The Survivor

by Undying Soul98

Surviving: defined as being able 'to continue to live or exist, especially in spite of danger or hardship'. In an Unreal world of Pirates and Devils, this is exactly what I intend to do. No Demon, Marine or Bad End will stop me; the Straw Hat pirates WILL Survive, even if it kills me... OC/SI Self Insert/ DISCONTINUED

1. Chapter 1: Story Mode Begin

Chapter 1

AN- Hello all, and welcome to the Survivor. To say up front- Here Be Self Insert. So expect the regular shenanigans, but also expected the unexpected. This and the next few chapters are completely rewritten to match the quality of later chapters, so you might feel a quality dip eventually- but rest assured those will eventually be corrected, and for those with the patience or interest to read on I hope you will find an One Piece Insert that stands out and dares to be different- by actually changing canon and by having a main character who... stands out.

Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing! I do not own One Piece now, nor have I ever or ever will own it. Dang it all to heck.

Beta: All beta rights go to The Handsome Twin.

When is the end truly determined? When is your path set in stone, and what lays at the end? When do you choose to give in, shrug your shoulders and toss the towel in? When you walk your path, or when you no longer have the will to change direction? These questions puzzled the man, forcing him to think back to all the choices he had made to get to this point, and to consider those that had walked the beaten path before he did.

"Its never too late to fix things." Decided the man with fondness and perhaps a great tinge of regret. He had shed too much blood by this point in time to buy this single opportunity, and he would not waste it, nor the sacrifices of the rest. "How I wish that was so, but perhaps its too late for me to do anything this time. This time."

"..."

"I know that!" He snapped in response. "Regardless, this is the only path. For them to Survive, the cycle must continue. I refuse to break it, not now. Not until the End is True."

"...!"

"It will continue as long as we will it to. Now, are you going to uphold your end on the bargain?"

"..."

The man agreed, and returned his attention to the machine in front of him- the crystallization of a miracle, a tool of another, but one he could use and abuse despite not being its true owner. By this point in time its creator was dead, by the man's hands no less. Just another corpse to him. By this point in time the size of the pile of bodies was unimportant.

"Well, this is it." He said, regarding his companion. He fumbled around in his pocket and drew out his own weapon of choice- a small thing, but no less powerful. The scratched and battered thing clenched in his palms had helped him kill more entities than he could count, and bind a dozen more. And it would be the catalyst that would allow him to continue what his predecessors had begun.

"..." The machine whirled to life, a mild buzzing coming from its interior to show that it was in working order.

"Indeed, I hope we will never meet again." He ignored the whirling and the faint smell of atmosphere caused from the sheer presence emitted from the mechanical contraption, even though he knew that if a single gear was out of place time and space would rupture around him. Instead, finger was poised to press, to send the message that would kickstart the entire chain of events.

"Goodbye. Try to Survive." Then the button was pressed, the text was sent, and the cycle renewed.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sometimes I hate the world. Okay, exaggeration. Normally I'm just apathetic towards most aspects of it, but I hate some areas of it... sometimes. Like when your too good natured and unwanted parents insist that you have to attend a mandatory counselling session every week.

Which was where I was now, sitting on one of those stupid psychiatric sofas that they always have to try and make visitors more 'comfortable'. But, even as the doctor rambled on, all I wanted to do was go home and play my Games. Is that too hard to ask? To be left alone?

"Are you even listening Nathan Foster?" Prompted the middle aged woman assigned to me, whom had probably gained enough migraines from our talks to become the local chemists most dedicated customer for aspirin.

"Oh, did you say something?" I muttered, not even bothering to look at her. My hands were occupied fiddling with my turned off phone (Insistence of the doctor) to have something to do for the rest of the hour until I'm allowed to leave this place.

"Yes. I was asking you just why you put your parents through all this emotional distress." The woman said, drawing the conversation down an unusual path.

"What have they got to do with anything?" I asked. "Also, does this place have wi-fi? I know I can't turn on my phone so I have to listen to you and all, but I could check my emails while I wait for the bus. Maybe I'll have a notification from my site?"

She sighed, and took a long drink of her coffee. It was the fourth she had gulped down in the last hour. "You didn't answer my question. Surely you must know what your horrible, horrible dreadful addiction is putting them through-"

"One," I interrupted, not really caring that she was in the middle of one of her annoying speeches. "its not an addition. Video Gaming is a life choice. Two, choosing to play my games is hardly on the same level of horribleness as being addicted to drugs. And three, I know, and I don't care."

"Truly you are a cold and apathetic person."

"Meh." I shrugged. She says it how it is. I am a person who just doesn't care about the world. After all, the world doesn't care back. "With how shit this world is, do you blame me?"

"But escapism isn't the-"

"'Isn't the way', blah blah blah." I interjected. "You say this all the time. How many times have you repeated your bullshit? How many times have I tried to explain to you that I love Games like nothing else, preferring those 'imaginary' worlds over the gray craphole the Real world is? Seriously, its like you can't pay attention."

The woman snapped her pencil. I took some degree in pleasure out of the sight, but not much. I really just wanted to unbox the game I had smuggled into my home, so that I could once more dive into that Unreal land of heroes and wonder, where things were just generally better.

"That's fresh coming from you. One of the main reasons you're here after all is to combat your social awkwardness."

"True, but I don't really want to correct it. The expectations of society can go bugger itself... metaphorically. Symbolically. Literally? Or is it metaphysically? Which one is more apt an expression? You're the doc after all."

