Re: Monster - World's Reversal

Chapter 1 - Re:Birth

I am what some people call, a NEET.

However, in all honesty that's not very accurate, because I'm also a game designer. It still stands since I am not currently working on a project.

But you're probably asking why this is important.

Well, that would be because these two facts determined… Almost everything about my new life.

So, just casually browsing the web, looking for a half-decent game to play, I hear 'Is life meaningless to you?' as part of an advert. Naturally after reading many, many stories about games that take you to another world, my lips curl up in amus.e.m.e.nt and I look up the link. What amazes me is that it doesn't immediately ask me to sign up to something or pay money, instead what greets me next is as follows:

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[Select a race:]

[Imp]

[Fairy]

[Goblin]

[Nymph]

[Gnome]

[Slime]

[Human]

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Now. Looking at this from a logical perspective, I broke it down to the most basic level.

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[Dark Magic]

[Holy Magic]

[Strength]

[Elemental Magic]

[Mechanics]

[Endurance]

[All-rounder]

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Human most likely have a number of drawbacks considering the overall advantage they would have over the other races by being much larger. Also, considering Goblin is there, it's likely an evolution mechanic is involved… Ah! Not enough information!

I choose Nymph. According to mythology they are pretty much exclusively female, but here's hoping.

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[Select a gender:]

[Female]

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Oi oi. For half a second there I thought I might actually have a choice. Don't mess with me like that. Ah well. I guess I'll just choose it for now. Also, I just noticed there's no back button… But can't I just refresh the page if I really need to?

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[Modify Status:]

[STR: 4 {+} {-}]

[END: 6 {+} {-}]

[WIS: 16 {+} {-}]

[INT: 16 {+} {-}]

[SPD: 8 {+} {-}]

[Points remaining: 20]

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Now comes the difficult part. Assuming I am in fact an elemental caster, my focus should be that of a control mage. Meaning a massive mana pool should be the main focus, with endurance as secondary, and striking power and speed as the tertiary.

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[STR: 4]

[END: 12 {-}]

[WIS: 25 {-}]

[INT: 19 {-}]

[SPD: 10 {-}]

[Points remaining: 0 - {Continue}]

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[Select a racial trait:]

[Nature's bounty: Foraging success +50%]

[Heritage: Current bonus - Regeneration Speed +20%]

[Nature's call: Speak all languages]

[All return to the cycle: Extract unique abilities/traits from each being defeated, upon death, lose 50%]

[Whispers of the forest: While within a given radius of large plant life, create a mental map of everything within their sight]

[Life's many truths: Gain the ability to detect falsehoods]

[Lifebound: Born alongside nature, if your soul tree is destroyed, so are you, but you are otherwise unkillable]

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The heck is that last BS?! That's OP!.. Actually, thinking about it they say 'destroyed' not 'killed'. So it's probably character deletion. Yeh, let's avoid that and go for [All return to the cycle]. Also, 'being'? That's an odd way to put it... Probably means there's a faction system. Now I'm really wondering how all of these different mechanics are going to be implemented, and how I've never heard of such a complex game before. Back on topic, [Heritage] also seems really powerful, but if all traits are like these, I'll definitely regret not choosing the ability to get more.

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[Select a balancer:]

[Vegetative: Require longer rest periods]

[Frail: Reduce STR and END growth]

[Dense: Reduce WIS growth]

[S.l.u.t: Reduce INT growth, increased libido]

[Fat: Reduce SPD growth, increase END growth minutely]

[Slacker: Reduce all growth slightly]

[Gullible: Extortion chance +80%]

[Kind: Influence with nobles -20, influence with commons +10]

[Ruthless: Influence with commons -20, influence with nobles +10]

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Some of these are just plain insulting. But I think I'm going for [Kind]. I'd rather have a few organized groups after me than every citizen in a location, plus, the drawback seems minor in comparison to things like [Frail] or especially [Dense], and I have a feeling that if rest periods are required in the first place, timing is going to be a big thing. Also, further confirmation there's a faction system if the have influence as a mechanic. I just hope libido is a joke and this isn't what it could be.

