Thank you for the Favorites and Follows! I know that is a rather quick upload since my last chapter, literally next day, but I ended up getting tested and realized I have Covid, again. So stuck at home with nothing to do today, I figured I'd get ahead a bit on writing this story. And well I got carried away. Like another three chapters all around the same size carried away. In other news, I should probably buy a desk. It's kinda hard to type with my laptop in my lap, my wrist hasn't hurt this much since I was fourteen and realized having fun isn't hard with access to the internet!
Onto the Chapter! Before I embarrass myself any more.
She breathed out a noise of contentment, she had been training extra hard at her dojo today and felt like a break was in short order. No one could train twenty four seven, even a martial artist enthusiast like her needed to relax every now and again.
Here she was, relaxing in the nearby park at what felt like her spot. She knew possibly hundreds of people had sat in this exact spot as her, and claimed this quiet out of the way place as theirs. But still she claimed it as hers. Listening to the gentle babbling of the creek feeding into the lake nearby and feeling the sunspots playing through the tree leaves above her almost sent the teenager into a mid-afternoon nap.
Until something tickled her senses at the edge of her periphery. Cracking an eye open like some great beast rising from the deep sea, she spotted a boy not too far off.
He looked rather unremarkable, the only thing to catch her attention from several meters away was his curly green hair and bright green tracksuit. He looked to be about the same age as her, but it was hard to tell from this distance. He looked ready to collapse after what she could only assume to be a jog around the park.
After a minute or two of breathing heavily he straightened up and strode into the gathering of trees behind her. Feeling curious and rather bored she shrugged and moved herself to get a better look at the green haired boy.
Finding a suitable spot she sat down just in time to see him put up a loose approximation of a boxer's stance. Or maybe it was Muay Thai? She honestly couldn't tell, his form was that bad.
Watching him throw sloppy punches and what could vaguely be described as kicks that could only have been learned from C list action movies, she groaned and prepared to stand up. Her honor as a martial artist simply wouldn't let her sit here and watch this poor boy embarrass himself any longer. For Quirks sake he didn't even have his hands right! He would break his thumbs before he actually hurt anyone with a punch.
Yet before she could move the young boy stopped, she felt a flash of fear at being found and quickly sat back down. Then groaned again when she realized she had nothing to be afraid of. Still she sat there watching the boy, he had paused and was staring off into a tree about twenty meters out.
After a minute of staring, he nodded to himself and actually put up a real stance. It was a beginner's stance, but compared to what he was doing it was an immediate improvement! It was as if he could hear all the little corrections she made in her head and fixed the holes in his stance.
Watching him throw some real punches and kicks she sighed in relief, perhaps she should take an extended break from her dojo if she felt such a strong pull to teach the literal random stranger in front of her. Shaking her head she stood up and left, perhaps she should go. It felt kind of voyeuristic at this point and it didn't help with his grunts of exertion rolling through the clearing.
Turning to leave she considered getting something to eat, maybe noodles? There was a ramen shop a few blocks away.
Izuku panted on the ground, the cool just before summer breeze was absolutely heavenly right now. With a groan and several creaking joints he stood up. Cracking his back, the green haired boy opened his latest screen.
[New active skill created! Beginners Unarmed Fighting: Lvl 3 To next Lvl 89%
Your fists, natural guns. Your legs, cannons. And your body is ready to vanquish your enemies! Unarmed Fighting is all about using every part of your body to cause pain to your enemies as fast as possible!
Style unlocked! Bastardized Kickboxing: Lvl 8 To next Lvl 45%
You might not know every faucet, or even possess an amateur rank in throwing hands, but you sure did watch a lot of old fighting movies! Maybe you can confuse an enemy with your unorthodox fighting style!
+ 4% damage with unarmed attacks+Str score!]
Despite the almost patronizing tone his quirk takes, Izuku couldn't help his excitement! He could create skills! He wondered what other skills he possessed, and what exactly counted as a skill. Would he have a skill for even the most basic of things or did it only count towards things that required sufficient effort? He quickly said a quick "Skill List" and hoped it would bring up something. He was rewarded with another two screens, the first being a new tutorial screen.
