Chapter 3: Character Creation—Elegance First, Speed Above All!
A tunnel of light flashed before Seito's eyes, a kaleidoscope of colors that signaled his departure from the physical world.
When his vision cleared, he found himself standing in a vast, ethereal white hall. This was the Character Creation interface of God's Domain.
[Welcome to God's Domain]
[Respected Player, please begin creating your avatar.]
Seito examined the panel. In this game, your physical appearance was locked to your real-life self to ensure "true immersion," but you could customize your name and distribute 10 initial Attribute Points.
If Kaede (Maple) were here, she'd dump every single point into Defense without blinking, Seito mused.
He didn't know if this game rewarded "extreme builds" like in the anime, but he decided to gamble. He entered his character name and funneled every last point into AGI (Agility/Speed).
Why speed? Because in his philosophy, true power was nothing without grace. As the saying goes: Speed is the foundation of elegance.
[Ding! Warning: Player has allocated all points into Agility. You have achieved the hidden feat: "Speed Freak."]
[Hidden Reward Triggered: Since the player has not yet rolled for an Innate Talent, you have been granted the Special Grade Talent: "Space Mastery."]
(Note: Each player is limited to one Innate Talent.)
"There actually are hidden achievements!"
Seito grinned. Following Maple's "extreme logic" was clearly the winning play. But looking at the notification, he realized this was no ordinary game. A "Space" element talent right at the start? That was a game-changer.
[Name: Sei]
[Level: 1]
[HP: 100/100] | [MP: 100/100]
[STR: 6] | [VIT: 6] | [INT: 6] | [AGI: 18]
[Talent: Space Mastery]
[Skills: None] | [Equipment: None]
Satisfied with his lopsided stats, Seito addressed the system. "System, begin the transmission."
[Ding! Would you like to enable "Full-Immersion Real Play"?]
"Real Play?" Seito scratched his head. That likely meant the haptic feedback and sensory input would be at 100%. If he got bit by a monster, it was going to hurt like hell.
Then again... with his speed, he just had to make sure nothing ever touched him.
"Enable it!"
[Ding! "Real Play" Mode: Active.]
[Commencing Teleportation...]
His vision went dark for a split second, and he felt the sensation of weightlessness.
When he opened his eyes again, the sterile air of his bedroom was gone. Instead, the sharp, sweet scent of grass and wildflowers filled his lungs.
"Whoa... this is incredible! Is this really just a game?"
"I'm hitting Level 5 today if it kills me!"
"Level 5? Watch me hit Level 10 by morning!"
The rowdy shouts of thousands of players crowded the "Novice Plaza." Seito found the noise irritating. He gripped the hilt of his starter longsword and pushed through the crowd, heading straight for the forest beyond the town walls.
Standing at the edge of the woods, he fell into thought.
According to the legend of Maple, she got her start by letting monsters chew on her for four hours.
"I've got maxed speed, which means my focus should be on movement. The body in this game feels much lighter than the one in reality. Let's see how far this 'Maple Logic' takes me..."
He didn't look for a fight. Instead, he started to run.
Time blurred. While other players were struggling with slimes and goblins in the meadows, Seito spent two hours sprinting through the dense foliage, pushing his digital body to its absolute limits.
Two hours in, a bright notification flashed.
[Congratulations! You have earned the Achievement: "Terminal Velocity."]
[Reward: Current Agility stat has been doubled!]
Seito's speed skyrocketed to 36 points. As he ran, the monsters that had been chasing him were eventually cut down by the sheer "kiting" force—trailing them into environmental hazards or exhausting their aIthough the EXP was negligible.
He kept moving. In the corner of his eye, he spotted a bizarre sight: a girl lying flat on the ground, letting three forest bugs nibble on her armor while she looked like she was about to fall asleep.
Is that... Maple?
He didn't stop to check. He'd come back in another two hours.
[Ding! Achievement Milestone Reached. You have unlocked a Unique Skill.]
[Unique Skill: "Spatial Rift Drive"]
(Description: Your spatial attack power scales directly with your current movement speed.)
"This skill..." Seito gasped for air, his lungs burning but his eyes bright.
In most RPGs, magic damage depends on Intelligence. But for Seito, the faster he moved, the harder his spatial strikes would hit. It was the perfect offensive counterpart to Maple's "absolute defense."
"I bet I can create custom skills here, just like Kirito or Asuna," he muttered.
If he could master a "Space-type" movement style, he'd be a ghost on the battlefield. A white-haired, blue-eyed phantom in a white trench coat, blinking across the field to deliver a fatal strike before anyone even saw his blade.
"I really am a genius," he chuckled. "Now, let's go check on our little world-breaker."
He doubled back toward the clearing where he'd seen the girl. Ten minutes later, he found her. She was sitting amidst a pile of monster corpses, looking utterly confused as she wiped some bug guts off her shield. She had clearly just "woken up" to find everything around her dead.
Seito walked over, his footsteps light. The girl looked up, startled.
"Eh? You're... Seito-kun from my class?"
"Careful, Maple-chan," Seito said, reaching out a hand to help her up. "In this world, we should probably stick to our character names."
"Hehe, sorry! I'm still getting used to this!" She stuck out her tongue playfully and took his hand, letting him pull her to her feet.
Thank you for reading.