"Nathan," The woman took a deep breath. "all you're doing is hurting yourself and the others around you with your actions. To deny your reality is to ignore your life- to abandon all the good in this world and-"

"Shut up." I stated. "Seriously. Please do me a favour, and think. You're smart, I'm smart. I mean, I do well in all my classes, coming up in the top ten in my year consistently (Not that in my school that's an achievement), and if I actually put effort into the piss poor Real I could probably ace them. Have you ever thought that I've considered all of your arguments, that I've balanced all these thoughts and ideas and beliefs and judgements perfectly well myself before I dedicated myself to Games."

I snorted. "Why am I telling you this anyway? Its not like it matters. I've weighed up both sides and picked the best options. Frankly, I prefer to lose myself in that Unreal, and I'll continue to do so. Now, I'm going to leave. I have better things to do."

Without even saying goodbye, I stormed out the shut door to her office, only barely hearing the low mutter of "Rude brat." coming from the woman before leaving.

On another more important note, this place doesn't have wi-fi. What a dreadful, horrible place this is...

XXXXXXXXXX

I remembered the first Game I played. I was young, Young and more innocent. I had never been good with other kids, could never seem to click with them. They seemed petty and stupid, they thought I was rude and cold, and we generally called each other names.

I was smart too. When I actually bother to talk to mum, the one positive thing she could say was that back before I became Not Normal I had been a quite promising child. Smart and enthusiastic, able to grasp concepts easily, independent and was able to actually look at what was happening in the world around me rather thank just focusing on 'me, me, me' like most seven year olds do.

I used to be her pride and joy- her little genius. She always bragged I'd go and become a doctor of a politician someday; amazing how things change.

Anyway, I was seven, and it was Christmas. My parents were frequently busy with work, and being a non-sporty kid, it was natural that I couldn't be occupied with football or outdoors stuff, so they had a dilemma- 'what can we get our kid that will keep him out of our hair that he will actually enjoy?'.

Thus I ended up with my first console- a Game Boy Advanced (I was too late for the 'Classic Era'). That, plus a copy of Pokemon Emerald were my ticket down the rabbit hole. Even at that age I fundamentally saw something very wrong with the world, while I saw something absolutely wonderful in that little world of Pocket Monsters.

Much to my parents horror and regret (Bet they wish they never bought that thing now, don't they?), I never looked back.

XXXXXXXXXX

It was lunchtime, and with great relish I slunk out of the classroom myself and the other pupils had been occupying. The ringing sound of the bell which freed me was like the coming of an angel... with more food and greater idiocy, as well as less holy light. Well, one could claim the glow of a computer monitor is heavenly, but that's a matter of opinion.

Still, I sighed as I left the other morons behind and headed towards my one sanctuary in this craphole.

The craphole I was speaking of though, was my school itself. Rated ninth worst in the country for my age group, Brannings Academy was the dumping grounds for all the rejects and trouble-makers of the educational world. If you piss off the police too much, have taken a stint in Juvie, are unwanted elsewhere or are just plain unlucky- you all end up in the cesspit.

Seriously. This place is bad enough to draw my ire regularly, and I'm normally apathetic at best. Graffiti coats the walls like the tattoos of a deranged maniac, windows lie cracked and mostly unfixed from student activity, the classrooms have more broken chairs than pencils and the tall wall surrounding the wide, squat building gives the place an overall impression of a fortress prison than a place of learning.

It always reminded me of one of those Grotto's or Dungeons you'd find somewhere in an RPG. Its unpleasant, filled with trolls and you are always forced to keep going back to do crappy Quests again and again.

School is unfortunately necessary up until you hit eighteen, so I had no choice but to go, but I really wish I didn't. While admittedly I can still play my games in lesson, bringing in my 3DS to play in lessons and with my headphones in, its less fun. People always try to pick on me for my hobby, and while the teachers don't care its a less enjoyable way of grinding for items regardless.

As for why I was at this school in particular- I think that it was probably because my parents had given up. By now they've realised that I don't want to change and that their promising young son has grown up into and apathetic, socially awkward nerd who will probably never get a 'normal' job. Love only goes so far, and by sending me here on a three hour bus journey here and back they don't have to see me often and don't have to acknowledge that they failed to raise me as they desired.

SLAM. I bumped into the wide torso of the school's largest bully- Bruce. No second name, he was merely Bruce. The Bruce. The one person you don't mess with, lest he gut you like a fish.

"Watch where you're going, ya scrawny git." He drawls, shoving me into the nearby wall. As I hit it I groaned. I was a NERD, built like a rake and while tall I wasn't exactly packing. Its moments like this that made me wish that my body was as tough and sharp as my mind was- since while its all well and good to be intelligent, it does you no good if you're face is going to be smashed in like a cheap iPhone.

"Sorry, Bruce." I placated. "Didn't see you there."

"Well maybe you should LOOK, eh?" He sneered down at me. RNG, it was people like this annoyed me and made me hate interacting with people.

"And maybe you should stop guzzling down cheap kebab's like they are going out of fashion." I retorted.

"Whassat? You looking for a brick to the face?" He grunted. And yes, he carried a brick in his bag. Indeed, he was always ready to brick something. Bricks are like towels- you never know when you'll need one.

"No. But are you looking for someone to kick in to make you feel better about yourself?" I mused plainly, with a deadpan expression in place. "Does hurting other people make you feel better about having such a wretched existence?"

"Shut up!" He punched me in the gut, and damn did it hurt.

"No doubt your violence makes your horrible home situation ten times better, doesn't it?" I accused. I didn't actually know if he even had domestic problems, since I was just probing, but I think I might have enraged him. Since he hit me again.

"Ouch." I idly noted as I felt my stomach beginning to bruise. "But yeah. Good one for picking on the weakling. Congratulations for beating up someone as weak as a fly. Well done for earning back all the broken pieces of your tattered pride due to how you're never going to be loved."

"Shut. Up." He reiterated his words with a punch each, and while someone else would have given up by now, I was too stubborn to do so. I had pride, and I wouldn't let anyone trample on it.

