½ Prince

Continuation of The Birth of a Prince

So she’s actually a GM…Her expression was so stiff that I actually mistook her for an NPC!

After a while, the beauty moved again, and her expression was hesitant. “Although the changing of gender is usually prohibited, you are the first player ever to log on. Earlier we had decided to fulfill any request from the first player, so long as it is reasonable, as a reward. As for your request… After discussing it, we have decided that since you will be the only exception, this should not affect the game. We will approve your request.”

Just as she’d finished speaking, a handsome and noble-looking young man appeared before my eyes. Wow, how handsome! Looks like I’m much more suited to being a man than a woman…

“You can choose to beautify or uglify yourself by 30%.”

I didn’t even have to think about my answer. “Beautify by 30%.”

An incredibly stunning young man immediately appeared before my eyes. This is me? Good lord, what an unbelievably gorgeous man…Salivating even as I looked at the male version of myself, I thought, if I’m this good-looking as a human, then…

“I want to see myself as an elf.”

A slender, long-eared elf appeared before my eyes. Seeing that slender figure, together with that beautiful face with its delicate, gorgeous features…

“So handsome…” The beautiful GM and I sighed lustily at the same time.

“Hey, will you consider going for a s*x-change operation? If you become a guy, I’ll definitely be your girlfriend,” the GM couldn’t resist saying.

What am I supposed to say to something like that?

“Alright, then it’s decided. It’ll be an elf!” That wasn’t me—that was the beautiful GM.

“This…” I said dazedly. “But I want to be a warrior…”

“Ha! Please, check out how handsome you are. It would practically be a sin against nature if you don’t choose to be an elf. No matter what, you must become an elf.” The beautiful GM was actually cajoling me… I could feel goosebumps all over.

Looks like she’s not thinking of me as a female anymore, I thought. But… Looking at the male version of myself standing before my eyes, it was just too gorgeous… Oh no, what if the only thing I want to do after logging in is stare at my own reflection?

“Then it’s decided. Do you want to change your hairstyle or height?” Wait just a second, are you a GM or not? You’re deciding everything for me!

“Let’s try changing it to blonde,” I said helplessly.

After two hours of arguing back and forth, we finally decided on the…appearance. The beautiful GM even managed to raise the amount of beautification to 40%, which left me wondering, is she really a GM or not? Looking at that ultra good-looking elf with a head of short, white hair, I figured that even in the game, the chance of me turning heads was still guaranteed to be 200%. Staring non-stop, my eyes turned into two hearts again. Good lord, does this count as being a narcissist?

“All done. It’s perfect,” Lolidragon said with an air of satisfaction. Lolidragon was the name of that beautiful GM… She even told me to PMher whenever I wanted.

“Please… Can we move on? I’m probably the first person in history to spend over two hours and still not have finished creating a character.”

“Then what do you want to be called? I’m warning you, you’re not allowed to use an awful-sounding name!”

… She’s actually admonishing me? I was speechless. This is bad. I’ve always used Feng Xiao Xiao as my name when playing, but it looks like I won’t be able to this time. “I guess I’ll be ‘Prince Charming’.”

Lolidragon glared at me. “Way too tasteless. Absolutely no way.”

“Then you try coming up with a name.” I rolled my eyes; just who was the one playing anyway?

“We’ll just get rid of the Charming and call you Prince! Okay, that’s it for the name.”

Seeing the word “Prince” already floating above the male “me”, I was rendered speechless yet again.

“Which continent do you want to be born in? There’s the East, West, North, South and Central continents.” Lolidragon said, beaming at me.

“Any one is fine…”

“Alright then, you’re ready to be born.” As she finished her sentence, the young man in front of me suddenly lunged towards me. As soon as we merged together, I felt myself falling…

“Hey, wait a sec! Don’t we have to distribute my skill points?” I shouted.

“You obviously haven’t visited our official website. Skill points are randomly distributed. Also, remember to PM me, you hottie! If you PM me, I’ll reward you!”

*Faint*

After landing at long last, I took a deep breath and instantly remembered the most urgent mission at hand – Mirror, where’s a mirror? I needed to check and see if I really was that good-looking.

“A hottie, he’s so gorgeous!” Hearing that, I turned to look, only to see a girl – with eyes that had turned into hearts – looking my way. Reflexively I looked left and right, thinking, Where? Where’s the hottie? I want to check him out too!

