Faceless Phantom

『Welcome to Heallance』

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『New account is detected. Character creation will be launched』

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『Choose Your Race』

Seven stone tablets were lined up in front of me. Humanoid images were engraved on them. Curious, I touched the middle one. Then, real size male and female form of Elf appeared. A window with their description, stats and lore also appeared in front of me. I was interested. So I took my time to read them all.

Human, in most games, was always superior because of their balanced stats and various jobs. Dwarf was known with their defense and crafting. Elf was definitely good with magic and archery. And Beast was popular among girls... You know, bunny girls and cat girls. However, there were also some males who became a female character to leech other players. But this game only gave you one character. Some would think twice to do that kind of action. Well, maybe there were some perverts who still did it for other reasons.

There were three unique races in this game. One of them was Gigant, half giant half human. They could be a powerful Warrior Class with overwhelmed STR. However, their low INT prevented them to use magic. Still, their high STR would blow enemy in one hit, especially to one with low defense. Second one was Sleethar. They had scales on their skin and their eyes were similar to a reptile. In exchange of low health and defense, their speed and evasion were high. This race was definitely good with Rogue Class. And the last one was Aphu. Their appearance was similar to Elf. Tall and slender body, but instead of long... they had short pointed ears. The most unique part was their heterochromia eyes. It seemed they were known for their different eye colors in their description. They were a race full of curiosity. They sought knowledge and wisdom around the world. That's probably why they had high WIS.

After a long reading, I let out a sigh and began to think... What should I build? Tank, Nuker, DPS? I had tried them all on every MMORPG I played. How about Support? I had tried that too. Confused, I checked the summary of their base stats again.

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[Human]: Balance

[Gigant]: High STR, Low INT

[Dwarf]: High VIT, Low AGI

[Elf]: High INT, Low STR

[Beast]: High DEX, Low WIS

[Sleethar]: High AGI, Low VIT

[Aphu]: High WIS, Low DEX

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'Man this is tough'

This part always made me thinking hard. Furthermore, you could only make one character in this game. The main reason was probably because it's my second life. I wanted to make my own character.

After I felt like a millennium passed, I finally decided. I chose Aphu. High MP in early game would really help me survive. I selected male Aphu's form.

"Proceed"

『Personalize your character』

All tablets turned into light particles then dispersed. Only male Aphu's form was left. Then personalization window appeared in front of me. Hair, height, skin, etc.


I noticed 'Scan Body' and pressed it. Suddenly, the form changed into a complete copy of myself, my real body and face. However, it was then changed to fit Aphu's appearance. It made my copy looked like a different being. Short pointy ears, pale skin, gray hair and unique heterochromia eyes. Right was violet and left was blue. It looked more like Dark Elf to me. Still, this was the new me. And I actually liked it.

"Proceed"

『Choose Your Weapon』

List of weapons was shown on a window. It made me think for a while but then I decided to pick a common one... A sword.

"Proceed"

『Your Character's Name』

This time, digital keyboard appeared.

'Well, I already have one name in mind.'

The one that I always used multiple times until now. I typed Zeroth and pressed enter.

『Checking name...』

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『Name is available』

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『Loading The World...』

The form turned into light particles and dispersed. Only me remained in the dark. I realized I couldn't move. It was like dreaming but a strange one. Perhaps because it was dark. Eventually, it slowly became a blur vision. Then I could see a clear view of ceiling.

『Welcome to the Land of Heallance!』

I, Zeroth, finally reborn into the game.

Eldan, a town where all races lived peacefully. Long ago, a dark force destroyed some villages where seven races had been lived for years. So they built this town together as their base to fight back. Long story short, they won the battle. After that, this town became a place where heroes were born and fighting side by side. Technically, players were those new heroes but it's just a setting. With a smile on my face, I walked out the temple.

I saw a lot of people walking on the street. I began to walk and look around. There were some stalls beside the street. Swords, medicines, fruits, scrolls and some other things. People were bargaining in front of the stalls. Players and NPCs. I couldn't be able to differentiate them though.

I saw the blue sky. I could feel warm breeze through my skin as it slowly turned cool. I exhaled and inhaled deeply. Fresh air. Then I lift my hands. I looked at them as I folded and spread my fingers. I was impressed. Every senses worked like I was in the real world. Suddenly, a window appeared in front of me.

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Do you want to turn on Tutorial Helper?

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Tutorial Helper.

