DISCLAIMER! This is an updated version of chapter! Any mistakes I or one of you found is found here! Please, if you find more, tell me!
'What would you do if you had chance to be like a video game character?'
Two figures clad in shadows charged at each other. One of them was held a zweihander, as long as his own height, that is about 6.5 feet. It's blade was thick and very sharpened, silver in color, with enchanting runes engraved on it in language forgotten by modern civilizations. The person itself was clad in a grey cloak and dark school uniform. Face of this person showed mix between fury and despair.
The second warrior wielded two hatchets made out of black material, also sharpened to it's limits, but definitely much lighter than his enemy's sword. This character wore leather armor with helmet covered in head of creature unbelievable in our reality - hydra. Over the armor itself, this fighter wore pelts of wolfs and bears, glittering in the light reflected by moon.
'Would you use it for good and save others?'
The two crashed with each other, creating a shockwave strong enough to bend nearby trees and push away any nearby animal.
'Or maybe you would try to gain wealth and fame thanks to it?'
They started to attack one another, sparks coming from their weapons with each strike, non of them intending to let the other overpower them. Surprising, the student was the faster one, striking rapidly, but still unable to break his opponent's guard.
'Well, whatever your choice is, don't bother. Because the moment you obtain that power...'
Suddenly, the furred berserk let one slash slip and as an outcome, sword struck his shoulder and break his bone in the process.
'Your fate has been chosen for you.'
He let out a cry of pain, backing off. That gave his enemy chance to press on, slashing him across chest and breaking through the chest plate like through butter.
'You'll fight. You'll kill. You'll rest. Rinse and repeat. That will become your life.'
Blood went down sword's blade without any stops, showing how well maintained the weapon was. With one last thrust, he brought it through the man's stomach, making him spit out salvia and some blood.
'Until you die, or become the only one.'
The knight took his weapon out of the stomach, then chopped it onto half-dead man, splitting his head in half.
'That was something that happened to me. So, let me tell you a story.'
He dispelled his sword and started to walk away from the corpse with hatred in his eyes, but right before he disappeared in the woods, he sent one last glance at the dead man with anger and let out a single tear, returning to wherever he came from.
'A story of me, a boy who from a overprotective younger brother became a god in human skin. A boy, who from a simple student turned into a Gamer.'
Gamers Tournament
Chapter 1: Weirdest day ever
It was an early morning. Sun gently covered the world with its warmness, making all flowers come to life once more. Grass gained much lighter shade of green, looking like a leaf sprouting on tree's branch. That was truly the perfect time for jogging.
Issei Hyoudou, that's my name. I'm fifteen years old, but will turn sixteen in three weeks. I am currently attending last year of middle school... or I would be attending, if not for the fact that our school had to be closed month before end of this school year, because there were some gas issues or something. Thankfully, we already finished all of our tests, so we didn't have to catch up on anything and we basically have right now month of freedom before starting high school.
My interests are video games, exercises, martial art and go-karts. My favorite kind of music... well, I don't have one. I listen to what catches my ear, be it pop, rap, metal or even dubstep. I don't have many friends in my age, mostly I play around kids from elementary school. Not because I'm a pedophile, but because that's my job. Whenever I have free time, I take up a job of a babysitter. Thankfully, my natural gift of understanding children helps me a lot with it.
My ambitions? Currently, I have non. I just want to finish high school, maybe get to college and find job that, while giving me enough income, will allow me to live my life to the fullest. If I won't find one here, I maybe will move to USA or somewhere in Europe. But that's only my last resort.
Am I a pervert? I am as perverted as any high schooler can be. Though, unlike most guys I know, I try to follow a gentleman code and treat every female fairly. Unless they don't deserve it. While I do use porn from time to time, I only use it to relief some stress accumulated from the past time.
And what am I currently doing? I'm jogging, of course! I need to keep my condition at its best. While I'm not doing any sports professionally, it's still really important to stay healthy. And besides, it really helps you at P-E classes when you're physically fit.
Feeling that my current jogging route is too short, I decided to take a longer one, through the downtown. To clarify, I live in a residential area of town, full of modern, single-family houses. It's located on outskirt of town from every side. I live south from the center, right next to downtown.
As I was running, I noticed a small group of people, mostly guys, with a girl in the center. The girl was pretty plain at first glance, but when looking closer she seemed pretty cute. Brown hair made into twin tails freely falling onto her shoulders, yellow eyes and pink glasses. She was also around his age and wore middle school version of Kuoh Academy's uniform.
Kuoh Academy, the only educational institution in town that is divided into three different levels: Middle school, high school and college. It's also known in the whole country as one of the youngest and, surprisingly, the best schools in Japan. It's also the only the only school in town that actually have patronage: Kaoru Ishikawa. [1] The only downside, that stopped existing since beginning of this school year, was that it was girls-only school. Now, that it became co-ed, man from all around town - sometimes even Japan - started to come in just because they think they'll have a chance to get themselves a girlfriend.
But, I'm getting off-track here. When I looked at girls, I saw she was scared a bit. So as I thought, they're being pushy on her. And I also noticed few of them having knifes. This can't be good. I had two options: Either call someone for help or go in there myself. The second option, unfortunately, was the only real option, because every person that even glanced in that direction, was immediately looking away.
Not thinking any more about it, I walked into the alley they were standing in. There was seven of them, excluding the girl herself. Four of them had knifes and one, most probably their leader from the fact that he's the most muscular of them all, had a knuckle-duster. My only chance to beat them would be to take them out of the alley so that someone would maybe man up and call the police. I would do it myself, but I forgot my phone from home.
"Hey, you, what are you doing in here?" I asked them with slight venom. I hate people like them, acting like badasses in group, but if they were fighting one on one, they would simple wimps. Unfortunately, that's not the case here.
The leader looked at me with look that I guess was meant to be menacing, but was just simply over the top dumb. "What do you care, punk?!" So he's a school dropout, huh? That's the only explanation for the reason why he speaks like this. That, or he might've thought it sounded cool. "We're just having a little fun with our little friend. Ain't that right?" He asked, grabbing her face, while she mouthed to me quickly 'Help'... I think.
