Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing about this story except for the plotline… I think. I don't know if that's entirely true or not.
A/N: Okay, please see the bottom of each chapter from here on out for updates to the character sheet(s) being used for this story, mainly Issei and some others (it will depend on how events play out to determine who the others are). I hope that the different sheets make sense to you in the long haul… otherwise, well, I'm not doing my job right.
Next on the agenda… well, this story starts a year or more before canon does, just to give Issei some actual experience that will help his position on the off-chance he becomes a Devil. It might be that he'll become one, it might not be, but who knows? The point is to give Issei time to go through his classes properly from year 1 of High School.
Now, I plan to post this first on the Questionable Questing forums, which will be followed by a release on FFN when I get all the content I can squeezed out of a chapter or so. I hope to give enough enjoyment out of this to everyone.
Not much else to say, other than I'll leave A/Ns at the bottom of each chapter from here on out, but above the character sheet(s). Thank you for understanding.
Now, then… The Wheel Of Fate Is Turning! Rebel One, Action!
Issei the Gaming Pathfinder
by Xamusel
Level 0: How the Sekiryuutei became a Gamer
Issei Hyoudou was quite literally on cloud nine when he walked to his new school from his family's house. He was finally able to pull it off! He was able to go to the formerly all-girl's Kuoh Academy! What red-blooded man wouldn't want to go to the school to get a harem of beauties?
It was while he was about halfway to the school itself when he thought to himself, 'Wouldn't life be better if it were like a harem-based role-playing video game? Where the main character was a dude who had to save reality with a group of gorgeous women at his side, each of them having a special purpose in the game, but not just to be the guy's harem?' With a snort, he shook his head and thought, 'Chyeah, right… like that would ever happ—'
At that moment, a popup window appeared in front of his field of vision.
[Welcome to The Game, Pathfinder!]
Issei stopped walking at that spot. This… this had to be a dream, wasn't it? It was impossible for video game mechanics to happen in a real world situation… right?!
Before he could consider the ramifications of hurting himself to see if this was real or not, however, the popup window in his vision added a few extra words and some choices underneath them.
[Which story genre of RPG would you like your life to start off like?]
[Science Fantasy/Urban Fantasy/High Fantasy]
Issei stared at the popup window a bit longer, before he decided mentally, 'eh, screw it, I'll see what this is about.' With that, he chose the Science Fantasy option, pressing it with his index finger. As soon as he did so, the button, as it were, depressed a little, and the popup window went away in a brief flash of light. He blinked his eyes a few moments, to get the stars out of his vision, only to look around shortly after the stars left.
This wasn't Kuoh Town, at least to his immediate knowledge.
For one thing, the buildings in Kuoh Town that he was familiar with were most definitely not skyscrapers, and there was definitely more plant life along the ground. For another, the vehicle that passed him by, while it resembled a car somehow, it sure wasn't a care that he was familiar with, especially since there was no possible way cars could hover yet! Finally, the street signs weren't the norm for a Japanese street, but rather… they were the norm for a street as found in the heart of the Gaian Empire's galactic territory?
'Where the hell did that come from?!' Issei thought, before he looked down at his clothes. 'At least my clothes aren't too different, all things considered…'
Indeed, his outfit was pretty much the same as when he walked out of his house, with the sole exception being that his blazer had a strange symbol on his right side. If his mind wasn't done supplying random information, he could tell that the symbol was for… the Gaian Empire's Military High School Japan Branch? He was being enrolled into the military?!
Before Issei could freak out from the information, however, the popup window from earlier reappeared, this time with new information.
[Welcome to the Alternate Universe fusion of Star Ocean, Mass Effect, and Xenosaga. During the previous nearly 5 millennium before this point, in which Earth, now renamed Gaia, had discovered a supernatural artifact called the Zohar, this planet had managed to lose contact with its colonies in the Andromeda and Ganymede galaxies. Some 3 millennium ago, Gaia had been hit by a technology reversion ray, which had affected people to go back to what seemed to be the Dark Ages of technology and society. Eventually, however, mankind had rediscovered their previous advancements and rebuilt technology to the way it was meant to be… or was it?
Regardless, in this universe, your parents sent you off from Kuoh Town to Tokyo because of your in-universe desire to be a greater General than even the famed Katsuhiro Yamanashi of the Imperial Gaian Marines. Of course, in this universe, your parents expect you to make it to one of the subsidiary schools, since the main campus had a separate entrance exam that you need to pass in order to be a soldier. Even still, that was supposed to be kept a secret from all prospective students… too late to fix that now~.
Now, there are some major things to keep in mind regarding the game your life has become. First off, you were selected as the bearer of these powers because, quite frankly, you were the best candidate to save all reality from a being known as Trihexa, a dangerous beast that literally is the end of all reality. If you weren't, you would be going along on your merry way, along the life you chose for yourself that would lead you to Hell.