"Go on. Prove me wrong. Give into your anger." I hissed. "The Dark Side is strong in you-"

"What the HELL are ya on about?"

"I was quoting classical sci-fi." I rolled my eyes. While mostly a gamer, my nerdish tendencies did mean that in terms of pop culture I was well versed in other aspects of common geeky fandoms. "Not that a Neanderthal like yourself would understand that."

"Whassa Kneeandafall?" Bruce asked in genuine curiosity.

I smiled a wicked smile and said the two words more likely to start a fight than any other. "Yow Momma."

"RARRGGHHHH!" He prepared to crush me like a bug.

"Rather-" I interrupted. "That's what David says."

"What?"

"Yeah- David's always calling your mum that."

"Seriously?" He asked, growling like a wolf, already forgetting that he was about to kill me. Bruce is like a bull, he charges, plows everything in his way aside, but is easily distracted by red. In this case, me bringing up his arch nemesis.

"Yup. He's always saying that. And other stuff too. Like how she's a tart, and how he's 'done her', and how he's also screwed your girlfriend."

"He DIDN'T!?"

"He did." I nodded my head in false sympathy. "Now. You should go find him and set him straight, eh Bruce."

"Yeah- I guess I should." Bruce dropped me on the floor and stormed away. "Just stay out of my way Nathan!"

I grumbled and picked myself up, prodding my stomach tenderly. "Well, I might be socially awkward, but it only takes someone with the intelligence of a monkey sat at a typewriter to send him after David."

XXXXXXXXXX

Eventually I reached my destination- the sole ICT classroom in the buildings. Lined with twenty odd, nine year out of date terminals, it was an oasis in a dessert of mediocrity. The computers are lined with an unturn-offable safety mode, so none of the brutes here cared enough to use them, meaning I could stay here alone and in peace.

Well, mostly alone.

"Afternoon!" Greeted the geeky kid with glasses from the 80's. Armed only with his nasal voice and equipped with train track braces- the kid who greeted me was one of the few people whom I could tolerate in this place. "Naaatthhhannn~"

"Meh. Jim." I greeted.

"My name is PHIL! Stop calling me Jim already!" He whined, and already I was ignoring him. I walked past him, took seat at the best computer, deposited my bag besides me and logged on without any issue. I opened up the internet (Waiting like ten minutes for it to do so), and immediately went to my usual destination.

"You checking that site of yours again?" Jim said with a mouthful of cheese and onion crisps.

"Yes." I responded- not elaborating. The hourglass finished loading, and without further ado my page came up.

The Survivor read the top of the banner in bold, navy writing. I smiled to myself. Of all the things in this shit Real World, my webpage was one of the few things I liked and had pride in producing. And others must have liked it too, because I was quite well known on the internet.

"I'm still amazed you're so well known online. What'd they call you again?"

"The Survivor." I respond automatically. My smile spread wider. And that name did embody me, it really did.

I love video games- they are my life. As a kid I played them and fell in love with the stats screens and the numbers, learned the rules and savoured the graphics, devoured the genres and replayed until 100% completion. While my parents worked, it wasn't wrong to say that these games raised me, it was those story's and experiences that shaped me as a person and taught me all that I needed to know.

I didn't care about the genre itself: action, puzzle, rhythm game or adventure, I'd play them all. RPG's though were my favourites, particular those originating from Japan. Pokemon WAS my first after all, and I loved the art style, mechanics and story driven plot that many contained. Xenoblade Chronicles, Chrono Trigger, Persona and Fire Emblem were some of my favourites.

As such, I grew up in a land of magic and monsters; I was raised by the heroes of old; my friends were the virtuous and the strong adventurers of this virtual world! I embraced the morals those games taught me, and empathized with those lessons that characters were forced to learn. As they smiled, so too was I happy. Games are a medium that allow you to experience so much, to empower yourself and achieve something while also learning a valuable lesson through playing a million different lifestyles.

With this variation, and that love driving me, I asked this question to myself: 'why should I need the real world? Why should I live in such a dull and dreary plane of existence?'

The real world disappoints, whereas the fictional one tends to surprise you. And so I had my answer.

This realisation was the turning point leading to me devoting my life to playing through all these experiences, since these digital experiences were more fulfilling than actually living.

Upon doing as all do on the internet, and bragging of my experience- I quickly grew into something like a gaming celebrity. I was well known for completing games without getting a single Game Over, so used to their mechanics and inner workings that I could avoid all the pitfalls that others would, and in particular my ability to complete RPG's so easily granted me the nickname of 'The Survivor'.

Naturally, people called Bullshit, and perhaps a lot of my success was just a good mix of luck, prior planning and over-levelling, but I posted video clips showing me as I played, and I did write ups of all the little things in the mechanics I figured out. Soon, people began asking questions, so I posted answers online. Then, I'd get request of games for me to play. Pretty soon this evolved and escalated until I had my own website, complete with its own forums and donation point (To help me keep up my hobby), posted content daily and even ended up with a Youtube channel.

So yes. I had good reason to be smug about my gaming achievements, because I was doing video play through of things before 'lets plays' became popular!

"You look deep in thought." Noted Jim, awakening me from my reminiscing. "So, gots anything cool?"

"Just a few emails." I mentioned. "Now shush- stop bothering me Jim."

"You're a dick- ya know that? Also, I'm PHIL! How long have we known each other?" He mock cried as he continued shovelling his crisps into his mouth. His eating habits were disgusting.

"Don't know. Don't care."

"So harsh!" He yelled, bringing a hand to his heart in despair. "And I thought we were friends."

"Not really." I shrugged. I didn't need friends. Jim was tolerable because he liked Games too, but he was causal, and to be honest time spent socializing was time NOT levelling up my characters.

"You wound me!"