"Bullshit." I said, trying to approach them, but the nearest guy, thankfully unarmed, punched me in the face, sending me into the wall. "AGH!" That really hurts like a bitch! I tried to get up again, but before I could, the same man kicked my guts. I spitted salvia and air. That will hurt like a bitch tomorrow.
"Take care of him, guys. I'll play with that little bitch." Leader said, slowly taking off her clothes, despite her protests.
Dammit! I can't even save one girl and now they'll probably beat me to death! I closed my eyes in hopes of quick and painless experience.
[Do you want to live?]
I suddenly shot my eyes open when I heard a loud and clear voice from unknown direction. When I looked around, I noticed everyone was frozen in place, six of the seven thugs turned in my direction with confident smirks. I felt surprised at that.
[Do not fear, Issei Hyoudou]
How the hell does this voice know my name!?
[I know everything, Issei. Now, let me repeat my question. Do you want to live?]
The fact it also can read minds aside, I sighed. Of course I want to live.
[Good. I can give you power to protect not only yourself, but also this girl]
That's awes-
[BUT! By taking this power, you'll forsake your old life of ignorance and safety. You'll be thruster into the world of beings unbelievable for people grounded in reality. Even after the threat of losing any chances of normality, do you still accept it?]
Well... considering the fact that by communicating with me, you already gave me a glance on that world, then I guess I have no other choice.
[... Shit. I-I, I mean!... EKHM! Very good. So from now on, you are no longer a simple man, Issei Hyoudou. From now on, you are a Gamer]
Before I could ask him about anything else, I heard a sound similar to the sound of call ending on Skype. The fuck!? Then, a small, blue box popped out.
The Gamer system activated. Welcome to The Gamer system!
What. The. FUCK!? I took few deep breaths as few extra boxes popped up. Health, mana and what I guess is stamina bars showed in the left upper corner of my vision and stayed there, no matter where I looked. Over heads of everyone I noticed weird texts and numbers.
Lvl 3
Unarmed Thug
For those without weapons;
Lvl 4
Knife Thug
For the ones with knifes;
Lvl 6
Thug Leader
For the guy that is taking girl's clothes off;
Lvl 3
(Kuoh Academy Student)
Aika Kiryuu
So her name is Aika, huh? And my guess was good when I said she's from Kuoh Academy.
Reality will be unpaused in ten seconds after this message appears. Get ready and have fun being OP scrub!
The hell was with that message? Eh, never mind. I need to get ready for the fight...
Three... two... one...
The moment everything started to move, I felt a bit disoriented. But not because of the whole Gamer thing, no. It was because everyone moved slower than before. Not too much, but still enough for me to read their moves... Eh, I'll think about it afterwards. I quickly got up and punched the nearby guy with strength I never knew I possessed. To put it in more visual words, I punched him hard enough that he was pinched into the wall for five solid seconds, where normally I wouldn't be able to send him meter away.
Everyone else caught up on that and charged at me in group. Thankfully I was faster than them, able to dodge every punch, kick, thrust and swing from them and counter every time. In less than a minute, everyone was knocked out cold. That caught leader's attention, who let go of Aika and charged at me with intimidating-wannabe cry of anger. But apparently all of his intelligence disappeared when he was working our, because he didn't noticed when I picked up one of the knifes and threw it into his knee with uncanny accuracy. Surprising for me, because I never threw a knife in my life. It thankfully made him trip, which I used to get on top of him and punch his face hard enough to knock him out. I then quickly ran up to Aika.
"Hey, are you alright!?" I asked when I noticed tears on her face. Her clothes, while not destroyed, were torn up in some places, showing some of her underwear and C-cup bust. But because we both were in shock now, we didn't care as I checked her body for any injuries. When I saw non, I sighed in relief and gave her my sweatshirt, which she gladly took and covered herself.
"T-thanks..." She said, trying to calm down her trembling body. I just smiled gently at her and gave her a thumb up, which made her blink for a moment, then giggle. I looked confused at her for a moment, then chuckled with her.
"I see you're a bit better now." I said with a small, comforting smile, making her nod while she picked her bag up.
"Y-yeah... Thank you for helping me..." She said timidly, making me smile for a moment and pat her head.
"No problem. I'm Issei, by the way." I pointed at myself with a thumb while wearing a confident grin. "And you are?"
"Aika... What are you doing here, Issei? Aren't you supposed to be in school?" She asked while looking at me. Obviously, I wasn't wearing my school uniform, because I don't need it now. Instead, I am wearing comfortable trainers, sweatpants, white t-shirt and sweatshirt, that I offered to Aika.
"Well... My school is currently closed because of cracks in gas pipes, so we got additional free month." I said while walking around the thugs and taking whatever weapons they had. No matter what you say, I can't let those idiots have something dangerous. They could hurt themselves.
"Oh, so you're from Yasogami Middle School?" She asked in interest, approaching me. I nodded and turned towards her.
"Yeah. And I guess you're from Kuoh Academy's Middle School section, right?" She nodded and I chuckled lightly. "Cool... I think you should go home today." I said, making her a bit sad, but she nodded after a moment in agreement. "Want me to take you there?"
She looked at me with a small blush and widened eyes, but smiled after few seconds. "Y-yeah... I-I would appreciate that..." She said timidly, while I smiled and took her hand, making her blush more.
We then started to walk towards her home. Everyone looked at us, but I didn't mind it back then, because I was still a little shaken after the fight... And the Gamer thing...
While in fight I didn't notice it at all, but now I saw that the message boxes from before were still there and didn't disappear. I didn't want to look like an idiot, swinging my arms in the air, so I tried to close them with mind. Apparently, all of this I can control with mind, because after it closed I tried to call out [Inventory], considering this is like an RPG, and it did appear.
My inventory, from what I now noticed, have infinite space and doesn't affect my weight, because I noticed my wallet was in it and when I checked my pocket where I've put it in, it wasn't there. And about weight... Well, it's mostly my guess. I'll have to check it later.
