Chapter 1 – I Have Become A Narrow-Eyes (1)

March 28th, 2023

Narrow-eyed(실눈캐).

It refers to characters with narrow, slit-like eyes. 

In more detail, it refers to characters with narrow eyes who follow a specific stereotype.

“Ah, that’s it.”

I was completely hooked on the “narrow-eyed” characters.

Narrow-eyes obsession. 

In the anime I was watching, there was a “narrow-eyed” character I had been paying attention to, but in today’s episode, that character was completely torn apart. 

This friend, who was usually treated as a strange and unrealistic character, suddenly opened his eyes and captured the audience’s attention with his dramatic appearance. 

It was a scene that extracted the essence of the “narrow-eyed” character, taking it to the bone. From then on, the real action of the “narrow-eyed” character will begin in the next episode. 

A game set in another world, also known as “Tose”.

The basic framework was not much different from other mass-produced fantasy games. However, there is one strong point that clearly sets it apart from other games. 

Customization.

All of the character’s elements, including the detailed composition of appearance, could be altered by the player.

In Tose, it was possible for players to set up their characters from 0 to 100 one by one.

In other words, it was a game optimized for concept development and roleplay.

I briefly tried playing without a concept in the past, but it tasted bland, so I put it away, thinking I should try it again when I crave for roleplay later. But now, it felt like the time to pick it up again.

I immediately launched Tose.

“A large-scale update? There was no news about it?”

After finishing the update, I entered the character creation screen.

Just in case, I checked the customization collection board-

“Oh? Hello?”

The customization file of that very narrow-eyed character was posted on the real-time popular customization board.

It seemed like it finally got attention, as it was serialized today, although it was posted before.

As expected, it’s hard not to be addicted after watching today’s serialization.

“Oh, it’s so cute.”

I was fascinated and downloaded the file and applied it to my character since the accuracy of the appearance was just perfect.

“Phew…”

But now that I’m trying to create a character, it’s a bit disappointing. Although the accuracy of the appearance is good, the accuracy of the abilities is miserable due to the game’s system limitations.

It feels like just catching a mouse, dipping it in mustard, and saying, “This is Pikachu. It’s cute. Don’t hate it,” or something.

Because of that, suddenly the high-quality appearance also looked shoddy.

“What should I do?”

After a moment’s thought, I came to a conclusion.

“Shouldn’t I make one myself instead of just using the customization file shared among the fans?”

“Yeah. That makes sense.”

This was like Gordon Ramsay ordering delivery food.

Real Gordon Ramsey could order delivery food, but the Gordon Ramsey in my imagination wouldn’t do that.

“Okay.”

A feeling of sudden energy.

I immediately regained my composure and began to synthesize my ultimate virtual avatar with my real-life data.

How much time had passed?

It seemed like I could hear the sound effect of “ka-ack~” as I looked out the window.

Before I knew it, the sun had set and the sky was tinged with the colors of sunset.

“What am I doing…”

Someone had said that if you get too into customizing your character, time would melt away like ice, but it was worth it.

“It’s like this-“

When my virtual avatar’s eyes were open, he gave off a lighthearted impression.

“And like this-“

And when my avatar’s eyes were closed, the mood completely changed to a dark and ominous impression.

Black hair and pale white skin.

His features, with lines like eyes, gave a faint impression that would be forgotten in the waves of memory.

However, the teardrop beneath the real eyes creates a strangely lingering impression, which adds to the ambiguous and peculiar atmosphere that can be considered the essence of the narrow eyed character.

After pouring so much time and effort into expressing this duality, the result is very satisfying.

When I watched the documentary about pottery artisans and saw them say, “This isn’t it!” and discard flawless pottery, I thought that If that were me, I would have just taken it.

To those artisans, the pottery they broke with their own hands was to me like a narrow eyed character, which uses informal speech and appears strong even in a narrow-eyed state.

Such a thing shouldn’t exist in this world, and I repeatedly destroyed the narrow-eyed character that I had created with my own hands, screaming “This isn’t it!”

Finally, a character that unmistakably embodied the narrow-eyed character was standing there. 

“This is it. This is the narrow-eyed character.”

In my opinion, it was more narrow-eyed-like than the character that had made me obsessed with the narrow-eyes. I am really looking forward to the future of this character.

