very adaptable average build. They lived in city states and small nations all over Zushkenar, the biggest city being Grangonthor, the mountain city that survived a thousand wars.

nIt really was a city that covered an entire small mountain, spread across the foothills, and the plains and the coast around the mountain.

nThe city was self-sufficient and well-planned. If they closed the gates, the city-state and its three million inhabitants could survive for a hundred years.

nIt was the race Eli had chosen the last time, barely skimming over the others.

nThis time, he moved down the list.

nHe touched each card, skimming over the information to see if there were things he didn't know, and remembering things he did know about the races.

nDwarvir were part dwarf and part other. They generally only reached 170cm in height, max. They were good with stonecraft, and preferred heavy weaponry. Their armies had stone cannons.

nThe card depicted another two people, their eyebrows jutting out beyond the bounds of their faces like unexpectedly graceful blades made out of hair. They were stockier than Humans, and in the background was a crest with the sigil of stonemasons.

nThey had great endurance and strength. Also the second most charismatic race, so much that there were a fair few dwarviran bards in the game that did very well.

nFor those interested in subclasses and crafting, the dwarvir were best when choosing to become Builders or Brewers. They were the second best choice for Miners, unless mining for stone.

nDwarviran crafters could do things with stone that to other races were impossibilities.

nSirens had pretty scales trailing down their necks below their webbed ear-appendages, and on their spines, the backs of their hands.

nThey were greatly music inclined and most become bards. Their fingernails were pearl colored and so were their eyes. Their hair, in Zushkenar, came in shades of blue or green or purple or orange.

nSirens were the race with the highest charisma stat, but also their DEX was excellent. However, average endurance and low strength slotted most siren players into battle support roles.

nThey made the best potential Bards and assassins, also diplomats and entertainers.

nFor crafters, the sirens were best for water-related professions, anything to do with musical instruments, plus Acrobats and Weavers.

nTrollkin were one of the most balanced warriors in the game, though best at melee. They were mocha-skinned and pointy-eared, with large canines. They had a habit of decorating their skin with scars, which stood out intimidatingly.

nBecause of their preference for non-urban environments, Trollkin made the best druids.

nFor crafters, they were good in Herbalism, Forestry, and anything to do with woodworking and beast-taming.

nThe Magmigant race preferred having an active volcano nearby, which limited player mobility unless they took the quest for a portable lava crystal they could make into jewelry. Which is why Magmigant players fairly sparkled in the sun, with all the jewels they had.

nThey were arguably the largest and tallest people in Zushkenar, with heights up to 220cm. Their great endurance and strength make them one of the best close and mid-range warriors in the many lands.

nTheir skin was obsidian colored and they had horns that looped around their ears gracefully.

nThey tamed firdrakes for transport, which were giant firebreathing lizards with no wings, but with spiked tails. The quest to tame one as a mount was available for Magmigants only.

nTheir traditional crafts were generally linked to metal-smithing. The great mines of the world all have Magmigant influence.

nVargvir were wolfmen, descendants of one of the divine servants of Kombar, god of beasts, according to the tales. Their human forms had pointed furry ears on their heads.

nThey were one of the most adaptable fighters in Zushkenar. By tradition, the class Wolf Warrior was tailor-made for them.

nVargvir remain one of the great Enchanting classes. After the Magmigant race, they were the best smiths.

nDryads were great alchemists, and often the battle-class of golem summoner was perfect for them. They made excellent Bards and Enchanters, and also great Druids.

nThey lived in forests, and were traditionally allies of the Vargvir. Often they preferred solitary places, places of contemplation and isolation from the world.

nThey had tall, lean and willowy frames, with hair often entwined with leaves and flowers.

nDraculkar lived in mountain cities, with many many high towers. Their legends say they were descended of ancient dragons, though they might also have siren blood.

nThey were the best mages of all the races and did well with magic-heavy builds.

nDraculkar were artistic. Much of the jewelry that adorned the bodies of notable people across the lands were draculkar designed.

nTheir skin came in shades of purple-blue, and their eyes came in metallic shades like gold, silver, copper, steel, etc.

nMafmet meant 'children of Maf' as the race revered Maf, an ancient sorceress who gave them the ability to see in the dark and to use magic. They had hidden claws on their fingers. They did not have fur, but had cat-like eyes. They were one of the shortest people in-game, but were fast and vicious.

nMafmet were excellent engineers and assassins. They were the first Forged, and still there are many who recreate themselves. One of the most numerous races in Zushkenar.

nAll the mechanized clockwork mounts in the game are made by Mafmet artificers. It was a racial secret, the process to animate clockwork.

n

"The Draculkar.