I dumped all knifes and knuckle-duster into my inventory when Aika wasn't looking and called out was my [Status]. What I saw, surprised me.
Name: HyoudouIssei [?] Age: 15 (Turns 16 in 21 days) [?]
Title: N/A [?] Affiliation: Hyoudou Family [?]
Level: 4 [?] Exp: 520/1000 [?]
Race: Human
HP: 200/200 [?] HP Regen.: 0.2/s [?]
MP: 110/110 [?] MP Regen.: 0.06/s [?]
STA: 320/320 [?] STA Regen.: 0.75/s [?]
STR: 8 [?]
DEX: 11 [?]
END: 15 [?]
INT: 7 [?]
WIS: 6 [?]
CHR: 9 [?]
LUK: 3 [?]
Stat points: 0 [?]
Money (¥): 2500 [?]
That surprised me a bit. Not the stat themselves, they were something I could understand, considering what happened. But when did I get so much money!? I remember only taking about 1000 or so for some breakfast. But before I could ponder more about it, we arrived at Aika's house.
"W-well... Thanks for helping me again..." She said with a small smile. I simply waved it off.
"Don't worry about it." She then took her phone out and said her number. Knowing my own, we exchanged numbers, she returned me my sweatshirt and then parted our ways, me returning back home.
New associate acquired!
Aika Kiryuu - Acquaintance.
WHAT!? Even my social life has been connected to this power!? I need to go home... My head hurts...
After twenty minutes I returned back home. I would've described it to you... But I'm too tired from today. I entered home and saw my mother in kitchen, making breakfast for my father. She's a woman around 40 years old, mostly wearing casual dresses or pants and shirts. If someone from outside our family looked at her, they would think she's only about 20 years old. I got my looks from her.
"Hey, mom." I said from across the hall. She turned her head to me and smiled.
I looked over her head and saw the same what I saw with others.
Lvl. 9
(Hyoudou family's mother)
Orihime Hyoudou
For a second I was surprised about her level, but I guess it's because she's older than me or those thugs.
"Hello, Issei-kun. Already back from jogging?" I nodded and went to kitchen. I opened the fridge, took some things and made sandwich. "I'll go to my room now." My mom nodded and I went upstairs.
My room was typical room of a typical teen. Small, but full of everything. Thankfully, our family shares wardrobe located in the hall of second floor. In this room I have my PC, PS3 and good old Gamecube. My wall near bed is filled with posters of games, bands and anime, while the wall opposite of it have a board on which I place notes in case I was going to forget something.
I took my sweatshirt off and laid on the bed, relaxing. That was one crazy day.
... [Status]
I opened my status window and checked it again. I just noticed question marks near each statistic. Having no better thing to do, I decided to open it.
Name - Your name chosen by your parents.
Age - Shows how old are you.
Title - Titles are special names given to you through actions you do, decisions you make, by achieving certain feats or through quests. They will give you certain buffs and debuffs depending on its origin.
Affiliation - Who you're allied with. This refers to families, teams, ideological groups, guilds and anything similar to that.
Level - Represents your level of power. Normal humans at young age have levels from 3-5, while adults have levels from 8-10. Only humans with training focused on fighting supernatural beings and said beings go beyond that power.
Exp - Amount of experience point you obtained on this level/ you need for another level.
Race - Species your body is connected to. Depending on what race you are, you will obtain certain buffs and debuffs. Note: As a Gamer, while you can become someone of other race, person that changes you needs to be stronger than you in Level, Intelligence and Wisdom. If those requirements aren't met, you will not change. Also, if your new race doesn't suit you, you can always reverse yourself into human by using spell obtained after Lvl. 10 is achieved.
HP - Amount of health points you have. To increase your HP, increase Strength statistic, your Level or obtain and level skills with passive bonus of extra HP. 20 HP/1 STR, 10 HP/ Lvl.
HP Regen. - Amount of HP that regenerates per second. To increase HP Regen, increase Strength statistic or obtain and level skills with passive bonus of extra HP Regen. 0.025 HP/s / 1 STR
MP - Amount of magic points (mana) you have. MP is used for casting spells. To increase your MP, increase Intelligence statistic, your Level or obtain and level skills with passive bonus of extra MP. 10 MP/ 1 INT, 10 MP/ Lvl.
MP Regen. - Amount of MP that regenerates per second. To increase MP Regen, increase Wisdom statistic or obtain and level skills with passive bonus of extra MP Regen. 0.01 MP/s / 1 WIS
STA - Amount of stamina you have. Stamina is used for using advanced, supernatural physical skills. To increase STA, increase Endurance statistic, your Level or obtain and level skills with passive bonus of extra STA. 20 STA/ 1 END / 5 STA/ Lvl.
STA Regen. - Amount of STA regenerated per second. To increase STA Regen, increase Endurance statistic or obtain and level skills with passive bonus of extra STA Regen. 0.05 STA/s / 1 END
STR - Your current strength. Strength increases your HP, HP Regen, damage given by your melee attacks and your defense against melee and range attacks. You can increase STR by assigning points to it, doing exercises or activities that increase it or obtaining and leveling skills with passive bonus of extra STR.
[Note for Gamer: While sometimes you may notice that some enemies have bigger Lvl and stats than you, you don't have to worry. Unless they're another Gamer, their stats need to be divided to certain aspects those stats are connected to, so their stats, except luck, are actually what you see, divided by five. Gamer don't have that problem, so they technically are five times stronger than they should be.]
DEX - Your current dexterity. Dexterity increases your speed of movement, attack speed and damage of range attacks. You can increase DEX assigning points to it, doing exercises or activities that increase it or obtaining and leveling skills with passive bonus of extra END.
END - Your current endurance. Endurance increases STA, STA Regen. and, in small amount, your overall defense. You can increase END by assigning points to it, doing exercises or activities that increase it or obtaining and leveling skills with passive bonus of extra END.
INT - Your current intelligence. Intelligence increases your MP, attack and defense against offensive magic, as well as effectiveness of defensive and supportive magic. You can increase INT by assigning points to it, doing exercises or activities that increase it or obtaining and leveling skills with passive bonus of extra INT.