Okay… next on the list. To go back to your home reality at a later time, be ready to advance the story of each alternate universe fusion first. For example, there's going to be a daily planner for this reality in your main menu starting tomorrow that will help you when it comes down to what activities you need to have done by what time. Please keep that in mind.
Next up on the list, you'll need to understand that quests are an important thing to worry about, since these are meant to help you get strong enough to advance the story of each reality. These quests are divided into three types: Story Quests, which advance the story of a reality. Social Quests, which allow you to advance a relationship in terms of possible party members and other friends you might make. Finally, you have Grinding Quests, which have you, to use video game terms, Grind while looking for necessary materials or money to do things.
Speaking of quests…]
Issei groaned while he pressed the confirmation button that said he was reading the window. He didn't know how this reality could get any worse than it already was—
[Story Quest Alert!]
The Secret Entrance Exam: To get into the main campus as a student there, you have to hurry to get to the school for the secret exam within twelve minutes or less. Be sure to run at your top-most speed in order to get to the school on time! You can't miss the school when it's the big building five blocks down the road on your left.
Quest Completion Reward: 750 EXP for each fifteen seconds that you shave off the time, +1000 Relationship with [?], +1000 Relationship with [?], Random Piece of Armor, Random Weapon, 2500¥ for each fifteen seconds shaved off the time
Quest Failure: 250 EXP, No Military Academy For You
Bonus Objective 1: Make it to the school in nine minutes or less
Bonus Reward 1: +250 EXP for each total fifteen seconds that you shave off the time, +1000 Relationship with [?], Skill Book to go with the Random Weapon, +5000¥ for each fifteen seconds shaved off the time
Bonus Objective 2: Make it to the school in six minutes or less
Bonus Reward 2: +500 EXP for each total fifteen seconds that you shave off the time, +1000 Relationship with [?], +12500¥ for each fifteen seconds shaved off the time
Accept?
Y/N
"—dammit all to HELL!" Issei roared defiantly, pissed off that he was stuck with this, before a sudden calmness hit him. 'Eh? How did that happen? Do I need to look into that later?' he thought, before he pressed 'Y'. With that, a timer activated in the upper right corner of his vision, starting at 00:00'00 and staying there until… oh! Of course!
At that point, Issei felt the effects of two universe reboots, before he blinked and looked around for a brief bit. Shaking his head for a bit, he decided to get back to what his life was supposed to be, which involved a lot of running. Anyway, knowing that this wouldn't end until he made it to where he was supposed to go, he started running to get to the school on time. He was incredibly fortunate that he was on the left side of the road, otherwise things would be more difficult, to boot. As he ran, he noticed that the crossing lights were clear of stop lights, which would have taken him even longer to get through in the event that they were on.
As he was running, he hardly paid attention to the amount of time he was running, only checking once every block or something. At the first time he checked the timer, he saw 00:35'98, which was decent for the first block. The second time he saw the timer, he saw that he had taken up a total of 01:01'64, which meant that his pace was getting better… was it? The third time he saw the timer, he saw 01:29'99, which was a sign of him slowing down some. The fourth time he saw the timer, it said 01:54'12, which proved to have some consequence to his endurance somewhat being shot to hell.
It was when he found the school's gates and ran onto the ground that he saw the timer stop at 02:17'96. Collapsing onto the ground from exhaustion, he barely noted three popup windows that went into his field of vision, which were somewhat useful in this case.
[Due to running at excessive speeds to make it somewhere on time, you gained +3 Agility.]
[Due to excessive sweating from having to run harder than normal, you gained +3 Endurance.]
[Objective Complete!]
Made it to the school in twelve minutes or less: 28,500 EXP (before other Objectives), +1000 Relationship with [?], +1000 Relationship with [?], Gaian Empire Standard Military High School Anti-Beam Bracers, Gaian Empire Standard Military High School Gunblade, 95,000¥ (before other Objectives).
Make it to the school in nine minutes or less: 38,000 EXP (after main but before other Objectives), +1000 Relationship with [?], 'Gunblade Katas and General Usage' Skill Book, 285,000¥ (after main but before other Objectives).
Make it to the school in six minutes or less: 57,000 EXP (after prior two Objectives), +1000 Relationship with [?], 760,000¥ (after prior two Objectives).
[Secret Objective Met!] Make it to the school in three minutes or less: 133,000 EXP (after all other objectives), 1,710,000¥ (after all other objectives), +6 Stat Points.
At roughly what could count as a couple minutes beyond that point, after Issei had closed the windows in front of his face, a feminine voice called out to him from right in front of him. "Hey, Issei, what's wrong? Need a hand?"