"And you're loud." I pulled on the headphones I normally keep round my neck, and took out my phone to put some music on. Compared to the high-tech consoles I own, my phone is woefully behind the times, not even belonging to the modern smartphone era. It does what it needs though- plays music, rings people and receives emails and texts. I didn't need it for much else.

And then the soundtrack of The World Ends With You washed over me, drowning out the protests of the other boy.

XXXXXXXXXX

By now the school was closed, and the majority of its pupils had already fled home or gone off to do whatever it is teens do now. Immediately after the last bell of school, the flood of students surged through the schoolgates leading outside, though I remained behind for awhile to listen to my music. While I could take the first bus home with everyone else, that would mean being stuck in that confined space with all those other, noisy pains. Bloody NPC's always acting loud and stupid...

No. Easier to stop behind and catch the bus an hour later. Gives me more peace and quiet, and lets me play by myself.

At the bus stop, I dropped my bag besides me and pulled out my 3DS to have a quick play session of the latest game I was working through. As I plugged my headphones in and turned on the power, I thanked my lucky stars and the RNG (The Random Number God- the holy spirit whom resides over the roll of the dice and selection of the Random Number Generator- may he bring me luck and Loot) that I always brought my charger in my bag and that I had time to charge at break and lunch, else I doubted I would ever have enough juice to get through an entire day without bringing a second console, which was something I disliked doing due to people sometimes stealing my bag and wrecking its contents.

The game itself was, as expected, a JRPG called Devil Survivor 2. Actually, it was Shin Megami Tensei Devil Survivor 2, but that's just phonetics. The company that made it, Atlus, is rather famous for its RPG's, particularly the massively successful spin off game Persona (All about materialising aspects of your psyche to do battle with Humanities negative emotions- damn good games), so it was natural that I would play the few games that hit the Western Market. Due to my hobby, I knew much of Atlus' games, though I haven't played all of them, so the concept of many of their games intrigued me.

In short, most of the games cover topics concerning mythology and explore the idea of the battles of many of these supernatural entities. Kinda like Pokemon, but with more 'Thor SMASH' and less EV grinding- though the fusion mechanic allowing two demons making another demon was pretty in-depth.

Devil Survivor 2 was no different, being the tale of Humanity summoning Demons to fight some aliens trying to destroy the earth and other stuff. Having already played through and recorded all the main story paths, this play through was just for me to enjoy, and enjoy it I was. The game was awesome!

To be honest, I sort of wish I had played the first game. Yes, it sounds silly, but the first is rarer and more expensive on the internet, and the remake isn't out yet, so since the two games had different plots there wasn't a TECHNICAL reason for why I couldn't play them out of order...

Minutes later, I was drawn out of my playing by the beeping of my phone, alerting me to the act that I had a text message. Sighing, I closed the screen of my handhold and pocketed it, drawing out my phone and slipping my headphones off.

As my screen turned on, telling me that indeed I DID have a text message, I wondered who it was from. With a few button presses, I opened up the message.

Hello, Survivor! I have a challenge for you. You claim to be able to survive anything!? I would love to test this truth. How would you like to have an adventure? An adventure like One Piece? Because there is a whole world of excitement, chaos and potential Dead Ends to conquer, so will you test your mettle?

Below the message, two options were displayed.

Accept / Decline

That was an odd message. It seemed a bit like the texting equivalent of a prank call. For one thing, the sender was named only ?, and the message was hardly typical either. I mean, what sort of person texts you to ask if you want an adventure?

I did recognise the name One Piece though. In my stint as a nerd, I normally focussed on games, but sometimes I had moments of distraction where I did other stuff while waiting for new games or after I overdosed on gaming and needed a break (Perhaps only a SHORT break).

One area I repetitively dived into was anime, since many games from Japan were adapted into them, and since many had pretty good stories actually. One of said anime's I watched was One Piece.

Following playing one of the terrible video game adaptations, I did become intrigued by the characters and setting, which led to me marathoning the first 200 episodes over a few months, and then watching the occasional dozen episodes or so over the months afterwards whenever I felt like it. It was my little Anime Gulity Pleasure, since someone like me probably shouldn't enjoy a shonen so much. Even so, while the characters were stupid, the interesting plot, whacky personalities and unusual powers more than made up for it.

The question still remained in front of me. Why was this message here? Who sent it? And how did they get this number? Only a few people know this, and even then most people contract me by email.

Accept / Decline

Should I press accept just for the LOLS, or should I decline this nutty mail, which was clearly sent by someone with a few guns short of a FPS? Who knows what viruses would be sent to my phone if I accepted? Can people even get viruses on phones? Or do they just get spam?

That wasn't important. What WAS important though, was that they were interrupting my Happy Game Time.

I tapped decline, deciding to forget about the message and continue my day as normal. However, a new message immediately appeared following this. I frowned.

Are you sure, oh great Survivor? This is your one and only chance to Survive, to do things you have only dreamed of accomplishing. After all, your reputation is on the line.

Accept / Decline

Crap. He/she just hadto bring up my reputation. By the sound of it, and this is just a guess, a new One Piece RPG has probably escaped my notice in the rush other games which had come out recently. Maybe he/she was a marketer for the game who wanted me to advertise it, or something like that. Either way, while annoying, I would hate for her/him to start spreading shit about me online. My title is my Pride, and I won't let anyone tarnish it. I would have to back up my honour, regardless of the supposed risks.

And what the hell could go wrong anyway if I DID click it anyway? I'm in desperate need of upgrading anyway.

I hit the accept button. Seconds passed, and then one final message appeared.

I am glad you accepted, because things are going to change. Now remember... try to Survive that which is to come...

Now didn't that sound very ominous? My phone began to flash, which was something it really shouldn't do.

