Chapter 4 World Rebuilding
When I awoke the next morning. I saw 2 books in front of me on the side table I was facing. One was an introductory book to Devil and underworld norms and the other was about enforced Devil laws and the unspoken rules.
I had only read the first page of both books to get a gist of what they were about and to see which one I should read first when I saw a familiar red circle appear and bring along with it a Gremory.
"Why are you still in bed?" asked a concerned Rias. "And have you just started to read the book now?!" The barely veiled anger was there. A pissed-off Rias was not a good idea, going by the destructive Arcs shooting off and around her.
I didn't even get to question her clear 180 in attitude from yesterday before I was jerked out and held upside down by telekinetic magic.
That did it. I have no idea why she's pissed but fucking around with me like this? Master or no master, Kuroka got away with it so I can too.
Rias was dead.
[Primordial Strength]
A second later Rias was a stain on the wall and I was disintegrating with half my torso already gone.
In a panic, after realizing what had happened, I try…
[Reloading Save 1….]
I woke again...with all the knowledge of the previous happenings. I remember what I read in the book and I remember killing the Red Bitch.
I guess like all games before it, it can be abused via the Save Reload function.
I read the second page of the devil law book and waited for Rias to show up, hopefully, to talk it out before the bitch pissed me off again. I don't want to repeat my actions again and be trapped like this reloading Day 1, day in and day out.
I looked around and noticed that I could see the stars from the window, was it nighttime already? It can't be, I have only read a single page of the book and I'm sure it was morning when I woke up.
"Wait a minute..." I whisper out into the still empty room as I have a moment of enlightenment.
[Smooth Brain] Racial Passive {Removable through Side-Quests}
Your brain is so smooth and small that one may mistake it for a shiny pearl. Words on books/ knowledge of any kind will cost you 100x the time to understand.
FUCK!
That shit has got to go. I was pissed, this meant that I would need to read a book 100 times to have the knowledge retention of reading it once. Moreso, I would need 100 skill books to acquire the skill in the book. I'm fucked, this is too big a nerf.
.
.
.
Or is it?
There is a slightly predatory evil grin on my face but I can't help it. In my previous life, I claimed myself to be a genius and in games, I always tried to find creative use of game mechanics to skip the hard parts of the game. That and I just had a moment of clarity and euphoria.
The game tried to force a Barbarian/berserker role on me. I'm now gonna turn this character into something even Loki would aspire to be.
A scheming mage that was more slippery than water.
Just imagine it. A bulky Oni one moment it's there and the next it's gone and the world no longer makes sense. I love it.
Anyway, here I go.
[Brute Force] LVL 17
Overpower your will and muscle to go further than ever before.
STR+VIT+WIS+INT all into one chosen stat. The effect lasts for 3 minutes.
All non-chosen stats are divided by 4 and effects last for 12 hours on divided stats.
STR 100 PERK
All stats into INT.
Stats
STR 62.5
VIT 37.5
INT 402
WIS 0.5
PER 1
CHA 23
SPE 6
LUK 500
Now for the fun part.
Again!
[Brute Force] LVL 17
Overpower your will and muscle to go further than ever before.
STR+VIT+WIS+INT all into one chosen stat. The effect lasts for 3 minutes.
All non-chosen stats are divided by 4 and effects last for 12 hours on divided stats.
STR 100 PERK
All stats into INT.
Stats
STR 15.625
VIT 9.375
INT 502.5
WIS 0.125
PER 1
CHA 23
SPE 6
LUK 500
This works, albeit with diminishing returns. It is amazing what simple math can accomplish. My mind...sorry. My thought process is so fast right now that my perception of time is slightly off-kilter. The 3 minutes have now turned to 3 days worth of thoughts.
.
.
.
I just realized something, my perception stat is still rather low so now I'm stuck. Blind in the real world and blind in my possible 'mindscape' for around 3 days. Ooops.
In hindsight, a revelation to me, who has a base stat of 2, is probably not the best revelation.
But now I have 72 hours to think about everything and...or…
I cut myself off in my own train of thought as I realized a more world-breaking thing.
