Chapter 9: The Mystic Forest’s Chibi Creation and Nina’s Guide

“Oh, this game seems to be quite old. I remember playing it when I was a child, but I don’t recall there being a character customization process back then,” Wang Tianming mused, gazing at the game’s character creation interface. “However, that’s quite normal. The characters in that game were tiny, very chibi-style, just a bit clearer than pixel art. Character customization would have been pointless since you couldn’t even see the details in-game. So why am I being asked to customize a character here? Could it be that this game world is different from the original?”

“Never mind that for now; I should customize my character first. There’s a countdown in the top right corner, and I certainly don’t want to end up with a random ugly character.” Wang Tianming considered the previous ‘battle royale’ (TL Note: A genre of video game where players fight to be the last one standing, often referred to as ‘eating chicken’ in Chinese internet slang) where immortals clashed, realizing that changes were to be expected. He stopped dwelling on it and focused entirely on character creation. “First, I’ll definitely create a female character. Who wants to stare at a big burly guy while playing a game? Playing a female character is pure freedom and enjoyment. Oh, even though it’s chibi-style, the customization system is surprisingly comprehensive! Facial features, forehead, chin—everything can be adjusted. Even height and body type can be changed. But what’s the point of adjusting height and body type for a chibi character? Well, whatever. Watch my divine touch; I’ll create a stunning beauty!”

Before long, Wang Tianming had sculpted a loli-esque beauty with short white hair. Her blue eyes were sparkling and dewy, and her tightly furrowed brows made her appear truly pitiful. Despite wearing a very simple gray casual outfit (the system’s beginner gear), it couldn’t hide her adorable and pure demeanor.

“Hoo hoo hoo hoo, success! Even though she’s chibi-style, if she were in the real world, anyone would feel an irresistible urge to protect her!” Wang Tianming excitedly finished customizing his character and clicked ‘Next Step’. “Ah, I need to name her? Right, the system mentioned teammates, so a game name is definitely necessary! Then, I’ll call her… I’ll call her Snow Fox!”

To pair such a provocative name with such a pure and adorable character image, Wang Tianming’s thought process was truly unfathomable; perhaps this was just his perverted side showing. Nevertheless, Wang Tianming was quite pleased with himself. With all preparations complete, he eagerly clicked ‘Start Game’.

This time, Wang Tianming sensed a distinct difference from the previous game—after clicking ‘Start Game’, he felt a sudden dizzying sensation, a world-spinning disorientation, and then lost consciousness, until—

“Welcome to the vibrant and diverse ‘Mystic Forest’! I am Nina, your player guide~” Nina’s sugary sweet voice echoed just as it had in the previous game, as she explained to all participating players, “‘Mystic Forest’ is a unique RPG game where players can switch between different professions. Professions are divided into two types—combat professions and non-combat professions.”

“Combat professions are, of course, warriors. However, the skills players can use entirely depend on consumable items found by the roadside and consumable magic orbs dropped by monsters. If you have neither, you’ll just have to charge in with your bare fists!” Nina said with a cruel smile. “But you can also capture combat pets! They’ll help you fight too~ provided you can defeat them first.”

“Non-combat professions include fishermen, miners, merchants, blacksmiths, and so on. These are what are known as ‘life skills professions’ in other games, but in ‘Mystic Forest’, you can only possess one such profession at a time. For example, if you are a warrior, you cannot be a fisherman. If you are a miner, you cannot be a merchant.” Nina narrated in detail. “Non-combat professions can also have pets, but not combat pets. If you have a combat pet, you must switch to a warrior profession to use it. If you wish to capture a combat pet, you must also first become a warrior. However, non-combat professionals entering the forest will not be attacked by monsters, allowing you to venture very far, perhaps even reaching the territory of the Azure Dragon~”

“All profession levels are independent, so players, please manage your leveling time wisely and don’t neglect your combat level,” Nina advised finally. “The victory condition for this round of the game is to capture the Azure Dragon, which has a capture level of 200.”