[This is your active skills screen! Here you will see a more informative version of all your skills! It shows your Level, experience gained, experience needed for the next Level, a description of what your skills entail, and any other pertinent information!]
Dismissing the screen he felt his face fall at the… lack luster number of skills and questioned the usefulness of his skills. It wasn't that every skill was unusable, it was just, well.
[Active Skills:
Bastardized Kickboxing: Lvl 8 To next Lvl 45%
You might not know every faucet, or even possess an amateur rank in throwing hands, but you sure did watch a lot of old fighting movies! Maybe you can confuse an enemy with your unorthodox fighting style!
+4% damage with unarmed attacks +Str score!
Extra Pockets: Lvl 10 to next Lvl 66%
Somehow after writing your Hundredth hero analysis and it gave you extra dimensional pockets, don't question it, it'll help you hold your nerd books. Each level gives you an extra pocket.
Current Items held: 0
Pockets left: 10
Quirk Analysis: Lvl 25 to next Lvl 59%
Due to your, frankly unhealthy, hero obsession and analysis of their Quirks and fighting styles you can now analyze Quirks from just a glance, this includes anything from weaknesses, strengths, and how to improve them! Use wisely for you can be quite the teacher or the worst kind of enemy to fight!
Writing: Lvl 50 to next Lvl 60%
Congrats, you've got a skill anyone over four has, use wisely for the pen isn't mightier than All Might!]
Izuku knew [Quirk Analysis] would be invaluable when he started fighting Villains with esoteric quirks, but [Writing] wasn't exactly the skill that would leave him the untouchable hero on par with the Top Ten in Japan. And [Extra Pockets] was super… weird to say the least. Even his Quirk knew just how weird it seemed. He could only shrug and move on from it.
His quirk listed these skills as active skills but was there anyway to actually activate them? Did he have to call out every time we wrote something down to get the bonuses from writing?
Taking a notebook from his bag he started writing a little in his book. It didn't seem to make a huge difference right now, his handwriting was definitely neater but it didn't feel too different from when he last wrote. Saying "[Writing]" showed similar results. Undeterred, Izuku closed his notebook and held it out, muttering "[Extra Pockets]" and watched in fascination as the notebook vanished from his outstretched hand. Calling up his item screen he was not surprised to see a square taken up by his notebook, the title underneath even had the name of his notebook on it.
Izuku felt a rush as he had finally had an actual use for the inventory space next to his item screen. He decided he would need to find some way to test the limits of his 'pockets.' For instance, did he need to be touching the item to move it to his pockets? Was there a size limit? Weight limit?
Realizing he needed his notebook to write down his questions and observations, he tried to pull his book from his inventory. Just like the clothes from last night, it was stuck fast however. Scratching the back of his head he felt his stomach rumble. Blushing he peeked around and seeing no one, he breathed out a sigh of relief.
Checking his wallet, he decided he could eat out right now. Izuku's mom was out at work and Izuku didn't feel like cooking with his muscles aching. Wandering out of the park he took a glance around and set off in a direction in search of food. After several minutes of searching he stumbled across a quaint noodle house a couple of blocks away.
Pushing through the door, he was greeted by the pleasant aroma of toasted spices and cooking meat. The quiet rumble of chatter and bell above his head had him smiling pleasantly at the relaxed atmosphere of the shop. Wandering to the line at the counter he took a glance around the shop.
The walls were a well worn light brown wood, with photos of what he could only assume were the owners taking selfies with a few pro heroes that came through the restaurant. He spied quite a few heroes he knew and a few that he didn't. Looking at the patrons he saw a well dressed businessman with goat eyes enjoying a seafood dish, a light blue skinned woman enjoying a bowl of ramen, and an ordinary high school student with orange hair in a side ponytail waiting at a table for her food. The last was looking around the same as him while she waited and they made eye contact.
Izuku fought down the instinctive urge to blush, being caught staring. He gently smiled back and lightly waved. The girl blinked a few times before sending a questioning wave his way. He ducked his head and turned to the front of the line berating himself the entire wait for his order.
'Stupid, why'd you wave. You don't know her and she has less than a clue about you. She probably only waved back out of politeness and to save you the embarrassment. Calm down Izuku, a noodle shop is not the place to have a panic attack.'