CRAP! He/she was definitely a hacker who has just put a virus on my phone. Damn it!

I sighed. This virus was pretty weird, though. Text kept flashing up in a seemingly unrecognisable format, crashing my media player and bellowing out unrecognisable static as it rushed through my hardware, doing who knows what to my stored data.

0100100...Loading...1001001101010001011...purpose...01000100101110...dface...1011010101011...Transport...0110100100101...summoning...101001000100101110...binding...100111...Spectre... 01100100111001010101... Initiating program... 011001000101010110100100101... Program installing... 0101001010010...ourty percen...10101011010...power...1010011010101... seventy percent complete... 001010010101001100110... 100 percent...01100...initat...0101010110101...tower...0101010100101010110... destination selected... 0100101010110101111...demon... 00101010101101010101101... TRUE potential...god...011000...King ...0110100110101010... the future... 101001010111010011... SURVIVE.. 0100101011010010101010101...One Piece.

Nut jobs, eh? Nothing better do with their time than send stuff like this to people like me. Seriously though, what the RNG was up with this shit?

I was debating whether I should just turn off my phone when, suddenly, I felt an aching pain in my forehead. I clutched my skull and cried out. I looked down to my hand, just to see sparks and electricity flow from the back of my phone and engulf my hand in even more pain.

I tried to drop my phone... I couldn't. The fucking thing seemed to be stuck to my hand.

The pain continued.

The world became fuzzy.

Everything was going black.

'Crap!' I thought as I fell forwards, the world seeming to blink as the darkness opened up in front of me and swallowed me whole.

XXXXXXXXXX

A door stood before me. To what or where, who knows? Either way, it was large, and something vast was on the other side of it. I could just FEEL it! Nine crimson lights pierced the fog of my dreaming mind, then the door swung open and a great darkness surged out and through me, touching me somewhere untouchable. Then the door slammed shut and the lights went out...

I woke up with a mind numbing headache. It felt like I had a raging hangover, despite having been sober 100% of my life.

I grudgingly got up, deciding that whatever I had caught from some asshole at school had knocked me out, and then the idiots had been forced to send me home.

Yes, I was probably lying down on my bed, thus I got up.

Damn. Judging by the breeze on my face, I couldn't be at home.

Suddenly I realised that I had been by the bus stop when whatever happened to me took place.

My hand instinctively went to my phone, it felt warm in my grasp. That weird text must have really fried the electrics in the phone.

I sighed miserably and rubbed my eyes. Knowing my luck, I was probably just left unconscious by the bus stop for the last four hours. I rolled my eyes, despite them still being closed. That's just like that crappy bus driver. Despite being the same driver to take me to and from school every single day, he is still just as much an asshole as any other, and it would be just like him to leave an unconscious kid by the road side. He would probably show up again in half an hour still laughing, the sadistic git.

I opened my eyes, expecting to see the dismal streets of the derelict area my school was located in.

Instead I saw a field. An RNG damned field! My mouth hung wide open and surprisingly I didn't care in the slightest that my emotionless persona was down in a public location.

The field was pleasant enough. The sun was shining, the birds were tweeting, and the sky was blue. It seemed to be the middle of harvesting season as many crops could be seen in the distance, although none were in the place where I woke up.

All in all, this was a definite WTF moment.

I blinked a few more times just to check. I was on a field. To the left, I saw a farm, typical cottage and stables. To the right, some crop fields were spread out. How the hell did I get here?

My mind went through the multiple theories on what the hell just happened and I selected the most probable. The chances are that this was a kidnap gone wrong. The text was simply a way of uploading an ingenious virus to my brain, which could knock me out remotely at a touch of a button. Thumbs up to whoever made it. It must have been easy to collect my unconscious body, just walk up and put it in a car. Why I was in the field, though? Maybe they had to drop me off here for somebody else to pick me up?

Maybe they had to leave me here when a police car accidentally came too close? Who knew? This seemed to be the question of the day.

Next, I looked over myself to make sure that I was still in one piece. I was in the same clothing I had been in before the event- black jeans, a pale blue shirt, and a white hoodie with blue stitching. The hoodie itself is one of my favourite pieces of clothing to wear, mainly due to all the pockets it has and just how cool it is when wearing it despite its thickness. Not exactly a typical uniform, but we at Brannings Academy had no real uniform enforcement, so what I wore mattered little.

I checked my pocket and found my phone, which I had subconsciously put back in while I was gawking like an idiot. My 3DS was also in my pocket, though my bag had been left behind to my irritation.

Using the dark screen of my phone as a makeshift mirror I was able to see that condition-wise my face wasn't any different, though I never thought it would. I saw the thin face I expected to see, with the same brown eyes, the same dark brown messy hair (Hastily combed a bit in the mornings and left until the next day), with the same nose and ears, and the emotionless expression that I've come to wear as my default look.

Its not like I thought that I'd see a tomato in the mirror or something as odd as that, but it would have just been my luck if someone had felt tipped a phallic symbol onto my forehead considering how this day has been. Luckily, there wasn't.

Appearance satisfactory, I unlocked the screen and saw three bars. I almost snorted. Almost. What sort of an idiot kidnaps someone and leaves them with their phone? I didn't have time to be lost in some random field, so I instead called the police. Lets let them sort this out.

RING! RING! RING! RING! BLAAAAAH! "Sorry, you appear to be out of range. Please try again later," spoke the not-so-helpful pre-recorded voice on my phone.

"What." I said dumbly. "Just... what? There are so many cell phone towers now, that it should be nigh impossible to be somewhere without signal, specially in Britain. Just where am I?"

I tried again and again. Same response each time, out of range to make a call. This made things harder. Then, I noticed something strange about my phone. The back was bulkier, for some reason.

