Also sorry in advance if chapter events feel 'forced', this should be the only one that is like that.
As always. Spot any potato grammar? Feel free to point it out. EDIT 5: Ok I managed to fix spacing for status.
…
[Relocated.]
[Be careful what you wish for.]
…
My consciousness returned. Something was touching my face but I could not tell what it was. It was soft. I could smell and feel the grass beneath me. I could hear rustling from leaves being swayed by a gentle breeze.
“urgh…”
I groaned, while I slowly opened my eyes and I was met with the sight of a wolf with a white snow fur. Equipped with golden bracelets on each of its legs. They had intricate rune patterns that were engraved into them. It looked like the guardian of a God of some sort. His fur looked fluffy and soft. I did not panic because I recognized said wolf. It was my only tamed beast Fenri.
I got up. My body was strangely light for some reason, I felt nimble and my senses were heightened. White hair covered my eyes. I spoke in confusion.
“White hair?” What came out was a high-pitched voice, not my usual raspy voice… Something was wrong… I could not see the sky but the sun pierced through the foliage of the leaves, as I was looking around I saw a lake in the myriad of trees. I needed to know what I looked like, I did not have white hair nor have a childish female voice.
I decided that I had to head towards the lake. When I looked at the reflection. I saw a girl that looked 14 years old or so, I froze for a second. The girl also froze, I started moving my arms, the girl did so too... That girl was me. I had white silky hair that reached my shoulders it shimmered in a myriad of colors under the sun. Heterochromatic eyes light blue for the right and hazel for the left. My favorite colors... That was unexpected but made me quite happy. A slender body build. My face... Beautiful eyes filled with curiosity, a small button nose, and a charming smile; small chin and round cheeks. And a pair of cat ears and a tail?! The problem was.
‘I am a guy…’ I muttered in defeat as my legs gave up on supporting me, my body hit the cold soft ground. How does this even happen… I have cat ears and a tail, I do not mind it because it was the effect of the item, but how do I even turn into a girl…
Fenri sensed something was wrong and approached me. I petted him; he slowly closed his eyes like a cat. My appearance is completely different yet Fenri still recognized me. It made me somewhat happy.
“Thanks…”
I muttered in a lifeless voice. After lamenting my appearance on the ground endlessly I stood up.
I was in a forest and could not tell where I was and more importantly everything felt real. VR was amazing however it could not completely mimic the real thing or so I was told. VR was my only reality. There was no HP bar, no anything.
“Status!”
I decided to try saying it to see if I was in the game or not. Nothing happened. I was thinking about how could I open my status. When I thought about it. It happened... An image flashed inside my head.
Name: “Kuro”
Race: Beastkin [Cat’s charm (Permanent)]
LVL.120
Title(s): [Wish upon a star] [Relic user] [Relic forger] [Legend] (51 others)...
Special skills: [Translation] [Alchemist] [Smithing] [Enchanter] [Cat’s eye]
“Is this because of my karma?!”
I asked in surprise seeing my karma in -500, I wasn’t expecting a reply, yet...
[Karma: A point system that evaluates good and bad actions going from -500 to 500. Having bad karma can only affect you in negative ways. Bad karma effects include: Fear towards the user. And multiple curses. Karma increases from good and bad deeds which are judged by the system.]
And what is with my luck stat?!
[Luck: A mostly useless stat. Can lessen the curses from bad karma if the stat is high enough.]
“…”
This is bad... I decided to open my inventory and decided to equip a night-blue cloak with thin white borders to cover my ears. The cloak should also cover my tail. Even if it is not the game completely. Being a beastkin is problematic. Negative karma makes it worse, NPCs are hostile towards you for almost anything. I hope I do not have to deal with that. On a positive note. I still had all my items and in-game currencies. However, all of my clothing turned into the female counterparts including the one I was wearing. My beautiful gearset turned into a white sleeveless top, a dark blue skirt and long socks. My boots looked more feminine but they still looked mostly the same. All of my gear… I struggled to keep my composure seeing all of it turn into woman clothing. After regaining my composure I checked the special skill I did not have before.
I had a new skill named [Cat’s eye] after inspecting it. It was basically an Appraisal skill with the bonus of being modifiable. I did not really understand how it worked at all aside from the Appraisal effect. At least I figured out how to use the skill.
Just as I was thinking about that. A smell reached my nose. It was metallic and sweet, took me a few moments to figure it out. It was blood. I ran in the direction the smell was coming from, swaying through the trees and rocks on the ground like it was nothing. I was strangely quick. I started hearing metal clashing against each other and battle cries? It did not take long for me to reach the edge of the forest.
Alice.
Author's explanation corner:
Status might look a bit weird so I will briefly explain it here.
The '(+ x%)'s are basically x% increase on said stat when in combat. Simple enough right? This stat is influenced by item tier.
[HP: Health Points]
[MP: Mana Points]
[ST: Stamina]
[STR: Strength]: This stat means the average attack power using all of the possible methods of attack. (MC's case: Summoning and Fenri.)