Looking up to see who was speaking to him, he couldn't shake the feeling that he should, even in this universe, know who the person was that was speaking to him. The person in front of him was most definitely a girl around his age, that was for sure… well, it was because she quite clearly had big-sized funbags to begin with, even with the partially unzipped track suit that showed off a small bit of cleavage that he knew wasn't supposed to be shown… which was all that she revealed about her figure. Even then, she had long chestnut brown hair, purple eyes, and a face that reminded him of… wait, that can't be correct! Irina wasn't a girl… right?
Still, there was a name that was telling him 'this is her name', so he extended his right hand and said, "Yeah… thanks, Shiki-chan." Now, where did he get that name from…? Oh, wait…
As if oblivious to Issei's thought processes, Shiki Itsuka grabbed his hand and pulled him up off the ground. "Y'know, Issei," she said, "you don't have to use honorifics with me. It's not needed between us, I hope you realize."
Issei nodded when she finished, before he asked, "How long have you been here, Shiki? I mean, it couldn't have been long, right?"
Shiki placed her free hand on her chin and said, "I'd wager I got here about half an hour ago, Issei." Removing the hand from her chin, she asked, "Why do you ask?"
Issei opened his mouth to answer when—
"Attention, all students!" a man's voice called out over the radios in each prospective student's possession. "Please note that you have nine minutes and counting before further testing can be done! If you aren't in the courtyard by that point, you will have one last chance to enter the Gaian Imperial Military Academy Japan Branch! Failure to take this chance will result in you being forced to attend one of the subsidiary schools on campus!"
—Issei put his face in his hands. "Never mind…" he said. It was at that point when he looked around the courtyard. "Um, Shiki? Do you know how many students are applying to join the military?" he asked, making sure to look her in the eye shortly before asking.
Shiki shook her head, before answering, "I think they'll tell us when everyone gets here. After all, the human population does exceed fifteen trillion, or so I've heard."
Issei's eyes widened in shock and surprise. "Wait, for real?!" he exclaimed.
"Shh!" Shiki shushed, keeping him quiet for the time being. "That's what I heard, anyway, so I don't know if it's true or not." Looking around for a bit, she asked, "Do you remember the Klausian annexation that happened about a century ago?"
"How could I not?" Issei asked in reply, his mouth working ahead of his brain. "Weren't the Klausians in need of a cure to a disease worse than the Bubonic Plague?"
Shiki nodded. "Well, remember Serena-kaichou from the Student Council in our last school?" she asked. "Turns out, her great-grandfather was the leader of the Klausians at the time. Since then, her family has been considered major nobility, making her an Archduchess in rank."
Issei's eyes widened in surprise. "Seriously?!" he asked. "How come she never said anything to me?!"
Shiki shrugged. "I have no idea," she said, "honest. I hope that she's not going to be mad at me for sharing that bit of family history with you…"
"Serena Flintson-kaichou…" Issei muttered at that point. If his memories were being sorted right, she was a flirty type, although she schooled that around everyone else when it wasn't just the two of them… though it was probably an open secret that she liked him as more than just friends. Last he recalled, however, she was definitely the year above him and a bit on the small side with her boobs, although she said her large ass more than made up for it to her… meh, as if he liked asses like that.
Anyway, if he recalled correctly, she had orange-red hair that reached the top of her breasts and green eyes that shone like emeralds. If he was honest with himself, he loved the shine of her eyes the most, especially when it came to war simulation games. Then again… he usually lost to her in terms of such games, even if the one game he consistently won against her was a 3D game of multi-layer chess, which worked as if one were commanding a battle from a forward base on the surface of a planet and had access to different types of troops. Of course, the layers of the battlefield worked as followed: The top-most layer was spaceship based, the layer below it was for atmospheric fighters of any sort, the layer below that was for ground combat, the layer below that was for sea-based combat, and finally, the last layer was for underwater-based combat. Her losses at the hands of Issei were completely fair losses, and they never bet anything while playing, but that was because they weren't into doing that while he was in middle school…
Suddenly, he was shaken out of his memory when he looked up above Shiki's head, mainly to see—
«Heiress of the Itsuka Kazoku Itsuka-ryu Nindō, Mixed Martial Arts, and Kunoichi and Shinobi Arts»
Kunoichi
Level 9
Shiki Itsuka
—that. He wasn't sure what to make of that, but it had to mean something, right?
"Um, Issei…?" Shiki asked, getting him to look her in the eye. "What was that about?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, was there something in my hair?"
Issei facepalmed at that. "No…" he admitted. "It's complicated, that's all."
"How complicated?"
"So complicated, you probably wouldn't believe me, Shiki."
"O-kay… I hope you can tell me soon, though, Issei."
"I probably will…"
At that point, the two of them heard the same man's voice call out over the radios, "Attention, all first-year students! Please report to the courtyard immediately! You have thirty minutes before the final part of the first phase of testing can commence! I repeat!"