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[Select a focus:]

[Learning: INT/WIS stat growth +50%]

[Training: STR/END/SPD stat growth +33%]

[Sleeping: Require shorter rest periods]

[Conservationism: Related skills level up at triple speed]

[Engineering: Related skills level up at triple speed]

[Ruler: Related skills level up at triple speed]

[Alchemy: Related skills level up at triple speed]

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I'm getting sick of this now. Obviously I'm going for Learning. Ignore everything else, I will be the greatest control mage. Very nice, thank you.

[GOODBYE]

Eh? That it? WHY HAS EVERYTHING GONE BLACK?!

…

Actually this might not be too bad. This world is indeed rather restricting… Actually my main question is 'I wonder if anyone else has had this experience', because personally I don't have many qualms. It's not every day you get thrown out of your entire world after all.

----- Anyone Else -----

It's dark.

The darkness envelopes all, preventing me from seeing any shape or figure.

Where am I? Besides, what had happened?

Wasn't there someone making fun of me, calling me a… sage?… no, a great sage.

----- Second Anyone -----

How?

What's going on?

Why is there an ugly green skinned man staring at me?

----- Day 1 -----

Ah… What a pain in the a.s.s. Well, at least I lay on soft grass instead of a hard stone floor or something…Once I'd opened my eyes, right in front of me was a beautiful young lady. Tall (though with my size, most things are) and lithe, she had pale green skin and viny green hair. Massive wings. Couldn't look at any more after that… Needed sleep.

----- Day 2 -----

By comparing the size of the surrounding plants and trees to myself, I've established that my caretaker is a whopping… 3 ½ feet tall. I also discovered that I can communicate with the others through thought, but only when they're close. No tests could be run, since I still couldn't move my infant body much. I can swing my arms and legs though, so it's getting there.

----- Day 3 -----

Trying hard to learn how to express myself, but it's difficult. There's no problem with the words themselves, since apparently we instinctively understand the meaning of any… Nymphish? Words we hear, but it's the sentence structure that I have trouble with. Thankfully, alongside the others, the caretaker is instructing us. I seem to be picking it up far quicker than the others, which means the learning focus must be doing it's job. I wonder why Nymphs grow up so fast. Maybe they have a lot of natural predators… Yeh… Let's not think about that for now.

----- Day 4 -----

Today the caretaker, apparently named Alpheia, decided to tell us all about ranking up, a phenomenon that occurs when a monster becomes too powerful for his current body to contain, and thus, sheds it for a newer, stronger one, and the specialization of the new form depends on the choices made before it happens. In her own words-

"As you can see, my skin is green, and my hair is developing floral life of it's own. This indicates that I am slowly but surely transforming into an alseid. If I had a birth tree, I would become one of the far greater 'dryads'. When I'd just been born, my grandmother told me just what I will tell you.

'Aurai spend their time dancing in the air, swift and free of worry, eventually they can control those very winds .

Hesperides, driven by fate...

Nereides...

Naiades...

Oceanids...

Alseids and dryads...

Finally, there are Will'O'Wisps. Manipulative and powerful, acting under the cover of night. They are supposedly responsible for countless deaths, and guiding souls away from places they should not stray. Whilst not inherently evil, they are dangerous to approach.'

She also mentioned that there might be third or even fourth ranks, but we've not had any since at least a few generations before hers, so we can't exactly confirm that part."

...I can hardly sit still, and I have to try immensely hard to suppress a hysterical laugh threatening to burst through onto my face. I found exactly the right class for me! As much as I would love to stay with the village, once I get strong enough something like discrimination won't be a problem, after all, great power begets influence. Furthermore, If other reincarnators arrived in this world at the same time or before me, I'll need to level up as quickly as possible in order to stay alive. If that means making sacrifices, so be it. I will become a will'o'wisp.

"I forage outside nursery?"

"Oh? Why do you want to do that?"

