Author's Note: So I'm pretty excited about this story, enough that I've managed another chapter about the same size as the last one in only four days. For me, that's a record. Anyway, thank you all for the massive show of support for this little story; I appreciate each and every one of you!
To the Guest who asked if the SI is black: I am what I like to refer to as a mutt; I've got a lot of different blood running through my veins and many different-colored genes swimming in my gene pool. My profile picture is myself at around nineteen with my little sister, so that should give you a good idea as to what the SI looks like.
Disclaimer and Warning apply from the first chapter.
Chapter 2: Well, At Least I Didn't Get Dissected
You have slept on the ground. 5% HP and MP restored!
Guh, man I must've drunk entirely too much after getting home from that party. I bet Chris talked me into it.
Sitting up, I blink blearily at the blue box in front of me. I've had some pretty mean hangovers, but this is new.
Squinting to read the words, it takes my tired brain a few moments to put it together. That's right; the Bleach thing.
With a groan, I haul myself to my feet and stretch, releasing a symphony of pops and clicks from my back. I'm surprisingly not sore, which is about right considering the Gamer's Body skill. What I would have given for something like that during my wild years in my original world.
Pulling my phone out, which could use a bit of a charge, I learn that it's eight in the morning. A quick look around shows that there aren't a lot of people in the park this early, so my vagabond tactic of sleeping in the bushes went more or less unnoticed. I briefly go over the events of the previous day in my head with no small amount of wonder. For those first few seconds waking up, I'd thought it had been one of the most intensely cool dreams I ever had.
"Inventory."
Up comes the menu, dispelling the lingering doubt as to the authenticity of my memories of yesterday. I pull out the tequila bottle and take a quick victory swig for accomplishing so much yesterday, then replace it and bring out one of the last two ramen bowls. With that done, I scoot further into the bushes and put on my other pair of clothes and step out into the world.
I ask a passerby which direction Mitsumiya district lay, and then jog off toward the steadily rising sun, occasionally stopping to get better directions. I know the shop is somewhere in the southern part, near where Kimogaya, Mashiba, and Mitsumiya meet, but it takes me quite a while to find the damn place.
On the plus side, it gives me time to think about how to broach the subject to Geta-Boushi. I've done my fair share of reading the kind of plots that utilize game-mechanics, and most of the time it's just a rehash of the same old deal. Which isn't to say I don't enjoy that sort of thing, but now that I'm literally living the dream it might be a good idea to come at this from a different angle.
Finally, I find myself standing in front of the smallish two-story building with its simple sign and the van parked off to the side. If I didn't know what secrets it held, I would have just passed it off as a quaint little store and nothing else.
A quest has been created!
Welcome to Karakura Town!
Objectives:
Present yourself to Urahara Kisuke.
Make a good first impression.
Reward:
500 Exp per objective completed
Gain Urahara Kisuke as an ally
Failure:
50 Exp
Gain Urahara Kisuke as an enemy
Bonus Objectives:
?
?
?
?
?
?
Accept/Deny
Well, that's quite a few bonus objectives. Maybe this won't be as easy as I thought?
Taking a deep breath to quell my anxieties, I accept the quest and, noting the 'Open' sign, enter without further ado. Urahara Kisuke sits behind the register fanning himself, one sandaled foot resting against the countertop, balancing his chair on its back legs. His trademark striped bucket hat rests at a jaunty angle on his blonde hair, shadowing his eyes as he takes in my appearance. Above his head are his name and some question marks, which I had anticipated. In separate aisles are his two wards, Ururu and Jinta, restocking some shelves (Lv 17: Tsumugiya Ururu, Lv 17: Hanakari Jinta).
It's really odd, knowing that where I'm from, these people are just the constructs of someone's imagination. Yet here, they've got their own thoughts and emotions and just...everything that true sapience entails.
Okay. First impressions.
"Good morning," I say. It's not terribly creative, but I've always been a polite guy, and the niceties must be observed. "Is this the Urahara Shop?"
Urahara nods, settling both feet firmly on the ground and standing up. "It certainly is," he confirmed with a small smile. This guy has always intrigued me as a character, not simply because of his past, but also because of the conceptual background Tite Kubo had in store for him: the man scheduled to become the series' Big Bad relegated instead to become the protagonist's mentor figure. It's a fascinating thing. "What can I help you with, sir?"
I hum thoughtfully as I scan the shelves idly from my position just inside the door. "Well, I was hoping we could speak about a matter of some importance to me, and possibly to yourself as well, if you would be willing."
Face not betraying the slightest hint of suspicion, he smiled deprecatingly. "But sir, I am but a humble, handsome shopkeeper. What would such a fine young man need with a boring old fellow like me?"
"Well, for one thing, I'd like to know if you could help me with something that I believe is somewhat sensitive to common folk," I respond smoothly, internally marveling at how easily the words come. With my friends I'm fairly eloquent in my speech, but with someone I don't know too well, I'm about as articulate as a drunken hippopotamus unless I'm actually drunk. It could be because I 'know' this man from reading the manga and watching the show, or it might be a side-effect of the Gamer's Mind. Hell, it might just be the shot I had this morning; I didn't build up a good tolerance for alcohol until I was about twenty, after all.