Just as I was peering to my left and right, however, someone suddenly grabbed my hand. Who’s this rude bugger? Doesn’t he know that it’s forbidden for somebody to grab a girl’s hand whenever he pleases? I turned, glaring daggers at whoever was looking for death… Whoops, it’s a really cute girl. My bad, I nearly mistook her for a p*****t!

“Um, I’ve only just started to play this game. Could you guide me?” She fixed a hopeful gaze on me.

“I’m also a first-timer, so I’m afraid I wouldn’t be of much help.” The game has only been “live” for slightly over two hours, so how could there be anyone able to guide you? This girl’s meal-ticket-fishing skill still isn’t quite up to par. Right now, she should be leveling up; to get a good husband, you must look cute, level up, and sweet-talk like a champion, wahahaha!

(Feng Wu Qing: Believe me, all men in this world should stay away from my sis. She won’t even spit your bones out when you’re swallowed whole!)

“Then let’s go train together,” said the girl, trying to look as helpless as possible.

“I want to train together too!”

“Me too!”

Wh-What is with this scene?! I looked at the horde of women. They all had a predatory gleam in their eyes, gazing at me as though they were hungry wolves looking at a piece of meat. At last I understood how a steak must feel – Calm down, calm down! Women will want to maintain appearances; they definitely won’t be like ravenous wolves lunging for a steak. Anyway, seeing how things are, I won’t need to look for a mirror anymore. I already know I must be very good-looking.

Taking a deep breath, I told myself, I’m a guy now (Feng Wu Qing: You’re a tranny…). I must behave like a guy, although I really don’t know how a guy would react at being looked at by a horde of women as though he were a piece of meat.

Just then, I remembered my name – Prince. Since I’m called “Prince”, I should conduct myself like a gentleman, for fear of tarnishing my name and appearance… And so, putting on my most dazzling smile and using the gentlest, warmest tone possible, I said, “My apologies, ladies, but I’ve only just begun to play as well. I was just thinking of going to cut up some of the lowest-level monsters, like slimes…”

“My god, he’s so hot!” As delighted squeals filled the air, there was a sudden movement and a girl rushed towards her steak – no, towards me – and sparked a chain reaction. Good god, when there’s dozens of girls rushing towards you! What would a guy usually do? I don’t know, but I… I want to RUN!

“He-e-elp!” I cried as I turned on my heel and ran.

Nearly an hour later, I found myself hiding in a tiny convenience shop. Terrified, I peeked carefully out the door, only to see the tiny newbie village now crowded with tons of girls searching for me. Why were there so many girls? I’d realized the answer even as I was dashing all over the village earlier: This was an elven newbie village, and girls were far more likely than guys to choose to play as an elf.

“May I ask what the customer is looking for?” A voice suddenly rang out from behind me.

I glanced back. Good god, a woman! I was scared to the point of plastering myself against the wall, yet the woman in front of me merely regarded me with curiosity, her face devoid of the faintest trace of adoration. According to what I had observed earlier, ten out of ten women would be attracted to me, so the one standing before me could only be an NPC. I breathed a sigh of relief. Looks like there’s nothing to be worried about!

I glanced at my surroundings and realized that this was in fact a pharmacy. No wonder there’s nobody in here; there’s probably nobody who would need to buy health potions yet, right? Hmm, it’s been three hours, but I still haven’t started training. My brother will probably laugh at me when I log off later… Seriously irked, I decided to get started with my training…but first, I would need to find out where to train.

“Miss, could you tell me where the best place to train is?”

Hearing that, the female NPC realized that I wasn’t a customer. Her face darkened and she answered with evident boredom, “Right outside the entrance of the elven village you’ll find man-eating slimes and green gnomes to fight. You won’t be able to handle anything tougher.”

Seeing that “don’t bother me” expression on her face, I felt the urge to turn away and just walk out, but I thought, It would be wiser not to simply step out of this shop, not with those girls prowling around outside. I had no choice but to will my face into a friendly expression and smile politely.

“Then may I ask if you know how to summon the system menu?” I wanted to look at my stats.

“Just say ‘system.’ Aren’t you able to figure out something that obvious…?”

You damn NPC, I thought, silently cursing her parents (The game designers?), but my expression didn’t waver and I continued to smile politely. “Thank you very much.” Then I said, “System,” and my basic stats immediately became visible to my left eye.

… An elf with a strength of 10? Looks like even the heavens want me to be a warrior, and a violent one at that.