Issei and Shiki looked at their radios for a bit, before looking at each other. "So…" Issei started. "Want to keep in touch after the tests are done?"
Shiki nodded. "Why not? I hope to be in the same class as you." Glancing at a wristwatch, she said, "Uh-oh… I promised a friend of mine that I'd meet her a couple minutes ago." Looking at Issei again, she asked, "See you later?"
"Sure," he said with a smile, "I'll see you later."
"Thank you, Issei," Shiki said, mere moments before she vanished in a swirl of leaves.
Issei sighed as he shook his head. "I have got to learn how she does that!" he declared, before noticing he was getting strange looks. "…shutting up."
After the grace period…
Issei couldn't believe it… there was a helluva lot more students than he thought possible all crammed into the courtyard! He wasn't sure how many, but it seemed like a large amount of student hopefuls, to be sure. Even so—
"Welcome, one and all!" the man from earlier, who looked a lot older than he sounded, spoke from a podium that was placed in front of the crowd. "I am the headmaster of this institution, Takato Masanori! I welcome each and every one of you to the Gaian Empire Military Academy Japan Branch! Now, to commence the final portion of the first phase of testing, I want each of you to come forward and take a sealed envelope from one of the boxes! There's enough for everyone, so please, step forward and take one! After that, walk to the testing rooms, where you will be given the chance to take your tests for this and the remaining phases!"
Issei waited his turn, walking ahead when he needed to, before he finally got a sealed envelope. Before he could open it, however, a woman in front of him and behind the box said, "You'll need to wait like everyone else before you can open the envelope, mister."
Issei chuckled nervously, before he followed the person who was originally in front of him to where he was supposed to go, unsure of what to do from there. When he got to the testing rooms, he saw that the room was full of guys, which really put him down somewhat. He wanted to be in a room with at least a ratio of 4:1 girls to guys!
Eventually, everyone who could fit into the room without going overboard was inside, which prompted a video screen to light up with the headmaster's face on it. "Okay," he said. "Everyone, please open your envelopes now. Be sure to take out the slip of paper assigned to you. Red means you are permitted to continue to the next phase of the military testing. White means you have to head to the box desks and say you're more cut out for one of the subsidiary schools."
Issei and the rest of the room opened their envelopes. Just as he had grabbed his slip of paper in his left hand—
[WARNING! You are about to activate your God-given Sacred Gear! Continue?
Y/N]
—that happened.
Issei looked around carefully, to make sure nobody else saw what was going on, only to realize that everyone was frozen in place. Now that he knew what was going on… he wondered if he should do something with his stat points and such.
So, with that in mind, he decided to think over what he needed to… do… he dropped his head in defeat. He felt like a complete idiot! He said out loud, after lifting his head up, "Inventory."
With the opening of his inventory menu, he placed the envelope down and pulled out the book that he had acquired earlier for running to school fast enough. The moment he had it in his hands—
[You have the 'Gunblade Katas and General Usage' Skill Book! Would you like to learn the skills within?
Y/N]
—Issei thought it over for a bit. On the one hand, he needed to learn how to use his weapon pronto. On the other hand, however, he wasn't sure what sort of requisite stats were needed, so—
[For thinking an action through properly, your Intelligence has increased by 1.]
[For working out consequences for your actions, your Wisdom has increased by 1.]
—okay, now this system was pissing him off!
Issei then decided to use a skill he had acquired earlier… to some degree. "Observe," he said, looking at the book.
['Gunblade Katas and General Usage' Skill Book. This skill book teaches the reader how to fight with a Gunblade in both melee and ranged combat. It requires that you have a Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence of 15.]
Issei nodded to himself, before he looked at the other two items he didn't know much about in his inventory. First was the Gunblade… "Observe."
[Gaian Empire Standard Military High School Gunblade
The standard entry level Gunblade that most prospective soldiers get by purchasing from the school itself. Has a brand new feel to it.
To carry around: 10 Strength
To swing like a sword: 15 Dexterity
To shoot like a gun: 20 Dexterity
To defend with: 15 Dexterity
Damage Modifiers: +30 slashing damage, +45 piercing damage
Critical Modifiers: *4 slashing damage, *3 piercing damage
Can carry a maximum of 6 rounds of varying types in its revolving chambers]
Looking at the bracers, he repeated the process involved.
[Gaian Empire Standard Military High School Anti-Beam Bracers
A pair of bracers that add a great deal of protection when defending properly against beam-based weapons and abilities. Although, admittedly, the bracers don't do as well against physical weapons.
