Thanks for the support guys! I'll try to make the rest of this story enjoyable, so stay tuned until it is finished…! Eventually! To the story!
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The Definition of being OP
"Irina-nii-chan, what's this?" An unexpected development. In Irina's house.
"Ah, that's Ise-kun's Gameboy!" Just as Irina had said, Asuka was indeed holding my Gameboy.
"What does it do?"
"You can play games on it!" Ain't that obvious? I think it's called a 'Gameboy' for a reason. Hint, the game in the title. Understand now?
"What type of games?"
"Games like Pokémon!" I'm pretty sure Pokémon is the only memorable game on the Gameboy. Also Tetris…I'm not even sure if that was on the Gameboy.
"What's…Po…poke…"
"Pokémon?" Asuka nodded in a cute manner, and Issei couldn't help but smile at that. At times like these, I wish that I could just run up to her and hug her. I don't think she'll exactly like it with how hard my grip on her would be.
How old is Asuka again? I'm her brother and I don't even know that, but she's something like five years old. She's in preschool or something, so congratulations to her.
"Do you want to have a try?" Irina asked as Asuka stared intently at the blank screen.
"It's not on, you know, Asuka-chan!" Issei chuckled as Asuka began pressing buttons rather cautiously for some reason. That was until Irina bothered to turn it on for Asuka and that spoiled my fun.
Asuka stared down at the screen, her shoulder-length-almost-silk-like brown hair covering any visible features on her face, especially her large and innocent honey brown eyes.
Man, I should stop observing how people look when I have nothing to do.
'Hey, Issei, stop going through the Dragon Ball manga just to find reasons of why Goku is better Frieza.'
"No, Kanzaki, I have to do this!" And Issei said it out loud. Asuka and Irina turned towards Issei with confused looks etched upon their face, and I couldn't help but shed an imaginary sweat drop. It was a much needed sweat drop, so nothing went to waste. But I did see a sword in the corner of the room we were currently occupying. It seemed to omit some sort of…warmness. I just can't explain it so I'll just leave it be for now.
"Who's Kanzaki, onii-chan?" Cue nervous laughter. I'm gonna let Issei do this one himself because I always do things for him. I know, evil, but I don't give a damn.
"He's…err…ah…an imaginary friend?" Good job, Issei! Now you are insane to the eyes of the social world! I feel so proud of you!
"Ah, ok."
…
…
They ignored me like I was nothing…I want to die now…
"Ah, cheer up, Kanzaki! Know that I know that you're real!"
What the hell!? Can he read my thoughts!? I never said anything to him!
The sun was setting dramatically as Irina and Issei sat on a set of swings in the park with Asuka standing in front of us, "Ah, Ise-kun, I just remembered something."
"What did you remember?"
"I'm moving away from here tomorrow." I think the sunset and swings have set the perfect mood. That added with no one except the three of us in the park at the moment, it was perfect for some drama.
"What? You can't move away! We still haven't figured out why Goku is better Frieza!" Irina chuckled lightly while staring off into the sky with his tilted back.
"Nah, that's just you. Frieza's better than Goku!" Irina turned his head to face Issei, a smile etched onto his face. This is like a scene out of an anime. You know, the ones where one of the characters die shortly after the emotional scene.
"Whatever you want to say, Irina-kun! Goku will always be better!" Issei grinned widely while tears threatened to spill from his eyes. I would be sad as well, given that my one and only true friend was never going to be seen ever again.
"Whatever…ahahaha, I wanted to tell you earlier but I didn't want to see you cry."
"Don't worry about me…I'd be fine!"
"That's hard to believe when you cry while saying that." That was true. I could feel the tears running down Issei's face. Frankly, I felt like crying as well. But, despite that, Issei chuckled at Irina's comment as Irina stood up.
"Hey, Irina-nii, where are you going?" Asuka asked as Irina began to walk towards the exit of the park where the sun was coincidentally setting. Irina stopped for a few seconds before he turned his head to look at us, a grin on his face as he wiped tears from his eyes.
"Somewhere great, Asuka-chan! Take care of yourselves and don't grow up to be perverts!" And then Issei nodded as Irina began walking again. The pervert part was a random thing to say, but I reckon it was meant to be taken as a joke of sorts.
"Irina-kun! Come back soon, yeah!?"
And then he was gone.
"Onii-chan, are you okay?"
"Yeah…yeah…I'm okay…"
Issei didn't notice the river of tears flowing from his eyes.