WIS - Your current wisdom. Wisdom increases your MP Regen, as well as effectiveness of healing, transporting and other types of magic. You can increase WIS by assigning points to it, doing exercises or activities that increase it or obtaining and leveling skills with passive bonus of extra WIS.
CHR - Your current charisma. Charisma increases effectiveness of skill based around social interactions, makes you more interesting in eyes of others during talks and harder to resist. Increase your CHR by assigning points to it or talking with people.
LCK - Your current luck. Luck increases your chance for special events, whether they are positive or negative and your chance of winning at gambling. You can increase LCK by assigning points to it or winning at luck games.
Stat points - Points you can assignee to your statistics. Every level, you obtain five points, so think wisely where you will assignee them.
Money (¥) - Amount of currency you are storing in your [Inventory]. Type of currency changes depending on localization.
Wow... That gave me as much questions as it gave me answers. First, there exist supernatural world? If it does, what type is it? Are they roaming around us, humans? And Gamers? There are more than just me!? Are they good? Are they evil? Will I have to fight them?
Normally I would freak out when so much realization hits me at once, but somehow, I don't feel panic or confusion... Well, not too much confusion. Maybe there's something that calms me down? I think I should check another section I haven't checked yet.
[Skills]
This time, window showed up, showing all my skills... Whole two of them.
[Gamer's Mind] {Passive} (Lvl. MAX) [?]
[Gamer's Body] {Passive} (Lvl. MAX) [?]
With a sigh, I pressed both buttons.
[Gamer's Mind] {Passive} (Lvl. MAX)
As a person with powers similar to that of game character, your mind acts like ones, but better. Not only is it easier for you to accept certain events and system mechanics, but also you can no longer be affected by negative effects connected to mind.
*Nulls negative effect: Fear, rage, panic, insanity, mind control, sleep, silence.
[Gamer's Body] {Passive} (Lvl. MAX)
As a person with powers similar to that of game character, your body acts like ones, but better. You can use your body to it's fullest, increase your power through fighting, exercises and study at much faster pace than anyone else, your body can self-regenerate, your lounges stores more air and you can no longer lose stamina through activities like running, jumping, climbing, swimming or simply fighting without using skills.
WOW! Now that's some starter skills! I just wonder how to obtain new skills.
Attention, Gamer!
What the-!?
You will now have a short explanation of [Skills] system. To obtain new skills, you need to do certain actions set amount of times or, in case of fighting moves that already exist, recreate it step by step. Another way of obtaining skills are [Skill books] which you can buy, find in treasure chests or as a drop from enemies. To level skill, you need to use it. Simple as that! Good luck!
Oooooookayyyyyyy... That was... informative... OH! I know what other section should I check... I hope it works.
[Options]
Thankfully, another window has been was a lot of options, but only some of them interested me. [Auto Money looting] has been already on, so I left it as it was. [Auto Item looting] was off, so I switched it on. [Tutorial] was off, but because I didn't feel like going through it, I decided to turn it on hints. From what description said, it will activate whenever I meet something that is element of the system, a small box will appear, asking me if I want a quick explanation. It will help me a lot in the future. Another thing I turned on are [Minimap], [Map tracking] for dungeons and [Dungeon alert] in case I was near a dungeon... Oh yeah, there are also dungeons, apparently. But I don't know much about it.
I sighed and closed all of the menus. I feel so tired... I think I'll take a nap.
You've recovered 25% of HP, MP and STA.
So it wasn't a dream, huh? I took my phone and put in Aika's number, considering I just remembered her number and didn't want to forget again. After that, I changed into simple jeans, black T-shirt and a white jacket over it, put all the money I had in my room into my [Inventory], making all together 11 000 ¥, then went downstairs, where my mom was sitting in the living room and watching TV.
"Hey mom."
She turned to me and smiled. "Hello, Ise. Where are you going?" She asked with a motherly curiosity. I smiled back at her and stretched a bit.
"For a walk. Maybe I'll buy some new clothes." I said, while heading towards exit.
"Alright. When you'll be coming back, could you please buy some bread? We are nearly out of it." Before I could answer, another box popped out.
Quest alert!
[Living on bread and water]
Your mother asked you to buy bread for family. Do it before returning home and you will gain more of her respect.
Rewards: 100 EXP, +200 to your current amount, increased reputation with Orihime Hyoudou.
Failure penalty: Decreased reputation with Orihime Hyoudou.
[A/D]
I blinked twice, then pressed 'A', most probably it meant accept. "Sure mom! See you later!" I said before exiting and heading towards shopping district. There, I started to look around for something interesting to buy. Maybe a new jacket or even-
Dungeon nearby!
Or maybe I could level up a bit. After all, there apparently are a lot of creatures much stronger than I am, so I need to get stronger. And how do video game characters get stronger? B fighting, of course!
I headed towards where minimap told me dungeon is, to find... a alleyway entrance... a weird place to find one, but I won't question that. Though I wonder if I could get more information on those dungeons.
Would you like to know more about dungeons?
[Y/N]
Without hesitation, I pressed yes.
Dungeons are special areas created by The Gamer system for Gamer to enter, grind and obtain more equipment. After entering dungeon area, Gamer is send to alternative dimension called 'Projected Space'. There, he is sealed away from outside world until he beats the dungeon. Some skills, like [ID Escape], can allow Gamer for quick escape from dungeon without beating it, but they are very costly in mana and cannot be used when in presence of boss or miniboss.
Well, that's good to know... Maybe I should get ready first. Since I'm more than sure I'll be fighting humans, I decided to use non-lethal weapon, the knuckle-duster. Then I entered the area, hoping it wouldn't be anything too bad.
You are entering Lvl. 4 Thug Alley
As I entered the alley, no more sounds came from behind me. So it really is something like different dimension. I continued to walk forwards, looking for any enemy around. Then I saw one. Apparently, this dungeon have the same thugs I fought with when I got this power.