To wear: 15 Strength
Defense Modifiers: +150 Beam-type damage of any sort, +15 physical weapons damage]
With that, he decided he had better be sure of his status. "Status," he said, getting the following out of it:
Name: Issei Hyoudou
Title: None
Level: 8 - Experience: 0.00%
HP: 1960
MP: 250
Ki: 400
Strength: 6
Vitality: 4
Endurance: 7 = 4 + 3
Dexterity: 8
Agility: 10 = 7 + 3
Charisma: 4
Intelligence: 6 = 5 + 1
Wisdom: 6 = 5 + 1
Spirit: 5
Life Force: 1
Magic Power: LOCKED
Magic Control: LOCKED
Ki Reserves: LOCKED
Ki Control: LOCKED
Points: 111
Issei nodded to himself, before he stopped partway. "Wait… what does each stat do?" he asked out loud.
A ping alerted his attention to a new window.
[Stats and what they do and mean:
Stat Milestones: This varies per setting, so you will only get what you are now familiar with in terms of setting. In Science Fantasy, the average person normally can't go up past 40 (since, well, training and education standards are completely improved compared to reality) in any stat. Those who are considered geniuses, however, can increase their stats up to the Genius range of 80-100. Olympic-level Geniuses (since, in-setting, the Olympics are for any race added to the roster of citizens in the Gaian Empire) are at the 120-150 range. Supernatural-like abilities are 200+ (with true Supernatural abilities being 300+).
Stat points: Raising a stat costs 1 point, with the following exceptions: Life Force costs 12 per raise and cannot go past 10. Magic Power costs 5 per, Ki reserves 8 per with a max of 15.
HP (H): The total amount of health a person can have. You get this by way of the equation H = 10(VLE2).
MP (M): The total amount of magic a person can have. You get this by way of the equation M =10(IW)P.
Ki (K): The total amount of Ki a person can have. You get this by way of the equation K = 10(S + V + E + D + A + T)R.
Strength (S): The total ability to lift objects, deal damage, and related. It factors into your ability to use Ki.
Vitality (V): The total ability to recover from injuries dealt to you. It factors into your Hit Points and your ability to use Ki.
Endurance (E): The total ability to resist damage dealt to you. It factors into your Hit Points and your ability to use Ki.
Dexterity (D): The total ability to coordinate your body to do certain tasks, such as use your reflexes, or even attack. It factors into your ability to use Ki.
Agility (A): The total ability to moving fast, such as to dodge an attack, or even to run the 100 meter dash as swiftly as possible. It factors into your ability to use Ki.
Charisma (C): The total ability to influence people around you. It factors into your social standing and skills.
Intelligence (I): The total ability to study well, in terms of the mundane, and the supernatural. It factors into your Magic Points.
Wisdom (W): The total ability to use your common sense more often than not. It factors into your Magic Points and your ability to recover Magic Points.
Spirit (T): The total amount of energy you can call upon that does not come from your physical stats. It factors into your ability to use Ki and your ability to recover Ki.
Life Force (L): The total amount of exponential power that influences how much HP you get while you're still alive. Become a non-mortal, however, and this amount is locked at where it was.
Magic Power (P): The total amount of exponential power that influences how much MP you obtain while you're still alive (either as a mortal or a non-mortal).
Magic Control: The total amount of control you have over how much Magic you use per MP-using action. Divides MP costs to equal a minimum of 5.
Ki Reserves (R): The total amount of exponential power that influences your ability to use Ki while you're still alive. Become a non-mortal, however, and this amount is locked at where it was.
Ki Control: The total amount of control you have over how much Ki you use per Ki-using action. Divides Ki costs to equal a minimum of 5.]
Issei looked puzzled at what he was seeing for all of five seconds… before he shrugged, closed out of the window, and started putting points into his stats. First to go up was Strength, which increased to 15 for the minimum requirement of his new bracers, meaning 9 out of 111 was spent on that alone… and his total Ki was now 490. The next thing to go up was Vitality, which he increased by 11 to reach fifteen… at which point, apart from the 20 total spent, he noticed his HP was now at 7,350, which seemed to be a massive amount altogether so far. He also took a look at his Ki total to see… 600 Ki points? The next thing to go up was Endurance, which he upped by 11 as well… spending a total of 31 points now to reach the previous stats and 18 Endurance, which resulted in 48,600 HP and 710 Ki. The next thing he increased was Dexterity by 12, which resulted in 43 total points spent and was the minimum requirement to shoot with his Gunblade, to reach a score of 20 Dexterity and… 830 Ki? That thought took him only a few seconds before he decided to increase Agility by 8, totaling at 51 points spent to reach 18 Agility and 910 Ki.
He then thought about what to do with the remaining 60 points… should he spend the rest on Charisma? Or what? Shrugging again, he decided to put 11 into Charisma, for the time being to reach a total of 15 Charisma and 61 points spent. The next thing he thought to do was up Intelligence and Wisdom by 10 each, to give him 16 each, 2,560 MP total, and 81 spent points. He then took a look at Spirit and upped that to 15, resulting in 91 spent points and 1,010 Ki. Finally, he took a look at Life Force, which he upped twice to—
[ERROR! You can't spend points that you don't have! Please reduce Life Force by 1 and review your Stat Points again!]