"And what, pray-tell, would that be?" Urahara inquires, expression still bland and good-humored.
"It's a little hard to explain," I tell him. "It would probably be better if I showed you. Please don't freak out or anything. Inventory." The menu pops up again, and I pull out one of the books I'd brought along on my ethereal jaunt through space/time/dimensional matter. It's one of the Bathroom Reader books, a favorite series of mine with tons of completely useless trivia and fun facts that no one cares about.
Urahara's expression quickly morphs into one of keen interest with a generous dollop of caution. Jinta and Ururu, who'd been blatantly watching, both go still with shock. To them, it must have seemed like I had just pulled a book from nothing.
"Perhaps we should retire to the back room," Urahara spoke after a while. "Jinta, flip the sign, please, then continue with your chores."
He gestures for me to follow and leads me into the room I've seen so often that sometimes doubles as a war room, council chamber, and on a couple occasions, a triage station. He bustles around, preparing a pot of tea while I settle myself onto the cushion and occasionally take a peek down at the Bathroom Reader.
Eventually, he sets a cup of tea down in front of me and seats himself across from me. "Now, what was that you did earlier?" he asks, a calculating gleam in his eyes.
"I accessed my Inventory," I explain, the window blinking into existence at my command. I withdraw the other book (a Louis L'Amour short story anthology), the last ramen bowl, and my two knives (handling them carefully by their blades to avoid any pretense of a threat), and set them on the table halfway between us.
He picks up the daggers first, examining them closely, then does the same with the book, and finally the ramen, which is still steaming slightly. "And where is this inventory located?"
I shrug. "Haven't got a clue. Maybe some pocket dimension or a subspace fold, something to that effect anyway. I'm still fairly new to all this. I woke up in Karakura Community Park yesterday with no idea how I got there, a sudden understanding of the Japanese language, and an ability that calls itself The Gamer."
" 'Calls itself'...is it sentient?"
"Might be," I admit. I'd given it some thought as I traveled to the shop, and the odd little quirks in the text were a little suspicious. In the web comic, it had been speculated that the system notifications were sent by the world's consciousness, but I'm not sure if that's the case here since the Gaea theory might not even be true in the Bleach setting. All I know is that as my Observe skill levels up, the messages get more sarcastic and kind of funny as well. Of course, it could just be a reflection of my own personality, but hey, that's just a theory...a game theory.
"What else does this ability do?"
"I'd like to try something, if that's alright with you," I say. Along the way here, I had been wondering just how to explain The Gamer power to a scientific mind such as Urahara's. If possible, the easiest way to do so would be to have him join a party, but he's more than likely way beyond my ability. I can't remember if Jee Han ever tried to invite someone on a whole other tier of power, but it would make sense for it not to work. Then again, there's only one way to find out for sure.
"Be my guest," the blonde says with a slight nod, not commenting on the non-sequitur, bless his heart.
"Create Party: Learned Men," I say, a smile quirking one side of my mouth up. Once the notification alerted me to its success, I continue. "Invite to Learned Men: Urahara Kisuke."
His eyes narrow upon my utterance of his name, but quickly widen almost comically when he sees the box in front of him open up. "What in the Soul King's name...!?" he exclaims before quickly smoothing his face over.
"It says that I cannot join your party," he informs me, but a box stating that exact thing had just revealed itself to me.
"I'd figured as much," I mutter, closing the window with deliberate motions, and he quickly copies me. "You're level is much too high for me. And in case you were wondering how I came to know your name, well, to me everyone's name and level are just floating right above your heads. I can't see your level, since the disparity is too great. See, I'm only at level four, and I couldn't begin to guess yours."
"Any other revelations about your ability?" Urahara asks wryly, and I can't help but chuckle.
"Hell, I'm still learning new stuff about it," I tell him. "This whole thing is just one big mindfuck for me. The day before yesterday, I died in a completely different dimension on a totally different world where no one has any special abilities and everyone just goes about their boring lives. Where I was born, raised, and died, I was just a slacker with no ambition to speak of and a fondness for drinking and sleeping until I pushed my friend out of the way of a truck."
"Whereupon you awoke here," he surmises, and I nod in agreement. "That is quite the tale, ah..." It seems to occur to him that I've not told him my name, and I quickly rectify that.
"Rick. Ricky Jimenez, or I suppose it's Jimenez Ricky here."
"Okay, Rick-san," he continues. "You'll forgive me if I don't take your word at face-value."
I give him a self-deprecating grin. "I understand completely. Even I thought I was either crazy or in a coma, or something at first. But there's one thing that I know will convince you. In my dimension, or universe I guess, you were a fictional character in a manga that had just entered its final story arc when I died. I can tell you a lot about yourself and your companions, more than probably anyone else in this world. Ask me something."
Urahara raises a skeptical eyebrow. "Alright, I'll bite. I'll give you a simple question then: what did I do for a living before being a shopkeeper."