"Onii-chan, where are you going?" Night has fallen now and Issei is running in the direction that Irina had disappeared off to. I told Issei to be smart and to just go to Irina's house, but he denied almost immediately saying something about me lying to him. So I suggested for him to run after Irina instead of sitting around and moping like a little bitch.
Like, what the hell is wrong the kid? I'm trying to help him here!
"Onii-chan?" For some reason, little Asuka decided to tag along as well. Because Issei is being an asshat, I decided to take control of his body.
"Ah, nothing Asuka-chan. Just trying to find where Irina-kun went off to."
"But didn't Irina-nii say he was leaving here?" Damn, she's good.
"I want to say goodbye again."
"Oh, ok! Can I come?" My god is Asuka being really cute at the moment. Especially the head tilt. THE HEAD TILT!
"Sure!" I set off walking at a slow pace that Asuka could keep up with and when I was convinced that she would stay next to me after I had asked her, the control of Issei's body had dissipated. And that was when things went downhill.
"My, what do we have here?" A suspicious figure walked out of nowhere and into our path. He was wearing a grey coat of sorts with a black face mask that covered his mouth and nose and some type of glasses that were tinted so no one could see his eyes. If you ask me, I'd say that he was a child sex offender, but something seemed…off, I guess.
"Could you please get out of our way?"
"No." At least Issei asked politely first.
"Again, could you get out of my way?"
"I'll leave you alone if you give me her." A finger was lifted and it pointed directly at Asuka…hell no. He's not taking the loli away from me!
"No! I'll never let anyone like you have Asuka-chan!" For a second, I thought that I was in control of the body somehow because it's something that I would say. The speech was so inspirational, though!
"Hmm, what's this? Is a puny human like you denying me?" And then a…motherfucking GIGANTIC SWORD CAME OUT OF HIS COAT?! AND IT GLOWS IN THE DARK!?
Wha…I don't understand life anymore…
And then I helplessly watched as the guy charged straight towards Issei while Issei was busy staring at the sword in shock.
"Ise-kun, watch out!" And then Irina came out of nowhere and jumped in the guy's way.
Two screams echoed throughout the streets of the small neighbourhood. One of them in pain.
"IRINA!"
Irina's body slid off the sword and onto the floor where it lay still, blood pooling around it rapidly.
"Hmm, what's this? An unexpected heroine comes in to save her love! How romantic!" Heroine? What does he mean?
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO IRINA!?" The guy stopped his musing and turned to look at Issei with a blank expression.
"I…killed him…see, this is what happens when you deny my orders! People will die! Now, hand over the girl next to you before I kill you."
"I…I…I don't…I…I WON'T ALLOW THIS!" And then Issei went…more or less a strange real life Super Saiyajin. A crimson aura surrounded him and the ground beneath him cracked and cratered under his feet. The man? He was laughing maniacally. Now that I think about it, Issei is kind of in Kaioken right now.
Unlocked Sorrowful Rage
"So, you carry the Boosted Gear, do you? It's a shame that you haven't awoken it. If you do right now, this fight will be much better!"
Issei flew towards the man. Literally. In the span of three seconds, Issei threw several punches and a surprising roundhouse kick at the guy, all of which were dodged with ease until the man decided to retaliate. Issei received a fist straight to the stomach and it sent him flying down several house blocks until he hit the floor and bounced, impacting into a wall and creating multiple cracks and fissures in it.
It's surprising that Issei knows how to fight. Hell, the only reason why he's able to respond with follow up attacks so easily is because his Reflex stat is starting to blossom. Now, if only there was a way for me to join in on this fight.
Issei was back on his feet, running pretty quickly at the man. What happened next…broke my sanity for the day. Issei was impaled through the stomach on the sword of the man, his body hanging limply on the sword. That's when the pain hit me. Not Issei, but me. In control of his body.
"Hmm, finally given up, have you?" I let a mischievous grin spread onto my face.
"Not in the slightest, idiot!" I gripped the guy by his wrists and…pulled myself down the sword. He grinned madly at my action, I think. But that made me angrier. So angry that I began to laugh. Like a mental patient in serious need of a psychologist.
"You keep on surprising me. However, I'm afraid that I must take my leave now." And then the guy just…disappeared. I dropped to the floor with the sword still stuck inside of me.
The worst part? I lay there, watching as the world cracked and fell apart with what seemed like giant fragments of glass falling to the floor around me, exploding and showering me in the shards of it. And then everything went dark.