Lvl 3
Unarmed Thug
Weird... why is there no name over his head?
Would you like to know more about mob enemies?
[Y/N]
Well, obviously I want to know more about them. But mob enemies? Are they from mafia or something? Ignoring that, considering it will probably be said in the explanation, I pressed Yes.
Mob enemies are monsters, animals or even people, who are hostile towards you, but doesn't affect your life in any meaningful way. For that reason, their names aren't displayed unless you use [Observe] skill. Their level depends on location, your own level, their race and whether they are part of supernatural world or not. Exp gained from those enemies is translated into {(Enemy's set reward Exp*Level*10 + %bonus from skills}. Many Exp bonus modifiers can also be placed depending on your ways of fighting.
Huh... Interesting... I just wonder about this [Observe] skill... From what I read, skills can be unlocked by making certain actions repeatedly. So, if the name is any indication, I should make certain observations about my surrounding.
To not bore you to the bone, I looked around place, taking special attention to details, describing them inside my mind, like texture of the thug's jacket, symbols on signs and their meaning. And surprisingly, that worked.
Congratulations! Through making descriptive observations, you unlocked skill [Observe]
I quickly turned the [Skill] menu on and checked the skill.
[Observe] (Lvl. 1/100) Exp. - 0.00%
No detail can escape your wary eye. By using this skill, you can see certain information about objects, enemies, people or even spells. With higher levels, more detail can be revealed.
*Cost - 10 MP
*Passively shows statuses affecting others
*Passively gives +1% bonus to INT per level
Alright, that is a useful skill if I ever saw one. I used [Observe] on the thug.
Name: ? ([Observe] level too low) Age: 17
Title: Unarmed Thug Affiliation: Generic Thugs #43253
Level: 3 Race: Human
Hp: 150/150 No HP Regen.
MP: N/A
STA: 115/115 STA Regen.: 0.25/s
STR: 6
DEX: 4
END: 5
INT: 3
WIS: 4
CHR: 1
LCK: 1
Skills:
None
Rewards: 200 ¥, 300 Exp, ?, ?, ? set piece
Description - Thug. A enemy so typical you will be throwing up from just how much you see them. They wanted to be part of Yakuza, but got rejected for how much of wimps they are. This one isn't equipped with any weapon, so he'll be an easy target.
Cool. At least now I know that they really are wimps. And considering his Exp reward is 300 and his level is 3, Thug's base Exp reward is 10. So hopefully, there are more powerful enemies... Well, not too powerful so I wouldn't accidentally die here. I just wonder what other rewards he can give.
Making sure my knuckle-duster doesn't fall of or anything, I walked towards my enemy. Considering he's yet to notice me, I think enemies don't have agro field, like in most RPG's, but mostly use their senses, like sight or hearing. So, using that knowledge, I snuck up on him and punched him in the back of his head, knocking him out instantly.
Enemy defeated! Rewards gained:
200 ¥, 300 Exp + 50 for sneak attack + 50 for mercy, Can of soda
Huh... So sneak attacks and leaving enemies alive gives me bonus Exp. That's cool. But what's about the soda? I opened my [Inventory] and used [Observe] on it.
Can of soda
Delicious soda with orange flavor, it will quell your thirst and heal some wounds. WARNING! Over usage in short period of time may have side effects, like: Sugar Rush, Sugar Addiction, Small Nausea.
*Recovers 5% of HP
*It won't expire if in inventory
WHAT!? So food and drinks can recover health like potions!? AWESOME! After this dungeon I'm buying the best healing food I can find! Awe~some!
After calming down, I looked at my [Status] to check how much it'll take me for the next Level. 80 Exp, so one more enemy. I continued to walk forward the alley, noticing how it changed into small labyrinth. I mean, how else could I explain so much corridors in what previously was a simple alley?
After five minutes of wandering around, I found a bag laying on the ground. Normally, I would ignore it, but considering I'm in a dungeon, things like this are here for a purpose. I'm going to guess this is a treasure chest of this place. I quickly walked up to it and opened it up. Inside I found a baseball bat, simple wooden bokken and fingerless gloves. I gladly took all of this, got the gloves and prepared the bat in case I met someone much stronger.
Another fifteen minutes of wandering wasn't too exciting, just boring. I thought that dungeon as simple as that would me much smaller, like two arenas or so, but it's corridors. Lots and lots of corridors. Thankfully, I finally found a spacey place and-
You're entering boss chamber.
What? I looked around and noticed a bunch of thugs in the area, most are unarmed, but some have knifes, knuckle-dusters like mine and one, who I guess is a leader, have chains wrapped around his hands. He looked somewhat fami- oh shit!
"Who is the- You fucker. It's that punk from earlier! Kill him!" Leader yelled, making everyone around turn to me and charge towards me. I quickly used [Observe] on every type of thug I haven't met yet.
Name: ? ([Observe] level too low) Age: 18
Title: Knife Thug Affiliation: Generic Thugs #43253
Level: 4 Race: Human
Hp: 140/140 No HP Regen.
MP: N/A
STA: 140/140 STA Regen.: 0.30/s
STR: 5
DEX: 6
END: 6
INT: 4
WIS: 5
CHR: 1
LCK: 2
Skills:
[Strong thrust]
* 20 STA required
* +50% damage, -10% accuracy, -25% speed
Rewards: 250 ¥, 400 Exp, Can of Soda, ?, Simple Butterfly Knife, ? set piece
Description - Thug. A enemy so typical you will be throwing up from just how much you see them. They wanted to be part of Yakuza, but got rejected for how much of wimps they are. This one is equipped with knife, so his attacks are fast, but very imprecise, often hitting part of body that aren't vital.
Name: ? ([Observe] level too low) Age: 18
Title: Knuckle-Armed Thug Affiliation: Generic Thugs #43253
Level: 4 Race: Human
Hp: 200/200 No HP Regen.
