Dylan's POV

I am kind. I am Dylan Grace. Since I was young, my parents have taught me to be kind, to always help those in need.

Now I am in college and still holding on to their teachings. Being kind to everyone and also accompanied by my above average looks, led to me gaining quite a bit of popularity. However, always being kind is exhausting and people tend to take advantage of you.

Once, I offered to do cleaning duty for someone who was busy. After that, others started asking me to do their cleaning duty.

Also, I offered to help buy drinks because it was on the way. Now, every time someone is thirsty, they ask me to go buy them.

I know what you're thinking. Why can't I just say no?

Well, that is because there is nothing more troublesome and nothing scarier than school drama.

First you say no and before you know it, the entire school has isolated you. Just because you said no to the girl who was busy buying dog food for her pet cat.

When I heard about New Life, I bought it immediately and got a VR pod set up in my apartment close to my college.

It was currently 5 minutes before the servers would open and I decided to get in early for character customisation. I stepped into the pod and proceeded to close my eyes.

~

Unregistered user detected. Would you like to register a new account?

"Yes."

Please choose a race.

8 figures that look just like me except each have slightly different features appear before me. I recognize the races to be Human, Elf, Dwarf, Dog Beastman, Cat Beastman, Wolf Beastman, Angel and Demon. There are many choices, however the producers hinted at possibilities of even more races that can be unlocked in the game.

Already deciding to not be my kind self in the game, I had my mind set on the one race which would have benefits in not being kind.

"Demon."

All the other races then faded away, leaving only the demon.

Please customise your character.

The demon version of me already had a few slight differences from my real appearance. Standing at 5'10, I have light brown hair and brown eyes. My ears were slightly sharper and my face was slightly more defined, compounding to my already above average looks. I was dressed in a simple black shirt and pants.

The demon version looked different from my original self, but not enough to ensure I would not be recognized by my peers. Not wanting to be recognized, I decide to make my hair white and make my eyes red. Being a demon also gave me the option of changing my skin colour, so I make my previously tan skin a pale shade. All in all, I now look like a full-fledged demon.

Please choose a starting city.

A map flashes into existence and on it is 3 red crosses and several other red dots. I guess that the crosses are my choices and that the dots are starting cities for the other races. The crosses are quite far away from the dots, which wouldn't be strange considering that demons are considered evil beings.

There seemed to be no huge difference in the location of the 3 crosses, 1 is by a river, 1 is near a forest, and the last is near a mountain. I choose the cross furthest away from the dots, which is the one near a mountain.

Please choose a character name.

I thought for a moment, wanting a name that symbolised a fresh start.

"Void."

The world fades to black.

Welcome to New Life.

~~~~~

Thanks for reading! I'm new at this so please tell me if there is anything I need to improve or if you have any suggestions!

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

I'm going to explain the system in New Life.

1. Class

Every player can have 4 classes in total. 1 main class and 3 sub-classes. Players get full effect of their main class and 75% of the effect of sub-classes.

For example, mages get a 20% increase in Intelligence and Wisdom. If Mage is your main class, you get full effects. However, if Mage is your sub-class, you only get a 15% increase in Intelligence and Wisdom.

Classes have 4 different stages of proficiency. Starting with Basic, followed by Intermediate and Advance. They each have 10 levels. After Advance Lv10 is Master Lv0. After reaching each stage, a new class specific skill is gained.

After reaching Master Lv0, you can advance your class through certain tests or quests. A class can be advanced twice, though there are exceptions.

2. Skills

Skills can be gained in a few ways.

First, through class. You can gain the Alchemy skill from being an Alchemist and you can gain the Cooking skill from being a Chef.

Second, through skill books. You can gain certain rarer skills through skill books. Though skill books are hard to find.

Third, through doing something repeatedly. Swing a sword enough times and you would get the Sword Mastery skill. Some skills you can get through class can be gotten through repeatedly doing them.

For example, you can mix random plants together to get the Alchemy skill. You can also roast meat over a fire to get the Cooking skill.

There are other ways to get skills but these are the most well known.

There was a downside to class specific skills gotten through other methods though. If you could get any skill you wanted, there would be no point in getting classes. The downside was that class specific skills can only reach Intermediate Lv10 without the class that comes with the skill. This meant that the skills can never reach full potential.

3. Stats

Every race has a total of 100 stat points. Most of the points are automatically distributed based on race and the leftover stat points are for players to distribute themselves.

Strength defines a player's basic strength and the amount of physical damage he can cause. Strength contributes to the Health regeneration rate of the player. Strength divided by 100 will be the amount of Health regenerated every second.

Intelligence defines the amount of magic damage a player can cause. Also, Intelligence determines the Mana regeneration rate of the player. Intelligence divided by 100 will be the amount of Mana regenerated every second.

Vitality defines a player's Health, health regeneration rate, stamina and physical defense. Vitalty multiplied by 10 is a player's Health. The more Vitality one has, the higher his physical defense, stamina and health regeneration rate.

Wisdom multiplied by 10 is a player's Mana. Wisdom also determines a player's magic defense and resistance. Higher wisdom also reduces cast time for magic attacks.

Agility determines a player's speed and stealth.

Dexterity determines a player's crafting ability and flexibility.

Luck determines general in-game luck, increasing the chance of getting rarer drops from monsters and makes it easier to find rare items or materials for crafting.

There are other stats that cannot be increased with stat points unlocked through certain actions or classes. Such as Faith for priests or Leadership from commanding a group.

Fame can be increased through discovering the unknown or by basically making yourself known through notable acts. High fame increases intimacy with NPCs, making you more likable. Merchants could also give you a discount if your fame is high enough.

Infamy increases when you do evil acts, such as killing people, be it NPC or player. High infamy makes you unlikable and merchants can refuse to sell merchandise to you. Basically, in-game life will be very difficult for you.

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I think that's all, if I missed anything please tell me, I will try to explain in later chapters. Again, please tell me if I can make any improvements or if you have any suggestions.