Mystical Game (3)

Are there no explanations for the individual stats?

"I’ll show you exactly what each stat means."

As I started wracking my brain in earnest, Agares naturally continued his explanation and changed the screen for me.

"Mmm... that’s not exactly intuitive."

"Shall I give you a hint? I suspect you’re having trouble understanding exactly what Rank is. Every time it surpasses 1,000 points, it advances to a higher tier. If Rank enters the next stage, all of your avatar’s stats will rise or evolve."

"So you’re saying there’s no need to invest in it right now?"

I only had 1,000 points. I couldn’t dump everything into that, so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠there was no reason to pour points into Rank immediately.

Besides, even with the hint, it was still fuzzy. For now, I decided to focus on the early game. In most games, it was simpler to push forward hard in the opening phase.

"For reference, this is the distribution I recommend."

"Pretty well balanced."

Apparently, this was one of the harder parts, because Agares scattered hints I hadn’t even asked for. Honestly, I didn’t know enough to begin with; maybe it would be smarter to follow his lead.

"I’ll take fifty from Sensory and fifty from Dominion, and bring Insight up to 300."

But even so, I didn’t want to leave it exactly as he suggested. More than anything, if I was going to realize high risk and high return as safely as possible, I believed I needed both a wide range of opportunities and enough information to judge them.

"Apply it as is."

After I adjusted the stats by tapping on the keypad myself, Agares replied in a voice carrying a faint, amused smile and ended the stage. Soon, the glass bottle, now fully mixed with the purple liquid, poured the black, blended contents inside down onto the floor.

"An avatar forged entirely according to your demands, your temperament, now reveals itself to the world. Congratulations. Since you’ve become the owner of a truly one-of-a-kind avatar, let us now discover what sort of being it is."

[Ascalas, Grand Lord (D)]

From the liquid that spilled out, a massive plume of steam rose and quickly began to take shape. I stared at it in a daze. The steam, which had been no bigger than a clenched fist, rapidly swelled, growing so large that by the time I compared it to its original size, it had already become enormous.

"W-what is this?"

And when I saw it, I was stunned. Supposedly my avatar had appeared, but what ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stood there was a being utterly unlike anything I had imagined.

"Even if you aren’t satisfied with the avatar’s appearance, that can’t be helped. It was the best way to reflect all of your choices."

"Even so..."

Agares snorted and added that once an avatar’s appearance had been decided, it could not be changed. In truth, I had no intention of changing it. I was just surprised.

I used my fingers to enlarge the screen. Thanks to that, I could study my avatar in greater detail. First of all, it did not have a human shape like mine.

A massive body wrapped in a hard black shell, sharp fangs, eight gleaming red eyes, eight legs likewise clad in armor, and more besides.

In short, a spider. It was a giant spider.

I had thought that perhaps a nonhuman race might appear, but I still found myself a little taken aback that a monster like this had truly shown up.

"I’ll begin the tutorial now."

And as I stared blankly at the screen, Agares explained the next stage.

The screen changed again, and it looked as though the game was finally beginning in earnest. My avatar, Ascalas, Grand Lord, now stood not in some unknown dim space, but in the middle of an equally unknown forest.

The name of the map I was on appeared on the screen. The place without a name was its own name.

"The purpose of the tutorial is to explain our objective clearly and guide you through the available functions. Let’s begin."

As soon as Agares’s voice finished speaking once more, only heard through the phone, an arrow appeared on one side of the map. I touched it with my finger.

My avatar then began moving toward it, inching along on all eight legs. Compared with the surrounding scenery, its size was indeed considerable. It looked about the size of a compact car.

"Please zoom out your field of view. You’ll see `!` markers appearing within a certain range on the map. Those indicate events, and the range depends on the avatar’s Sensory, while the discovery rate depends on Insight."

Agares’s instructions continued. By then I had sat up in bed, gripping my phone and sinking into the game.

When I actually zoomed out, I could see something there. The ground shrank to something like a drone shot, and when the avatar itself had become a tiny, writhing ant-like speck, I found a single glimmering exclamation mark a little distance away.

I touched it and restored the screen to its original view. My avatar was already on the move toward it.

"Your avatar is cutting across the path toward the variable ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it discovered. What, I wonder, will this avatar born of chaos, greed, and fear have seen? Now... even our eyes can see it."

My view could look up, down, left, and right, but because it was fixed on the avatar, I couldn’t properly see beyond the avatar’s own field of vision unless I zoomed out. But if I zoomed out, I couldn’t see it clearly, so I had no choice but to wait until the avatar came closer.

"What is that?"

"A few forest goblins. Nothing more than little ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠troublemakers running wild like fish in water in a world that is losing its order. Your avatar discovered the ones crossing this forest, and they, in turn, discovered you."

As I finally stared at what began to appear on the screen and muttered blankly, Agares added his explanation.

[Forest Goblin]

The name that appeared was exactly what it sounded like: forest goblins. The five creatures gathered there were small, green-skinned monsters, true to the goblin name.

"In this game, everything is a series of choices. Much like life. Which path will you choose to move forward?"

At the same time, a choice window appeared. Though it contained nothing more than a short phrase and a single word each, the meanings of Eliminate and Evade were perfectly clear.

Eliminate

Of course I chose elimination. If this was a game, then I had to fight to earn rewards. Especially enemies encountered this early would surely be weak.

"Your avatar is initiating action."

Combat began immediately. I was only selecting options, not directly controlling anything, so I watched the scene with a slight tension as the game phase shifted into battle.

***

"Kyaa..."

"Kiiit!"

This was a secluded forest on the northwestern edge of the continent. The goblins, who had been marching east after finishing a round of plunder and were now on their way to the next, suddenly encountered an unknown enemy and bared their hostility without backing down.

Though they were inherently aggressive, they also possessed a certain cunning, and they did not usually pick fights they had no hope of winning. In other words, these goblins were looking at their opponent and thinking, We can take this.

The basis for that confidence was the sharpened steel weapons clutched in each of their hands. For them, who could not even properly use basic stone tools unless they had a commander with special power, these were far too advanced a set of weapons.

They had just taken them as spoils in the plunder that had ended moments ago, and they were full of swagger.

"Kaatt!"

With a shout, they charged at an opponent several times larger than themselves. The strange enemy looked somewhat like a spider.

That only made the goblins look down on it even more. Its overall shape resembled a spider, so it seemed like some kind of beast. They believed that beasts, however large, were nothing more than animals that could be subdued by a group attack if one had a good weapon in hand.

"Foolish."

Yet with a mocking voice from someone watching the scene, the goblin leading the charge was pierced through the body at once by the spider’s front leg.

The startled goblins froze for a split second.

Appearance aside, the opponent’s essence was by no means some giant spider. What truly existed was the deep, fierce power sleeping within. The thick, brooding aura the spider held began to consume the goblins. Once fear is felt before an existence that rules fear itself, it is not easy to break free.

"Kgh..."

"Kek!"

And so, as the goblins faltered without being able to flee or properly press the attack, black tendrils burst from the spider’s back and sliced through the air as they shot forward. Those tendrils struck the goblins in an instant and pierced straight through their bodies.

All the goblins, having been caught in an attack they could never have imagined, stared in shock at the tendrils that had run through their bodies.