MP: N/A
STA: 100/100 STA Regen.: 0.20/s
STR: 8
DEX: 5
END: 4
INT: 3
WIS: 4
CHR: 3
LCK: 2
Skills:
[Hook punch]
* 25 STA required
* +100% damage, unblockable
Rewards: 250 ¥, 400 Exp, Can of Soda, ?, Simple Knuckle-Duster, ? set piece
Description - Thug. A enemy so typical you will be throwing up from just how much you see them. They wanted to be part of Yakuza, but got rejected for how much of wimps they are. This one is equipped with knuckle-duster, so watch out for his hooks, because they can dislocate your jaw.
(Cue: No More Heroes 2 - We Are Finally Cowboys (Golden Brown Mix) )
Oh shit. This will be fun. Thankfully, my stats are much higher than theirs and I can use them more effectively, so it isn't going to be much of a problem. First came to me the unarmed ones, which I disposed of without much problem, just two to three punches and they were down. Almost immediately I got notification that my Level increased, but I closed it, as I had to be focused on my fight.
Next came knife thugs. There were three of them and they decided to use the best tactic against stronger enemy - quantity over quality. Even if description said they have awful accuracy, I'm not going to take a risk by simply charging at them.
Taking a neutral fighting stance, that is putting my hands up for maximal offensive and defensive capacity, I slowly approached them, forcing one of them to attack. Something I was hoping for. When he tried to slash me, I dodged to the side and punched his jaw, making him flinch backwards. Thankfully, I had no enemies behind me, so no surprise attack on my back. At worst, some of the Knuckle-Armed Thugs will join in, at best, I'll finish them off one-by-one.
When my current enemy recovered, he charged at me again. This time, he slashed horizontally, forcing me to jump backwards, but his break between attacks allowed me to move in and grind my fist into his stomach, forcing him into temporary stun. This allowed me finish him off by knee-kicking his face. Thankfully, he was only unconscious.
The other two looked at me and charged at me together, both ready to thrust their knifes. Big mistake. Using opening they made by this attack, I grabbed their heads and smashed them against each other. This was enough to stun them long enough for me to hook-punch them strong enough to knock them out in one go... That was too much 'them' in once sentence.
I sighed and got ready for last wave of enemies. It was two of the Knuckle-Armed Thugs. They seem pretty eager to beat me up. Thankfully, the only thing I should worry about are their hook-punches. They both charged at me with their fists ready to connect with my face. Unfortunately for the, that never happened as I ducked under their punches and, as unhonorable as it may be, punched their dicks. It most probably counted as critical damage, because I heard a weird sound from it and they fell on their knees. I used that chance to quickly finish them off by grabbing my hands together and hitting their heads with them.
(Track End)
You defeated Unarmed Thug x5, Knife Thug x3, Knuckle-Armed Thug x2. Rewards gained:
2250 ¥, 3500 Exp + 500 for mercy, Can of soda x2, Beef x 4, Simple Butterfly Knife x2, Simple Knuckle-Duster, Jacket of a Thug, Leather Pants of a Thug, Gloves of a Thug, Shirt of Thug, Boots of a Thug.
Your Thug set is complete. Do you want to equip it?
[Y/N]
Holy shit! So much loot! Maybe I'll check this stuff later. For now I pressed No.
Congratulations! You've leveled up twice! You have 10 Stat points to spare.
2 Levels? Cool! I opened my [Status] and pondered where add my points. Every stat can be easily raised, except Luck. I could gamble, but it's still depended on how much luck I have. So, considering I won't raise it that early in natural ways, I placed 7 points into it to round it up, one into Dexterity to make myself slightly faster and two into Strength to have bigger chances in the near future. So now my stats look like this:
Name: Issei Hyoudou [?] Age: 15 (Turns 16 in 21 days) [?]
Title: N/A [?] Affiliation: Hyoudou Family [?]
Level: 6 [?] Exp: 1920/4000 [?]
Race: Human
HP: 260/260 [?] HP Regen.: 0.25/s [?]
MP: 130/130 [?] MP Regen.: 0.06/s [?]
STA: 330/330 [?] STA Regen.: 0.75/s [?]
STR: 10 [?]
DEX: 12 [?]
END: 15 [?]
INT: 7 (Base 7 + 1% from skills) [?]
WIS: 6 [?]
CHR: 9 [?]
LUK: 10 [?]
Stat points: 0 [?]
Money (¥): 13 250 [?]
I am very pleased with myself.
After getting that out of my way, I turned towards the thug leader and use [Observe] on him.
Name: Miyazaki Haruto Age: 19
Title: Thug Leader Affiliation: Generic Thugs #43253
Level: 7 Race: Human
Hp: 470/470 HP Regen. 0.25/s
MP: N/A
STA: 155/155 STA Regen.: 0.30/s
STR: 10
DEX: 7
END: 6
INT: 8
WIS: 6
CHR: 5
LCK: 2
Skills:
[Hook punch]
* 25 STA required
* +100% damage, unblockable
[Uppercut]
* 30 STA required
* +70% damage, unblockable, aerial flinch
Rewards: 2000 ¥, 1400 Exp, Beef x2, ?, ?, ? skill book, ? skill book
Description - Miyazaki was studying to become a doctor, just like his father. But when he entered high school, thanks to the influence of people he met there, he slowly stopped studying and after a year dropped school in favor of becoming Yakuza. Unfortunately for him, he was too weak to join, so he took over a local thug gang and started to terrorize old ladies and middle schoolers to get money for beer. His life was great. WAS. Until you showed up.
Huh. So good student turned Yakuza-wannabe. Interesting. Well, whatever.
"You seem pretty tough, punk. But you will not win against me, the greatest gang leader in this town! You will-" He couldn't finish his speech as I couldn't help myself from chuckling. He proclaims himself the greatest gang leader in town when all he do is terrorizing old people and kids. "The fuck are you laughing at, punk!?"
I continued to chuckle, before answering after calming down. "Why? Because I met more threatening kids than you!" I said, slowly turning my amused smile into a challenging smirk.
He took it just as I wanted him to take it - as a insult and challenge. He started to slowly approach me, slowly moving to the left and forward. I did the same, but to the right. This way, we both were standing before each other, trying to circle one another and slowly decrease distance between one another.