Now, there are two options to choose from here. I could either say that I want to help, or that I want better food. The first option is incredibly childlike and will make her less inclined to agree, but the second runs the risk of insulting her in exchange for those slightly better odds. No matter, I have to move.

"Meat."

"Ah…" She begins to mumble "Yes I was told there might be few like that, what was it…" Raising her 'voice' again, she continues "OK! You can go, but you have to be back before dark, and don't wander too far."

She probably thinks I didn't catch the last part.

"He'll won't do it again after seeing it once."

Jokes on her, I've seen it happen plenty already. One of the first things that we were taught is that the 'village' is surrounded by an illusion enchantment that guides dangerous creatures away. So don't go through the shimmering dome... Not that I would anyway to begin with. Seems sketchy.

10 minutes of slowly flying, with a couple of rest stops, and I have a ?Rabbit? Just underneath me. So I jump on top of it and bash it's head in with a rock I found. The least I can do is give it a quick death.

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[Ablity gained: Lesser Leg Strength]

[Level Up! 1 - 2!]

[STR: 4 - 5!]

[END: 12 - 14!]

[WIS: 25]

[INT: 19]

[SPD: 10 - 12!]

[Free stat points: 5]

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Eh? So my status isn't actually an unseeable thing huh… So how do I access it?

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[Name: Alaya]

[Species: Nymph]

[Focus: Learning]

[Titles: Reincarnator]

[Skill: Mana Pulse]

[Abilities: Lesser Leg Strength]

[Traits: Servant of the Cycle]

[Stats]

[STR: 5 {+} {-}]

[END: 14 {+} {-}]

[WIS: 25 {+} {-}]

[INT: 19 {+} {-}]

[SPD: 12 {+} {-}]

[Free stat points: 5]

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Why do I have free stat points? And what's [Mana Pulse]?

[Reincarnator: +5 stat points per level-up]

[Mana Pulse: Expel a portion of your MP in order to overload the opponent's senses. (Warning: Area of Effect)]

''Then add all stat points to wisdom for now. I'll need it to hunt more.'

After this I thought up a number of tests to work out what determines my stats when I level up. To start with, I taught myself to roughly aim a mana pulse, 60 degrees now, as opposed to 360 before flying after another rabbit- this one had a horn, just for the record- for as long as I can before blasting it with a mana pulse at full strength. To my surprise, this killed it instantly... I guess it makes sense in a way for something with a smaller brain capacity to die so easily from something like that. Repeating it with 2 more rabbits, I leveled up yet again. Given the apparent lack of larger prey, I've decided to sneak out at night to level up as quickly as possible until around level 6-7, and then look outside for something bigger… Hopefully not dying along the way. I would say I regret not picking goblin because of what I can easily see being a quicker levelling pace, but that also generally implies a weaker final evolution, so it would be a lie.

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[Level Up! 2 - 3!]

[STR: 5]

[END: 14 - 16!]

[WIS: 30 - 33!]

[INT: 19 - 20.5!]

[SPD: 12]

----- Day 7 -----

I've now at level 6 all but confirmed my theories. You cannot gain more than 5 stat points per level-up, but you can alternatively gain stat points by other means, so I spent the rest of the days in the week doing l.a.p.s of the village and helping out, which increased my endurance and speed, but I couldn't get more than 3 per level, and twice I got 2. During the night I also killed a snake, and one rabbit in particular was difficult to get. I now have the abilities [Swift Strike] and [Evasion]. A funny thing to note, the other children and most of the a.d.u.l.ts get along fine with me, but the Elder… Doesn't. He can't kick me out because of the rest of them though. I guess [Kind] was the right choice after all. It's getting much harder to level up now though. I guess I'll need to move beyond the illusion soon. Plus, it'll give the Elder an excuse to get rid of me for a while… If not for good.

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[Name: Alaya]

[Level: 6]

[Species: Nymph]

[Focus: Learning]

[Titles: Reincarnator]

[Abilities: Lesser Leg Strength]

[Skills: Evasion, Mana Pulse, Swift Strike]

[Traits: All Return to the Cycle]

[Stats]

[STR: 5]

[END: 26]