In the mirror stood a girl in the prime of her youth, with soft black hair cascading over her shoulders. Her features were delicate and gentle, and there was a faint sickliness between her brows.
Li Wen was surprised not because of her appearance... Well, that was part of it. The girl in the mirror was indeed stunningly beautiful, but more importantly, she recognized that face. She just had no memory whatsoever of where she had seen it before.
Please edit and confirm your name!
"...Mephisto."
After thinking it over, Li Wen still chose the name from her previous life, the demon's name from Faust. Nicknames in World Tree: Origins could be duplicated, so they did not mean much.
Name available. Please edit and confirm your in-game appearance!
It was called editing, but in truth, all she could do was make minor adjustments to her original appearance.
As Li Wen thought, the girl in the mirror changed accordingly. After tinkering with it for a while, she finally achieved a satisfactory result. She mainly changed her waist-length hair into shoulder-length hair, reduced her frail air, and made a few final adjustments to the details.
As long as people who knew her could not recognize her at first glance, that was enough. That was what Li Wen thought.
Please select your race.
The single mirror split into six, each reflecting a Li Wen of a different race.
They were Terra Human, Highland Race, White Elf, Half-Elf, Gnome, and Citizen of Sin City.
"Terra Human."
Li Wen made her decision without a second thought.
Of the six races, humans were the most balanced. They had no particular strengths, but they did not have too many weaknesses either.
For example, the Highland Race had incredibly strong constitutions, but they were born with the negative trait of clumsiness and could not use nimble or high-skill weapons. Gnomes were ugly, but highly creative. Elves had long lifespans, but their lineages were not as complete as humanity's...
Taking social factors into consideration as well, humans were still the most suitable. The guide had reached the same conclusion.
Once she had selected her race, all six mirrors vanished. In their place appeared a long staircase floating in the void, stretching endlessly upward toward an unknown destination.
Li Wen continued up the stairs. She did not know how much time had passed—perhaps only a moment, perhaps days or months—before a grand cathedral appeared at the end of the steps.
"Welcome to Sacrifice Cathedral..."
Almost the moment Li Wen stepped into the cathedral, a gentle female voice sounded beside her ear.
She did not try to find the owner of the voice. Instead, she raised her head and examined the cathedral.
Twelve statues stood within the cathedral, each depicting a different person or humanoid. At the center of the statues was a raised platform, upon which rested an ancient-looking book.
"Whispering Elf has already told me your name, Mephisto. Go and receive your gifts."
The voice continued.
Even without her reminder, Li Wen had already placed her hand atop the book.
Nameless Book of Gifts Consumable - Book - Magic (Blue) An unwritten Book of Gifts, rumored to be a relic of the ancient empire of Noradun. Its crafting method has long been lost. Write your true name upon it, and you shall receive immense gifts! Upon use, receive [1] Extraordinary Gift and [2] Ordinary Gifts. Write down your true name?
"Yes."
As her words fell, the book transformed into one blue point of light and two white points of light, which entered Li Wen's body one after another.
Item used. Silently recite "Gifts" to open the Gifts panel and use Gift Points.
Before the prompt even appeared, Li Wen had already silently recited it.
A blue screen appeared before her eyes. Within it, two white spheres and one blue sphere formed an inverted triangle.
Gift Points were an extremely rare resource in World Tree: Origins. They could be used to unlock certain traits and special skills.
As for what to unlock, Li Wen had already made her decision.
"Unlock the Extraordinary Trait Retrograde in Shadow, and the Ordinary Traits Nimble Hands and Professional Pickpocket."
The three Gift Points exploded one after another, transforming into the traits Li Wen needed. They floated within the Gifts panel in the form of spheres of light.
Retrograde in Shadow Trait - Extraordinary (Blue) - Umbral The shadow assassins of the Umbral Lineage were familiar with moving silently through shadows. It was said that the finest among them could even use this to enter the realm of darkness. When your entire body is within shadow, your presence is reduced by 50%. If you possess an Umbral Lineage class, it is reduced by an additional 10%. Nimble Hands Trait - Ordinary (White) - General Your hands are nimble enough to perform most complex and delicate handiwork. Professional Pickpocket Trait - Ordinary (White) - General You are a professional pickpocket, capable of easily stealing wallets from other people's pockets.
With these three traits, Li Wen was one step closer to her goal.
After confirming the traits, Li Wen was about to leave when she suddenly recalled a secret. It was a story circulated among Strategy Group members, and it could not even be called a proper guide or trick.
It was said that one Strategy Group member had been disabled before being transported here. When creating their character, they had chosen to retain their real-world traits, naturally retaining their disability as well. Yet as a result, they had received additional Gift Points.
Thus, someone had proposed a theory that there might be a hidden Defect Compensation Mechanism in the game.
There was evidence to support this: Terra Humans generally believed that those born with defects often possessed special talents in certain areas.
But Li Wen was thinking that disabled people in reality could choose to restore their bodies upon entering the game, or choose not to and receive Gift Points as a reward. So could someone with a normal body sacrifice certain normal physiological functions in exchange for more Gift Points? And the name of this cathedral was "Sacrifice"...
"I want to sacrifice!"
As she considered it, Li Wen immediately gave it a try.
However, the game provided no interaction. Just as Li Wen wondered whether she had guessed wrong, the female voice rang out for the third time.
"You... are sure?"
Li Wen's heart jolted.
"I'm sure."
There was no response after that. Instead, the platform that had held the Book of Gifts slowly disappeared, replaced by an empty pool. Floating at its center was an Ivory Dagger, white and pure as ivory.
Without hesitation, Li Wen stepped forward and picked up the dagger.
Please select the offering to sacrifice.
For her first attempt, Li Wen did not dare to do anything reckless. She merely used the dagger to cut off a lock of hair and threw it into the pool.
However, when the hair fell into the pool, there was no reaction whatsoever.
It seemed the price of the sacrifice was too slight to produce any change, Li Wen thought. She then began considering what part of her body she should sacrifice.
Her hands and feet were definitely out of the question, since they would affect her mobility. Her eyes were out as well; observation was far too important in battle. That also ruled out her ears and nose, for the same reason.
That seemed to leave only her sense of taste, but how was she supposed to do that? Taste buds were mainly on the tongue. Was she supposed to cut off her entire tongue? But if she cut it off, she would not be able to speak. The game had no built-in communication system, so she would only be able to communicate with others through sign language. She would also lose the ability to cast spells verbally, so that would not work either.
She could probably break one or two ribs without affecting her body too much, but their value was too low. They likely would not earn her any useful trait. She had heard that some people sold their kidneys to buy phones, but she did not know whether that was reliable...
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