Here, I'll walk you through it. I currently have 72 hours of thinking time. After the 72 hours are over I will be extremely vulnerable and thus easily killed. So I would have to reload. Creating my very own Groundhog Day.
So far so good?...Good.
Now, when I reload I have at estimation a day or around 12 hours before an angry Rias gets herself killed. In those 12 hours, I could just scan through the book, time glitch, and go over what I skimmed through to learn it in the 72 hours due to [Smooth Brain]
I just keep rinsing and repeating until I get it all. It's hella Grindy but hey, what game isn't.
This way of playing will neutralize [Smooth Brain] but will slow my progression to a near halt. I need to use this first 72 hours to understand the game system better and then find a solution to the [Smooth Brain] without having to Glitch and Grind.
Glitch and Grind? Why does that sound like the gamer's version of Netflix and Chill?
Alright, enough amusement at my own jokes. Time to play this out.
24 hours later
So after reading through the long game manual and yes I managed to do that. It seems that the manual seems to be beyond the perks and system itself. It makes sense though. After all, if a person gained the [BLIND] PERK or status then they would be fucked if they wanted to read the manual. There is a braille option on the manual setting but you would have to see the option to change it, it's one of those.
Anyway, reading it gave me a lot of insight. Most systems are flexible and adaptive with a highly advanced self re-coding protocol. This means specialized patches to fix bugs or exploits. Emphasis on most, some systems are prototype systems that were shoddily coded and created with bare minimum gaming knowledge. It was along the lines of someone creating The Gamer System thinking it would be nice to see something like this, all the while they overlooked the reality of bugs, glitches, exploits, and specialization of players. Over time they created patches, more add-ons, etc and I'm guessing they eventually upgraded the game engine to a better one to create the self patching Systems. Mine seems to be one of the prototype ones as I have no game guide/ AI voice in my head like most gamers seem to have. Mine also seems to have some DLC's and Season passes, it didn't help this old system when it failed to load some files due to corruption and having to force run the main files.
The GUI of this system seems like an acid trip too. Like someone, just force merged the GUI of SAO, Skyrim, and Borderlands. There seems to be GTA in there somewhere too but I can't seem to put my finger on it. The fact that I was going through the systems setting and found a tab for Mods, Shaders, and other installable with a link to Nexus told me where that had come from. There was, most importantly, a Tab for Stats allocation that seemed somehow SAO.
Why was this important though?
Well….
[Unused stat points]
146
Yup, I'm sixteen which means 365 times 4 as it says my puberty officially started on my 12th birthday. That means the day count from [Semen Retention] was at 1,460. 1,460 divided by 10 is 146. That's a lot of unused points.
I also already know where I am putting most of them. I have [Gamers Body] due to 50 VIT and that is because I am an Oni. I have easier access to physical type skills. Think of it like the Greybeards in Skyrim, although they could learn shouts, they could not hope to match the DragonBorn's sheer talent at learning them. It's the same thing, one could not hope to match the sheer physical prowess of an Oni. This meant I could get access to physical skills cheaper and quicker, the opposite was true also. It would cost me more to get skills not suited to my nature.
One such skill was [Gamer's Mind], a skill or PERK for those suited to mind arts and INT. An oni was not one of them. I would have to reach 100 in INT and 50 in WIS to get that one PERK.
That would mean all my points gone but it would mean Rias living longer and also less mental exhaustion from the time glitch.
Stats
Stats
STR 15.625
VIT 9.375
INT 502.5
WIS 0.125
PER 1
CHA 23
SPE 6
LUK 500
Right….the Glitch.
[Reloading Save 1….]
Waking again, I opened my stats.
Stats
STR 250
VIT 150
INT 5
WIS 2
PER 1
CHA 23
SPE 6
LUK 500
95 into INT, 48 into WIS, and 3 into PER.
[Unused stat points]
0
Stats
STR 250
VIT 150
INT 100
WIS 50
PER 4
CHA 23
SPE 6
LUK 500
[Mind Arts] LVL 1
Walkers of the mind, able to alter and observe the mind of oneself or others. Knowledge of the mind is difficult to navigate and thus utilize.
