Surviving as a Trash Bard in a Game

If I had known it would be like this, I would have created a different character.

No, at least I wouldn’t have included narcolepsy.

…It’s too late to regret it now.

Take another step forward. Without stopping.

***

A new game was released from a famous JRPG company.

The name of the game was [Four Seasons 2]. Although it was said to be a successor to the previous Four Seasons series, it was a completely different game.

The developers, who originally pursued traditional fantasy, suddenly announced that they would make a game with a futuristic setting. However, after it flopped, they salvaged it by saying, ‘There was a Great Cataclysm, and the world was reset.’

They also tried their hand at online games, which were relatively successful. However, in the sequel, a controversy arose regarding certain ideologies.

Yeah. It failed.

In the end, they decided to develop what they were best at, and finally, this game was released.

The company’s last gamble, pouring all their capital and technology into it. Bankruptcy if they failed, revolution if they succeeded.

The company’s CEO came out and said he took out a mortgage on his house, so I can understand how desperate they were.

‘…But why is it an open-world TRPG?’

It wasn’t that I had any complaints about the game.

I had a great deal of affection for this series, and although I wasn’t a hardcore player, I had played it multiple times.

Although I said multiple playthroughs, it was only three. My playtime was a little over 100 hours… It was an ambiguous level to be called a hardcore player.

‘This is all about the previous game, though.’

The genre had changed from the ground up.

I hated TRPGs that were based on dice and luck.

Since games based on TRPGs rarely succeeded, I instinctively felt a sense of rejection.

They could have just made a turn-based JRPG, which they were best at. Why did they take this gamble?

…Yeah. Despite complaining verbosely, I was one of the many pre-order buyers whose heads had been smashed.

Since I already opened my wallet, I should at least press play.

‘I used to make combat-specialized characters… but is speech important in TRPGs?’

Since my beloved sequel had returned with an unfamiliar genre, I did my due diligence in studying and reviewing the genre.

–

TRPG.

A game where you roll dice to determine the outcome.

Originally a tabletop game where the game master narrates the story, it’s closer to a tabletop game than a video game.

It features a very high degree of freedom.

You create your own character sheet and set the character’s background and appearance.

It’s very attractive to be able to set details from skills, hobbies, and preferences. However, the game master will restrict overly excessive settings.

Since there are many options to avoid combat, it is recommended to play in a party, and it is advantageous to have companions with various roles.

–

‘…Shall I go for something different?’

Honestly, I had already seen the ending with characters like mages, warriors, and clerics.

I didn’t want to choose the same class in the sequel.

‘It’s a single-player game for now.’

From the game description and trailer, it seems that you can recruit other companions at any time, and you don’t have to stick to one character, so I guess I can change it later?

Let’s start for now.

With a pounding heart, I pressed play, and a magnificent BGM played during the loading screen.

***

[ Four Seasons 2 : After the four seasons ]

***

[ New game ]

[ Options ]

[ System ]

[ Exit ]

***

With a familiar and welcoming interface, I clicked [ New game ].

‘First is character creation.’

A familiar interface that many gamers would have seen appeared.

It was a blank status window with nothing written on it.

Honestly, I didn’t understand it.

‘These guys… they never put any functions in the status window, they don’t show quests, and you can’t even allocate status points, so why do they even include it?’

–

[ Character Name : ]

[ Age : ]

[ Gender : ]

–

[ Current Status ]

[ Strength : 1 ]

[ Intelligence : 1 ]

[ Skill : 1 ]

[ Charm : 1 ]

[ Health : 1 ]

[ Speech : 1 ]

–

‘Let’s start with gender.’

Perhaps because of political correctness, as soon as I clicked on gender, a list of over 12 genders appeared.

I immediately closed my eyes and clicked on female and confirmed.

Female characters are the standard in games. If you disagree, I’ll kill you.

‘Age should be a little over adult.’

If I chose a minor, there would be many restrictions on actions, and if I chose an old person, the reason for choosing a female character would disappear.

‘Character name…’

Character name. I had to be careful when choosing the name I would be called in the game.

Nothing specific came to mind. I wonder if the names of the protagonists from the previous games are possible?

Just in case, I entered names like ■■■ and ■■, but a message popped up saying they were all unavailable. How disappointing.

‘Alright, I’ve decided.’

[ Character Name : Selina ]

I was quite satisfied with the name, so I pressed the confirm button.

Now all that was left was to choose the traits.