"You were the captain of Division Twelve of the Thirteen Imperial Guard Squads, as well as the founder of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute," I answer, and his eyes narrow dangerously, but I can't stop now. "Before that, you were the third seated officer of the Second Division, and head of the Onmitsukido Detention Unit."
I force myself to remain calm when I find myself looking down that massively cool pimp cane-slash-Zanpakuto of his, its tip inches from my neck (the Gamer skills really do shine in stressful situations like this). "I also know that you gave all that up to help your comrades-in-arms survive the Hollowfication thrust upon them unwillingly by the madman Aizen Sosuke and was nearly executed for it." I can't help but snort. "I guess it's true that no good deed goes unpunished.
"How do you know this," the man hisses. His face is still smooth, but I can see the conflict in his eyes as he tries to puzzle out just who (or what) I am.
"Like I said, where I'm from, this whole interplay between worlds is just a comic book. I know quite a few things that no one else is aware of, as well as a possible future, if I'm right and this is before the main plot has begun." I shrug then, careful not to move my neck. "Of course, my being here screws everything up. Even just talking to you has already changed things; I don't know what, but the hell butterflies are already flapping their wings, causing hurricanes in the future that I can't possibly predict."
"Then why come to me at all?" Urahara demands, Zanpakuto still inches from ending my second life.
"Things would have changed regardless," I grunt, keeping my eyes locked on his. "My very presence in this world makes things different. I could have just stayed in that park and allowed myself to wither up and die of starvation or exposure, but then I would have more than likely become a Hollow, and what a Hollow I would have become." I take a moment to visualize what I might look like as a soul-eating monster.
"Perhaps I might have become a Vasto Lorde, got the attention of Aizen, and become an Arrancar when he inevitably gains access to your Hogyoku. Then you would have had me as an enemy, one you might not have been able to counter." The picture I paint is a bleak one, but I need to hammer the point home. "This way, at least I'm not helping a fucking psychopath with a god-complex."
After another few tense moments, Urahara withdraws his cane and sets it at his side once more, leaning back as he processes all I've said. Hell, I'm surprised I haven't been horribly murdered yet after the shit I've just pulled. I don't think I've read a story where the Author Avatar tells the people he's meeting that they're just fictional characters where they're from, not from the get-go anyway; it's definitely risky, and I still might end up dying horrifically, or worse, end up being vivisected and experimented on (Urahara is a mad scientist, after all).
"I must be insane," Urahara begins after a while, his hat still shadowing most of his upper face, "but I think I'll believe you for the time being. I've got my doubts, but you seem genuine, and I respect the fact that you've laid all your cards on the table, so to speak. You're either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid."
I let out a breath I wasn't aware I'd been holding in, and nod gratefully. "I'd say it's about a thirty-seventy split. For a while, I thought you'd knock me out and start cutting me open."
A playful grin flickers across his face. "No dissection until the second date. What kind of girl do you think I am, Rick-san?"
Chuckling, I decide to get down to the main reason I've come here. "Alright, well, I suppose I should give you a run-down on everything I know about this world," I say. "But first, do you know anyone who goes by the name Kuchiki Rukia?"
"I can't say that I do," Urahara answers. "The Kuchiki are one of the noble clans in Soul Society, but I've never heard that name before. Of course, I've been in exile for over a hundred years."
I raise my hand to stroke my beard, remember I have no beard, and then awkwardly scratch my chin. "Okay, that means the first arc hasn't started yet. Kuchiki Rukia is an unseated member of the Thirteenth Division under Captain Ukitake, but she's strong enough to be at least fifth-seat. I don't know when she'll come to the Living World, but I assume it'll be soon."
Urahara frowns. "And what is the significance of an unseated officer on a routine mission to the Living World?"
"She'll run into the Kurosaki family, and the oldest son's stupid amount of reiatsu will hinder her senses enough that she won't be able to notice a Hollow until it's in their home and attacking. Ichigo bum-rushes the thing, and Rukia is injured while saving him, enough that she decides to attempt to give him a little bit of her power."
Urahara opens his mouth, but I interrupt him. "I know, that's illegal. It sort of jump-starts his natural growth, being half Shinigami and half Quincy, and he accidentally absorbs all of her power instead of just a portion, leaving her defenseless. She comes here for a gigai and then starts showing Ichigo the ropes since he has to do her job." I give him an unimpressed gaze as I continue. "But you, for whatever harebrained reason, somehow implant your Hogyoku into her in the process, and Aizen orchestrates a whole big show and dance where her adoptive brother and childhood friend are sent to bring her back to Seireitei, where she's sentenced to death by Sokyoku. Ichigo and a few of his friends get the bright idea of invading Soul Society and somehow manage to pull of a Hail Mary, saving Rukia and unintentionally saving a lot of people's lives when Aizen makes his move. Aizen defects, snatching your Hogyoku and taking off to his base in Hueco Mundo, where he...feeds your little jewel to the one he made and starts churning out Arrancar like a factory.