Lives left: 3
And then time seemed to reverse back to when Issei stood up from the cratered wall.
'Don't charge head on. If you do, you'll die, so play this smart and carefully approach him.'
The whole situation was confusing me. I die and respawn, simple but confusing at the same time. I know that this whole life is a video game, but it feels…strange to experience dying again to then experience time reversing itself.
Honestly, I don't care about how many lives I have left. I think what matters is living this life to the fullest. In that case, I'm going to guide Issei and hope that he listens.
Surprisingly, he actually listened to my advice of carefully approaching the guy, but in a light jog with all sorts of chances for him to be killed instantly. Surprisingly, the bad guy was standing exactly where he was when Issei was punched half way across the world. See the sarcasm?
And then Issei jumped into action without me telling him to. I know that I never said for him to wait for my signal, so I'm to blame if he gets killed, I guess.
Flying fist dodged. Half-hearted kick dodged. All of the attacks that Issei threw were dodged and it was quite infuriating, to say the least. But I have to give the kid some credit because he's holding out against the guy.
He didn't notice the sword flying towards him, though, but my 'Spiritual Defence' trap card did. The swipe was blocked by a black shadow and redirected so it didn't hit Issei after it was blocked. And then the part of my body where the shadow got hit went all numb.
'Issei, he's seriously trying to kill you now.'
"I KNOW! I NEED TO KILL HIM TO AVENGE IRINA!"
'Calm down, kid! Getting angry will do nothing but hinder you!'
"DON'T TALK LIKE YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL!"
Issei ducked slightly to avoid another sword swipe that would've decapitated him…I just realised something potentially crucial for our survival. The guy swings pretty slow with that sword of his so he might not be experienced with it. A thought that came into mind wasn't very pleasing to me, but it was probably correct. The guy might just be toying with Issei.
And then Issei hacked up a bunch of blood when the sword managed to impale him in the gut once again. That's when I was given control for some reason. And the red Kaioken-like aura disappeared. It didn't last time so why this time?
"Ow, that hurts…do you mind pulling the thing out of me?" I could just imagine the guy frowning as I frowned while inspecting the sword inside of me. It's a giant broadsword, light grey in colour with a thin blue line down the centre of it. Oh, that line was glowing, by the way. The hilt was a simple metal one which was the same colour as the blade.
"What? You're not reacting…negatively anymore?!" Did I mention that my body was hurting like a bitch…hang on…where the hell is Asuka?
"Nah shit."
"Hmm, what should I do?"
"Maybe let me go? My friend over there is dead and I'm gonna die if I don't get medical attention right away." The guy went silent for a moment, probably thinking about what to do with me.
"You pass the test." And then he disappeared and Irina disappeared and the sword clattered to the ground and I was fine.
"Onii-chan, are you okay?" Eh, what the hell!? Asuka wasn't here a minute ago for some reason.
"Nothing…let's just go home right now. Mom and dad are probably really worried." Asuka nodded and turned around to walk home. Me? I picked up the sword and it changed. In my hands.
It was now a one handed short sword with the same design as the broadsword. What I didn't expect for it to do was to absorb itself into my right arm, a faint blue rune showing on my palm before it disappeared. It's a shame that I didn't get to observe the rune because it's probably magical.
It was one year after Irina's departure from the neighbourhood. It was strange because Irina was alive, but then a thought hit me. I was duped. By magic. By illusion magic. And I unlocked a new menu called 'Magic'. Yup. Nothing's unlocked on it yet, so I'm bummed.
Issei was depressed and he's only an eight year old in his third year of grade school. Yeah, things were pretty dire for the kid. He didn't listen to me, so he went and did his own stuff by himself while I left myself deep in thought about what happened one year earlier.
That sword guy was good, and he was holding back. I didn't forget about the sword because it's inside of me. I don't even know how to summon it out of my hand because it probably requires magic. Wait, that guy's OP. He's even better than being OP! He's...the definition of being OP!
To the current situation, Issei was sitting on the swing in the park where he last saw Irina. That reminds me, Irina never came to say goodbye on the day the he moved.
"Onii-chan, are you okay?" Ah, six year old Asuka came running up to Issei. Issei, however, stared at the floor in depression.
