For the sake of maintaining his own "style," the **Nightmare Lord** decided to replace Evan Walker's original idea of a "beautiful fairy guide" with his own grand performance for the opening of the **Nightmare World**—and he starred in it himself!
According to the Nightmare Lord, anyone who hears his voice should be filled with overwhelming dread. Even just from those fearful emotions, he could gather a good serving of dream-energy "food."
And indeed, the Nightmare Lord's voice *did* carry an aura of dread and intimidation. However, Evan had processed that voice—stripping it of its terror and leaving behind only a sense of mystery and eerie intrigue. That tone suited the opening lines quite well.
Evan had insisted that, if the great Nightmare Lord were to make a dramatic entrance, then it should be *truly cinematic*—a grand plot sequence so shocking it would make ghosts and gods weep, something that could frighten players half to death.
After much flattery and persuasion, the Nightmare Lord reluctantly agreed to remove the "horror" in his voice.
As a result, although little **Otilia** was a bit spooked upon hearing the intro narration, she didn't descend into genuine fear.
The Nightmare Lord could use *intimidation* to ward away some, and Evan could use *entertainment* to keep them coming back.
As soon as those unsettling words faded, Otilia noticed the thick fog around her thinning—and a **mirror** appeared before her.
Reflected within the mirror was herself.
> **[Please customize your player character]**
These shining words appeared in the center of her vision, before shrinking and sliding to the top of the screen like an augmented reality overlay. On the far left of her view, more floating selections appeared:
> **[Face] [Skin Tone] [Hair] [Makeup]...** and more.
"Wait... this interface… it feels so familiar… like in one of those games," Otilia muttered.
As an experienced gamer, Otilia immediately recognized what she was seeing: a **character customization screen.**
> "So, I'm in a game now…"
Seeing such a familiar interface caused most of her fear to melt away. She scratched her head, now simply puzzled.
> "But… when did I start playing?
> I remember going to sleep before this…
> So, this must be a dream? Have I played so many games lately that my dreams… became full-game simulations?"
It made a certain kind of sense. After all, dreams are often an extension of reality. And Otilia *did* go through a heavy gaming spree recently.
> "That's gotta be it—just a dream," she said, nodding. "There's no way I'd ever get into a high-tech full-immersion game like this in real life!"
> "Since it's just a dream, I might as well enjoy it."
> "Although… it's a little weird that I know *I'm dreaming* while dreaming…"
Still, she decided to go along with it for now.
As she began to customize her character, Otilia noticed something strange:
> "These menus… they're not floating in the air. They're fixed in my **vision**—like they're inside my own *eyes*..."
No matter where she looked, the UI didn't move out of position. And when she reached out to touch an option, it would glow gently—and allow her to **interact** with it, even drag it to different spots.
She dragged the **[Please customize your player character]** message to the bottom of her view—only for it to instantly glide back to the top on its own.
> "Huh. So the UI isn't customizable. That's kind of limiting…"
Meanwhile, **Evan Walker** and the Nightmare Lord were watching her progress.
Evan observed with interest.
The Nightmare Lord, on the other hand, looked extremely bored.
> "Hmm... seasoned gamer. First thing she does is test the interface…" Evan muttered fondly.
As a gamer himself, he totally understood. The first thing he always did in any game was open the settings menu—adjust screen resolution, subtitle display, key bindings, and more.
The Nightmare Lord, on the other hand, had different ideas.
> "Such minor emotional fluctuations... so little food to harvest..." the Nightmare Lord grumbled.
> "Now, if we strapped the little girl down and slowly *sawed her body apart*, the emotional pain would produce *exquisite* energy…"
> "HEY! Don't describe such a gruesome execution scene!" Evan snapped, cold sweat running down his back. "Also… it's just the beginning. The future's what matters!"
Still fidgeting with the interface, Otilia finally began customizing her avatar—only to hit another annoying wall.
> "Wait… what's this?
> Face shape, height, weight, and body size are all... *unadjustable?!*
> What kind of terrible game presents options you *can't even use?*"
She leaned forward to read the fine text:
> **[To unlock advanced customization options, please obtain special items in-game.]**
> "What?! I need to find some kind of item **in the game** to change my face and body? Where's my long, flowing black hair? My flawless tall beauty?!" she cried out in mock despair.
Otilia began frantically poking menu buttons again, but the restrictions remained.
Since this is the **Nightmare World**, players who naturally stumble in from dreams appear as their *real-world selves*. There's a deeper significance behind this design—one Evan took quite seriously.
He didn't want players to abandon their real identities too easily. Still, he allowed moderate customization to keep things fun.
Hair color and hairstyle were fully changeable.
Makeup options—well, Evan did his best. He didn't know much about women's cosmetics, so he just approximated a few settings from memory.
> "Huh? Only this many makeup options?" Otilia muttered, evidently meticulous about her appearance.
She kept complaining as she made her final tweaks.
Eventually, her customized character was complete.
**To be continued…**