… My charisma sure is high, does it have anything to do with my looks? I suspect so…

I breathed a sigh of relief. Since the upper limit of each skill was ten, it looked like my stats were pretty good, especially for a would-be warrior.

I opened my pouch. Usually newbies were provided with some basic equipment. As expected, there was a pair of pants (defense +2) and a shirt (defense +1), as well as a small knife with an attack power of 1… It really is a small knife, with a blade no longer than fifteen centimeters.

“Hey, if you’re not buying anything then get out; you’re blocking the way in.”

Grr, what a rude NPC! I resisted the urge to swear at her ancestors. Hmph, a good woman doesn’t quarrel with an NPC. Thus, I retained my ladylike appearance – Wrong! I mean, gentlemanly appearance. With the corners of my mouth still turned up thirty degrees, I said as warmly as possible, “Thank you for your guidance.”

I nearly fell over from shock upon seeing that. What sort of strange technique was this?! I hurriedly looked at the explanation.

I found myself wanting to faint. Forget it, I thought. I’ll just go and level up first, otherwise my brother will laugh himself to death.

I snuck along the edge of the village and, not daring to leave via the main gate, stepped over the newbie village’s fence, which was so low as to be practically nonexistent. As soon as I was free, I rushed towards the hills beyond the village.

Man-eating slimes, here I co-o-ome! The first thing I saw were dozens of man-eating slimes dotting the landscape. It’s a good thing they won’t aggro, otherwise I’d have died of shock when they came charging over, I thought. Looking at the small knife in my hand, I realized that I seemed to have absolutely no experience whatsoever with melee combat. I stealthily circled behind a slime, raised my knife, and stabbed with as much force as I could muster.

Yaaaay! Attack successful! Oh god, I feel so touched, I really am a pro at this. It looks like I really have the potential to be a warrior! In my head I saw myself wearing a white cape, a white sacred sword in my other hand, with one foot resting atop my brother’s inert form.

Wahahaha— Ouch! Abruptly something bit my hand, causing me to cry out in pain and surprise.

As the pain drove me to tears, I raised my hand and looked. God, so much saliva; it’s disgusting! You damn slime, not only did you bite me, but you even dared to drool on a pure young woman’s hand! I… I’m royally pissed off! Ignoring the knife in my hand, I raised my foot and began to stomp on it with all my might. Stomp! Stomp! Stomp, stomp, stomp!

“Who asked you to drool?! Actually daring to slobber all over my hand… You must be sick of life!” I said viciously even as I stepped on the slime again and again.

Having yet to vent all my anger, I did not bother to look at the information on my new technique. Instead, gazing at the Man-eating slimes dotting the landscape with my knife in hand, I smiled darkly. Damn slimes, I’ll demonstrate the food preparation skills that leave even my mom awed! Man-eating slimes? Wahaha, no, in my eyes you are no longer monsters, just a pile of carrots!

I sliced and sliced and—

Shouldn’t it be “Slice”…? Hmm, well, if you exaggerate the slicing motion, I guess it does become “Chop”!

Continuous Attack? Whoa… It’s probably because I sliced up these “vegetables” really quickly!

“Wahaha, now you know the taste of fear! We’ll see if you still dare to slobber on me!” I yelled, even as I chased after the slimes.

Whew, I’m bushed! Finally somewhat tired from all that slicing, I sat down on the ground. As I surveyed the desolated, slime-free hill, it suddenly struck me.

Could I possibly be…inclined towards violence? Oh well, forget it; after all I’m a guy now. (Feng Wu Qing: You’re a tranny!)

Just then, I glanced back and discovered that the ground was littered with loot and hurriedly began to pick it all up. Don’t even joke about not picking it up! All this stuff can be sold for a lovely bit of money! Looking through the loot, I saw that most of it was junk, but it was still decent for a newbie like me. I swapped my knife for one with attack power +3, put on a pair of sandals (defense +1), wrist guards (attack power +5%), a cap (defense +1), changed into a pair of long pants with +3 defense (the type that elves wear, such as Legolas in Lord of the Rings) and slipped on two rings with +1 magical resistance each.

I’d also looted over a hundred coppers. From what I heard, even the lousiest food here – mantous – cost five coppers each… These man-eating slimes sure are poor.