My phone is rather old. Not quite a Nokia Brick, but it slides up and has little buttons. It was also a dull silver colour and had a few scratches on one side from when I accidentally dropped it once. I turned the phone over in my hand, looking for the physical flaw I had felt with my shaking hand, then saw something weird in the battery slot.

Usually, there is a slot at the back where a rechargeable battery can be inserted. The cover had been removed and a slightly thicker thing inserted, but it was lodged in there, almost fused with the plastic of my phone. I tried to tug it out, but I failed miserably. I looked at this strange battery and saw it was a dark black block, there was even a strange logo engraved on it, maybe for the maker, or some sort of company.

It was two bold letters on top of each other saying "WS".

'Odd...' I thought. Next, I checked the contents of my phone. Doubly odd.

I saw a new app on my phone, which was strange, since my phone didn't even have an app store. I just have a few basic options to choose on a menu screen (such as camera, files, music player, internet, calls, contacts, that sort of stuff). It seemed like this mystery app had replaced the 'call history' option. I brought it up and it showed a plain black screen, with light blue gears turning slowly in the background. Some darker text in the middle read "Demon Summoning app".

Quite frankly, I feel like I'm in a crappy mystery game, where with every clue you find you just become more confused. There was literally no reason to have such an app on my phone, so even ignoring why and how it had even got there, why was it named 'Demon Summoning App'? The world is dull, there are no gods and no demons- only flawed, petty humans. Was this a joke?

I did what any dude with a mysterious, yet vaguely familiar app, would do. I pressed it.

SSCCHHHH!

A black tear briefly appeared in the air in front of me. I leapt back in shock at the literal tear in reality itself. It stayed for only a moment, projecting a view of something quite alien from within, before something shot out, the portal closing behind it. A small blue figure now occupied the space, being only about 12 inches tall. It floated there in the air, glaring at me with its two black circles, which were clearly its eyes. Another circle was there for a mouth.

A second rip opened, and this time, a small red thing jumped out and landed on the floor. It went up to my waist and appeared quite strange. The red coloured mop-like hair reminded me of kelp covered in blood, and it continued down until it went past its back. The body was also a crimson colour, though the odd marks on its arms and chest were noticeable. He kept jumping from foot to foot, in a way that reminded me of cheerful dancing.

I staggered back a few steps, confused at what mind screwing was going on in the real world, shit which should only go down in anime, manga, or video games. Then again, I just used a DEMON summoning app. Can I really be that surprised that some demonic like entities appeared?

"Hee hee hee! Finally free!" one of the creatures laughed gleefully.

"Yes! Let us celebrate our freedom!" snarled the other. "But first..." he turned to me.

"But first, we need to kill our contractor!" finished the blue one cheerfully.

Now I was annoyed. Confused, but annoyed. I receive a stupid text message, I wake up in a frigging field, then I see two demon things. Clearly I am either in a coma and am dreaming this, or I am completely and utterly insane. Or I've just wandered into the average plot of a supernatural video game where a helpless teen with no powers finds himself falling head first into cliché paranormal events that he had no idea ever existed, before he gains a mysterious ability and goes on a Big Damn Adventure.

Nah. That last one's just stupid.

"What do you mean?" I asked, stalling for time. I looked around. No random swords or convenient items to use to help me. It appears that plot convenience does not work for me, which pissed me off greatly. If reality is going to be a bitch and act like a video game, it should do the fullMonty and give me some sort of power up! Dude, where's my Magic Sword?

The red demon chuckled. "Simple, dear master!" he said bitterly. "You summoned us, so you are our contractor! The terms are simple, defeat us and gain our powers, or die and give us our freedom!" he dashed forward, surprisingly fast, with claws outstretched, ready to tear and rake. I for one didn't want to be skewered like a Slime, so I threw myself to one side and collided with the floor, trying to ignore the pain.

The ghost simply stood back and said, "Bufu."

Suddenly, blue ice shot out from its hands, in the form of a huge icicle shard, which was flung towards me like a projectile. So now not only are there apparently demons, but they can use Magic. How fun. Having ice magic used on you when you have no Fira spells to counter it with is not terribly good for your health.

"Damn." I cursed to myself, scrambling away. I only just managed to roll out of the way, in an awkward fashion, might I add. "Ow..." was my only response to the situation. I am made for nerd stuff, not for rolling like a goddamned army commando!

"Contract, you say." I muttered, my mind racing for a way out of this. I mean, I am the Survivor! I can handle this!

"OF COURSE!" my mind suddenly screamed. I thought back to the game I had been playing just before this shit began- the game still technically turned on in my pocket. It might sound stupid, but this situation greatly reminded me of the opening to said game- to Devil Survivor 2- where the MC summons a Demon by accident and is forced to defeat and subdue it to gain the ability to summon it. Yes, this entire situation screamed of 'Mysterious JRPG setting'!

In the original game, the hero is forced to defeat the summoned demon, which was summoned from a phone app, to gain its power (basically it acted as the tutorial level while also acting as a reason for the plot to progress). Perhaps if I treat this fight like that one, I may be able to survive, perhaps even win it! Now, to get in a clear mind frame for the upcoming fight...

"So I summoned you by using the app?"

"Of course!" the red demon, now identified as Obariyon since I remembered its name from the game and because it seemed apt, dashed forward. I dodged to one side again, taking advantage of my longer legs to keep out of its way.

I was still confused, since all my senses screamed that none of this should be possible- Magic, Demons or summoning apps- but I was willing to push this aside. If life was going to act and reflect a video game, maybe I should act like it is? I know nothing of fighting and are about as fight ready as a handicapped lemming, but what I DID know was how to play the game, how to create strategies, how to use what I have.

I have always played games, so therefore I will do what I know best. Survive.