" Eli stated clearly.

n

"Are you certain?

"

nIn truth, Eli had been wavering between Vargvir and Draculkar.

nVargvir not only came with a battle-class tailored to it, there was beast-rider potential there which meant points in general beast-taming.

nDraculkar were mage-builds and despite the large magic pool, didn't have a lot of stamina. They were meant for quick overwhelming takedowns.

nBoth had great potential at being a monster hunter and an enchanter.

nHe wanted the Enchanter class; he knew that before coming into this.

nEnchanters in Zushkenar became rich even with the smallest enchanted items.

nA vargvir Wolf Warrior was better than a draculkar Battlemage for solo combat, mostly because of the synergy bonus between the vargvir race and the Wolf Warrior battleclass.

nAnd the fact that draculkar had relatively weak endurance.

nBut there was something he wanted from one of the hidden draculkar racial bonuses, and that was the chance to gain the ability to control shadows.

nHe had personally seen how godblastingly useful the ability was in a race that wasn't known for weaponless fighting, and seriously coveted it.

nShadow Animation was only available in several drakulkar and magmigant racial quests. And dryads could create shadow-golems, technically.

nIt also came with points in stealth.

n

"I'm certain.

"

nWhen it came to open battle and stealth battle, Eli leaned toward the latter.

nRedlands was a game where you could toss a rock off a lonely cliff and hit someone fighting a battle challenge. The system rewards were excellent if you won, even without the possibility of betting on yourself.

nThe only way to get around a challenge was to have stealth abilities or speed abilities nearly twice greater than the opponent.

nThe last time around, he'd been challenged so much he would have personally sawn off his own arm to have stealth.

nHe hadn't joined even joined the wars!

nMostly because he'd been too low-level for the guilds.

nBut Scare hadn't been hiding under a rock, either. The rumors of transmigrators killing transmigrators in the first year after the Quake because they were only doing what they were used to doing in-game, turned out to not be rumors.

nIn a little over a year, everything was going to become real.

nAnd even now, more and more people were getting cut down, getting used to cutting down others. There was a sick feeling in Eli's stomach.

nBattling monsters was…less philosophical.

n

"Very well, Krow,

" the Attendant waved his hand and the rest of the cards vanished, leaving the image of the draculkar, two people back to back, with the background of a city half hidden behind mist and clouds.

n

"You have chosen the race of Draculkar, those who seek the skies.

"

nThe card changed.

nThe male draculkar turned until it was facing him, and the city disappeared into white cloud.

nThe card enlarged until it was full-size.

nKrow just knew, this was what his avatar looked like.

nThe card had turned into a mirror.

nHe lifted his hands, turning them over.

nDraculkar skin had a tinge of darkening evening to it, with a hint of moonlight in the undercolor. At least according to a bard he'd heard once.

nEli's skin was twilight pale, a purple-blue hue, and dark waves of raven hair fell down his shoulders. The hair was a little uncomfortable. His had always been short.

n

"Can I braid this?

"

nThe Attendant snapped their fingers.

"You can choose to change the structure of the avatar up to 20% of the base body.

"

n

"Huh.

" Eli felt his hair move, and waited until it was done.

nCreepy.

nHe turned his head from side to side, checking how it looked in the mirror-card. The result was a series of braids tied back into a ponytail. His dual pointed ears were visible against the dark hair.

nThere was a rather distinctive pattern of scales on his temples in the space between the edge of the eye and the ear, larger than the delicate designs of siren scales.

nThe scale patterns were a dark purple, nearly black.

nThe headset scanned the biologics of the user at the beginning, so the face looking back at him was his own.

n

"Change the face about ten percent, maybe? Random but symmetrical.