Reaching the front of the line Izuku was pulled out of his thoughts but a lightly tanned older woman, she had curled yellow hair that almost seemed to move as if underwater. Her eyes were a light orange and Izuku noticed her ears were like that of a sheep, lightly flicking back and forth at the sounds of the kitchen and the other patrons.
Izuku fought down another blush when he realized just how pretty she was and that he might've been staring for longer than necessary. Fighting down his stutter he ordered a simple tonkatsu ramen with extra seaweed. Quickly paying and taking his ticket he went and sat in the corner of the store. He didn't want to make the high school girl he waved at uncomfortable.
Izuku sighed at his social anxiety, was his pitiful Charisma score the reason for it? Maybe he should put some points in it until he stopped being such a stuttery mess. Shaking his head he realized something weird, why did he have a five in Charisma anyway? Bringing up his stats menu with the quietest mumbling possible he studied his eight stats, finally paying attention to the fact that his stats were not completely balanced. His Intelligence and Dexterity were higher than they should be. On the inverse his Luck and Charisma were lower than the rest of his stats as well. He scratched the back of his head and was momentarily pulled from his thoughts by a bowl of ramen being placed in front of him.
Stuttering out a thank you, that only got more stuttery after the waitress winked at him, he buried himself in his ramen until he calmed down enough to continue puzzling out this mystery. He idly noticed the ramen was quite good and resolved to come here more often after training.
Focusing back on his stat sheet he started back at the top, maybe the answer was hidden in something other than his raw stats. And what he saw made him choke on his noodles. Just a simple one line of information had him spluttering and banging his chest. Clearing his airway he smiled with a red face he gave a thumbs up to show he was okay to the worried looking waitress, and turning back to that innocuous line he read it again.
[Quirk: Locked]
Izuku was confused to say the least, wasn't this his quirk. Reading through the tutorial screens in front of him he idly realized that it had never said this power he possessed was a quirk. Clicking on the words it brought him to a new page with a new tutorial screen in front of him.
[This is your Quirk Information sheet! It offers a brief description of the quirk you possess as well as any other necessary information about it! Remember to level your quirk as well as it could evolve into a more powerful version of itself!]
Izuku dismissed this screen as soon as he could as he almost frantically pulled up his Quirk Information sheet.
[Quirk: Locked
Due to the Route you followed to unlock Gamer your quirk is locked, fear not, for it can be unlocked later down the way! Figure out the power of your soul and use it to reshape your world!]
Izuku blinked dumbly to himself, he was born with a quirk? He pretty much had two Quirks!? Of course he knew people had hybrid quirks, or even quirks that seemed like two. Take Kaachan for instance. His quirk appeared to create explosions from his hands, yet Izuku knew his actual quirk was to ignite the nitroglycerin sweat that he excreted from his hands. In essence it was a mutation quirk that he could use as an emitter quirk, not to mention the mutations his body underwent through puberty to handle the powerful explosions and not break his arms, burn his hands constantly, or go deaf from the pressure wave created by powerful point blank explosions. Most quirks that were described as two quirks could actually be broken down into just one quirk, with the other side either being what the body does to adapt to the quirk, or the real way a quirk works. Izuku was apparently the first person to ever have two quirks.
And that thought terrified him.
He had read stories about mad scientists committing horrible atrocities on those with powerful quirks. He had read survivor stories about arranged quirk marriages and the ways it could tear families apart. But he mostly worried about what these monsters would do to his mom if they ever caught wind of his quirks. Right now Izuku feels mostly safe, gamer is a largely innocuous quirk. All it does is give him an easier time gaining strength, and the screens are invisible to the outside world. He would have to be cautious with the disappearing notebooks and the instant changing of clothes, but he should be fine. It's only the flashy quirks that stand out after all. And the gamer is a subtle quirk. He could keep this one secret while he figures out how to unlock his actual quirk and so long as he stays careful everything should be fine.
The ramen turned sour in his mouth as he felt eyes appear on him. He knew someone was watching him and he logically knew it was nothing. Probably just a new customer that saw him sitting in the corner and was naturally curious. Logically he knew that, and yet he couldn't stop the chill from seeping down his spine and he hurriedly stood and left the half eaten ramen at his table. Turning around he saw the orange haired girl from earlier avert her gaze to her phone. Was it her watching him? Could it have been the goat eyed businessman from earlier? He did look like the typical "suit" conspiracy theorists said were everywhere.