If INT stat higher than defenders WIS + PER. Able to perform one of three tasks
Alter parts of mind/memory
Erase parts of mind/memory
Insert Fake memories.
INT 50 WIS 50 PERK {PURCHASE}
[Gamer's Mind] LVL MAX
A sociopath's Wet Dream.
Immune to Mind Arts, immune to Emotional distress. Edict memory.
Part of a set of PERKS 1/3
INT 100 WIS 50 perk {PURCHASE}
There were obviously other perks I could pick but I would lose out on others if I picked one. Mainly because after the free PERK pick after reaching a set milestone I would have to purchase the PERK from the GAMER SHOP. A shop I have no access to currently, so not choosing the [Mind Arts] would mean permanent loss of PERK unless I found a skill book or trainer. I can live with that as there is no skill book or trainer for [Gamer's Mind] so I'll have to pick that. Not that I wouldn't pick [Gamer's Mind] any day of the week over any other PERK offered.
[Gamer's Mind] LVL MAX
A sociopath's Wet Dream.
Immune to Mind Arts, immune to Emotional distress. Edict memory.
Part of a set of PERKS 1/3
INT 100 WIS 50 perk {Acquired}
Let's have a look at my stats and PERKS
Stats
STR 250
VIT 150
INT 100
WIS 50
PER 4
CHA 23
SPE 6
LUK 500
PERKS
[Primordial Strength] LVL 2 NEW!
Those that can use this power are FAR, FAR in-between. This power is the utilization of all forms of energy fused into one and then converted into Raw physical force. STR x 2 on all actions.
Special Effects- Can Shatter divinity or bypass it. IF STR/2 is Opponents DIV stat.
Power can only be used 1 a month and 6 times a year without imploding.
Times remaining: 4
Warning: Skill not fleshed out by the system. Use of power leads to the negation of Gamers Body and thus Permanent injury. STR 250 PERK
[Brute Force] LVL 17
Overpower your will and muscle to go further than ever before.
STR+VIT+WIS+INT all into one chosen stat. The effect lasts for 3 minutes.
All non-chosen stats are divided by 4 and effects last for 12 hours on divided stats.
STR 100 PERK
[Catastrophic Call-Out] LVL 65
Any time you use this skill, the enemy will focus only on you and will initialize their Raging Form if they have one.
STR 50 PERK
[Gamers Body] LVL MAX!
Grants pseudo immortality. Highly adaptive to Extreme degrees. Full Regeneration possible in as little as 30 minutes.
VIT 50 PERK
[Gamer's Mind] LVL MAX
A sociopath's Wet Dream.
Immune to Mind Arts, immune to Emotional distress. Edict memory.
Part of a set of PERKS 1/3
INT 100 WIS 50 perk
[Semen Retention] PASSIVE {Stackable}
The longer you go without climax the higher the day counter will go. Day counter 10 = 1 game stat point. Stat points can be allocated to any stat other than ones proceeding 500 and or LUCK.
[Smooth Brain] Racial Passive {NEGATED DUE TO CRITERIA MET}
Your brain is so smooth and small that one may mistake it for a shiny pearl. Words on books/ knowledge of any kind will cost you 100x the time to understand.
[Just reload ] Passive
Gifted a gaming system with a save and reload feature.
LUCK 500 PERK
[GAMERS LUCK] Passive
Expect good drops and loot…... With shitty stats or effects.
LUCK 250 PERK
[Lady luck] Passive
Either you get lucky with the ladies or the ladies around you get lucky.
LUCK 100 PERK
[Lucky Die] LVL 24
Every day an item equipped or in inventory gets its Stats changed or effects muddled.
LUCK 50 PERK
The Negation of a smooth brain was rather unexpected but welcome. I know, fully, that I am playing with a broken/ old system so I wouldn't expect it to follow logic over its own dictated rules. The way stated to remove [Smooth Brain] was through quests but it makes sense for it to be removed now that I have 100 INT and 50 WIS.
I am glad that I would no longer have to time loop to read books like a smooth brain. Hehehehe.
That was a good one….but I can't seem to find it funny or embarrassing.
Is Gamer's Mind already altering my personality?!