According to forum, it was an AI which helped players to explain about the game's basics. Players would be guided to follow certain instruction step by step. And lastly, it would guide them to Training Ground before they were gone. In other words, it's a walking tutorial guide. And there's actually a written one in inventory.

"No, I refuse"

I checked my inventory. It was a leather waist bag. As expected, there was a book inside. Tutorial Guide was written on its cover. I opened and flipped one page within a minute. I skimmed it.

'There is no level on the character. Instead, character grows by learning and leveling skills. New character will only have basic skills. Skill will influence character's stats. There are seven races which have different basic skills, stats and advantages. Skill can be acquired, learned, and leveled up by doing certain requirements. Skill also can be acquired, learned, and leveled up by certain NPCs or doing certain quests. Learning skill by your self will take longer time than learn it from NPCs or quests. Skills for Jobs and Hobbies, for example. They will take less time to learn because it will be taught by NPC. When your character died, you will lose all buffs you possess and you will also lose EXP from all skills you currently have. It is said that maximal EXP lost per death is around 20%. Additionally, negative effect [Unstable Soul] is applied. For 24 hours in game time, all stats and EXP gain is halved.

There are two gauge systems. The first one is Fatigue. It is a bar which is depleted when you kill monsters consecutively. The more it drops, the less EXP you gain. Relaxing will constantly increase Fatigue. Second one is Hunger. The gauge will be decreased over time. When it drops below 20%, character will gain negative status effect and character's stats penalty. If it's empty, worst status effect and character's stats penalty are applied. Furthermore, character's HP will constantly decreased until it reaches zero. Then character will die. Negative status and stats penalty can be lifted by eating foods. Certain food will increase Fatigue and give additional buffs.

There is a lot of variations and possibilities you can get for Jobs and Hobbies. As an example, Archer and Rogue are matched with Tracker which has Map skills as their Hobby. Furthermore, stats growth is influenced by current job. A Warrior will highly raise STR than rest of the stats. However, your own play style also has an influence in raising stats. Therefore, each character will have their own unique stats.

Time is faster inside the game. A day in reality equal 6 days in-game. So, 4 hours is 1 day in-game.'

After I understood most of it, I checked two other items inside my bag. There were 5[Beginner's Food Sets], a bread and bottle of milk for each set. Food for beginner which sent by GM for certain duration. I believed it was one week in real time. So when the duration ended, then I had to buy or make my own food. Another one was a pouch with 1 silver coin inside. That was all I had.

I closed my bag and walked to the Training Ground that located 5 blocks to the east from the temple. It was then someone greeted me.

"Hello!"

A muscular man with brown beard was smiling and walking next to me. He was wearing fine leather clothes and a sword was strapped on his waist.

"Are you going to training ground?"

"Y-yes"

"Me too! Let's go there together!"

Awkward silence. It wasn't long until he tried to break the ice.

"I'm happy to see a young man like you! It reminds me of my old days..."

He looked up as he was stroking his beard. It seemed he was talking about me who was still a beginner. Of course, I was wearing beginner clothes with a wooden sword on my waist. Yeah. When I looked at him, I guessed that he was not a player. He really looked like a real person, though. My anxiety began to flow within me. Even though he was an NPC, my introvert self didn't want to let me go. I put my courage together to talk to him.

"D-do you want to train?"

Great. Think before you talk dumbo. That was a dumb question. Of course someone would train in training ground. It was like asking if someone would eat in the restaurant.

"Hahaha... Of course! I always train there and keep my shape. You'll never know what will happen to you, right?"

"A-ahaha...ha...yeah."

I unconsciously let out a fake laugh. I hoped he didn't notice.

"But today I'm gonna watch and give some advices to new comers. I own the training ground after all."

"I see..."

"Looking at them training makes me feeling nostalgic though. Heheh..."

'Ah, so he is the owner of training ground.'

I looked down and lost in thought. It was really been a long time since I talked to people. I didn't know how to act to a person. Let alone a stranger, I rarely talked to my own family and relatives. Once again, a brief moment of silence occurred while we were walking.

"Are you okay, kid? Don't worry, I was also nervous on my first day too. But as long as you have determination, you'll be a great man like me!"

"T-thanks..."

I answered him awkwardly but he was staring at me as if he was still worried.

"Okay, to clear our mind... Let's do a jog there."

He immediately rushed forward and turned around. He ran backward while he was looking straight at me with a strict face.

"Come! Follow me, soldier! Hap hap hap!"

'W-what!?'

Without any thought, I moved my feet and followed him.