—be given an annoying error message and a big, fat ERROR in regards to his HP. Sighing irritably to himself, Issei reduced the amount in Life Force down by 1 and looked at HP again… to see 729,000 HP?!
"Hot damn!" Issei declared when he saw the total that was his status screen. He then closed the Status menu and pressed the 'Y' button on the skill book's confirmation window. As if on cue, the book evaporated into light particles, even as knowledge flowed into his being.
[You learned Gunblade Care And Mastery!]
[Gunblade Care And Mastery (Passive) Level 1 EXP: 0.00%
This skill allows you to care for and use a gunblade as if it was an extension of yourself. At current skill level, it increases slashing damage by 10%, piercing damage by 5%, and attack speed by 15%. At current skill level, allows you to completely repair damage done to gunblade in four hours.]
Issei looked at the inventory again and tapped the gunblade icon, to see what that did.
[Would you like to equip Gaian Empire Standard Military High School Gunblade?
Y/N]
'Well, better see how it works,' Issei thought, before he pressed 'Y'. As soon as he did that, he noticed that the Gunblade image took up both hand images on his equip menu… which, if he was honest with himself, made perfect sense. Gunblades were generally used two-handedly instead of single-handed.
'Still doesn't mean I like it…' he thought, before doing the same thing he did with the Gunblade to the Gaian Empire Standard Military High School Anti-Beam Bracers. Finally, he closed out of the Inventory menu and tried pressing the 'Y' button on the first option—
[Hold onto the envelope and the paper inside it before literally saying Yes!]
—only for that to happen.
With a sigh, Issei shook his head before he picked up the envelope and the paper inside, saying, "Yes." At that point, a bright red and green flash enveloped Issei's left hand, causing him, and apparently everyone else in the room, to look at it in shock and awe, especially as the light morphed into a red gauntlet with a green gem on the back of the hand. "The hell?!"
At that point, a voice came out from… the… gauntlet… huh? «Good morning, partner. I never thought you'd wake me up for a while yet… wait, this place doesn't feel right.»
Issei, as well as the rest of the room's occupants, all gaped at the sight of a talking gauntlet. "Er… could you please say who you are, and why you're calling me your partner?" Issei asked.
«Call me Ddraig,» the gauntlet answered. «As for why, I take it you haven't heard of a Sacred Gear before?»
Before Issei could answer that one, however, a jolt of something powerful went down his spine, causing him to pull the red paper out of the envelope… wait, red paper?!
«Partner, you do realize that it was saturated with magic to react to someone's supernatural potential, right?» Ddraig asked, thankfully keeping the question inside Issei's head. «Red paper only happens if you have the potential for supernatural power.»
'Really?!' Issei thought in reply to Ddraig.
Before Ddraig could answer, the headmaster spoke again over the screen. "Okay, everyone," he said cheerfully. "Students with white strips of paper are to report to the box desks immediately, while students with red are to stay where they are for Phase 2 of the testing. Have a good day, you lucky 50 million red paper people, and be ready for the opening ceremony tomorrow!" With that, the screen turned off, and half the applying students in the room left.
«…Partner, I hate to ask, but what time period did I wake up in?» Ddraig asked.
'An alternate universe some nearly 5k years into the future, I believe,' Issei answered in thought.
A/N: So, before I get to the portion of the document I promised you guys would have the character sheet(s), I figured I'd do some explainin'. See, when I posted this on Questionable Questing, I wasn't aware of how much work a Gamer!Issei-style story would take. I thought it would be an easy thing… *scoffs* chyeah, easy, I thought. So much for that misconception.
Well, before I get to the meat of this note, I should mention that I canonized an Omake and its extended content that were written on QQ. Over on the thread I posted this under, I had said that the Omake was able to bump Issei up to the next complete level, what with EXP to the next level being current Level squared and then multiplied by 1,000. The reason I said that was because, well, I made a thread rule that said any Omake written that I approved would net the person or people it was about some bonuses. Well… I decided to grant Issei enough EXP to reach the next level.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, I am about to present… the first OMAKE CORNER!
Omake 001 by Walkir: Game Breaking Bugs Lead To Fun…?
[Story Quest Alert!]
The Secret Entrance Exam: To get into the main campus as a student there, you have to hurry to get to the school for the secret exam within twelve minutes or less. Be sure to run at your top-most speed in order to get to the school on time! You can't miss the school when it's the big building five blocks down the road on your left.