"In the meanwhile, Ichigo starts to succumb to his Inner Hollow, which he was sort of infected with because of the remnant of the one his mom and dad beat up when they met, I think you had something to do with helping out with that. But you give him to the Visored, who help him leash it and then there's a little war that occurs where you and Captain Kurotsuchi switch Karakura Town with a fake one, and Aizen, Tosen, and Ichimaru, along with a bunch of his top Arrancar, face off against the Imperial Guard while Ichigo and his buddies go to Hueco Mundo in order to rescue a girl called Inoue Orihime, who's got the unique power to reject reality and sort of replace it with her own. Aizen kidnapped her because the combined Hogyoku had been deteriorating and he wanted her to fix it. Eventually, everything worked out. Aizen used the Hogyoku to be come a demigod, Ichigo used the power of determination to exceed him, and you used some sort of kido to block his wrist vents. Then Juhabach woke up and started fucking everything up with his army of Nazi Quincies, killed the Spirit King, and became the new one. That's about as far as it got by the time I bought the farm."
I had been looking at the ceiling as I recited the plot of Bleach to one of its characters, and when I turn to him, I'm rewarded by the rare sight of a speechless Urahara Kisuke. His mouth is even hanging open. I must be the first person not in his little group of friends to see him like this. It's kind of funny.
He quickly regains control of himself and frowns. "I have a few questions."
Quest complete: Welcome to Karakura Town!
Objectives:
Present yourself to Urahara Kisuke: Completed.
Make a good first impression: Completed.
Reward:
1000 Exp (500 Exp per objective completed), Gained Urahara Kisuke as an ally
Bonus Objectives:
Have Urahara Kisuke threaten your life with his Zanpakuto: Completed.
?: Failed.
Spill all the beans to Urahara Kisuke: Completed.
?: Failed.
Convince Urahara Kisuke to believe your story: Completed.
Surprise Urahara Kisuke: Completed.
Bonus Reward:
4000 Exp (1000 Exp per bonus objective completed), Blackmail on Urahara Kisuke
Frowning, I wonder what it means by blackmail, but shrug it off as new notifications appear.
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
Shaking my head, I snort and tell him, "Now how did I know you would?"
By the time Urahara's finished grilling me for the details I can remember (which are pretty extensive, since Bleach had been on of my guilty pleasures in my old world), it's already five in the afternoon. Despite my enthusiasm for the series, it's sort of exhausting talking about it nonstop for hours on end, but I made my bed when I told Geta-Boushi and I'll be damned if I don't lay in it. Actions and consequences and all that.
"My, look at the time," Urahara says as he puts the finishing touches on his notes. There are papers full of his cramped writing strewn across the table, and I'm honestly surprised his hand hasn't fallen off with the amount of writing he's done. "I sometimes get carried away."
"I would never have known," I respond around the last bit of pork from the ramen bowl. I drink up the lukewarm broth, then say, "Anyway, the other reason I came here, besides to I guess announce myself," and complete a quest while I'm at it, "was to ask if I could use your secret training grounds for a bit."
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt," Urahara agrees with a slight nod. "Would you mind if I sat in and watched what you'll be doing?"
"It is your basement," I shrug. "Be kinda rude if I said no, and it's not like I can stop you anyway."
The blonde scientist grins and stands and leads the way to the trap-door, leaping down to the dusty ground hundreds of feet below. Grimacing, I opt to take the long way, muttering, "Show-off."
On the bright side, I get an extra point to my VIT and STR from the climb. As I descend, I take in the scenery. It's just like it's depicted in the comic and show: a vast expanse of wasteland devoid of any forms of life, the flat horizon broken up by the large boulders. The ceiling is just a blue sky interspersed with the occasional fluffy, white cloud, and while there is no sun everything is bright as mid-day.
Once my feet hit solid ground, I access the Inventory and pull out my knives, then look over at Urahara. "So, I guess I should explain what I'm about to do. "Now that it's nighttime, I can create a zombie ID."
"ID?" he parrots, curiosity written plainly on his face. It seems like the only expression he's actually willing to show voluntarily.
"It's short for Instant Dungeon, but another phrase for it is illusion barrier. The one I'm going to set up is just what it sounds like, so..." I hold up a hand, but instead of shouting it, I try to think the command as hard as I can, pushing energy into the words. ID Create: Zombie!
Just like the night before, the fog settles in and the groans of the undead pierce the quiet atmosphere. I smile victoriously; calling out my attacks is all well and good, but I feel like it would be a good idea in case I create a great skill with an incredibly embarrassing name. Urahara zeroes in on the nearest zombie and heads over to it. When it tries to grab him, he easily side-steps it and snaps of the basic binding Bakudo, dropping it to the ground. The cane disguise unravels, and he pokes it a few times lightly with Benihime's cane form.
"Fascinating," I hear him mumble.
"Alright, if you're fine over there, I'll just get to work," I tell him, and he nods distractedly, waving a hand to let me know he's heard.