Sweating profusely and enjoying the cool breeze, I realized that I’d started to like the feeling of being a warrior. It feels sooo good. I also finally appreciated the good points of having a realism level of 99%, since even the sunset looked incredibly beautiful. However, a realism level of 99% had its shortcomings as well… Such as my growling stomach. I could only take the two mantous out of the newbie pack and, as I ate, I wondered if the man-eating slimes could possibly be tasty…

I activated the system menu, wanting to see just what the fruits of my labor had been.

After some thought, I assigned my skill points, and so it became…

Hehehe, I’m going to be an elf warrior with lots of strength and agility. Even though I had made up my mind not to be scared of the pain, it was still best to avoid getting hit, if possible. Two more levels until I can select my class, I thought. Looking at the newly spawned slimes, a faint smile crept onto my lips.

Before long… Hehe, I’ve reached level ten! Now that I was finally able to select my class, I felt indescribably happy; being able to select my class with my own efforts really felt great. Not bad. With such a good start, it won’t be long before I’ll be able to defeat that i***t brother of mine.

Humming a song even as I entered the newbie elven village through the main gate, I was about to ask around for information on choosing a class when I discovered that I had made a huge mistake… I’d entered the newbie village through the main gate! Oh god…! I found myself identifying with the feelings of a steak once again, seeing the dozens of starving wolves in front of me…

Escaping once more into the pharmacy, I thought sorrowfully, If the amount of time I spend being a steak could be spent on fighting mobs, I would probably be one of the top players by now…

“What are you doing?” a guy’s voice came from behind me. Since at the moment I was crouched down next to the door, peering out at the situation in the streets, I couldn’t see him.

“Heeheehee! This guy’s hilarious,” a girl’s sweet voice said… A girl? Waaah! I don’t want to turn around!

“May I ask what medicine are you looking for?” This voice belonged to that very XX NPC. Looks like I can’t hide anymore… Thus, with my head held low – almost level with the ground – I turned slowly to face the NPC. “Could you tell me where to go in order to change my class?”

“Why is it you again? This is a pharmacy, not a newbie directory.” What the hell is up with you, I thought, swearing silently in my head.Just you wait; when my level’s higher, I’ll definitely come back and kill you once, you damn NPC!

“You want to change your class?” that girl’s sweet voice rang out again. “What class are you planning on choosing? Perhaps we can help you!”

“Oh… I want to become a warrior.” With my head still lowered, I stole a glance around at the floor. Minus the NPC, there were a total of eight legs, so that would be four people, probably three guys and a girl.

“Weird person…” another guy muttered.

The girl simply smiled, seeming mildly amused. “Are you feeling shy? Why are you hanging your head so low?”

And just how was I supposed to explain? Sigh… I’d better ask where I should go to change my class, and then hurry up and flee— Err no, I mean, hurry up and change my class. “Could you tell me where I should go if I want to become a warrior, please?”

“To become a warrior, you’ll have to go to the south side of the main square and find the NPC who is carrying a sword and wearing a soldier’s uniform,” the first guy said kindly. “He’ll ask you to kill ten wolves, so you should bring along some health potions or you’ll have to rest after fighting just one wolf.”

“Thanks…” I said before hurriedly purchasing ten minor health potions from that XX NPC. Waaah! There goes my hundred coppers, I thought as I was handed my health potions and stuffed them into my pouch. I was just about to escape when one of the other players spoke up again.

“Do you know where to find the wolves?” the girl asked, sounding concerned. Without waiting for my reply, she continued, “We were just about to go train on wolves anyway; why don’t you come with us? You should go pick up the quest first. We’ll wait for you at the western side gate. Don’t take too long!”

I’m touched… She really is a good person, I thought, nodding enthusiastically. “Right.”

I walked openly to the main square, found the uniform-wearing NPC, and accepted the warrior quest… Huh? You’re asking me how I dared to walk openly to the main square? Why I wasn’t afraid of turning into a steak? Wahaha! That’s because when I went to the armorer to sell my pile of trash loot, I discovered that they actually sold masks – in particular, masquerade masks, the type that covers the upper half of your face. It even offered +1 defense! Scared of being pursued again, I had bought one without hesitation. Thank heavens! I can finally move freely now!

Walking to the western gate, I saw from afar that there were three guys and a girl waiting there, and so I hurried over. “Sorry for the wait.”

“It’s okay, let’s introduce ourselves. I’m Snow White Rose; you can just call me Rose. I’m a mage,” said Rose in an amused tone.