Quest Completion Reward: 750 EXP for each fifteen seconds that you shave off the time, +1000 Relationship with [?], +1000 Relationship with [?], Random Piece of Armor, Random Weapon, 2500¥ for each fifteen seconds shaved off the time
Quest Failure: 250 EXP, No Military Academy For You
Bonus Objective 1: Make it to the school in nine minutes or less
Bonus Reward 1: +250 EXP for each total fifteen seconds that you shave off the time, +1000 Relationship with [?], Skill Book to go with the Random Weapon, +5000¥ for each fifteen seconds shaved off the time
Bonus Objective 2: Make it to the school in six minutes or less
Bonus Reward 2: +500 EXP for each total fifteen seconds that you shave off the time, +1000 Relationship with [?], +12500¥ for each fifteen seconds shaved off the time
Accept?
Y/N
The moment this prompt appeared in front of Issei, everyone and everything around him had been frozen in place. It was as if time had stopped.
…wow. Neat.
Well, he had no clue how much an EXP was, or what a skill book was good for, but neither could be bad and money was always goo... the fuck was that? At the end of this block, a blur caught his attention. Wandering over, he found ... himself. Not just a doppelganger, no his actual self. Just a lot redder than.. wait... red shift?!
What the...
As he looked around, another instance of himself was seen, even further away. Going back to the prompt still hanging in mid air where he had left it, Issei went into a starting position before pressing the Y and shooting forward.
A moment later, he found himself in the school lobby, almost managing to stop before running face first into another midair prompt.
[ERROR: CAUSALITY VIOLATION]
Saved 15:00 out of 12:00 minutes.
Error: FTL events are restricted to space.
Error: Unassisted time travel not intended.
Please wait as patch is applied.
…
Patch applied.
Please wait. Universe EXE is rebooting.
…
Rebooted. Reset to last autosave point. Good luck.
…and back to square one. This time, there were no other versions of him, and he ran again. One step, and he was back in the lobby.
[ERROR: CAUSALITY VIOLATION]
Saved 12:00 out of 12:00 minutes.
Error: Unassisted Beaming not intended.
Thanks for immediately spotting the inadequate fix.
Please wait as new patch is applied.
…
Patch applied.
Please wait. Universe EXE is rebooting.
…
Rebooted. Reset to last autosave point. Good luck, you cheater.
And there he was again. This time, running actually took time. 02:17'96, to be exact. Damn that patch, beaming would have been so convenient!
There were now several prompts in front of him.
[Due to running at excessive speeds to make it somewhere on time, you gained +3 Agility.]
[Due to excessive sweating from having to run harder than normal, you gained +3 Endurance.]
[Objective Complete!]
Made it to the school in twelve minutes or less: 28500 EXP (before other Objectives are factored in), +1000 Relationship with [?], +1000 Relationship with [?], Gaian Empire Standard Military High School Anti-Beam Bracers, Gaian Empire Standard Military High School Gunblade, 95000¥ (before other Objectives are factored in).
Make it to the school in nine minutes or less: 38000 EXP (after main but before other Objectives are factored in), +1000 Relationship with [?], 'Gunblade Katas and General Usage' Skill Book, 285000¥ (after main but before other Objectives are factored in).
Make it to the school in six minutes or less: 57000 EXP (after prior two Objectives are factored in), +1000 Relationship with [?], 760000¥ (after prior two Objectives are factored in).
[Secret Objective Met!] Make it to the school in three minutes or less: 133000 EXP (after all other objectives are factored in), 1710000¥ (after all other objectives are factored in), +6 Stat Points.
While this one looked rather standard, the last just said
Nerf successful. Gamer speed no longer OP. Thanks for spotting this loophole.
…and to be fair, Issei really just concentrated on the pair of medium(?) boobs in front of him. And the question if he could use the time freeze to touch them unnoticed, remove her bra or something.
Omake 001-A (same author): Fun Is Around The Corner
Collapsed on the ground in front of the prompts, Issei found himself staring at a vision beyond those. He stood up and walked around the prompts to get a better look.
She had long chestnut brown hair, a nice ass and medium-sized breasts. Actually, he wasn't so sure about the medium, so... Ah fuck it, he decided. It's a time freeze, so make the best of it.
Opening her track suit, he found she wore a white T-shirt underneath. And a sports bra. Well, fair enough. Getting rid of her jacket, he stepped behind her and fumbled around on the bra for a bit. Apparently he could change things while frozen, and what better chance to...
[A skill has been created through a certain action.]
[The "Bra handling" skill has been created. It allows to handle bras.]
O...kay... What was that supposed to mean? Apparently, he had asked that out loud, as a new window appeared:
[Bra handling (active) LV 01 EXP 01.25%
This skill allows to open a bra with one hand, without looking, even through clothes. The kind of clothes is determined by skill level. Also involves sleight of hand for the sole purpose of getting rid of them through clothes.
Gives a small chance to guess a girl's correct bra size from seeing her in bra, bikini top, or topless.
