As soon as I called up to the black bird, it flapped down from the top of the bookshelf. I instinctively crouched, and put my arms protectively over my head. Just in case.

It landed on the wooden counter next to Aleister, and stared at me.

I slowly lowered my arms. He was black and gray, and had a tiny splotch of white feathers on his breast. I wasn’t sure what species of bird he was exactly, but definitely some kind of crow.

“Erm, hello there. Hopefully, I haven’t disturbed you.” I said.

The blackbird started to jump up and down on the dusty counter, as he spoke.

“No, not at all! We’ve been waiting for you!”

This time, I wasn’t surprised that the animal was talking to me. I was surprised by the sound of its voice. Whereas Alesiter sounded like a haughty aristocrat, the crow sounded like an excitable, little kid, speaking through a creaky and delicate avian voice box. The effect was uncanny.

“And, are you going to help me? Like Aleister?” I followed up.

“That’s right!” He was obviously very happy to be speaking to me. The crow took off, flew a small lap around us, and landed in front of me. He did a funny little bow, putting one wing in front, and one in back, like a curtsy before a king.

“My name is Cheerful! I’m here to help you out, too! I love to help! Let’s be good friends!” The bird twittered.

“Suck up.” I hear the soft yowl from my other side; Aleister.

“Right, well thank you, Cheerful.” I said.

The bird stood up, and put one of his wings forward.

I gently laid my fingertips on it, not wanting to disturb the fragile feathers.

We shook ‘hands,’ and Cheerful did another lap around the room, while I got a new message from the system.

To Do:

  1. Solve the Cat’s riddle.

  2. Solve the Cat’s second riddle.

  3. Unlock the Tutorial

And then:

3 To Do items complete!

+20 EXP

 

I was racking up EXP faster than I could find places to spend it! I re-evaluated the front door, which required 750 EXP. Maybe I would get there sooner than I imagined. My EXP was now at 47! And I still had the whole house to clean.

I remembered that I got only 10 EXP the last time I completed three objectives on my To Do list. This time, I got double. I hoped that this trend would continue.

There were still more locked doors in the hallway, there was the locked Front Door, and the spiral staircase tucked in the corner of the Front Room.

I walked over to the staircase, aware of Aleister and Cheerful’s eyes on my back. I looked up. I could see there was a landing, and caught a glimpse of more doors. Likely locked. More mysteries, and more EXP costs would wait for me on the second floor. As I tried to put my foot down on the first step of the stairway, my foot seemed to go right through it. Of course.

Locked!

Spend 30 EXP to unlock?

I had more than enough EXP, but I decided against unlocking this for now. Something else was bugging me.

“Cheerful?” I called.

“Yes, yes, how can I help?” the bird answered.

“Do you know what my name is?”

The crow had been doing a funny little jig, but as soon as I asked about my name, it seemed to deflate.

“Oh, no, sorry. I’m so sorry. I don’t know.”

“Do you know anything about me?”

The crow was almost still now. “No, I’m sorry, no I don’t.”

I could hear in the bird’s creaking voice that it genuinely hated not being able to help me. Oh well, it was worth a try, I thought.

I didn’t like not having a name, or an identity. All the new skills and the EXP I’ve been earning distracted me, but I felt unmoored, and terribly confused.

“I’ll be right back.” I said to the two animals, and walked out of the Front Room.

I found the bathroom, which I had unlocked earlier. Inside, as I hoped, there was a mirror.

I looked into the mirror and blinked.

I had the most generic features one could possibly imagine.

My hair was either dirty blonde, or brownish, or maybe it was black, and covered with dust? As soon as I decided on a color, it seemed to slightly shift. Something was preventing me from pinpointing my own haircolor. My face, too, was so forgettable, that I don’t think I would be picked out of a line-up of one.

Studying my face, I could not find any clues about who I might have been before I landed myself in this strange house. I wasn’t even sure if I was a man or a woman.

I decided to at least remedy that last part.

I checked that the door was closed behind me, and that Aleister and Cheerful hadn’t somehow teleported into the bathroom with me.