“What name suits the narrow-eyed character…?”

Suddenly, I felt self-conscious of my age, obsessed with creating my own character- 

But that’s okay. It’s what I should be doing. If I feel embarrassed and ashamed when I look back on my obsession with creating characters, it’s proof that I’m doing it properly.

Still, let’s come up with a name quickly. I’ve spent too much time already.

“Because he’s narrow-eyed… Silnon… Kai… No, just Ceylon.”

(tl note: narrow-eyed is silnunkae, thus Silnon/Kai then Ceylon)

Now that the appearance customization is over, it’s showtime.

Just like the visual that matches well with Ceylon’s eyes is important to be narrow-eyed, the setting that matches well with Ceylon’s eyes is equally important.

If a narrow-eyed character is just strong, why bother with half-closed eyes?

The most important thing for narrow-eyes is the sense of dissonance between when his eyes are open and when they are closed.

To highlight that point, when adjusting the appearance, I examined the characteristic list more strictly, solemnly, and seriously than usual.

***

[Characteristic: Global Impact]

[Grade: Unique]

Description: You have mastered black magic. You mastered the black magic that is treated as a world-level issue, by simply dipping your feet into it. What will happen when your existence is revealed to the world? At least it’s sure to get worldwide attention. That would be great.

[Characteristic: The Poison of the Tomb Never Dries Out]

[Grade: Unique]

Description: You have mastered the art of assassination. Since it’s a technique designed to kill people, who cares about honor or disgrace? As long as you can kill people effectively. This is the mindset of those who walk the path of an assassin. It is better to fold one’s expectations of hearing good things, regardless of right or wrong.

[Characteristic: True Deceiver]

[Grade: Unique]

Description: You were born with a natural talent for deceiving others. In any situation, you can hide your true nature and show the side you want to show.

[Characteristic: Hiding Power. Really.]

[Grade: Unique]

Description: You can completely conceal your strength from others’ perception. It seems that you are burdened by others’ attention. Or perhaps, you enjoy others’ attention in a covert way.

[Characteristic: Black cloth does not stain.]

[Grade: Unique]

Description: You are free from all mental interference. Even if you get dirty with dirt, sweat, and blood, it seems like there won’t be any stains. It’s the privilege of messy people.

***

“This is it.”

It was the optimal combination selected from the list of characteristics of the highest grade, the ‘Unique’ grade. With these characteristics, the sharp discrepancy between when Ceylon’s eyes are closed and when they are open could be clearly demonstrated.

In addition, the forbidden powers of dark magic and assassination gave credibility to narrow-eye’s habit of hiding its strength. It seemed like it was nothing, but it was incredibly important.

Without it, narrow-eyes would just be a powerful being instead of someone suspiciously powerful. To the untrained eye, the two might seem the same, but from my perspective as an expert, they are as different as a P*kemon and a D*gimon.

“Um, by the way…”

As I looked through the list of sub-characteristics after selecting the Unique characteristic and added various trivial characteristics to enhance narrow-eye’s quality, I suddenly felt a sense of unease.

“Were there this many?”

There were many characteristics to choose from. 

It wasn’t just a lot, it was fuck ton. 

I’m not the type of person who normally uses vulgar expressions like this, but there were so many that it’s almost impossible to express it without using that word.

Furthermore, as I looked back at the traits I had just selected, something felt off. 

The traits I remember from the previous game were all intuitive. 

Most of them were like, “One stat goes up, but another goes down. There’s no such thing as a free lunch”. You get what you pay for kinda things.

However, as I looked back at the traits I had chosen, they were more like settings than actual traits.

While I HAD mindlessly selected them while customizing my character concept, now I couldn’t tell where the intuitive stat boosts were.

I was puzzled as to how these new traits would be expressed in the game.

Did something change in the recent update?

“Hmm.”

I frowned at the screen, deep in thought. 

Then I came to a conclusion. I don’t know.

I’ll have to try it out for myself. 

Putting my doubts and uneasiness behind me, I pressed the character creation button.

“Come to think of it, there’s always something, isn’t there?”

And so. 

I was reincarnated into the character I had created.

Translators note:

New series!

The release rate is going to be about 3-5 chapters per week.

Also this is suprisingly hard to translate, so I apologize if first few chapters are a bit scuffed.