Composing myself, I took a good look at her… A beauty! An extraordinary beauty! I myself was something of a beauty, but even I couldn’t deny that her face was prettier, her boobs bigger, her waist slenderer, her legs longer, and her skin fairer… Waaah! I feel like growing mushrooms in a corner…

Never mind, Feng Lan; you are now a guy (Feng Wu Qing: How many times are you going to make me say it: You are a TRANNY!), so it’s meaningless to compete with a girl.

“Legolas, archer,” said the skinniest of the guys.

“I’m The Strongest Elf. You can just call me Li’l Strong.” Are you a cockroach? I thought. “I’m a warrior; warrior’s a good class!” said The Strongest Elf, his expression open and honest.

“I’m For Healing Only, a priest,” said a pretty boy in a cultured voice.

“I’m Prince, no class yet…” I replied in a small voice.

Rose looked thoughtfully at my mask. I gulped nervously under her stare. “Prince, why do you want to wear a mask?”

“A ma-mask provides extra armor, doesn’t it?” I said, pretending to be confused. Heh heh! Pretending to be naive is one of my talents…“That’s why I bought one.”

“I think he’s just trying to look cool,” said Legolas, unimpressed.

Upon hearing that, I kept my face blank and smiled vaguely. However, in my head I was thinking, I’m already cool enough as it is, why on earth would I need to try and look even cooler?

“All right, now that we’ve reached the wolves’ riverbank: Healing, buff Prince up! We’ll help him finish those ten wolves off quickly so he can go and change his class,” said Rose kindly. God, I’m so touched, waaah…! Rose, I want to be sisters with you. (Feng Wu Qing: … Turning into a woman? Again?)

As the pretty boy finished chanting a prayer verse, I felt my defense increase and said sincerely, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Go ahead and fight!” the pretty boy replied politely.

I locked my attention on a solitary wolf and crept closer, still facing it… Waaah! The wolf was really big and kind of scary. It had fixed its blood-red gaze on me and its lips were curled back, revealing razor-sharp fangs. But most terrifying of all, it was drooling…

I’m so screwed, I thought, my brain going numb. I’d much rather be slicing up slimes– after all, they look kind of like frozen fruits – but wolves… I’ve never even used a kitchen knife to prepare something that’s still alive, what should I do now? Aaaaah!

The wolf lunged over and with it came that mouth filled with saliva and razor-sharp teeth.

Nooooo! I spun around…and ran!

“Prince, what are you doing? Hurry and turn around and fight. Don’t worry, For Healing Only’s pretty skilled, he’ll heal you,” Rose shouted.

That’s not the problem, I yelled back in my heart, I– I don’t want— I don’t want to be bitten by that terrifying and disgusting wolf’s mouth!

“What on earth is he doing…?” questioned Legolas, his expression cold.

“That… I have no idea either!” Li’l Strong replied, clearly astonished as he watched me flee at top speed. “But his agility is pretty high, to actually let him to outrun a wolf when he’s only level ten.”

“Aaaah…” Running too fast, I carelessly tripped on a stone and fell. That damnable 99% realism level…As the thought flashed across my mind, the wolf came lunging over and viciously bit down on my left hand.

Owww! Waaah! So, so much saliva, it’s disgusting! Next, the wolf suddenly opened its maw and it was about to bite off my head when its drool actually… It actually dripped on my face…

UNFORGIVABLE!

Twak! It sounded like a nerve had snapped in my brain – a nerve called reason.

I’m pissed! I’m pissed! I’m REALLY pissed! Just then, I recollected that whenever my mom killed a chicken, she would always reach for the neck, and then… Heh heh!

“Prince, hurry up and run! If you take this attack, you’ll definitely die!” Rose and the others had turned pale and were already frantically running towards me. Unfortunately, they were simply too far away.

Without hesitation, I gripped my knife tightly and swung it from right to left with all my strength, brutally slicing through the top half of the wolf’s skull, separating its brains from its body.

Trapped beneath the wolf’s body, I was thoroughly stained with the wolf’s blood... Warm blood – with its coppery smell – was flowing everywhere, staining my clothes and drying on my skin.

How terrifying! Fighting back the tears, my mind was filled with only those two words.

Question: what do you think will happen when a person is terrified to the extreme? Answer: Their reason will disappear

I slowly got to my feet and, grasping my knife tightly, looked straight at the wolves all over the riverbank.