"…"
"That's rude, onii-chan! You have to answer a question if someone asks you one!" Asuka is…very intelligent. Maybe even a genius and that's the reason why she's already in her second year of grade school. She's also the youngest in her whole entire grade because everyone is a year or two older than her, so she doesn't really have any proper friends because everyone thinks that she is just a baby. Even if she's smarter than them.
How is she that smart? She raided all of the books in the house one day when she was bored. Let's just say that she visits the library a lot now.
"Come on, onii-chan! You have to answer my question! Are you okay? Yes or no?" Issei gave a shallow nod, one that Asuka wasn't happy with, "With more spirit!" Issei took a deep breath and nodded 'enthusiastically'.
"I'm fine, Asuka. I just want to be alone." Asuka frowned and flicked Issei on the forehead very hard, judging by the way that his head dramatically snapped backwards so he was looking up at the sky.
"You say that every single time! You clearly need to talk to someone if you're acting like this!" Issei grit his teeth and clenched his fists.
"JUST LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!" And then Issei stood up and walked straight to the exit of the park with anger and rage rolling off of him in waves. The kid just needs to take a chill pill. Maybe antidepressants while he's at it.
I could hear the faint cries of Asuka behind him as he stormed away.
'YOU FUCKING IDIOT! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU HAVE DONE!?' It's my turn to be angry now.
"SHUT UP, KANZAKI! WHY DON'T YOU JUST DISAPPEAR AND LEAVE ME ALONE!"
'I CAN'T, YOU IMMATURE BRAT! I'M STUCK WITH YOU FOREVER!'
"I NEVER WANTED YOU TO BE IN ME IN THE FIRST PLACE!"
'I DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE IN THE MATTER!' You know what, screw Issei right now.
With my majestic power of body control, I ran back into the park and to Asuka who was still crying. Dammit, Issei, you piece of crap, "Asuka-chan…I'm sorry…for getting angry at you earlier." She looked up at me and god did she shoot arrows through my heart. I thought I was going to die on the battlefield of love, but everyone knows that love will always prevail!
Her large eyes looked like someone had…killed someone close to her. The dampness of her face and the flushing of her cheeks supported that idea very well…I should stop thinking like a pessimist.
"Onii-chan…you idiot…you big meanie!"
"Ahaha, I'm sorry, Asuka-chan!" By this point, I was nervously rubbing the back of my neck while Asuka repeatedly punched me in the stomach very softly. Even if she is a genius, I sometimes forget that she has the mentality and emotional stability of a six year old.
And then I lost control of Issei's body about one minute later. To my surprise, Issei actually embraced Asuka while I thought about my new record of the body control. It was about…a minute and fifteen seconds…I'm making great progress…
Nothing really happened until Issei's first year of junior high when he was twelve years old. Well, apart from him becoming a major pervert to keep his mind off of Irina's departure from the neighbourhood. That was when things started to get interesting. It all began before the opening ceremony. Issei was walking through the large crowds of people towards the gym hall.
Oh, one thing that I just remembered. I got a notification telling me that my party size has increased and that two people may be in it. Technically one because I'm already in it.
Anyways, a kid that looked to be six or seven years of age kept on grinning at Issei maliciously. His appearance was freaking me the hell out. He had short spiky black hair that covered his small, narrow eyes and a…white ahoge stuck out of his head. The ahoge was the part that was freaking me out because it just…didn't seem right. It complimented his very pale, porcelain doll-like skin, though. And he appeared to be young because of how short he was. He was at least up to Issei's stomach, and he was wearing the school's uniform.
That continued to happen until everyone settled down into the gym hall where the opening ceremony began. I tuned myself out while Issei tried to not stare lecherously at every girl he thought was 'beautiful'.
'Oi, pervert, stop being a creep.'
Another off topic thing that scared me the most was that the guy that attacked and killed Issei hadn't shown himself since the encounter in the street a few years ago, as well as the fact that I haven't made any progress in my stats or levelling because nothing has happened.
"I'm not being a creep! I'm just admiring their beauty!"
'Says the person drooling at that third year.'
"H-hey! I'm not doing that!"
'You are too.'
"You just can't handle how great the female body is!"
'You sound very creepy.'
Moments like these are what entertain me in this boring life of not moving. As the opening ceremony came to a close, all the first years were split into classes and were taken to their classroom by their teachers. The kid that freaked me out happened to be in my class as well, and he wouldn't stop throwing me that terrifying grin every now and then.
When Issei's class watched as their teacher introduced herself, a slip of paper slid onto Issei's desk, which was in the second row to the front and two columns away from the classroom door. He read it and what it contained creeped me out. A lot.