Traditionally, when creating a character in this game, instead of directly allocating status points, you indirectly complete it by combining negative and positive traits.

‘For example, since I have 0 points now… I earn points with negative traits and use them to buy positive traits.’

Here are the traits I ended up with.

–

-Positive Traits

[ Silver-tongued (-6) ] [ Cooking (-6) ] [ Traveler (-6) ] [ Beauty (-4) ] [ Mesmerizing Eyes {Hidden}{Late Bloomer} (-30) ]

-Negative Traits

[ Timid (+2) ] [ Clumsy Habit (+4) ] [ Sickly (+6) ] [ Underweight (+6) ] [ Low Stamina (+6) ] [ Thin Skin (+8) ] [ Narcolepsy (+20) ]

–

To explain briefly, it was a build that bet everything on speech and charm.

Speech level increased with Silver-tongued.

Charm level increased with Beauty.

Speech and charm levels increased with Mesmerizing Eyes.

I even took care of the late game.

If it’s hidden trait with late bloomer, I should get something decent.

With Traveler and Cooking, I secured the minimum life skills and experience to survive a long journey.

‘If I calculate… Speech +9, Charm +7? I also got knowledge of herbs and food gathering.’

It’s a shame I couldn’t reach level 10 in charm, but I’m reasonably satisfied with this.

I could just make the character customization pretty.

‘The problem is the negative traits.’

I did it myself, but it’s a bit severe…

With Sickly, I get tired from even a little movement, and with Underweight, it’s a constitution where I don’t gain muscle or fat easily.

On top of that, I also have Low Stamina, so I get tired even faster.

And Narcolepsy? If I suddenly fall asleep during a battle, isn’t that instant death?

‘It says that I won’t be in danger even if I fall asleep, but since it’s a game, wouldn’t it just go to a black screen and load?’

I can just get the Insomnia curse later.

It’s a game!

Timid and Clumsy Habit were fine, but… with Thin Skin, I’ll have to be careful when passing through forests and bushes.

In a medieval setting, even a scratch can be very dangerous.

‘As a result… it ended up like this. I guess I have to choose bard as my class.’

–

[ Strength : 0(-3) ]

[ Intelligence : 2]

[ Skill : 2]

[ Charm : 8 ]

[ Health : 0(-5) ]

[ Speech : 10 ]

–

I saw on the wiki that the status of an average human, like a passing NPC, is between 3 and 5.

This is really pathetic.

Status points that have gone into the negatives like that need to be erased by gaining proficiency and training while playing the game… or by equipping rare items that give bonus status.

I guess the beginning will be a bit annoying.

‘Now… time to customize.’

I immediately started working.

.

.

.

Finished.

‘I finished earlier than last time.’

When I checked the clock, about 5 hours had passed since I first turned on the game.

I was smiling with satisfaction as I looked at the masterpiece I had created. I made it myself, but it was a perfect sculpture.

‘It’s a shame that the eyes are fixed on pink.’

But that’s the charm, I guess.

Perhaps because of the Mesmerizing Eyes trait, the eye color was fixed on a light pink and wouldn’t change, so I had a harder time making it match.

I used the Thin Skin trait to create transparent and pale skin, and thanks to the Sickly and Underweight traits, I was able to create a perfect body without any muscle.

I never thought there would be such an element… I love it.

Still, I couldn’t give up on the chest and hips, so I adjusted the skeleton a bit.

For the basic equipment, I naturally chose a 6-string lute for the bard, and for the clothes, I chose a mix of black and white according to my taste.

A white shirt and a black skirt, a black cloak over it, a ribbon tied over the shirt as an accent, and finally, a medieval corset to emphasize the waist.

I made it myself, but it’s really well made.

After admiring the cute poses and movements for a while… I finally chose the voice and background.

I chose a bright and energetic voice.

I chose the background randomly. It didn’t seem that important.

–

A bard who grew up in the imperial countryside, loves adventure stories, and just registered her name with the association! Her goal is to go to the imperial capital.

–

I wrote the background story to this extent.

‘But, will writing it like this affect the story?’

Honestly, I didn’t have much faith in generative AI yet.

I tried it last time, and it was just rambling. Well… they must have put it in the game as a feature because they were confident, right?

I gently pressed the play button.

The white light of the monitor flashed, and my vision turned black.

***

“…Huh?”

With an unfitting voice.

I opened my eyes in an unfamiliar space.