And so I get to grinding, using much the same tactics I'd done last night: blast the zombies with an Energy Bolt then stab them like a schizophrenic crack-head looking to score some money for their next fix.
Halfway through the first hour, after a particularly vicious uppercut with the ZK, I get a notification.
Jabbity-jabbity, jab, jab, jabbity! Through a special action, a new skill, "Power Stab", has been created!
[Power Stab (Active) Lv 1 Exp: 0.00%]
Stabs the target with strong force.
15% increase in critical rate.
50% increase in attack damage.
I think it must be the equivalent of Jee Han's Power Strike, modified for bladed weapons, and works similarly enough to Double Stab, except it only uses a single knife.
Every once in a while, I catch sight of Urahara doing only God knows what to whatever unfortunate zombie was dumb enough to make a pass at him. I don't really want to know what sort of experiments require the occasional explosion.
After another ten minutes or so, I get a notification that I'd been looking forward to.
[Apprentice Undead Hunter]
-Obtained by killing any 150 Undead.
-You have a special talent and interest in exterminating the Undead.
-Become an Undead Hunter and eradicate the Undead!
30% increase in attack damage when battling Undead.
30% increase in defense when battling Undead.
All stats gain +5 when battling Undead.
It's about as broken as I can remember. With that kind of boost, it's almost criminally easy to take out individual zombies. Three or four normal hits from the ZK and they're done for, and with a Backstab bonus or critical hit, it's whittled down to a single strike. With my new title equipped, I descend on the hordes like Ashley Williams himself.
Over the next few hours, I end up killing around twice as many as I had last night, but this time, I'm not nearly as wiped out. Now that I've got a feel for how the zombies move, it's easier to avoid them. It might be the effects of Danger Sense and Dodge working in tandem as well, since those two skills have been leveling up quite a bit as well. Regardless, my HP is still untouched while my MP is about three-quarters of the way full.
I leveled up twice more as well, and I decide that I should probably spend some of those stat points that are piling up. I scan the area for Urahara, who is surrounded by ribs and teeth and soul stones, and is about to finish cutting open his latest victim's cranium.
My Danger Sense suddenly flares up, and the pit of my stomach drops. "Wait, Urahara...er...-san. Don't!"
He looks up just as Benihime finishes slicing through the desiccated bone and the zombie disintegrates. "Why not?" he asks, eyes speculative.
But it's too late; all around us, the zombies start rushing toward a single point and crowding together until they begin melding into the boss monster. Shit.
"Shit," I feel the need to make my dread known to Urahara.
When it's finished forming, the Legion Zombie towers over everything in the basement. I wrack my brains for everything I can remember about it, thinking, Observe.
Legion Zombie Lv 34
HP: 15200 (15200) MP: 1200
Assembly of zombies full of resentment. When a large amount of zombies feel threatened due to mass hunting, they merge into a Legion Zombie. It has no magical abilities, but it has immense strength and stamina. It is, however, very slow.
Well, fuck. It's got nineteen times the HP of a regular zombie, and from what I remember, it has enough thinking capacity to come up with rudimentary tactics.
I'm really coming to understand how useful the Gamer's Mind skill really is. Without it, I'd be panicking, if now outright shitting my pants and cowering in a corner. As it is, my gaze darts around the training ground, coming up with dozens of plans of attack.
A quest has been created.
Like a Boss!
Objective:
Defeat the Legion Zombie.
Reward:
1000 Exp
Failure:
Death
Bonus Objectives:
?
?
?
?
?
Accept/Deny
"Is this part of your Instant Dungeon?" Urahara asks, suddenly right beside me.
I nod as I press the accept button. "Yeah, this big fella's the boss monster. Kill enough of the regular small fry and he shows up." I lick my dry lips, ready my knives, and tell him, "If you don't mind, I think I'd like to try taking this thing on solo."
He glances up at the Legion Zombie, which has honed in on our position, then says, "Well, it's your funeral." With that, he flash-steps away. I try to focus on how he does it, but it's too fast for me to do anything but get a general idea. Man, that would be a handy skill to have.
Focusing on the task at hand, I wait until the massive creature is almost upon me, taking a swipe at me. I nimbly evade and dart toward the thing's leg and Double Stab the hell out of its Achilles tendon, watching with sadistic glee as its HP bar is reduced, not terribly much but noticeable nonetheless.
The abomination roars in agony loud enough to nearly deafen me. It stomps down, and even with my Danger Sense/Dodge, I barely make it. Even still, the displaced air and the tremors caused by its footfall send me hurling into one of those huge rocks. My HP falls by about a tenth, but I don't get a chance to fully recover before the Legion Zombie is upon me once more. Its movements are terribly slow, but just one hit from that thing will likely result in an one-hit kill.
Physical Resistance has leveled up!
I throw myself to the side and narrowly avoid getting pasted by a megaton punch. Scrambling to get my bearings, I cast my mind about to think of anything that can help me. I need to be fast enough to keep out of the Legion's reach or I'm toast, and every anime, comic book, television show, book, etc. has shown me that I need to pump the energy into my legs if I want to go faster.