You're next.
Those two words were enough to make my soul shake and shiver in surprise. And then it came for Issei to introduce himself. I decided to take control. I clearly can't trust this pervert to make a good impression because he'll shout something like, 'I'm going to be the Harem King one day!'
I stood up with the nicest and most charming smile I could muster, "I'm Issei Hyoudou and it's nice to meet you. Let's have a good year, yeah?" And then I sat down and disconnected my control of the body, "AND I'M GOING TO BE THE HAREM KING ONE DAY!"
Somebody call an ambulance…I think I'm going to die of second hand embarrassment…help…
"That's…nice, Hyoudou-san." I think that that's the only thing the teacher could think of saying. If I was her, I would've been like, 'The fuck are you going on about?'
But I'm not her, so I didn't. Wait, never mind, I'm not gonna die of second hand embarrassment because no one knows what a harem is at this age. God, am I lucky or what?
Then the creepy kid introduced himself as 'Ryuuji'. No last name. But the day carried on normally, so I guess my concerns about him were misplaced.
"So, what is it that you want, Ryuuji?" Issei was summoned to behind the sports shed for some reason by an anonymous person. By that point my danger sense should have been going haywire, but it didn't for some reason.
The reason of my danger sense going off is probably because I don't have one.
"Nothing, really. Just a fight." The kid wants a fight? If he wanted to fight, why pick Issei? Is it because he looks weak? Seriously, he looks weaker than a newborn toddler, so I think that Ryuuji made the right choice if I wasn't inside of Issei. But I am, so tough luck to the kid.
"Why do you want to fight?"
"No particular reason." That made Issei raise an eyebrow. I mean, who wouldn't if a kid that is creeping you the hell out randomly asks you for a fight?
"Err…am I supposed to say 'ok, let's fight!' or something like that?"
"Yes, you are."
"If I say it will you leave me alone?"
"What is your definition of alone?"
"Just myself."
"But you're never going to be 'just myself'. It's simply not possible."
"What the hell do you mean?" I was confused as well. I think this conversation fully supports my earlier comments on this kid.
"I mean that there's two of you." Crap, does he know that I exist?
"Again, what the hell do you mean?"
"You have two souls…that appear to have merged together."
"Kanzaki, have any idea what he's saying?"
'Nope. I don't want to be a part of this crap.'
"Too late, you already are!" I could just imagine Issei giving me a shit-eating grin while he said that.
"Hmm, so you already know about the second soul?"
"Err, I…guess?"
"This changes things entirely, then. I'm Ryuuji, nice to meet you."
"Are we going to fight or what!?"
"Sorry to disappoint you, buddy, but no."
"What!?"
Ryuuji is definitely creepy. Really. Fucking. Creepy.
And now, for a random omake because I want to have a cliff hanger and can't think of anything else!
"Onii-chan, do you have one of these?" Asuka was studying a book about the human body for some reason. Never knew we had one of those.
"Wh-what!? Where the hell did you find that book!?" Issei attempted to snatch the book from Asuka but she held it out of his reach.
"Again, do you have one of these?" Asuka was pointing to a picture of the…male genitals…
I wish that were some crickets in the background right about now.
"…Uh…er…"
"So, you're like me then?"
"WHAT!? NO!" Issei was healthy blushing while Asuka attempted to pull his pants down. All that came to mind was the word 'cute'…I have an unhealthy obsession with Asuka, don't I? Ah, shit! I need to have a coffee break with my imaginary lawyers now…
"Come on, onee-chan~! Show me!"
"Get off of me, Asuka!" Asuka was thrown across the room and out a window…on the second floor of the house…onto the street below..., "Shit, are you okay, Asuka!?"
"Don't worry about me, onee-chan~!"
"SCREW YOU!"
"Aw, I love you too."
'Help me, Kanzaki!'
"…"
'Kanzaki?'
"YES! IT DOESN'T COUNT AS PAEDOPHELIA NOW!"
'…'
"…"
"Gotcha!"
"WHAT THE FU-!"
Looking back, this chapter wasn't as good as the last one, was it? I need help with possible Merits, though. Also, thanks to Kinunatzs for telling me that Agility and Speed are the same…yeah, I screwed up. I'll fix that soon. Or, one of you can suggest what the Speed stat can be for. Also, should I tell you guys to listen to BGM on certain parts that you can listen to if you want? It'll make scenes much better, I think.