" Eli watched in fascination as his face in the card changed.

"Another two percent….that's it. Looks great, thanks.

"

n

"Of course.

"

nEli considered his avatar, then nodded in satisfaction.

nIt was different enough not to be instantly recognizable and yet close enough to recognize echoes of himself in the avatar.

nThe skew on the facial features of each player maxed out at twenty percent. That was enough to be a different person.

nThe last time, he went the full 20% and experienced a distant disorientation every time he looked in the mirror until he accepted that his own face had changed so much.

nThe gold of the eyes was a little disconcerting.

n

"Can we change the eye color to something brown?

" Closer to his natural eye color.

n

"A shade of copper, is the nearest within draculkar parameters.

"

n

"Copper, huh? Alright.

"

nEli bent his knees, getting used to his body. He stumbled a little.

n

"What height am I now?

"

n

"One hundred and ninety centimeters.

" The Attendant answered crisply.

nToo tall.

n

"Can we tone it down to 185?

"

nOne hundred and eighty-five centimeters was two inches taller than Eli's natural height. He should be able to get used to it faster.

n

"It is within the tolerances for non-hybrid draculkar height.

"

nEli looked at the Attendant sharply.

"It's possible to gain a hybrid race?

"

n

"For the Draculkar, it is possible to cross with Sirens, Trollkin, and Dryads.

"

n

"Would that give the resulting hybrid the natural strengths of the other races?

"

n

"It is possible to choose which one strength and one weakness a hybrid would have. The resulting visual combination, however, is random.

"

nEli mulled that over, then asked.

"How is it done?

"

nIf possible, he wanted the Vitality of the Trollkin.

n

"A bloodvial of any of the three compatible races will cost two hundred fifty thousand drax.

"

nHah, of course it wasn't free.

n

"Can I see a list?

"

nThe Attendant removed a scroll from his voluminous sleeves, and offered it to Eli.

nThe weaknesses of the Trollkin in return for greater HP and VIT generation, involved lower Magical Aptitude or one less Spell Slot.

nHe could conceivably survive as an Enchanter within those limits.

nOn one hand, he needed VIT now, and he wasn't going to train Enchanting until later. On the other, VIT was trainable, and was the boost in VIT generation worth limiting himself in the future?

nIt was possible he couldn't gain the title of craftmaster again.

nNot to mention, he still had to buy Spells, and starting gear was viable only up to Lvl 10.

n

"I don't suppose there are half-vials or something?

"

nThe Attendant was silent, the hooded faceless façade turned serenely to Eli's direction.

n

"…nevermind.

" Eli gave the scroll back.

"I'm fine with pure draculkar.

"

nWith draculkar as his race, he'd come out in the Hallagon mountain range, in the draculkar highlands.

nHe didn't know the starting villages there, as he chose human last time and entered the game in a human village. But he'd ended up in a town very near the mountains after the Quake.

nThere was a quest he'd been doing in Alliance territory there. And after the Quake, he'd been recruited by Findrakon whose base was a nearby human village. After the rebellion, he'd stayed in the same general area.

nThat is to say, he knew the Hallagon Mountains more than he knew any other part of Zushkenar. It was an advantage he wasn't going to throw away.

nThe Attendant waved again, and another set of cards appeared.

n

"There are fifteen battle-classes, fifteen crafting classes, three hundred and seventy-five subclasses. Krow, you may choose one class for battle, one class for craft, and four of the subclasses.

"

nEli leaned closer to the first layer of cards. The battleclass for a draculkar had to have magic or waste the advantages of the race.

n*

n**

nEnd of Chapter

n**

nNotes:

nIf you see this work on other websites, know that the author Jin Daoran posts exclusively on NovelFull. If you like the story, please support the author by voting and reviewing on webnovel(dot)com. Thanks!

nAlso, for those who are interested, there is a copy of a Zushkenar map here: Hunters Guide map cities grid b by kilrain on DeviantArt

n