Grace and Sacrifice

The mirror showed a young woman in the prime of her youth, her hair black and silky, draping over her shoulders, her features delicate and soft, with a faint hint of frailty in her brow.

Li Wen was surprised not by the appearance... well, that could be said too—the girl in the mirror was indeed stunningly beautiful—but more importantly, he recognized this face, yet had no memory of where he had seen it.

[Please edit and confirm your name!]

"...Mephisto."

After a moment's thought, Li Wen chose the name from his past life, taken from the devil in "Faust." Nicknames in "World Tree: Origins" were repeatable, so it didn't matter much.

[Name available. Please edit and confirm your in-game appearance!]

Though it said "edit," all he could do was make minor adjustments based on the original appearance.

As Li Wen thought this, the girl in the mirror changed accordingly. He fiddled for a bit, eventually achieving a satisfactory result—mainly shortening the waist-length hair to shoulder-length, reducing the sense of fragility, and making some fine adjustments to the details.

As long as acquaintances couldn't recognize him at first glance, that was enough, Li Wen figured.

[Please select your race.]

The mirror split into six, each showing a different race of Li Wen.

They were Terra Human, Highland Race, White Elf, Half-Elf, Gnome, and Citizen of Sin City.

"Terra Human."

Li Wen decided without a second thought.

Among these six races, humans were the most balanced—no major strengths, but no major weaknesses either.

For example, the Highland Race had exceptional physiques but came with a negative trait of [Clumsy Hands], preventing them from using nimble or highly dexterous weapons; Gnomes were ugly but had strong creativity; Elves had long lifespans but their lineage orientation wasn't as complete as humans...

Considering social factors as well, humans were still the best choice, and that guide had reached the same conclusion.

After selecting the race, the six mirrors vanished together, replaced by a long, void-like staircase stretching endlessly upward to an unknown destination.

Li Wen climbed the steps continuously. After an unknown amount of time—maybe a short while, maybe days or months—the end of the stairs revealed a majestic cathedral.

"Welcome to the Sacrifice Cathedral..."

Almost as soon as Li Wen stepped into the cathedral, a gentle female voice sounded in his ear.

He didn't try to find the source of the voice, instead looking up to observe the cathedral.

Inside stood twelve statues, each depicting different humans or humanoids. In the center of the statues was a high platform, on which rested a book that looked very old.

"The Whispering Elf has already told me your name, Mephisto. Go and receive your gift."

The voice continued.

Without needing her reminder, Li Wen had already placed his hand on the book.

[Nameless Book of Gifts]

[Consumable - Book - Magic (Blue)]

[An unwritten Book of Gifts, said to be a relic of the ancient empire Noradun, its crafting technique long lost. Write your true name upon it to receive a great gift!]

[Upon use, gain [1] Extraordinary Gift, [2] Ordinary Gifts.]

[Write your true name?]

"Yes."

As the words fell, the book transformed into one blue light orb and two white light orbs, entering Li Wen's body one by one.

[Item used. Chant "Gift" to open the Gift Panel and use Gift Points.]

Before the prompt even appeared, Li Wen had already chanted it.

Before his eyes appeared a blue light screen, in which two white orbs and one blue orb formed an inverted triangle.

Gift Points were a very rare resource in "World Tree: Origins," used to unlock certain traits and special skills.

As for what to unlock, Li Wen had long decided.

"Unlock the Extraordinary Trait [Retrograde in Shadow], and the Ordinary Traits [Nimble Hands] and [Professional Pickpocket]."

The three Gift Points burst open one by one, transforming into the traits Li Wen needed, floating as orbs on the Gift Panel.

[Retrograde in Shadow]

[Trait - Extraordinary (Blue) - Umbral]

[Shadow assassins of the Umbral Lineage know the way to move silently within shadows; it is said the best among them can even enter the realm of darkness through this.]

[When your entire body is in shadow, your presence is reduced by 50%. If you have an Umbral Lineage class, it is reduced by an additional 10%.]

[Nimble Hands]

[Trait - Ordinary (White) - General]

[Your hands are dexterous enough to handle most complex and delicate manual tasks.]

[Professional Pickpocket]

[Trait - Ordinary (White) - General]

[You are a professional pickpocket, able to easily steal wallets from others' pockets.]

With these three traits, Li Wen was one step closer to her goal.

Just as she finished confirming the traits and was about to leave, a secret suddenly surfaced in her memory—a story passed among Strategy Group members, something that couldn't even be called a concrete strategy or technique.

It was said that a Strategy Group member had been disabled before transmigrating. When creating their character, they chose to inherit their real-world features, naturally carrying the disability over as well. But the result was that they received additional Grace Points.

Hence, someone speculated that the game might contain a hidden Defect Compensation Mechanism.

This had a basis: Teyans generally believed that those born with defects often possessed special talents in certain areas.

But Li Wen was thinking something else: in reality, disabled people could choose to restore their normal bodies upon entering the game, or they could choose not to and receive Grace Point rewards. So could a physically normal person sacrifice certain normal physiological functions in exchange for more Grace Points? And then she thought of this church's name—"Sacrifice"...

"I want to sacrifice!"

Lost in thought, Li Wen immediately tried it.

But the game gave no interaction. Just as Li Wen was wondering if she'd guessed wrong, the female voice spoke for the third time:

"You... are sure?"

Li Wen's heart jolted.

"I'm sure."

Then there was no response at all. Instead, the platform that had held the Book of Grace slowly vanished, replaced by an empty pool. Floating in the middle of the pool was a dagger as pure and white as ivory.

Li Wen didn't hesitate. She stepped forward and picked up the dagger.

[Please select the sacrifice offering]

For her first attempt, Li Wen didn't dare do anything reckless. She simply used the dagger to cut off a lock of hair and dropped it into the pool.

But the hair fell into the pool with no reaction at all.

It seemed the sacrifice was too trivial to cause any change, Li Wen thought.

So she began to ponder what exactly on her body she should sacrifice.

First, limbs and such that affected movement were definitely out. Second, eyes were also out—observation was too important in combat. By the same reasoning, ears and nose could be ruled out too.

That seemed to leave only the sense of taste as something she could sacrifice. But how? Taste buds were mainly on the tongue. Would she have to cut off her entire tongue? But if she cut off her tongue, she couldn't speak. This game had no built-in communication system; without speech, she could only communicate with others through sign language, and she'd also lose the ability to cast spells through language. So that was out too.

Ribs—she could break off one or two without affecting her body too much—but their weight was too low, probably not enough to exchange for any trait. She'd heard some people sold a kidney to buy a phone; she wondered if that was reliable...