Willing that feeling of warmth and power through my body to infuse the muscles in my lower body, I can sense myself start to pick up the pace. The next time the Legion Zombie rocks the ground with its foot, I'm already twenty feet away. The punch it throws is useless when I'm not even within spitting distance of it.
Arriba, arriba, andale, andale! Through a special action, a new skill, "Energy Sprint", has been created!
[Energy Sprint (Active) Lv 1 Exp: 0.00%]
Augmenting the user's legs with their natural energy allows for a short burst of greatly-enhanced speed.
20% increase in movement speed.
Well, it's not shunpo, but it's better than nothing! Energy Sprint helps me dart and weave in through the Legion Zombie's attacks much more easily. It continues to try and stomp me out, but I manage to jump up onto a rock that comes up to about its waist and take quick aim before unleashing an Energy Bolt that explodes on its eye, hopefully reducing its ability to track me.
Roaring furiously, it raises its leg once more, and I jump away, only to get swatted like a fly by the hand I somehow missed coming. Danger Sense seems to not be onmiscient, which kind of sucks, but makes sense.
Physical Resistance has leveled up!
The massive pimp-slap I just got tosses me about a hundred feet away, and I groan feebly, trying to push myself up. My HP bar is almost empty; at this point in a game is where I'd pause and eat a few dozen cheese wheels, but I don't exactly have that kind of item right now.
I manage to make it to my feet, wobbly as they are, and watch in horror as the Legion Zombie ponderously strides toward me. I need to come up with something that will get its head down close. I need to find a way to trip it or make it slip. I need...
...I need Earthbending.
Four Energy Sprints allow me to fake it out and juke the sucker enough to give me breathing room. I end up hiding behind a large outcropping of stone while it bellows its confusion.
You can't see me! Through a special action, a new skill, "Stealth", has been created!
Well, at least that'll give me some more time to figure this out.
I must have been around thirteen or fourteen when Avatar: the Last Airbender premiered, and I was hooked from the start. A few of my friends and I used to get high and wonder what it would be like to be able to manipulate the elements on a whim, and Earthbending was always my first choice, probably because I'm an Earth sign.
So. Using the energy within me, I reach down into the ground and try to get a feel for it. The earth is a tricky thing to quantify; it's been around since before just about anything else. There's a reason you call someone who's seen many years 'Older than Dirt', after all. Patience and stubbornness are second-nature to the ground we all walk on, but there's more than one type of earth. Rock, sand, gem, metal, mineral, and even dust all fall into that category, each unique with its own properties.
Right now, I need to be able to just move some of it. I glare at the ground beneath me and command it to shift, even just a bit. I flood the floor with the power I have at my disposal, forcing it to soak into every little speck of dirt, and then shove with my mind and arms and will...
...and a strip of stone shifts to the side.
The world is your plaything! Through a special action, a skill, "Earth Affinity", has been created!
You are the greatest Earthbender alive! Through a special action, a skill, "Geomancy", has been created!
"Fuck yeah," I mutter, grinning like a buffoon. "Stats."
Name: Ricky Jimenez
Job: The Gamer
Level: 9 Next Level: 41.09%
Title: Apprentice Undead Hunter
HP: 14/200
MP: 61/200
STR: 10
VIT: 11
DEX: 10
INT: 10
WIS: 14
LUK: 10
Points: 35
Money: ¥1206
After a moment's hesitation, I drop ten points each into DEX, LUK, and WIS.
Time to rock this bastard.
I take a peek out from behind my cover and find the big guy standing several yards away from where I'm hiding with his back facing me, grumbling in frustration. Energy Sprinting to another rock, I force myself still, then rinse and repeat until I'm only three feet away. The extra ten points into DEX are really putting in work; I can't believe how fast I've become!
Energy Sprint has leveled up!
Stealth has leveled up!
Gathering my concentration, I focus on the ground the Legion Zombie is standing upon and, with a monumental pulling motion with my hands, yank it out from under it like a rug.
The earth jerks forward, and the Legion Zombie teeters backward, unable to keep its balance. It crashes to the floor, kicking up a huge cloud of dust, but I'm already moving toward its face, squinting to keep the dirt out of my eyes. When I see the silhouette of its head, I gather more mana into my legs and jump, knives raised.
Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! Through a special action, a new skill, "Super Jump", has been created!
Double Stab! I think, and its wide eyes stare at me as I descend and drive both of them home into each monstrous orb. It roars in agony, and I take the opportunity to Super Jump right above it and fire off three Energy Bolts right down its gullet.
Energy Bolt has leveled up!
By now, the Legion Zombie's HP is pretty low (I guess it's true what they say: the bigger they are, the harder they fall), so I toss the Butterfly Knife downward at the zenith of my jump. It strikes the zombie's already ruined left eye, lowering its HP just a tiny bit more, and I grasp the ZK Dagger in both hands, aiming once more for its other eye.
"Power Stab!" I roar as the blade sinks deep into its eye, popping it and covering me with gross jelly-like stuff. I fight the urge to hurl, and almost cheer when the Legion Zombie begins to disintegrate (thankfully the eye jam goes with it).