I peeked down my pants, and yelped.

Smooth, like a doll.

I stared at the mirror, and the new unexplained puzzle which it threw at me. I carefully studied the angles and curves of my face. I judged the lines of my body, the proportions. Eventually, exasperated, I determined that I was either a taller woman, or maybe, a slimmer, shorter man. And obviously, I couldn’t just look down my pants to check.

I tried to remember what sex I was before this crazy adventure started. I tried to concentrate.

I could not remember.

I sighed. Honestly, I had just talked to a crow and a cat. Maybe not having any family jewels was not the weirdest thing that happened to me today. It was however, the most disturbing.

“Aleister! Cheerful, can you come help me with something!” I yelled, opening the bathroom door.

The two appeared almost instantly. It didn’t take long for the cat to figure out my question, even when I could barely stutter it out

“What’s, I mean, why’s- there’s nothing here,” I stammered pointing to my pants, “It’s smooth, it's not supposed to be smooth! How will I...”

If you’ve ever wondered if a cat can cackle in mirth, yes, he can. But it doesn’t sound good.

While Aleister was having fun at my expense, Cheerful kindly informed me:

“You’ll need a spell to fix that, I think!.”

“Oh, I see, I have to cast a spell. And how do I do that?” I was ready for anything to resolve this problem immediately. Unfortunately, Aleister interrupted.

“You can’t!” He yelped, before being overtaken by more cat-giggles.

“You’ll have to find the right spell for that. I believe it’s quite advanced. Try not to let it worry you for now.” Cheerful added helpfully.

Like hell I wouldn’t worry. I thanked the two guides, and quickly shut the bathroom door in their faces.

Alone, I wanted to completely investigate this odd body with no gender and no distinguishing features. So I stripped completely naked, and looked at the grime-caked mirror.

I was so indistinct and generic it was hard to remember my own features when I wasn’t looking at them.

My skin tone could have been tan, could have been olive, or maybe a light brown? Or maybe I was pale, and the dim light was playing tricks on my eyes? As soon as I decided it was one shade or another, it changed under my gaze, always defying any classification.

I turned myself around in the mirror and found that I did have one very distinct feature.

On my back, just below my neck, there was a gorgeous tattoo of a serpent, the lines so inky dark they shimmered under the lamp. It was coiled and twisted across my shoulder blades, the triangular head extending almost to the nape of my neck. I recalled the massive serpent I met in the Zodiac space, when I had picked my sign.

I was glad now that I had picked the Snake. If I had picked The Ladle, the tattoo on my back would not be nearly as impressive.

I craned my neck around to get a good look, and shifted my back left and right. Something about the serpent's head reminded me of that moment when I picked my constellation. The star-snake had winked at me, as it added a second effect; a debuff. What had it been?

I quickly pulled up my character sheet.

Sign: Snake

Buffs: Serpent’s Kiss (Romance twice as easy)

Debuffs: Curse of the Unspecified (???)

Something clicked in my head. Was my lack of any distinction the result of this curse?

I heard a little chime, and since I had my character sheet open, I could see new text being added.

Debuff: Curse of the Unspecified (Start the game with no name, no gender, and no other identifying feature).

Huh. That’ll explain it.

I had picked the Snake sign so that I could romance twice as easy, and maybe not end up alone in this world. But how could I court anyone when people won’t be able to remember my incredibly forgettable face? Not to mention the problems that would arise in romance from the lack of- you know.

What a quandary.

But curses and debuffs could be cleared. I would keep my grey-green-brownish-bluish eyes out for any mention of how I might lift this curse. I did not look forward to spending the rest of my life looking like the most generic NPC one could possibly imagine.

I hastily dressed and decided to take Cheerful’s advice for now, and just put it out of my mind, as much as that was possible.

I left the bathroom.

I had no more items on my To Do list, but I did have my own thoughts about my situation. I found myself feeling resentful of this system.

Wasn’t I a person with free will? Certainly, I could make up my own objectives and complete them, without having this overlay tell me what to do?

And I knew what I wanted to do next.

I wanted to establish a little base camp in this drafty and disused house.