Chapter One #2
For the first time in over a decade, I could move my legs and walk around.
“Did I pass out? No, I just woke up,” I said to myself. “Maybe that new painkiller they have me on is messing with my head? Or I could be suddenly dying and my brain is coping with it by showing me this.”
I had no idea what was going on.
But I knew that there was only one thing to do when faced with Custom Dungeon World’s character creation menu, and that was to create a character.
So, why not?
I got to customizing myself.
When it came to my characters—the serious ones, not the joke ones, I typically went one of two routes.
If I knew exactly what I wanted to do, then I designed the character to look like someone fitting the job.
For example, for my Viking/Berserker run, I made sure that my character was tall, muscular, and bearded with red hair.
For my Dancer/Bard run, I made a cute cat girl with a sort of Arabian aesthetic going on.
But if I wasn’t entirely sure what I was going to do, I went with a more general appearance that I thought just looked cool. The kind of appearance I would have liked to have in real life.
That meant tall, about 6’2”, and fit, but not too muscular and more on the thin side.
Light skin, almost pale since I found that more relatable, blue eyes, sharp but masculine facial features that made the character look like he was a handsome guy in his twenties, and then medium-length, white hair.
I always thought white hair looked cool.
And that was that!
The character I created dozens of times before became me, and I got to move around the room while trying out the new body I was in. It felt natural, like I had already spent every day of my life in that body.
All that was left was to name him—well, me. And in that case, I went with the usual.
Sev.
I’d been known by that name online and used it for my characters for most of my adult life, and I wasn’t about to stop.
“Oh? So that’s the appearance you’re going with?” what sounded like an old, feminine voice asked me from behind, causing me to jump from how sudden it was.
I spun around to see who it was and saw none other than the very same woman who was legally the owner of Custom Dungeon World.
A woman who looked like she was in her eighties who couldn’t even stand up straight anymore, using a cane to support herself.
Admittedly, even if she wasn’t the true developer, I was still a little starstruck in her presence. “You—you’re—”
“Oh, dearie me. Hang on one moment, dear.” The elderly woman showed me a pretty damn youthful smile before being obscured by a puff of smoke.
And once the smoke cleared, she was gone, replaced by a much younger and more stylishly dressed man who looked around my age.
“Guess I don’t need that disguise anymore, yeah?
” He even looked a bit like some stereotypical playboy kind of guy.
An open shirt, tanned skin, slicked hair—he looked like the kind of guy I would expect to find at the beach hitting on random girls.
“Well, seeing an old woman transform into a young guy definitely confirms I’m dreaming, unfortunately.”
“Hah, no worries, bro. This ain’t a dream.”
“I’ve heard that line before.”
“Want me to pinch you?”
I shrugged and held my arm out toward him. “Go for it.”
Surely enough, he pinched me.
And holy shit it hurt. “What kind of insane pinching strength is that?!” I shouted.
He stopped pinching and let out a pretty loud laugh. “Haha! My bad, bro. Just wanted to convince ya this ain’t a dream. Anyways, my world—what’d ya think?”
I rubbed my arm where he pinched me, which still stung despite there not even being a mark left, while putting two and two together pretty easily. “Given the circumstances and that question… are you the creator of Custom Dungeon World?”
“The one and only.”
“Now it makes sense why there wasn’t just one, but two different guy-who-looks-like-a-sleazy-playboy-but-is-actually-a good-person companions.”
“Heh, you’re gonna make me blush. What, you already think I’m a good person?”
I took a step forward, probably a bit more dramatically than I needed to. “Of course! There’s no way someone would create a game so full of love and passion for the genre without being a good person!”
“I think that’s a little biased. Plenty of creative minds out there who ain’t as nice as their works might make them feel.”
“This is different! I could feel your love for the game in every single second of gameplay! Nobody can express such genuine love without being a good person!”
“Hah. I really did make the right choice, didn’t I?”
“Oh, by the way, what even are you?”
He let out a chuckle and shook his head. “Yeah, that’s a fair question to ask. It’s pretty obvious I’m not human, huh?”
“I mean, yeah. I’m assuming you’re a god or something, right?”
“Ehh, something like that? Anyways, I don’t actually have much time. I’m in a bit of trouble, you see, so I’ve got to go away for a while.”
“I guess even gods have their problems.”
“We’re really not that different from you guys. Well, aside from the immortality and being able to create entire universes and stuff part.”
“Eh, not that different. Dying from a random trip and landing the wrong way versus being immortal. Being able to create an entire universe versus burning microwavable ramen. Same thing, really.”
“Hah, right? Anyways, the world that we both love—I’ve never used up my chance to make a universe, you see. Nothin’ ever felt right. Not until I saw how much you love my game. Honestly, it’s kind of shocking, but I think you might even love it more than I do.”
“There’s no question that I love it more than anyone else, even its creator.”
“Pretty cocky, huh?”
“Don’t mistake confidence in the objective truth for cockiness… alright, that made me sound a bit too cringe. I was trying to be dramatic for comedic effect, but—”
The god before me let out another laugh. “Don’t worry. I’ve been watching you for a long time. I know what kind of guy you are. A little awkward sometimes with your humor, but a good guy. And a guy who cherishes my creation even more than I do and wishes it was real.”
“If it wasn’t for the fact that this still kind of feels like a dream giving me more confidence than I normally have, I’d feel a little embarrassed, but… thanks.”
“I’m the one who should be thanking you.”
“What have I done besides sink what others would consider an insanely unhealthy number of hours into a game?”
“I think it’s pretty fair for a creator to feel thankful toward people who love their work. That’s why I’ll express my gratitude to my number one fan while breaking one last divine rule.”
“Hey.” I stopped taking things so lightly and switched to a more serious voice. “I’ve read every single line of dialogue you’ve written dozens of times over now, at least. You sound exactly like Richter at the end of the ‘A Drink to Tomorrow’ quest. That means this is a goodbye.”