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
Quest Complete: Like a Boss!
Objective:
Defeat the Legion Zombie: Completed.
Reward:
1000 Exp
Bonus Objectives:
Beat the Legion Zombie by yourself: Completed.
?: Failed.
?: Failed.
Learn 2 new skills while battling the Legion Zombie: Completed.
Level up 4 skills while battling the Legion Zombie: Completed.
Bonus Reward:
3000 Exp (1000 Exp per bonus objective completed), 10 Stat Points
My eyes bug out at the second bonus reward, and I can't help the triumphant shout to the heavens (or the first floor of Urahara Shop, anyway) this time.
You have leveled up!
"That was quite the show," Urahara states, and I turn to find him sitting casually on the rock pile I'd hid behind to learn Geomancy, his fan out and waving idly. "You could have done much better, but I suppose you could have done much worse as well."
I huff out a chuckle, finally noticing how bone-tired I am from that fight. Geez, boss monsters are no freakin' joke. "Well, I'm still alive, I leveled up four times from that battle alone, and I got some extra Stat Points to spend, so I'm chalking it up as a win."
"Don't forget those," Urahara adds, flicking his fan toward where the Legion Zombie was slain. There, laying on the ground, are a jumble of items.
"LOOT!" I shout, rushing over to inspect the spoils of war. When I give it a cursory once-over, my heart almost stops, and I give myself a mental pat on the back for having the foresight to dump some points into LUK before I beat the Legion Zombie.
Four neat stacks of bills rest atop two small booklets, and ten glass bottles sit beside three large pink gems.
Dropping the money into my Inventory tells me that I've just become two hundred thousand yen richer, but that doesn't really tell me much since I never really learned the conversion rate. It's a lot of zeroes, that's all I know. The potions are split evenly between blue and red.
[Lowest Grade Recovery Potion- Rank: Normal]
A recovery potion. A lower-middle grade potion that instantly recovers 200 HP. Tastes like strawberry.
[Lowest Grade Replenishing Potion- Rank: Normal]
A replenishing potion. A lower-middle grade potion that instantly replenishes 200 MP. Tastes like blue raspberry.
The big pink gems are just bigger, better forms of Soul Stone, called Soul Gems, funnily enough. I don't have Yunhon Soul Recovery, since that probably doesn't exist in this world, but I'm sure they've got other uses. It's labeled as crafting item, so I can probably make something with them, or at the very least sell them to Urahara; he seems interested enough.
The last two boss drops are honest-to-goodness skill books, as incredible as it sounds. One is the same Life Drain skill Jee Han got of his first Legion Zombie while the other is its magical counterpart, Mana Drain.
After learning both of them, I set everything else in Inventory and stretch. Urahara's looking at me like an incredibly interesting animal he wants to study, and I suppose it's not too far from the mark.
"Your ability is a little frightening, do you know that?" he asks. I nod slowly, thinking of everything that I've done in two days. Curious as to what exactly he means, though I stay silent. "When you created your Instant Dungeon, I could feel spirit particles coalescing within it. Your zombies are made of reishi, but everything they drop is physical matter. You create something from nothing. Do you know how many laws of physics you've broken just by that alone?"
"I know," I say, thinking about the Law of Conservation of Mass. "I don't understand it, either. I kind of scare myself if I think about it too much."
"I don't disagree," he answers solemnly before he smiles. "On the bright side, I now have my own collection of teeth, stones, and ribs to experiment on."
Snorting, I pull out two potions, one of each variety, and hand them over to him. "Might as well have these, too. I'll just use 'em up; at least you can study them, maybe even find a way to synthesize them yourself."
He looks like Christmas came early, but hesitates just before he grabs the bottles. "Are you sure?"
I give an indifferent shrug, thrusting them into his grasp. "I've got four more of each anyway. Plus, now that I know I can beat the Legion Zombie by myself, I can just farm more of 'em pretty easily."
"Then I gratefully accept, Rick-san," he replies thankfully. "You know, since you don't have a place to stay, I could offer one of the empty guest rooms upstairs..."
"Nah," I wave him off. "It's fine. I've already imposed upon you enough by asking to use your nifty little underground chamber here; staying here on top of that would just be too much. I, ah, wouldn't be opposed to you whipping up a few documents for me though, just so I can rent an apartment and stuff."
"Oh, of course!" he perks up, jumping through the trapdoor in a single bound. After checking my mana levels, I Super Jump up the ladder, taking it twenty rungs at a time. "I've got just the thing; I had to scramble to make sure Isshin was able to attend medical school after he decided to become a doctor."
Kicking the door shut, I just smile in relief and follow him into his office. "Well, if it's good for a medical school, it should hold up to a realtor. I just hope they don't ask me what I do for a living."
"Well, you'll need to go to school of course," Urahara supplied with a frown. "You can't be over seventeen."
