Chapter 2: [Arc 0] Chapter 2: The Office and Character Designing

I started to look around right after closing the door behind me. The results: dull.

There was only a long one-way corridor, which ended in a new door at the end. The door is made of wood and with a non-see-through glass-window.

On the window a plate with more of the unreadable language from the gate. Probably the name of someone. The whole place is half-lit by weak lights, and most of all: this place is dusty.

No seriously, this place has so much dust that if I still had my body I couldn’t move forward because of all the sneezing.

What is this? Some kind of abandoned office? Where did the fantasy-feeling go!? An office in heaven? Surreal. Well, it’s not heaven though.

Back to the point, if it is an office then there have to be some documents here. Probably not though, since it looks abandoned with the weak light and all the dust.

Then again, if it’s abandoned then nobody will blame me for emptying the place right? Not that there’s anybody here that can complain.

I opened the door carefully in case there was someone in the next room. An empty waiting room greeted me. It looks like a waiting room at least. A desk where a secretary would sit, some couches and tables where people could sit and a door behind the desk.

There were no magazines and such on the tables that the guests could read while they were waiting, but that’s not the point here.

The waiting room was just as dusty as the corridor before it. Looks like this place has not been in use for decades. I checked the drawers, but no luck here either. Then all that remains is the boss’s room. Ah, not the boss as in a video game, but the boss of the possible secretary that owns the desk.

Since someone would notice me at this point, I just dropped being careful at this point and went inside the boss room. Then, I found a ginormous… okay, I lied. There was no one here.

Just a regular office. It is very big though. The walls were filled with bookshelves that were overflowing with books and scribes, as well as paintings of unknown origins. It made me think of an official library. Still not that big, but close. Bigger than the study to a scholar though.

In the middle of the room was a big desk with a hi-tech computer on it along with a huge stack of documents beside it. Like the rest of the place, the whole room is drenched in the dust.

‘Jackpot’, was my first thought when I saw it all, but the joy was short-lived. After opening the first book from the shelves, I found out that it was written in the same mystery language as the gate-door and the door to the waiting room.

Then the next book then. Mystery language again. The next one then? Unreadable. Then this one. No clue. The scribes then? Nope. In the end, after going through almost all the books on the shelves and the result was that none of them was readable.

Depressed, I went over to the computer for a change of pace. It was then I finally took a good look at the stack of papers by the documents. They were written in English.

What? Why!? After all these books, I finally find something that even I could read! Couldn’t you show me that before I started on the bookshelves!? There were, like, hundreds of books there! I did have the energy to place them back though, but still!

*Pant, pant*

Even as a ghost, I would be out of breath. What fearsome opponents, these bookshelves.

As I calmed down, I started to look at the top-most document.

What’s this? “Dream Demon’-subspecies”? “High battle potential”? “Darkness/Heretic attributes”? Is this something from a game?

I checked the paper attached to it, but this one looks like a character-sheet for the type of ‘Demon’ that the first paper mentioned. The next document from the stack looks like the first one again, but with different contents.

I don’t get it. Still, that doesn’t stop me from checking the computer. I wanted to try it out from the moment I saw it but prioritized to gather information first.

Huh, what was that about not having gone through all the shelves yet? They are duds, all of them, got it? Now, I don’t want to hear any more about those shelves. OK? Good!

Now, for the computer. Looks like it’s just in sleep mode. Will it still work after all this time?

I pushed the power button, and to my surprise, it works. There was no password confirmation though. Doesn’t the owner of this place have some serious security problems? Not that I complain.

The computer opened up on a program that looked like a character-creation screen on an MMORPG. The program was written in English like the paper stack.

From the looks of it, the previous user tried to make a demon character, AH! They must have tried to make the character from the first paper. It must be a request for the computer's owner, to design a ‘Demon’-subspecies that follows the description and restrictions given with the request. Then the owner of the office must have been a character designer.

Well, less a ‘character’ designer than a ‘species’ designer. All the requests in the stack are more about making sheets for different races that characters can be based on.

After taking a better look at the program, I see that you first need to choose which kind of race you want to make first, a human, animal, or bird, to take some examples. The demon-race is the chosen race right now.

Afterward, you add what body-type the race shall have, what kind of hair and hair color, eye color, skin, and different extra parts different from the original race, if any.

There is also a male to female ratio, no wait. This is choosing the gender that race has. Including the usual male and female, there’s the possibility of no gender or both gender. You can even use all the choices at once.

How does a being of no gender reproduce? Is it splitting itself up like bacteria and such? Probably, or else you wouldn’t be able to create slime-races.

Lastly, there is a description of the race that’s created. Not some type of flavor text, but more like a description of what the idea behind the design of the race is. Maybe someone else will add the flavor text, parameters, and such to the design afterward. The name as well, since I can’t find a way to name the creation.

As an otaku, former otaku as I’m dead now, I find the creatures-designing to be very interesting, but it’s of no help for me at the moment. Unfortunately, that design program is the only thing on the computer.