Rushing out the door he stopped a few meters away from the door holding his chest and breathing more heavily than he should be. Straightening up he looked around and with as much faux nonchalance as possible, started walking towards the park earlier. He was naturally nervous about someone finding him training and whisking him away to an off the books government facility to torture and experiment on him. Yet he couldn't shake the feeling he needed to get stronger, as strong as possible to stop that from happening anytime in the near future. With his resolve more firm than ever he increased his pace to a faster walk towards the park. He would protect his family at any cost!
Itsuka Kendo blinked in confusion. That boy from the park had left in quite a huff for seemingly no reason. Maybe he just realized the time? She hoped it wasn't because of her staring. With him entering the shop after her she couldn't help but notice he was near the same age as her. And with him out training like that she couldn't help but wonder if he was applying to UA. It was certainly a plus in her book that he focused on his body as well as his quirk. Yet his muscle definition and the way he carried himself did not speak to years of training she had seen from others in the dojo. Perhaps he had only recently realized he should train his body as well?
Still it couldn't hurt to visit the park tomorrow, maybe the dojo could get a new admission? If so she could see how she compares to a UA hopeful. And apologize if it was her staring that made him feel uncomfortable enough to run out.
Even though she had finished her bowl of ramen a little bit before the boy left, she felt embarrassed to leave immediately after him. Her dojo was on the other side of the park after all. She didn't want to give the impression that she was following him.
Izuku walked into his apartment after spending most of his day training his body. Despite the sweat and aching muscles he couldn't help the pleased feeling in his body. He was finally training to be a Hero! He felt more powerful than he had in a long time. It immensely helped his motivation to train that he could see his progress in such an easily understandable way.
After retreating back to his room he sat at his desk and called forth his notebook from his [extra pockets]. He had figured out during a resting period in the park that in order to bring forth items from his 'pockets' he needed to call the name as well. He now felt like he had a good grip on how the numbers translated to the world around him and started adjusting his workout plan around the new information. After several minutes he booted his computer up to research various workout plans for both heroes and those aspiring to be heroes.
What greeted him upon logging in to his computer, was the information he had been researching about video games last night. Pushing his thoughts of working out to the side for the moment he pulled up his various tutorial screens and information sheets that entailed his quirk he read through them all. This time he would read every inch of them and explore every option. Izuku didn't want to be caught off guard in public like that again. He would learn every aspect of his quirk that he could.
He wrote down everything he felt like was worth researching, and every option that felt clickable. After much time, and pen ink, he started clicking through various options on his menu, starting with his name. It didn't bring up a customize option but it did appear like he could switch out names. Unfortunately with no other names available he couldn't play around with it. Level and age brought up even less, it seems those were ones he couldn't actually change himself. Race, however, brought up the same kind of menu as Name. Once again he couldn't find a way to change it, but it did seem as if he could unlock options. Maybe it was like skins in video games? Food for thought later. Clicking on Title brought up a new menu, and this one with an actual tutorial screen to boot!
[This is your Title Screen! Throughout your life you will go by several Titles, friend, foe, lover wink wink, nudge nudge. The Gamer has graciously allowed you to use these titles for great boons! They can do anything from improving EXP gain, increased damage output against particular foes, or even give you a reputation boost to your faction! In order to gain the boost of a title it has to be equipped, so think carefully about which one would be the most advantageous! Or just remember the sweet sweet EXP boost!
You will encounter two types of Titles throughout your time with Gamer. The first is the kind Gamer gives you. These are easier to level as leveling them is as simple as having the Title equipped and using it. The harder to level are those that are given from others, those are dependent on the one who gave you the title, grow in their eyes and watch your title grow with you! Just don't forget to equip them!]
Izuku flipped to a new page in his notebook and started thinking of ways to earn titles. The teenager figured earning titles could pertain to anything and a quick search online told him that they were typically gained after spending time following a particular path. One gaming website outlined earning a title after successfully stealing three items without being caught, and another for saving twenty people from villains. Maybe he could earn one for being a hero?
Dismissing the tutorial screen he looked towards his title screen.