I wince. Oh, yeah. In all the excitement, I'd kind of forgotten about the de-aging. "Well, I guess this is my second chance to actually earn a high school degree," I offer with a sheepish grin. "I'm actually closer to thirty than I am seventeen."
Urahara turns around and peers at me closely. "Really?"
"Yeah, when I arrived here, I knew I was younger than I had been since I was a lot thinner and my beard was gone. Plus, I haven't had hair this long in a while," I pull a strand of the curly, dark brown hair in front of my eye to examine it more closely. "Although I can't remember why I cut it in the first place." I vaguely remember having a lot to drink the last time it was so lengthy, so that was probably a factor. "I didn't realize I looked that young, though."
"Yes, well," Urahara coughed. "I suppose I can arrange for some fake school transcripts as well. "You said you never got your diploma in your old world?"
I scratch my cheek awkwardly. "Ah, yeah...the American education system and I never really got along, even when I was a kid. Maybe the Japanese equivalent will suit me better?"
Nodding, Urahara sits down at an ancient-looking computer and boots it up. Luckily, it comes alive with startling speed, and I remind myself to not judge on appearances, especially in a place like the Urahara Shop.
He pulls a few files up that look like blank official documents and asks a few questions, filling in the appropriate spaces. After a while, he pulls up the internet browser and tells me to take a seat.
Shrugging, I whip out the Bathroom Reader and lose an hour to it, raising my INT by three points in the process.
"Alright then." I look up and see Urahara shuffling some papers together near his printer, setting them into a blank gray folder before handing it to me. "That should take care of everything. You're a foreign exchange student from the United States, and I used your old home and school so you can remember more easily. I've also managed to set up a bank account for you as well as an appointment with a realtor tomorrow morning at eleven o'clock. His name and the meeting place are somewhere in that folder."
I'm speechless for a moment. "I...this is...wow." I put the folder in the Inventory, then bow to the blonde man deeply. "Thank you. I would have probably ended up living under a bridge without your help."
Urahara gives me a genuine smile for my efforts. "You are most welcome, Rick-san. It's the least I can do for the gifts you've given me."
We head back through the shop toward the front door, but when I try to exit, I bump into what at first seems to be a brick wall. Looking up, I see the most impressive mustache I've ever had the pleasure of beholding. Lv ?: Tsukabishi Tessai hangs at least eight feet off the ground above the ex-Kido Corps Commander's head, his glasses flashing curiously.
"E-excuse me," I mumble, then realize I'm staring and snap myself out of it.
"It's no problem," the big man answers. His gaze briefly flicks toward Urahara, but pins me again before I can gauge the shopkeeper's reaction. "I am Tsukabishi Tessai."
"Oh, right, I'm Ri-er, that is, Jimenez Ricky," I reply. "It's nice to meet you, ah, Tessai-san."
"In Japan, it's polite to use a new acquaintance's family name until they deem it acceptable for you to use their given name," Urahara stage-whispers, and I flush, shooting him a grimace.
"Sorry, Tsukabishi-san," I mutter apologetically. "I'm new here."
"So I surmised," is his response. "But it's quite alright to call me Tessai, if you wish."
"Well, I guess you can call me Rick, then," I answer. Man, I appreciate politeness, but Japan really takes it to ridiculous levels. "Ah, I guess I'll be going then. It was nice meeting you, Tessai-san, Urahara-san."
"Likewise," Urahara says, fan out once more. "Don't be a stranger!"
After-Action Report: And there we have it. I apologize for the ending; it kinda sucks, but I couldn't think of anything to make it better so I'm leaving it at that. The SI just jumped up by almost ten levels in a single day, but that's what happens when you put a noob character against a level 34 boss monster.
Rick's approach to revealing himself to Urahara is one I don't see very often; I'm fairly sure I've read this tactic being used somewhere, but my memory is about as useful as my talent with math (did you notice that I stopped doing damage calculations? Fuck that). So far only Urahara knows, and he may or may not tell Tessai and Yoruichi about it, I haven't really decided yet. If you're curious, the two bonus objectives Rick failed were Make Urahara Kisuke kill you and Keep your secrets to yourself. So you can see how that happened.
As for the boss fight itself, well, I've always wanted to be able to Earthbend, even if it is impossible; here, my self insert can just manage the basics. It'll be one of his go-to skills as he levels up Geomancy and it becomes more versatile, but right now all he can do is move the ground a little bit. I've got some great stuff in store, though. Stealth, Energy Sprint, and Super Jump are basic things that I'm pretty sure I stole from one of the other Bleach/Gamer fics, Spirit of the Gamer, which is really awesome (if you haven't done so already, go check it out!), though Power Sprint and Power Jump are the names used in that story. The two bonus objectives Rick failed in the Boss Quest were Complete the quest with half your HP remaining and Complete the quest with all your HP remaining. With less than fifteen HP left, you can understand why he failed those two. Still, with all that LUK, he managed to gather up some pretty damn good loot, right?
I'm sure I failed (or forgot) to address a few things I was meaning to, so feel free to ask in a review or PM any questions you have or mistakes you notice, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks for reading, and have a nice day!