After what felt like eternity, we were three steps from each other. We both stopped and stared at each other for few good seconds. We both knew that whoever started first will have the upperhand in this fight. First attack from me needs to be quicker and have more range than his. Because he wears chains on his hands, I'm guessing he's a boxer fighter, so quick kick into his guts will be good. If he will see though my attack and block it, I can always fix it with another kick to the side.
(Cue: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle - Aggression and Victory)
I took a quick step forward and kicked towards his guts. Despite his lower Dexterity, he managed to block it with his chained hands, but that is partially what I wanted. I quickly retreated my leg and with even bigger speed, I kicked his uncovered side, making him flinch. Using initial advantage I gained from this, I immediately went for the offensive and punched his face. Thanks to the equal strength we have, this punch wasn't as effective as I would want it to be. So I started to hit his most important body points, like lungs, stomach, throat and face. But he seemed to already recover from my beginning kick, blocking everything, even if barely.
After two full minutes of pushing him, he landed under the wall. With a smirk, I grabbed his jacket and pushed him harshly against a wall, then repeatedly banged his head against it. After moment I checked his HP. 30. I pushed him onto ground and got ready to finish him off.
"P-Please! N-No more... I-I'll do w-what you want!" He yelled in fear, covering his face. He was genuinely frightened by my actions. Was I that scary? Or maybe something else? I dismissed those thoughts for now and approached him.
(End Theme)
"I will spare you..." I started, giving him glimmer of hope. "But only if you promise me you and your gang will never threaten ever again!" He flinched from my yell and nodded repetitively.
"Of course! We will be nice from now on! We're sorry!" He yelled with closed eyes and... Wait, did he just piss himself? I rolled my eyes and sighed.
"Then scram!" He didn't take second chances and ran away.
You defeated Miyazaki Haruto! Rewards gained:
2000 ¥, 1400 Exp + 50 for mercy + 100 for setting him onto the right path, Beef x2, Beer, Hardened Iron Chains, [ID Create] skill book, [ID Escape] skill book
Congratulations! By constantly fighting with your fists and legs, you unlocked [Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat]
Congratulations! You've beaten dungeon boss! Outside of usual loot, you gain:
+10 000 ¥, [Intimidation] skill book, +5 starting respect with people of alignment Nice Guy/Girl or higher, Level up for every skill you have.
Your [Observe] skill gained two levels!
Your [Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat] skill gained one level!
All chests in chamber looted! You gain:
Can of soda x10, Beef x7, Simple Wooden Baseball Bat x3, Simple Bokken x7, [Basic Swordsmanship] skill book, [Basic Club Combat] skill book.
OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD! So much shit! Not only have I got a lot of money, not only have I got new skill from fighting, NOT ONLY did I got FIVE skill books, but also a lot of food and drinks, shitload of weapons and even extra level to my already existing skills!
I immediately learned all skills from skill book. I just had to take them out of my inventory and touch them, then press Yes. After that I hid my knuckle-duster and smiled. This was a good day.
Do you want to leave the dungeon?
[Y/N]
I pressed yes and found myself just outside of alley. No one seemed to notice me just appearing into existence and I'm happy for that. I checked how much money I have and HOLY SHIT, OVER 25 000 ¥! That's so awesome! I also need barely over 500 Exp for the next level, so that's also pretty cool.
With a sigh, I looked at my phone. It's barely past noon, so I have plenty of time before I need to go home or before my Nee-san returns.
Who's my Nee-san? Well, I'll tell you that when we'll see her. For now, I went towards nearby shop. While I do have quite a lot of healing items, I still need much more in case of tough enemies. I looked around and use [Observe] on some of the cheaper food, considering I don't have much MP.
I was pretty surprised when I saw that simple rolls recover 30% of health! Whoever designed this system must love rolls. I bought about 50, because they cost only 107 ¥. I also bought loaf of bread for mom. After that, I headed towards nearby bench, sat down and entered my [Skills] to check out the new ones.
[Gamer's Mind] {Passive} (Lvl. MAX) [?]
[Gamer's Body] {Passive} (Lvl. MAX) [?]
[Observe] {Active} (Lvl. 3/100) Exp. - 7.03% [?]
[Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat] {Passive} (Lvl. 2/100) Exp. - 30.21% [^] [?]
[Basic Swordsmanship] {Passive} (Lvl. 1/100) Exp. - 0.00% [^] [?]
[Basic Club Combat] {Passive} (Lvl. 1/100) Exp. - 0.00% [^] [?]
[ID Create] {Active} (Lvl. 1/100) Exp. - 0.00% [?]
Available IDs - Empty, Zombie, Thugs
[ID Escape] {Active} (Lvl. 1/100) Exp. - 0.00% [?]
[Intimidation] {Passive/Active} (Lvl. 1/100) Exp. - 0.00% [?]
So much skills! But what is up with those arrows?
Welcome, Gamer!
Holy shi-!
Considering you obtained over six skills, you will now have a more advanced explanation of your Skill menu. First you have [Exclusive] Skills. Those are skills that are exclusive to only Gamers and their party members and they can be learned after meeting certain requirements . For example, after getting high enough stats and defeating certain amount of enemies, you can get skills connected to that feat.
Huh... Okay, so [Gamer's Mind] and [Gamer's Body] are those type of skills. Interesting.
Another type of skills are [Combat] Skills. Those skills are focused around certain fighting styles and grow after training or fighting long enough with that style. You can obtain them via fighting with weapon connected to it or by a skill book.
So Hand-to-Hand combat, Swordsmanship and Club combat are [Combat] skills.
Under those skill you have [Fighting Moves], special active skills that use STA and sometimes even MP. Those are either more powerful versions of basic moves or techniques used by legendary people. Unlike normal skills, they only possess ten levels, but can always be powered up by leveling base skill
So I can learn attacks like Dante's [Million Stab] or Cloud's [Omnislash]!? Awesome!
After that you have [Arcane Magic] Skills. Those, like [Combat] Skills, are focused around types of fighting magic and have [Spells] under them. Spells require MP.