Fuck...the implications kind of scare me. Only able to feel certain emotions and feelings to a certain degree, that is kind of scary.
Gritting my teeth and slightly afraid I repeat the time glitch to see what I can do here.
A week later [3 minutes later]
Turns out glitching with a higher stat means more time, though I don't think it was proportionate this time and I can't be bothered learning the algorithm to see how many stats would result in however much increase in time cuz fuck that.
Back on topic though, [Gamer's Mind] is a unique skill and I mean Unique as in I can skill up in its tree. It's hidden in Wikipedia like a rabbit hole and I had to dive in link after link to see where it was going. Turns out reading about how a certain skill works can in fact allow you to at least attempt to use the skill manually, once you try to do that, skill leveling proficiency increases in proportion to how much you understand and can utilize. It was just like real life or Very Realistic VR.
Reading about the [Gamer's Mind] lead me to a language called Tele-Py. It's a Python language add-on that allows one to programme their own minds. It was kind of ingenious as it used the processing power of the mind/ brain which is a lot higher than a computer but then ran the brain like a computer. This meant the brain could be overclocked and run without any limiters. I could, theoretically, run an overclocking app from the mods tab but I don't want some sort of next-level mind hacking bull-shit happening to me.
Therefore, I would have to learn the language. Doable and not too hard. I would also have to create my own databases, my own functions, and all the other jazz to go along with that. This, however, was a lot more time and effort-consuming than anything else on my plate currently. The solution to this was a simple time loop though without the reload because that would make it pointless as progress on the skills did not carry over from save to reload.
I could have a week's worth of progress on Tele-Py every 12 hours, sleep, save and repeat. Before all that though, I need to deal with the 2 books and Rias if she is still crazy and unwilling to talk her problem out with me.
10 minutes and 2 books later
The devil world is a paradise for all types of depraved fantasies. The most normal thing being Women turning into men and men transforming into women. Leading to men having straight sex with other men and the same for the women. Though obviously, no one cared at all where you put your dick in the underworld, just as long as you had the power to hold out when whoever came after you for whatever reason.
There are some laws that are in place and can't be broken, a person can't be below the age of 12 for any sexual escapades and a person can't be less than 16 for any type of unwanted transgressions.
Raping was therefore legal if the person was over 16. As terrible as that sounds, it isn't. It's funny because due to complete sexual freedom devils can get sex from a lot more accomodating people, therefore raping someone just meant people connected to the raped person coming at you for vengeance and thus unnecessary trouble. This was mainly because revenge murder was semi-legal due to technicalities, technicalities everyone knew about and would thus be exploited.
An unspoken law that was vital to know was that no matter who and no matter what, as long as it involved 2 members of a family, you not included, it was not to be talked about to someone outside of the 2 people involved. A mother and son may have sexual relations and may tell others about their lovely nights together but the people told would not be allowed to talk about it among themselves or to any other member of the family about the matter because they were not part of the act. It was a cultural thing and wasn't illegal but if it became known that you talked about a matter regarding 2 other people that didn't include you. You would then live an outcast life.
What really got to me was not any of that but the fact that on the page which talked about the taboo on rumor/ gossip talk being something that would make you an outcast was an extra paper note folded and slipped in.
The contents of it were about a boy who grew up in a household with an absentee mother and an abusive father. He suffered physical abuse till 11 and at 12 he was bent over his father's office desk. Needless to say, the boy was a wreck till he rebelled and literally joined the rebellion in the devil civil war. After his first kill, the boy gained a taste of power. Power over the life of others, power over the death of others. During the war, the boy learned about his powers, had a power trip, was humbled, and later gained a rather sadistic revenge kink after being tortured in an enemy camp. After all, against all odds, the boy took on the enemy camp alone from the inside, and before leaving he took the daughter of the camp commander as his maid.
When he returned home victorious, his father had the gall to claim credit, stating that it was his parenting that made the boy hard and stout enough to win the war.
To this day his father now serves him as he pleases.
I had my suspicions on this but before I could think more on the note I saw the red magic circle bringing with it the girl who held my attention in the past few days...weeks? Whatever it was, it wasn't a good thing for her.