Act 1 - A second chance at life (Anthropomorphic Wolf)

His last sensation was a pain in his chest as his awareness slowly faded. And then just as oblivion enveloped him, he heard a soft female voice, promising power without equal, and a second chance at life. He grasped at it eagerly, for a reprieve from the he knew was bare moments away. What greeted him was entirely unexpected.

"Ayo, got 'im!" A new voice chimed in, more carefree than the first, with a strangely erotic quality to it despite the choice of language.

"Ignore my sister, please. Serial masturbation has left her brain-damaged." The first voice spoke again, now sounding annoyed.

He flailed about, or tried to, finding to his great panic that he had nothing with which to flail. Meanwhile, ignorant to his plight or uncaring of it, the two voices continued speaking.

"Kek, you fell for Mel's lies, Anon."

"Do not address me by that name! And I've said no lies."

"That 'will become a monstrosity without equal' is not placed after we give Anon the god juice, but after he grinds like a scrub."

"I had but a few moments to deliver the offer, some information was to be inevitably lost."

"Liar, liar, pants on fire!"

"You insufferable...! Deep breaths, Melanoche, deep breaths. Let me illustrate the situation to you, our champion. The world of Ruyanei has ever been the place of struggle between Light and Dark..."

"Anime JRPG fantasy world where the monsters were about to win, but then the glowing cocksuckers of Light cheated, and made every hero OP, the Demon King is dead and the monsters have been beaten back. So we're cheating too."

While this conversation was carrying on, he attempted to orient himself. While no longer possessed of eyes, he found he could still perceive his surroundings. Comprehending them was another matter entirely, so in an attempt to retain some semblance of sanity he focused on the two voices. These two at least did not offend his consciousness by simply existing, or possibly refusing to exist. Quite the opposite, in fact; both were beautiful in the , though with a certain darkness about them. The smaller dark-haired one, seemingly called Melanoche, appeared to be giving him an explanation of why they had made him the offer to begin with, while the larger and much more curvaceous one appeared to want to begin his... reincarnation, he supposed it was, immediately.

As being without a body was disorientating in the , he did not deliberate much over his choice of Core.

"Powerful type, huh? You should be able to have fun with that, Anon! Now quick! What size do you want to start at? Your first form is the most important, like your first time!"

"Ah, a good choice, champion. My powers can take stronger root in a body of this size, which will give you several advantages in your quest to subjugate the Light."

"And you're not too big to fit in buildings, or bitches. Well, some of them at least. You'll probably change size as you evolve, anyway. Next up is what family of monsters you'll belong to. These are usually restricted by the type of monster core you have, but fuck it, pick whatever."

This choice gave him slightly more pause, made easier by the body that had begun to coalesce around his being. It was still largely formless, but any sort of body was much better than none, to his mind. He was briefly tempted by the Bioferric option, but ultimately decided on Therionic, still a bit too shaken by being formless to choose a body so alien to that which he had always known.

"Okay! You can refine your appearance later, we've got more important questions to settle. Like what your dick will look like! Pick a package, Anon, and as many add-ons as you want!"

"Oh, for hell's sake, Carnachias, is that really that important right now? Monster powers-"

"Of course it is, Mel. How's he going to his way through all those Saintess bitches without a suitably mindbreaking cock?"

"He won't be able to them if they reduce him to ash the moment they see him!"

Tuning them out briefly as they continued to bicker, he decided on the Standard Package, feeling it best suited his new body's general size and form. The thought of breaking someone with pleasure appealed to him, so he chose Mindbreak, hesitating briefly over Breeding before deciding sure, why not. Thanks to his Therionic form his children would all be unswervingly loyal, and the ability to choose what monster to sire intrigued him.

"If you would stop thinking with your cunt for two seconds-"

"Doesn't matter, Mel Mel, he's already picked."

"DO NOT CALL ME THAT!" Melanoche took a deep breath and let it out slowly before turning back to him. "Now, it is time for you to choose your Monster Powers. Having chosen the size you have, I am able to bestow upon a second Power upon you. You will be able to gain even more within Ruyanei, but be warned, it will be an arduous task. Choose well."

He deliberated on this choice more than any before. These Powers would likely be the cornerstone of his strength in this mysterious new world he would soon be thrust into, and this choice may define the strategies available to him far into the future. With that said, there were really no poor choices here. Broodsire seemed vaguely superfluous considering his Breeding add-on as well as being something he would inevitably acquire, given enough time. Other than that, however...

He eventually decided on Status Effects, the immunity to disabling effects too good to pass up, and Sand in the Hourglass (Timefruit Juice), though with a mournful look at Elemental Infusion. A monster immune to Light would be such delicious irony, as well as invaluable if and when he was attacked by a priest of some sort. The vague references the two goddesses before him had made to heroes and saintesses worried him slightly. Still, having some control over time would play very well into the concepts and strategies that were slowly coalescing in his mind. He hoped the trope of magic taking significant time to cast would hold true in this new world.