Mkay, so I can become mage too. It is pretty tempting option, but I always liked to have fights more personal. Magic can be my last resort.
Then there is [Magic Applied]. This magic is centered around travel, detection, stealth and every other magic not directly connected to battle. Okay... so I guess those ID skills are like those. And then are [Other] skill, that doesn't fall under previous categories. They range from persuasion, interrogation to scholarship and linguistics. Alright, that can be useful. I pressed the question marks and arrows, checking every new skill I have.
[Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat] {Passive} (Lvl. 2/100) Exp. - 30.21%
From karate, kung-fu and judo to MMA, street fight, fighting with fists have many faces, but always was about one thing - HITTING AS HARD WITH YOUR FIST AS YOU CAN! This skill increases damage and speed of your attacks, as well as allows you to unlock special [Fighting Moves]
*Increases your damage in hand-to-hand combat by 10% + per level.
*Increases your attack speed with hand-to-hand combat by 5% per level
*Passively increases 0.5% of STR, DEX and END per level
Fighting Moves:
[Uppercut] (Lvl. 1/10) Exp. 0.00%
Simple uppercut, powered up by your supernatural abilities. Can be evolved into different variations after achieving level ten of that skill.
* 30 STA required
* +10% damage, unblockable, aerial flinch
[Basic Swordsmanship] {Passive} (Lvl. 1/100) Exp. - 0.00%
Everyone, at least once in their life, wanted to be a knight in a shining armor or honorable samurai. Now you can be one. This skill increases damage and speed of your attacks, as well as allows you to unlock special [Fighting Moves]
*Increases your damage with swords by 10% + per level.
*Increases your attack speed with swords combat by 5% per level
*Passively increases 0.5% of STR and DEX per level
Fighting Moves:
[Thrust]
Few centuries ago, thrust was dubbed the deadliest type of attack with any type of blade weapon. And now, you can power it up! Can be evolved into different variations after achieving level ten of that skill.
* 25 STA and sword required
* +10% damage, +5% speed, -10% accuracy
[Basic Club Combat] {Passive} (Lvl. 1/100) Exp. - 0.00%
First weapon of Neanderthals was club. While not as advanced as swords or bows, this weapon is as deadly, though it requires a lot of strength. This skill increases damage and speed of your attacks, as well as allows you to unlock special [Fighting Moves]
*Increases your damage with clubs by 10% + per level.
*Increases your attack speed with clubs combat by 5% per level
*Passively increases 0.5% of STR and END per level
Fighting Moves:
[Heavy Swing]
Are you a weakling? Of course not! Because if you were, you wouldn't be able to do even such a simple move! Can be evolved into different variations after achieving level ten of that skill.
* 35 STA and club required
* +10% damage, -5% attack speed, +2% chance for crippling target
[ID Create] {Active} (Lvl. 1/100) Exp. - 0.00%
Special spell used for creating alternative dimensions for training. Used way before first Gamer was born, this skill was originally used by every person with supernatural abilities. In this time and place, no one uses it, except Gamers. Every five levels of the skill, new ID is unlocked
* 200 MP required
* Available IDs - Empty, Zombie, Thugs
* Passively increases 0.5% of INT and WIS per level
[ID Escape] {Active} (Lvl. 1/100) Exp. - 0.00%
Allows you to exit any pocket dimension created by you or someone else. With higher level, escape from dimensions of more powerful people.
* 200 MP required
*Passively increases 0.5% of INT and WIS per level
[Intimidation] {Passive/Active} (Lvl. 1/100) Exp. - 0.00%
Art of scaring people into cooperation and telling truth. It isn't art liked by everyone, but it is an art. And a damn useful one.
* Passively have 1% chance of activating without any cost when trying to intimidate someone
* When activated, makes you 10% scarier
* 15 MP/minute required
* Passively increases 1% of CHR per level
Alright... I think I'll like this system a lot, even if some skills are costly. Looking at the time, I decided to go back home. My Nee-san returns today early from school and I don't fell like listening to her antics today.
I just hope I won't endanger my family and friends with the new life I started.
Issei's current stats:
Name: Issei Hyoudou [?] Age: 15 (Turns 16 in 21 days) [?]
Title: N/A [?] Affiliation: Hyoudou Family [?]
Level: 6 [?] Exp: 3470/4000 [?]
Race: Human
HP: 262/262 [?] HP Regen.: 0.25/s [?]
MP: 133/133 [?] MP Regen.: 0.06/s [?]
STA: 332/332 [?] STA Regen.: 0.75/s [?]
STR: 10.1 (Base 10 + 1.5% from skills) [?]
DEX: 12.1 (Base 12 + 1% from skills) [?]
END: 15.1 (Base 15 + 1% from skills) [?]
INT: 7.3 (Base 7 + 4% from skills) [?]
WIS: 6.06 (Base 6 + 1% from skills) [?]
CHR: 9.09 (Base 9 + 1% from skills) [?]
LUK: 10 [?]
Stat points: 0 [?]
Money (¥): 25 250 [?]
And here is the end of first chapter of my new story, Gamer's Tournament. Why did I upload this instead of Demonic Devil? Why wasn't there any update of my first story yet? Simple, I had writing block for that story. I needed something break away from it. So I wrote this!
My biggest problem with writing DD is that I am limited by lore of both DxD and DMC and I need to put certain limitations on my character to make sure he isn't too OP. This story is meant for me to simply go crazy and write Issei however I want, no strings attached. And what is the epitome of OP character? The Gamer, of course! That's why giving The Gamer system to my OC-like Issei is basically meant to be a message for you saying "Who cares how OP he'll get, that is how the story is meant to be!"
So, will I abandon Demonic Devil? FUCK NO! I just need time to recollect my thoughts about that story and some kind of break from it that isn't just sitting on YouTube and watching videos of idiots goofing around in games.
So, did you like my story? Do you want more ASAP? Write review about it, follow or even favorite it and I'll try to write next chapter for as soon as I can.
Jia~Na!
P.S.: When you read chapter title, try to imagine Issei's voice saying it.