I made my mind up eventually. Glowing brightly on the page, the two perks I chose burned into the paper.
Sharpest Shooter. Eyes Everywhere.
My reasoning was quite simple.
If I saw a threat in an unknown place that could cause severe bodily harm to my person, would I want to get close to it?
Obviously not. Therefore, the logical course of action was to shoot the problem until it stopped being a problem. And since I needed to spot the threat before I could turn it into a corpse, Eyes Everywhere would highlight all potential headshot targets.
Sure, I could have bought more perks. Sure, I could have chosen a ton of cheaper, smaller utilities to have at my disposal. And sure, I could have chosen a bit "better" by min-maxing the math.
You know what I thought of all that?
BULLSHIT.
There was potential mortal danger at every single corner out in whatever the fuck DxD was. If the danger rating was high enough to grant me enough points for an instant-headshot skill, I was not going to fuck around.
Besides, a ton of tiny, quirky, chance-based perks sounded BORING. I wanted guts and glory, and I wasn't going to get that by playing it safe like a moron.
Those little perks? They were traps. Traps designed to make me choose poorly so I would die faster. Traps for boring people. And I wasn't going to be fucking boring, dammit.
With my choice made, I turned the page.
Great! Now that you have chosen your perks, it's time for your traits.
All traits have positives and negatives to them. You're free to pick as many as you want.
However, once you choose your traits, you can't get rid of them unless a certain special event occurs.
So be careful!
///// TRAITS //////
Flagellant Pugilist:
All of your punches and kicks receive a colossal damage bonus. Slap a dragon to death.
Cannot use any kind of weapon. Using one gives it a gargantuan damage penalty. Also, one of your limbs explodes. Literally.
Sickening Hoplophilia:
All of your shots receive a colossal damage bonus. Shoot down a zeppelin with a Glock.
Cannot attack with anything except ranged weapons. Otherwise gives the attack a gargantuan damage penalty. One of your limbs explodes, too.
Bloody Mess:
YES! BLOODY BITS! Make anything violent, BRUTAL in your presence. Paper cuts tear open ribcages.
OH NO! BLOODY BITS! Zero control over the explicit violence in your presence.
Dragon Heritage:
Replace your heart with that of a dragon. Slowly become a mighty and powerful being with destructive magics at your beck and call. Become practically untouchable.
Gain the temper and pride of a dragon. Struggle and fail to rein in your uncontrollable temper in critical moments, making the stupidest decisions possible. Die karmically.
Darksign:
Get the Darksign on your body and become an Undead. Any "death" ends with you well and jolly at the nearest bonfire. Become immortal.
Run the high risk of becoming a Hollow every time you "die." Slowly become insane as the deaths start piling up and your psyche stops taking it.
Sheldon Paradox:
You become one of the most intelligent beings to ever exist. Make Einstein shit his pants.
You become one of the most useless beings to ever exist. Forcibly impair yourself to be as unattractive, unreliable, and incapable as possible. Otherwise, your brain explodes.
The Headcrab Shuffle:
Turn into a powerful and discrete body-possessing parasite, able to take over any body and make full use of its capabilities. Jump from host to host and become the apex predator.
Your parasite body is extremely weak without a host. Get crushed like a cockroach.
True Glass Cannon:
All of your attacks gain a gargantuan damage multiplier enough to kill anything with one hit. The true destroyer of worlds.
Sustaining any sort of damage means complete death. Get killed by a feather.
Traitless Loser:
Ah! Sweet, safe nothing!
Locks you out of special skill trees and enhancements. Makes you a certified bore.
///// THESE ARE THE STARTING TRAITS /////
///// NEW, UNLISTED TRAITS MAY BE UNLOCKED WHILE YOU PROGRESS YOUR JOURNEY. /////
///// YOU CAN ONLY TAKE NEW TRAITS AFTER A CERTAIN EVENT HAPPENS /////
…
I…
Without saying a word or thinking a single thought, the paper shone brightly on Traitless Loser, somehow already knowing I wouldn't risk my neck on these insane, stupid traits.
Though, to be fair, Darksign looked a bit tempting. The whole "insanity" part and the Hollow stuff was a pretty good deterrent to not dooming myself, however.
But then, I was reminded of YHWH's laugh at my choice of world. And how potentially deadly he implied these worlds could be.
And, most importantly, I remembered my own words about not being a boring asshole.
…
Again, without a prompt, the Darksign trait flared to life, replacing the glow on my previous choice. That was as good as life insurance was going to get. Potential insanity be damned.
Sighing, I turned the page, ready for whatever dumber shit was awaiting me.
Good! Now that you're done with all of those enhancements, you just need to choose what your starting equipment will be!
Again, you will be provided with Y$
are left after purchasing a set, you can keep the rest for yourself.
You can only purchase one set, so choose carefully!
Frowning, I eyed the amount of credits now available to me for this section.
Y$ 1000
I really just wanted to get over this whole thing and move on.
///// STARTING EQUIPMENT /////
**Absolutely Nothing - Y
0:∗∗Includes…nothing!KeepallofthoseY 0:** Includes… nothing! Keep all of those Y0:∗∗Includes…nothing!KeepallofthoseY
to yourself!
Just Enough - Y$ 500: Includes…
1 Backpack
1 Survival Knife
100 Dollars (or equivalent if dollars don't exist)
Ideal for the starting Incursor!
Ready Camper - Y$ 1000: Includes…
Everything in the Just Enough set.
3 Weeks' Worth of Food
1 Tent
3 Medkits
Extra Insurance!
Ready-for-Battle - Y$ 1000: Includes…
Everything in the Just Enough set.
1 Large Blunt Melee Weapon of your choice.
1 Pair of Brass Knuckles
1 Large Backpack
The Melee Starter Pack.
Packin' Heat - Y$ 1000: Includes…
Everything in the Just Enough set.
1 Handgun of your choice
50 Bullets (corresponding to handgun's caliber)
1 Large Backpack.
The Ranged Starter Pack.
Proud Home-Owner - Y$ 1500: Includes…
1 4-Bedroom House.
All required legal documents for citizenship.
All documents stating your ownership of the house.
Enter the new life with a home and an I.D. Become a taxpayer.
Apprentice Wizard - Y$ 2000: Includes…
1 copy of Magic 101 for Dummies.
1 Grimoire with an Elemental Spell.
1 Grimoire with a Physical Spell.
1 Grimoire with a Utility Spell.
All the necessary circuits for your body to perform magic.
Unlocks the [Wizard] skill trees.
Abandon guns and sticks, embrace the arcane!
(yes, we did paywall magic in this late stage of the character creator)
(hope your build's suited for this lololol)
(PD: skipping these "magic starter packs" locks magic until LVL. 10.)
Apprentice Warlock - Y$ 2000: Includes…
1 copy of Demon Pacts 101 for Dummies.
1 Demon Pact (contents of which are subject to change).
1 Grimoire with a Curse Spell.
1 Grimoire with a Utility Spell.
All the necessary circuits for your body to perform magic.
Unlocks the [Warlock] skill trees.
Enter the new life alongside a pact with a demon! Sacrifice the innocent!
End of realistically affordable Equipment by Incursor. Check again at a later date when more credits are available.
Staring at this page filled with equipment packages, I scowled as I realized they had locked magic behind such a massive paywall. Damn them. I wanted to spit fire at my enemies, not rely on tools.
But, not having much of a choice considering my perks, I selected the Packin' Heat option.
And as for the gun I wanted…
….
Add it to your library for more chapters:-