Obariyon leapt again- it seemed that large pounces were this beings favourite means of attack. This time I wasn't as lucky as before when trying to flee. His claws raked my hoodie, tearing it as I dodged with all my effort. Bastard- its my favourite hoodie. Now its personal.

"Can't we negotiate?" I ask. My brain was processing everything I knew, sorting it and filing it and searching for any data that I might have once heard or seen that could help me escape with my life. I was not strong, I had no bulging muscles, but I had my brain- I could think.

What did I have? No weapon, no magic tingly powers, no Deus Ex Machina. I did have that phone and the app on it, my 3DS and the clothes on my back. Basically nothing.

If this is a game, and my life is a video game- then I need to beat them. Like in Devil Survivor. I'll need to beat then- to win. But just how the hell do I do that when I have no means of attack!? I could kick them, I guess, but I'd probably do 1HP worth of damage. So useless.

"Bufu!" The blue poltergeist. Once more ice gathered into a large shard of sharp frost, which the Demon then proceeded to throw at me.

No trees, no cover, just a field. I threw myself to the floor, and the spell flew through just where I had last been.

Shit. I had nearly died. DIED! No, Nathan, calm down. This is a game. Not real. Imagine not as the real world, where physics works, where fire burns, wounds bleed and things hurt. A game. One you need to Survive in. If it hits, you'll loose HP. Just need to lower theirs.

Yes. I can work with a game. I can win a game.

"So no negotiation!?" I clarified, staggering to my feet and starting to run away from them- to get some distance.

"No! Eat you! Freedom!" Obariyon shouted, as he rushed after me from behind.

Okay then brain- what ya got for me?

If this was a game (Which it totally is) how would go about doing this? There'd be a grid. This is a strategy game- so we have squares we'd naturally move around in (The world isn't REALLY divided into boxes, but that matters not- a GAME). Before when they attacked it was their turn to attack- because people take turns to attack each other (No they don't, they only care about killing you- no gamers courtesy). Now its my turn. I'm moving away, out of attack range.

They're catching up, another blast of ice is thrown my way. The projectile is fast, but takes time to gather. I rapidly stop, then change direction of running. Again, the ice misses. Good- haven't taken damage. That was their turn again. Mine now. More running.

I'm heading towards that house, but its so far away, and already I'm tiring from running. I'm not made for running darn it!

But who cares? I can ignore the burning of my muscles- this is a game.

Obariyon has separated from Poltergeist, he's running his own path ahead to try and block me off, to surround me.

Suddenly, my brain clicks into action. Bingo- a plan! Don't you love it when you get an idea?

I wait until Obariyon is ahead of me, Poltegeist behind me. I let them surround me, close in. I turn to the blue ghost as it begins to gather ice to murder me, and throw open my arms in a sign of defiance.

"Come and get me you low leveled mob, you." I told it, with a scowl. With one eye, I checked on Obariyon. He's there, behind me, a metre or so behind.

Ice has collected, the shard is made. "Die! Summoner! Bufu!" Poltergeist fires the shard at me, and my mask of apathy slips, revealing a small, little smirk.

"Just die already!" Obariyon is inpatient, he leaps.

Three... two... one... NOW!

I toss myself away with all my strength and roll. Before the two were going to attack me at once, a sure fire way to murder me. However, they are slow. Slower than ME of all people (Though natural for being such low level creatures). Hell, I was able to dodge them earlier. Repeatedly. Through luck and lots of battering myself. But I dodged them.

The ice that would have shot me through the heart instead struck the other demon that had leapt at me- in its beady little face. Now, I remember that red demon. I remember that in the original game, some demons had an affinity towards different elements. Some could resist damage of certain elements, while others took extra damage from other types of spells. Obariyon was weak to Ice!

The spell itself tore through Obariyon like he was made of tissue paper. "N-no..." The demon spoke quietly. Its leap concluded and it fell to the ground. As it lay there, its body began too fall apart, to dissolve into blue light/energy. It began to evaporate into the air and I couldn't help noting its beauty, when all of a sudden the energy began to glow brighter and condense. As if moved by other forces, the light was pulled towards me.

I shut my eyes, expecting pain from the light originating from the demon- when actually it felt more warm than anything. I cracked open my eyes to see the light flood into my pocket- where my phone was contained.

Eagerly, I pulled it out to see that the app from before was active and that the screen itself was now glowing. Once the light faded, the screen read: You have obtained the Jaki Obariyon

Below was a anime-esque image of the demon in question, posing a cheeky position as its stats appeared on screen.

I smiled- this was a game, I was having fun, and that proved it.

I. Could. Win.

"Impressive." Noted the other Demon. "A clever strategy, but now that won't work. Just die!"

He was right though. Only by taking advantage of the Demons positions and the way they outnumbered me could I get them to attack each other. With only one left now- my options were more limited.

Or were they? If this is an RPG, then you have HP bars. Skills. And more importantly- MP. Just how many ice attacks has Poltergeist used? Loads of them, and while Bufu (The ice spell use) only uses a minuscule 4MP, its probably running low.

So I don't think I need to worry about being iced.

"Go on then. Fire your ice at me." I taunted. Poltergeist hesitated, but didn't attacks despite me leaving myself open. "You can't, can you? By my guess you have only one use left. You can't waste it. So if you won't attack me and waste your turn... I'LL ATTACK YOU!"

I charged at the demon. Perhaps not the smartest thing I've ever done. But my logic was sound- the opponent was a magic based creature, without those spells its a small ghost-thing. I might be weak, but Poltergeist is weak too. Like, level one. So since I'm faster than it, am I- in all my weak glory- stronger than it too?

Well, I'm going to try and punch it in the face and find out. And if it doesn't work- I'll kick it. If it does but 1 damage, then eventually it'll die by papercuts.