"Very well, my Chosen. Now, your Light-based soul, in addition to granting you nearly unlimited growth, allows you to pick a Class, usually only available to the followers of Light. You may choose one class, and earn more in Ruyanei, if you fulfill the conditions for each."

While Assassin tempted him, he chose Barbarian, reasoning that it was better to lean into his strengths to start with at least. He determined to acquire Assassin as soon as possible, however.

"You, now, hold the most potential out of all my creations. But I fear that may not be enough..."

"Because the Light side has cheated super hard!"

"Indeed, and for that, I feel no regret in granting you one last gift. A 'Cheat' of your own, if you will. Pick one."

He had a very difficult time deciding which 'Cheat' to choose, the possibilities chasing one another around his mind as he surveyed his choices. Pro Gamer HUD would be most easily exploitable for overall growth. Hero's Soul would allow him to take Assassin immediately, a class which would be most useful earliest on, when being unseen could be vital to his survival. Obliterate would allow him to bypass any immunities or resistances to permanently remove particularly dangerous targets. Resurrection really needed no explanation, brief amusement coming to him as he imagined taking the form of a feline and making the cats' nine lives myth come true. Hybridization would allow for Bioferric without entirely giving up a more familiar form. Finally, Demon King's Heart would lean into his monster side and notably allow him to take Elemental Infusion after all.

Eventually, he chose Hero's Soul, and then Assassin, reasoning that it didn't matter how strong he could potentially get if he didn't have the tools to survive early on. The class experience boost should help as well.

"And now you are ready. But before you go forth to conquer and defile the forces of Light, we will reveal to you the nature of your greatest enemies, the accursed Saintesses of Light."

He physically recoiled upon seeing the heroes' information. So much raw power! It didn't matter what he had picked for himself, any one of these women could wipe him off the face of the planet without exerting noticeable effort. Or any effort at all. However, as he continued reading about them, he noticed that they were all fairly dysfunctional. He was never going to beat them in a straight fight, but if he attacked their psychological weaknesses he may be able to subjugate at least some of them, then by turning them against one another he just might be able to come out on top. However, no mistakes could be tolerated. One false move, and he was as good as dead. Staying under their radar for long as possible would be essential to give him the time to build as much strength as he could. He had no real desire to engage them at all, but his monstrous nature more or less guaranteed that they would hunt him down once they learned of his existence. Carefully committing each Saintess' dossier to memory, he indicated he was ready to move on.

"Uhm, Mel, don't you think he's gonna need some extra enticement to deal with those OP as fuck bitches?"

"I intended to bestow upon him immortality and the ability to step in between the planes were he to succeed."

"Uhh, yeah no. He can get that just by getting strong enough. Heheh, I've got it." With a devious look on her face, Carnachias turned and said, "Anon, what do you think of my sister? Because if you win, I'll give you her hand in marriage. Wait, no, that's worthless. I'll give you her as a ."

"Wha... no, I refuse." As Melanoche said this, however, a faint blush appeared on her cheeks.

"40k year old virgin, thinking her opinions matter. Kek."

"CEASE YOUR IMPLICATIONS!"

Carnachias ignored her, however, turning instead to the not-quite-yet-monster. "Anyway, good luck, Anon. Have fun wherever you go! See ya. I'll prep sis for your cock."

Now sporting a very apparent blush, Melanoche cried, "Do not ignore me!"

"Oh wait, I nearly forgot! You need to finalize your form. You can't go out there looking like that."

Looking down at himself, he realized he was still mostly shapeless, the edges of his body seeming to blur out of existence. Focusing on his right hand made it coalesce into a more solid outline, prompting a grin from Carnachias.

"You're a natural! Decide what you wanna look like, and poof, you're done. Just don't think about trollfaces or Pepes."

For a moment he could feel his face and mouth begin to stretch into the notorious smile, before he got a firm grip on his thoughts and glared at Carnachias, who was laughing boisterously at her prank. "Oh, don't look at me like that, it was funny!"

In spite of himself, he had to agree, a chuckle escaping him, or at least the closest his almost nonbeing could approximate. Getting to the business at hand, however, he decided on his appearance, the details forming with a thought and being tweaked just as easily. Once satisfied, he looked up expectantly, waiting for what was next.

"Lookin' good, Anon! Okay, have fun breaking bitches!"

The nonexistence around him faded or perhaps brightened, as the two sisters vanished, but before the swelling expectancy of actual surroundings could fully manifest, there was an interruption in the form of another girl, this one almost angelically beautiful.

"Awawawa! I didn't manage to stop them! But you shouldn't have listened to the creepy voices in the dark to begin with! And you have a monster core too! I can't return you to Earth like this!"

The newly made monster raised an eyebrow. Going back to Earth? Even the thought was distasteful.

"Okay, I can still make this right. I'm sure I can convince you to be a good person. And by convince I mean bribe. I know you Darkies are a bit deaf to reason."

