I do not own either Read Dead Redemption nor My Hero Academia. I would say something witty yet alas I used up my arsenal in other story disclaimers. :(

Tarnished Silver

Chapter One

(Outside the simulation) Observation Room #3

"Hey guys, did the development team tweak with that game again?"

"You're going to have to be specific dumbass," a tired voice groaned out from the technician's side.

With a scowl the one who was addressed swiftly typed up the necessary commands on his keyboard to have the image of the test subject, one Izuku Midoriya, brought up to the largest communal screen the room had to offer as he seemingly conversed with a tuxedo clad gentleman within a void. "I mean I seen the others test this game out before we resorted to public testing, but I don't recall The Strange Man ever popping up at the very beginning."

"Which game is that?"

"Red Dead Redemption II."

"Huh."

"Let me check." The tech glanced over to his coworker at his other side and flashed her a smile as she got up to use the in network phone-line. In the meantime he turned back to the screen.

XVX

(Within the simulation)

Izuku stared at the man who was quietly observing him. While in his head, given the order of events that lead to this, labeled the man before him as an non player character, with the way his eyes silently twitched to and fro, the minute movements he was making as if subtly shifting himself to get a better look at Izuku without moving from his spot if Izuku wasn't simply seeing things, and the curl of the man's lip the green haired teen would almost be dead certain that this was indeed another person in this void with him. "Uh... Hello?" he offered with a nervous grin with a small wave of equal emotional worth.

"Good day to you young man," he promptly replied without missing a beat. "I suppose you're ready to start your 'adventure'?"

Izuku frowned softly in confusion. Cool as his face and tone was, he could've sworn he sensed... something there. Sadly for the life of him he couldn't make out what it was in the slightest. Even so he near hesitantly nodded with puckered lips.

"Very well then. Please, have a seat," the man said as he slowly swept an arm behind him.

Izuku made to comment that there was no furniture only to hold his tongue as he peeked past him out of curiosity the second he remembered that the man himself wasn't even standing there but a few minutes ago at best. Sure enough what looked to be an antique desk and a pair of chairs, one on opposite dies, had seemingly appeared out of thin air. Izuku stared on in amazement for a few seconds until he registered that the sharply dressed man simply strode over to the chair furthest from Izuku. By the time he sat himself in it Izuku had near hesitantly ran over to what was apparently his own chair, yet unlike the darkly dressed man he made no effort to immediately sit in it. Instead, as the npc took his time to open a drawer and retrieve what appeared to be documents, Izuku poked and prodded the wooden chair with the velvet seat and back cushions, silently amazed at the lush sensation of smooth and subtly grainy wood as well as the sleekness of the cushion's material. He wasn't sure how long he was inspecting the chair when a soft clearing of the throat caught his attention. When he looked up he found himself under the expectant gaze of the stranger before him. As such, with a nervous laugh and smile, Izuku planted himself in the very chair he was perusing with a soft "sorry".

After a near imperceptible nod of acknowledgment the man scooted a stack of papers toward the young man, as well as a pen much to the teenager's curiosity. As the boy took his time to glance at the pages in order to get an idea as to what the purpose was the otherwise silent man spoke up. "If you would be so kind as to humor me, what brings you here?"

Izuku looked up from what was apparently would be character sheets—ones not necessarily of actual characters but of preset backgrounds, roles, 'personal' histories, as well as various pros and cons associated with them. Already his mind was quietly alight if various responses as he considered how advance the AI was to this individual. Would it comprehend the outside world? Given the void he was in, plus the character sheets he was given, it stood to reason this npc was 'in the know' as it were... he suppose if nothing else the researchers would like the data in any event: he was here to test the game's functions after all. "Uh, well..." For a moment the teenager ground his teeth to bite down on his nervousness of the moment. "Basically the holidays are coming up and my mother's been kind of stressed lately." He then nervously laughed once more as he looked down toward the area between the desk and the papers within his clutches as his smile became more strained. "I thought, maybe, I'd help her out by scraping up enough money by doing a series of beta tests to rent a of room at this resort we usually go to when we get the chance."

"An act of familial piety, to care for one's family. Quite admirable of you young man."

"Uh, I, uh... T-thank you," Izuku murmured with an honest, if embarrassed, grin.

"Now, if you don't me asking, was that your entire sense of reasoning? Were you craving adventure as well? Excitement? To enact deeds you would otherwise be reprimanded for?"

Izuku blinked as he frowned. There was that odd tone again where despite his seeming neutrality it was as if there was something else under that tone. "Not really... we basically drew lots. I ended up with this game and kind of got curious..."

"I see." With a nod the man actually seemed to relax a little...

XVX

(Outside the simulation) Observation Room #3

"Okay, I'll go so far as to say something's a little odd here."

"Ria, anything?"

"No. They're not picking up any of the lines," the woman sighed. "I'm going to go over their heads," she practically murmured as she dialed in yet another new number.

XVX

(Inside the simulation)

"If I can make a suggestion young man?"

"Y-yes?"

The npc hefted himself up from his chair and sauntered around the desk till he was within reach of the young man. He then leaned over and briefly leafed through the papers within Izuku's grasp before seemingly finding what he was looking for. Soon enough he pulled one particular sheet out just enough to effectively stand out amongst the others. "I do believe you might find this to be more... palatable than the others as far as starts go."