My turn- I've gotten close, but I can't quite attack. In my mind I can almost see a little grid with the two of us standing on our own places.

I stopped. Quite suddenly. Why was I stopping? WHY was I stopping?

I sighed as Poltergeist charged, gathering ice for one final attack. Clearly it wanted to be up close, so there was no chance of dodging.

However, I was thinking in terms of games. I was imagining and fighting as if this was an RPG. And damn it, running to attack me is as clear as any sign that my turn was up and that I should let the enemy try and kill me.

Okay- twisted logic. Stupid! But, I was playing this game. I was winning and fighting by perceiving this as if the fight was occurring like how one would in an actual video game- identifying moves and attacks while my subconscious fills in the details to fill out the 'mental RPG'. So even though I know I shouldn't be acting like a sitting duck, my head was telling me otherwise.'Uh-uh Nathan- you had your turn, so buck up!'

I really hate me. Sometimes my love of games is counter-productive, especially when you try to act like life is a video game to allow you to psychologically take part in a life or death fight despite how in reality you have no real fighting experience and are doomed.

Enough thinking- the demon was in front of me- a metre until he hits me.

"Bufu." The spell is fired, directly at me, and I could tell that I would never be able to dodge in such a short amount of time. But my mind was in overdrive- thinking how to win this game, and already it had an answer.

Take it like a man.

I twisted my body and brought up my arms. I could not escape- not enough time- but I could Block! I could turn my body a little and stop the ice from hitting me dead on- or at least lower the damage taken.

My actions were enough, as the sharp ice tore through my side, leaving a large trail of blood as it sliced through me. It hurt like a bitch (Like playing a Virtual Boy), but I ignored it as the adrenaline surged through me. The spell was wasted, and I had lived through it.

Now. In Devil Survivor, both party's get a chance to counter attack. And likewise, this is not my turn- but my mind was happy enough to let me slam my fist into the blue skin of the thing that tried to hit me.

My hand hurt, especially my thumb. I wasn't used to punching, but Poltergeist was so small that even my weak blow sent it flying. No longer floating, the spirit plummeted. I had hurt it, but it wasn't down, so I needed to damn well hit it AGAIN.

Lucky me- another feature of Devil Survivor could be abused. If I had to think this through like the rules of the game actually applied to be able to have even the courage or the mental quickness to fight, then my mind could still use aspects of the system that I could manipulate to get me advantages without actually braking the rules.

Overly annoying- but what's a guy to do?

In the game, hitting an enemy's weak spot or frying them with the right element (Or even just being faster than the opponent) can give you an extra attack at the end of the combat phase. I just punched it in the face. And before I determined I was faster than it. So I had no shame in kicking the thing as soon as it hit the floor.

That hit must've done it, because like before the demon was starting to glow a bright blue colour as it began to fade away. The demon gave one last look before vanishing and being sucked into my Poltergust 1998 (AKA- my phone), and delivered one final message.

"You... win. But not for long. There will be others. More will come, and then you'll die."

"No I won't." I told it, holding out my phone towards is threateningly. "I might not know what the hell is going on, what the message was about, or even where I am, but I will tell you one thing. I never once had a Game Over. I won't let it happen now- I won't give up. I'll Survive."

Then the demon was gone, and upon the screen I received the same sort of Pokemon style "You got it!" message.

You have obtained the Ghost Poltergeist

I slumped to my knees in relief. I was tired, confused, annoyed and a little excited. That fight, while awkward due to my mind forcing me to see everything in a 'game-style', was exhilarating. I am a nerd, I am weak, and I am always picked on, yet just then I beat two Demons! I beat them, with nothing but my mind and my fists (And team based combat abuse). Never have I felt so empowered, like I was actually something more than just Nathan Foster the antisocial nerd, but instead Nathan Foster The Survivor.

I laughed out loud at the situation. "Funnily enough, I just described all the reasons I love games." I said to myself as I went to lie on my back in sheer relief. The grass felt nice and the sun seemed to shine much brighter than normal in that aqua sky. I felt alive in that fight, like this was just as Unreal as those games I love so much.

So perhaps this situation isn't so bad. I'm stuck RNG knows where, but I've found out that the world might still have something worth caring about (Those demons) and that Magic exists- I've got to get me some of that.

Poltergeist said that others would come- well let them. I beat these, I'll beat those. I'll find the answers I'm looking for, and no matter what, I'll Survive.

AN- And so the madness begins... as you can see, things are already off to a shaky start. Nathan is a Nintendhard Nerd and can't seem to socially interact with people without being offensive, and his Mysteriously Gained Powers are based off Summoning.

To those of you who noticed, the summoning system I am using is based off Atlus' Megami Tensei games- the Devil Survivor franchise specifically. This isn't a crossover, since I am not using plot elements or characters from the canon, and only borrowing the demon summoning mechanic. Certainly I will be eventually introduce themes and Demons whom wouldn't be out of place in a Megami Tensei game, but fundamentally anything that appears is of my own design and to not originate from the original franchise... maybe.

As for the Self Insert himself, Nathan is an unreliable narrator. UNRELIABLE. I stress this point greatly. The story is told through his POV, so its natural that events will seem somewhat odd or perhaps off skew due to the way that he comprehends things. If Nath lived in Japan, he'd be one of those NEET's that refuses to leave his room and giggles creepily over Trope Tan, only Nath's obsession would be videogames and not anime figurines. A character whom you could compare him to would be Keima Katsuragi from The World God Only Knows, if only due to how they describe everything in gaming terminology, are individuals with a twisted perception of the world and believe that the universe follows bizarre laws of logic, or at least wish that it would.

Also, take into account that this chapter has been modified (Several times), so any reviews at all which tell me what is good and what isn't is much appreciated, so feel free to drop a review if you have a moment. Undying Soul out!