The monster rolled his eyes. He was perfectly reasonable, but he didn't need some random angel to try to convince him to follow her moral compass.

The angel puffed up at this indignantly. "Don't scoff at me! I'm Ariel, the Lion of Heaven, Lord of Air!"

The monster just looked more amused at this declaration. Lion? She looked more like a Disney Princess.

"A Disney princess?! FUCK YOU, I'M A MAN, I LIKE GIRLS!!! You want proof? Fine then! I can switch your core and family to something better for free! Once you get your hands on the beauty of Light, you won't want to help those two perverts anymore! Not that you should have anyway!"

Stilling his amusement, the monster decided to at least hear the angel out. Twink or no, if he was going to give him even more power, there was no reason to turn it down. he had a sneaking suspicion that he would need every advantage he could get.

Neither the Cores nor the Family choices particularly appealed to the monster. While the raw power of Doom was mildly tempting, he wasn't willing to give up his Alpha Perk. Power was nice, but against the true heavy hitters of this world, his greatest weapon was his mind and his influence. So he just shook his head, prompting Ariel to scramble for his next offer.

This was interesting. In exchange for swearing a Divine Oath, he could receive two Angel Blessings and one Divine Miracle. There were three Divine Oaths Ariel wanted him to take.

Respect Sacred Ground, which essentially meant holy places were untouchable. Interestingly, it didn't appear as though he were banned from entering such places, it just prevented him from attacking or defiling them. And, he assumed, people from them.

Second, Love Humanity, which prevented him from harming innocents, unless they first attacked him. This seemed far too restrictive to him. Who decided who was innocent and who wasn't? And what happened if an innocent was used as a shield against him?

He moved on to the third. Eradicate the Dark. Essentially, turning on the two goddesses who had brought him here, and undoing all they had done. On the upside, Ariel said he would tell the Saintesses to leave him alone while he did this. However, this rankled to the monster for several reasons. Firstly, nothing was mentioned about after he was done. Would they then descend upon him and mop him up, tie up the last loose end, so to speak? For that matter, Ariel said he would tell the Saintesses to leave him alone. But would they even listen? Nothing was said about actually preventing them from bothering him. But the greatest issue the monster had was that it felt like the basest ingratitude to immediately turn on the goddesses that had given him a second chance at life. Certainly, they expected him to fight the Light for them, but it had never been a condition of their various gifts. He was even reasonably certain that he would face no negative repercussions from them if he completely ignored their war. They had respected his right to choose, so at the very least, he decided, he would not work against them directly unless he had no other choice.

Some of the Angel Blessings looked promising, particularly God's Eye, which seemed almost too good to be true. The Divine Miracles were slightly less so, most having significant caveats. One, however, surprised him, seeming more suitable for a creature of Dark than a Divine Miracle. Mark of Submission? And with that appearance...

Making his decision, the monster swore to Respect Sacred Ground, prompting a beaming smile from Ariel before it faded somewhat as the diminutive angel realized no other Oaths were forthcoming.

"Okay, that gives you two Angel Blessings and One Divine Miracle. God's Eye and... Warmth? Wow, I didn't expect you to pick that. What about your Miracle? ...Should have figured. Fine, Mark of Submission. So, just in case you decide to eradicate the dark after all, here's the current leaders of the Dark."

The monster closely examined these dossiers as well. While he didn't intend to antagonize any of them, information is the most valuable resource, and there was no guarantee that he wouldn't accidentally step on any toes. Just the way he had come into being made it a non-zero chance that the Demon King would believe he was intended to usurp her.

Once he was sure he would not forget a single detail, he indicated his readiness to continue.

"So, this is it. I can't keep you any longer without those two noticing, but I'm sure I've changed your mind about the whole monster business. I'm me, after all! And in case you're still going to help those two perverts, I'll remind you of one thing! The good guys always win! See ya!"

And with those parting words, which made the monster grin in amusement, the nonbeing finally gave way to actual physical surroundings.

Setup complete! Well, almost. The actual description of our monster will have to wait until he actually gets a good look at himself, he doesn't have a name, and as of yet we know almost nothing about his personality, but character creation is done. While I've poked at the idea of writing before, this is the first story I actually put out there for people to look at. So give me your criticisms, point out where you thought I did well, or not so well. This chapter has a fair bit of repetition from the CYOA prompt, but next chapter should put us out into uncharted waters. I'll be treating stats and numbers a bit more loosely, going by feel more than hard numbers. For instance, if someone gets hit by an arrow, he doesn't lose 15 hitpoints, he instead has a burning pain in his shoulder and finds it more difficult to move his arm. This is partially due to the fact that I don't want to deal with trying to keep all the numbers straight, and partially because I feel that that approach doesn't quite fit with the style I'm going for.

Oh, and by the way, feel free to leave a comment if you have any thoughts to share, even if the chapter you're reading was posted ages ago. I'd still love to hear what you think!

Happy reading!