[ Equipped Title: Hero Fanatic (Lvl: Max)
Obtained Titles: Lvl Max
Hero Fanatic: Lvl Max
Due to your obsessive Hero watching you are now able to analyze Quirks, better than most Quirk Doctors! Gives access to the Active Skills [Quirk Analysis] and [Extra Pockets] and the passive skill [Hero Finder]! Gives a +5 to dexterity so you can write in your nerd books extra fast and neat! Gives a +10 to intelligence to remember all that nerd stuff. Gives a +5 to Wisdom to analyze quirks extra quick. Gives a -5 to Charisma due to the obsessiveness of your hobby and your creepy muttering. Gives a -5 to Luck, running into as many villain attacks as you have means you must have some awful luck.
Type: Gamer given]
Well that explains the boost to his mental stats, and the lower Luck and Charisma. Noting his thoughts about his only title he went back to reread the part about skills and seeing nothing that would help in obtaining a new title he figured he should see if 'passive skills' led anywhere.
"Open [Passive Skills]" Izuku exclaimed to an unresponsive ceiling and walls, and he was rewarded with another two screens. This time he realized he felt weirdly different. It took him a moment to actually piece together the reason for such an odd feeling, idly he noticed that the little aches and pains from his time working out had disappeared. Izuku looked down at his arm flexing a few times to test the feeling. Perhaps it was a newly revealed Passive? Looking back at the screen he read through the tutorial, taking his time to not miss anything vitally important.
[Welcome to your Passive Skill Screen! Much like active skills these are skills that will help you in and out of battle! Unlike active skills, these are always on! You could say you are passively getting the boosts at all times! Passive skills naturally level as they come into effect! Gain as many passives as possible to boost yourself to new heights!]
[Passive Skills:
Video Game Body: Lvl Max
Congrats you have the body of a video game character! Any damage you sustain goes to your health pool and does not appear on your body, falling to zero is death! Getting a full eight hours of rest restores your health, mana, and removes any debuffs!
Third Person Perspective: Lvl Max
Congrats you have the mind of a video game player! This gives immunity to any and all mental effects! Take care to remember this is still real life otherwise you might just find yourself worse off than if you did not possess it.
Hero Finder: Lvl 20 To next Lvl 100%
Due to your Hero obsession you feel a pull guiding you towards nearby heroes! Works on anyone with a heroic spirit! Even out of costume! Try to not be a stalker!
Range: 15 Meters
Heroic Spirit: Lvl 10 To next Lvl 100%
Unfortunately due to your heroic spirit you are drawn towards conflict and compelled to help those who require it regardless of difficulty! Hopefully you can survive!
Range: 20 Meters]
Izuku couldn't help but reread the [Heroic spirit] and [Third Person Perspective] passives. It was the first time his quirk had flat out warned him of the danger associated with using his quirk. Unfortunately since they were passives he couldn't help but use them. He shrugged, feeling remarkably calm about his new predicament. It was something outside of his control, and [Heroic Spirit] wasn't so bad as he wanted to be the Hero that will save everyone anyways.
Hearing the front door open again, he quickly closed his screens and shutdown his laptop. His mom was home and he was going to cook today, he didn't want to rely on his mom for everything. Opening his bedroom door he greeted his mom with a smile. To keep her safe he would understand his Quirk and level up as fast as possible, he needed to get stronger, he needed to protect his mom, he needed to grab his future with both hands and hold on as hard as possible.
Oh Izuku, you don't know the trouble that your passives will get you into soon enough. I really wanted to get to this chapter as it sets up several plotlines for down the road, and we finally get into a few changes I made to the usual Gamer powers. Besides the obvious name change it does a few things differently that will be revealed later.
ANd WhaT's THIS?! Gamer isn't his quirk? I wonder what exactly his Quirk is? ;) Don't worry readers, I don't have any plans to give him a super powered game breaking Quirk. Pun intended. You'll just have to wait and see what his Quirk ends up being! I planned something fun and a little hair pulling annoying for it!
Would you look at that, Itsuka gets introduced! I wonder exactly what this could mean for the plot? Find out soon!
Review, Favorite, and Follow please! I always accept constructive criticism!
Have a great day y'all!