(TL : Monsters Evolve Online) Character Creation

--AN) Translated novel: Novel Name: Monsters Evolve Online. This is a ML and human editing, so there might be some mistakes.--

"Alright, now that we've decided on 'Moss' as the initial race, next—"

"Hold on a second!"

"Oh? Do you have a question?"

"What do you mean 'Moss'? How am I supposed to strategize with 'Moss'?"

"I can't just give out strategy tips. I can't give one player an advantage over others."

"Well, I guess that's true!"

Indeed, giving one player exclusive tips would be a major violation of fairness. But still, 'Moss' is hard to swallow.

Somehow, the banner had changed to "Decided on Moss—didn't expect this oddball choice from day one lol." Even the operators are treating it as an oddball choice! This production is really getting on my nerves...

"Alright, as a major concession... This is an online game, remember? Think about why you have three character slots?"

"What does that mean...?"

"Can't tell you any more than that."

It seems they're unwilling to provide further information, cutting off the conversation there. It's clear that this online game, with its three character slots, operates quite differently from its offline counterpart.

And the banner changed again to "Such a troublesome guy..." Hey, enough already! I'm seriously going to file a complaint.

"Shall we move on?"

"Despite my reservations, I'll play first and then see. Let's proceed."

"Okay then. Next, let's decide on a name. The name you choose now will be used for your first slot. The second slot will be Name+2nd, and the third will be Name+3rd."

"A name, huh..."

The next step is to choose a name. It seems I can't freely choose separate names for the second and third slots. Maybe I'll just pick something from my real name, Keigo Yoshizaki.

"Let's go with 'Kei'."

"Alright, just need to check for duplicates... Okay, no duplicates, 'Kei' is good. That okay with you?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Registered as 'Kei'. Next, and this might be the last step—"

"Not many steps, huh?"

"Yep. So, let's decide your affiliation. Choose from the following three options."

A window appeared before me with the options for affiliation. The banner now read "Time to decide on an affiliation." A perfectly normal message, for a change. Let's see what the options are.

The three choices were:

"Red Cluster"

A faction of radical spiritual beings. Eliminates obstacles by killing off rivals, aiming to evolve into human species. Recommended for carnivorous monsters.

Benefits: Increased attack power, higher "Enhancement Evolution" points from killing.

Drawbacks: Reduced defense, loss of "Survival Evolution" points upon death.

"Blue Cluster"

A moderate faction among spiritual beings. Aims for evolution into the human species through respect, harmony, and fusion with primordial life. Recommended for nature-based monsters.

Benefits: Increased defense, higher "Fusion Evolution" points from merging with primordial life.

Drawbacks: Reduced attack power, lower "Enhancement Evolution" points from killing.

"Gray Cluster"

Neither radical nor moderate, this faction adapts flexibly to circumstances without fixed methods, aiming for evolution into the human species. Recommended for prey species monsters.

Benefits: Increased mutation rate, higher "Survival Evolution" points upon death.

Drawbacks: Slight reduction in "Enhancement Evolution" and "Fusion Evolution" points.

"Hmm, evolution point bonuses vary. If I remember correctly, evolution points offline were gained by defeating other monsters, being defeated, or absorbing non-monster life forms. Online, it's split into separate categories. Looks like evolution conditions will be different."

Given that my race is 'Moss', which should I choose? "Blue Cluster" seems fitting for a plant, or maybe "Gray Cluster" since I'll likely be prey...

Glancing back, the banner now reads "Hurry up and decide..." Annoying...

"By the way, your second and third slots will belong to the same affiliation."

"Is that so? Can I change this later?"

"It's possible, but not unconditionally. Can't tell you the conditions, though."

"In that case..."

If I can change it later, I might as well decide for now. Not knowing how 'Moss' plays, I'll go for flexibility. "Gray Cluster" it is, with less impact from the reductions.

"Let's go with 'Gray Cluster'."

"Got it, 'Gray Cluster'. Alright, registration complete. Any questions? This is the end of character creation."

"What about avatar creation?"

"Not needed. You're becoming a monster, after all. Oh, but you can create one if you reach human species. That's for later, though."

"Guess that makes sense. This game fundamentally differs from other VR games."

"Such disrespect... But for us, that's a compliment!"

The banner now reads, "A peculiar race's struggle, looking forward to it!" Really, is this game okay...?

"Alright, that's it for character creation. There's a tutorial quest specific to each race, so make sure to do that."

"Huh? We're not doing it here?"

"Yep, we've got too many races to prepare individual tutorial maps for each. You'll do it in the actual game map."

"Did you just start to say it was 'troublesome'?"

"Who knows what you're talking about?"

The banner slipped, "Oops! Did I say that out loud?" Seriously, is there a person behind this AI?

"Anyway, we've decided everything, so it's time to start the game. Ready?"

"I have more questions, but you won't answer them, will I'll figure it out myself. There's a tutorial, right?"

"Of course. The tutorial quest is automatically accepted when you start. I recommend not skipping it."

The banner adds, "Moss is too unique; skip the tutorial at your own risk." Seriously, why make such a bizarre race...

"Got it, I'll do the tutorial."

"Then off you go to start the game. Aim for the human species, good luck!"

"Yeah, wait, hold on—!"

"Off you go!"

And with that, I was transported to the game map of Monsters Evolve Online, the last thing I saw being the banner's "Looking forward to the antics of a peculiar race." Can this game really be trusted...?