So, I’m stuck here. Going back out to the DPs is probably not the best idea since the guard has probably calmed the mafia-brawl by now. So what now?

Hmm, let’s take a look at the computer again. Maybe I overlooked something the first time.

Nope, nothing. It’s just the creature-design program. Heck, there’s no taskbar or menu. How do you use this computer usually?

Still, that demon-design. I’ll say it plainly: it’s terrible. Like, hellishly terrible, not because it’s a demon.

Bad jokes aside, what kind of idea did this guy have in mind when he started? Did he do some brainstorming at all before starting? Some idea of what the finished product should be? Something at all? Heck, even I could make something better than this.

Let’s see, what would happen if I pushed this? Ah, the skills disappeared. Then what about giving it some more fitting skills. Hmm, looks like the skill-list is regulated like the stats. I think those two are linked, so if I add some super-strong skills, then that creature's stats would be lowered.

Then if I some fitting skills first, and then place the stats so that they go well with the skills.

Now, I just need to give the creature a design so that it matches with the stats and skills.

Let’s see, wow, a demon can have that many different forms? Let’s make this one human-like, with some subtle demonic characteristics.

The default skin-color, what to do with that? For a demon, it should be red or black, right? Let’s not be predictable and use some different colors.

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Looks like you make it so that the skin-color can’t be discolored through sunburns and the like too for free as well. No reason to say no to free stuff.

Then let’s use hair-colors that match the skin color. I’ll take this one, and that one, this one fits too.

Ah, you can add natural highlights to the hair-color as well. In that case, let’s make it default for the race. 

All right, now let’s choose the possible eye-color. Striking colors would be bad with this build, so let’s make them dark-themed. Not dark-colored, but the kind that gives a dark vibe.

Then to decide the genders of the race. Hmm. With the first idea I had about this design, wouldn’t it be better to…, no let’s take this as the only gender, then add in the description of how this race works.

Ah, looks like you have to design the gender-related parts after choosing the gender. W-well, since it’s my design from the beginning, why don’t I make it a little risky. Nothing that tells me not to, right?

Last but not least, let’s add the description, and… whoa. This one turned out more dangerous than I first imagined it would be. In a lot of ways. Well, that’s good for a demon, I guess?

Good then. Now just to save and… wait a sec.

WHAT AM I DOING!? This isn’t the time to create character sheets now!

Still, it’s not like I have something else to do at the moment, nor can I do anything else at all. Besides, why would someone come to this abandoned office at this timing?

W-well, it’s not like I could kill some more time here, I mean, I’m already dead.

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Phew, that’s one volcano-living octopus finished. Who came up with this one in the first place?

Damn, this is more fun than I would have thought at first. Now, to the next request… eh, they are all gone.

Seriously? I’ve finished that mountain-sized stack of requests? No way. It was over fifty of those, and I stopped counting before half of the stack was done.

Time flies when you have fun I guess. Now, since I have nothing more to do here, it’s time to skedaddle. I just need to save this guy first. Let’s see, there’s the ‘Save and send’ button.

*Click*

Good, now to… what kind of button was that again?

‘Save and send’

Ah, I see. It both saves and sends the sheet. How clever.

Wait a freaking minute! What’s up with that!? Why is it just a single ‘Save and send’ and no ‘Just save’ button here!? Why didn’t I notice that before now!?

Oh boy. Have all the sheets I’ve made been sent to someone else? Then, haven’t I essentially revealed that I’ve hidden here!

R-relax. It’s not for sure that I’m discovered. This office has been out of use for who knows how long. Would someone keep a track on things related to this god-forsaken place for so long? Y-yeah, that’s it. I wouldn’t at least. Let’s just run for know and…

*Ping*

Oh, e-mail. I didn’t know that this computer had that function.

CRAP!! They know that I’m here! Have to run now before they come-

*Ga-bang*

Just when I thought that the door to the office opened up in such a hurry that the stack of requests flew through the whole room.

In the doorway stood an old man clad in some old robes that looked like the kind artist during the middle age wore.

He didn’t look out of breath at all even after running through the corridor and waiting room to come here. Unlike the guards, he looked like a regular old man, except for his prism-colored eyes.

“You,” – Old man

He looked at me and spoke. Crap, this is bad.

“Are you the one that made those character sheets?” – Old man

I’ll be erased! I’ll definitely be erased!

*Ping*

A sound came from the old man’s pocket. He took up what looked like a smartphone or similar, just made from a crystal-like substance different from the guards. The noise must have been a message then.

“What!? Another, no, all of them!? You! Son! Did you make them all? All of the requests that were here!?” – Old man

“Y-yes” - ???

The pressure the old man gave out made me answer him without thinking.

This is bad, this is bad, this is bad…

While I was busy fearing for my (un)life, the old man…

Fell to the ground in a beautiful Japanese dogeza.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!” – Old man.

… Huh?

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