Grade of clothes ignored at this level: thin, single layer]
"Niiice..."
But back to the important parts. Now her bra was open. So he went the full way and took it, copping a feel or three in the process. Nice firmness, not too soft, but still jiggly. And definitely not just medium-sized...
Suddenly, a thought struck him. Did that freeze last forever?! Well, best not get caught groping as it closed! So he extracted his hands, quickly put her jacket back on, slightly more open to present a little cleavage, of course. No risk, no fun.
Now, the bra. Where to... "So this runs on some kind of game rules, huh? Where's my inventory?"
A new screen opened. Nice...
"Hell yes, no way to find it in there!" He took the bra with a grin, tentatively holding it against the screen, so it disappeared and turned into an icon in one of the fields.
Tentatively, he took a closer look at the item, and...
[A skill has been created through a certain action.]
[The "Observation" skill has been created. It allows to observe things.]
"Seriously? I thought observe allows to listen in on other people's conversations!"
[Shiki Itsuka's sports bra
F-cup
A standard sports bra. As much as F-cup anything can be considered standard. But it's only for support, not to seduce.]
Then he collapsed back on the ground, then confirmed all the prompts, promptly hearing her calling out to him "Hey, Issei, what's wrong? Need a hand?"
A/N: Now, that should be fun for you guys… and yes, now you know the reason for the M-rating.
Anyway, I better let you guys go, after seeing Issei's Character Sheet… both before and after. Hope you guys like the info, and please leave a review, alright?
Until we meet again… farewell.
~Xamusel
Issei Hyoudou's Character Sheet (Before)
Name: Issei Hyoudou
Title: None
Level: 1 - Experience: 0.00%
HP: 640
MP: 250
Ki: 340
Strength: 6
Vitality: 4
Endurance: 4
Dexterity: 8
Agility: 7
Charisma: 4
Intelligence: 5
Wisdom: 5
Spirit: 5
Life Force: 1
Magic Power: LOCKED
Magic Control: LOCKED
Ki Reserves: LOCKED
Ki Control: LOCKED
Points: 0
Inventory: N/A
¥: 0
Equipment:
Right Hand: (Empty)
Left Hand: (Empty)
Omnitool: (Empty)
Head: (Empty)
Body (Layer 1): Ordinary Red Shirt
Body (Layer 2): Kuoh Academy Uniform Blazer
Arms: (Empty)
Legs: Kuoh Academy Uniform Pants
Feet: White Running Shoes
Skills:
Nothing has been made a skill just yet
Relationships:
No known relationships have been recorded.
Issei Hyoudou's Character Sheet (After)
Name: Issei Hyoudou
Title: None
Level: 8 - Experience: 0.00%
HP: 729,000
MP: 2,560
Ki: 1,010
Strength: 15
Vitality: 15
Endurance: 18 = 15 + 3
Dexterity: 20
Agility: 18 = 15 + 3
Charisma: 15
Intelligence: 16 = 15 + 1
Wisdom: 16 = 15 + 1
Spirit: 15
Life Force: 2
Magic Power: 1
Magic Control: 1
Ki Reserves: 1
Ki Control: 1
Points: 8
Inventory: 'Gunblade Katas and General Usage' Skill Book (used), Shiki Itsuka's Sports Bra
¥: 1,710,000
Equipment:
Right Hand: Gaian Empire Standard Military High School Gunblade
Left Hand: N/A
Omnitool: (Empty)
Head: (Empty)
Body (Layer 1): Ordinary Red Shirt
Body (Layer 2): Kuoh Academy Uniform Blazer
Arms: Gaian Empire Standard Military High School Anti-Beam Bracers
Legs: Kuoh Academy Uniform Pants
Feet: White Running Shoes
Skills:
[Bra handling (active) LV 01 EXP 01.25% This skill allows to open a bra with one hand, without looking, even through clothes. The kind of clothes is determined by skill level. Also involves sleight of hand for the sole purpose of getting rid of them through clothes. Gives a small chance to guess a girl's correct bra size from seeing her in bra, bikini top, or topless. Grade of clothes ignored at this level: thin, single layer]
[Observation (Active): LV 01 EXP 01.25% Allows for the user to observe things about people, animals, or things. The information observed is determined by skill level.]
[Gunblade Care And Mastery (Passive) Level 1 EXP: 0.00% This skill allows you to care for and use a gunblade as if it was an extension of yourself. At current skill level, it increases slashing damage by 10%, piercing damage by 5%, and attack speed by 15%. At current skill level, allows you to completely repair damage done to gunblade in four hours.]
Relationships:
[Shiki Itsuka (Childhood Friend)]: Friendly; to next level: 1,100/2,000
[?]: Friendly; to next level: 0/2,000
[?]: Friendly; to next level: 0/2,000
[?]: Friendly; to next level: 0/2,000