Of the classes, or rather roles, he had read so far there was the Gunslinger, which offered a 20% reduction of weapon degradation as well as a 10% increase in Dead Eye Reserves. Its offered backgrounds, subcategories for the role, included Drifter, which enabled heightened the gunslinger's Dead Eye Pool by an additional 30% at the cost of the increased awareness of one's self by law enforcement. Enforcer, an increase of ammo reserves by an additional 10% yet apparently the as yet defined Dead Eye's pool suffered a 5% reduction from the original increase. Outlaw offered the reduced ability to be detected by law enforcement, yet had the combined misfortune of apparently the increased likelihood of not only being challenged to duels but unable to refuse them.

Hunter, another one he was eyeing, came with scent reduction and the apparent ability to track people as well as animals. Like the Gunslinger it too had backgrounds: Trapper: the ability to lay traps on bait yet evidently the quality of pelts from animals suffers for it. Explorer: increased storage at the cost of 10% reduction of ammo. Collector rendered the increased chance of finding high quality ammo and additional items from looting bodies as well as searching crates, plus the increased chances of detecting places of interest only for the trade off being an equally increased likelihood of being ambushed by other collectors.

Rancher, the one Izuku was personally leaning towards at the time, enabled him to apparently collect greater yields from hunting and gathering supplies. Ranch Hand: stamina drained 15% slower only to be offset by 5% increased for weapon deterioration. Entrepreneur: items sold by the player would be sold at a 10% mark up in their favor whereas items sold to them were sold at for less at an equal amount, but Dead Eye suffered for it by 10%. Cattleman: his horse's stamina drained at a reduced rate of 10% plus a faster bonding rate, the trade off apparently the increased chances of being ambushed during animal related tasks.

There were other careers of course, such as Accountant and Trader, Bounty Hunter, Moonshiner, even Assassin, with their own little quirks. The one commonality throughout them all that left him scratching his head however was the apparent mandatory requirement which each one needed a 'personal' history such as "a bank job gone south" or "left destitute", or "blamed for another's death" just to name a few... the career which the strange man pointed out however, Immigrant, lacked such a apparent necessity. It even lacked bonuses and deterrents of any kind. It was effectively a blank slate that could not be modified in the slightest beyond what seemed like a starting point, which was interesting in itself since the others seemed to lack this particular function. Sadly however it seemed that there no descriptors of any sort toward the list of places he could end up in: Gotham, Lost Point, Black Water, Iron Hill, Stillwater, Kamino... Complete and utter guesswork.

He glanced up to the npc as he considered the man's advice. "If you don't mind me asking, what do you mean by "more palatable"?"

"What indeed," the man hummed as he brought his hands behind his back and sauntered his way back to his own chair. Izuku, stymied by the non-answer, chewed his lip in thought as he considered his options... or rather what he wasn't being told. Was it possible that each career had its own origin story? He could name a few games, both single player and multiplayer, where generating the player character offered different introductions into the setting depending on the choices; he particularly couldn't say he liked having his own character's wedding crashed by a noble and his goons who kidnapped the bride nor of having another character's entire family being slaughtered by a friend of the family. Was a similar scheme in play? Would the Drifter be dragged into a trial for his life against his will in the opening chapter? Would the Rancher be forced to abandoned what Izuku could only assume to be his (Izuku's) homestead to bandits or corrupt officials?

He spared the other character sheets another glance in hopes of possibly discerning their potential fates in the first chapter of their lives should he use them: the Accountant—dealing with corrupt bureaucracy perhaps? Would he be the perpetrator or the victim if such was the case? Traveling Performer—a trick gone wrong? Or like one of the 'personal' histories suggested, accused of another's misdeeds? Assassin—... actually it seemed rather straight forward that the 'job' they were on was either an attempt to kill the character or at least be botched and he would have to go on the run if the history of comic books and movies helped Izuku learned anything. The immigrant though? There was nothing to remotely hint at his fate. If nothing else he, the Immigrant, was a neutral slate... one that would be ideal to test the limits of the game. With a final flick of his eyes toward the npc Izuku tapped at the first city on the list for lack of a better option before separating the Immigrant sheet from the rest and handing it to the overall quiet man before him who had long since taken to his seat once more.

"Very good," the man said as he took the sheet, reached into a desk drawer and promptly retrieved a stamp which he then diligently thumped against the paper. He then folded it, got up and placed the item within the interior of his coat before getting up. "Now, if you will so kind as to follow me."

As the man began to walk away Izuku got up to follow him. Yet despite his recent experiences however he was surprised when a door seemingly appeared out of nowhere when he wasn't looking, which the npc was directly heading towards. Unlike before Izuku didn't lag behind for long. He dashed his way to the door and came to it in time for the npc's languid stroll to end within arm's reach. He spared the young teen a glance before reaching out and grabbing the door's handle. He then once again looked over to Izuku as he began to open the door at a sedate pace. "I am certainly curious, young man, as to how you'll meet the challenges up ahead."

The door way revealed a proper world, albeit limited to what the teen could see through the doorway. From what he could see was a railing like one would find on a ship, bolted to as metal floor. Beyond that was an overcast sky hanging above the gently lapping waves of the ocean. Sparing another glance to the strange man, Izuku took a small, deep breath and made his way through the door. As he crossed the threshold however he felt something... not quite crawl, but there was unusual movement nevertheless that drew his attention toward his own body. In quiet amazement he found his clothes changing to a well used shirt and canvas pants.

"Perhaps we'll meet again before this is all over. Good luck with your trial, Izuku Midoriya."

"What?"

XVX

(Outside the simulation) Observation Room #3

Had the original engineer not spoken up earlier the fact that an npc spoken a tester's name without said tester introducing himself would've likely have gone unnoticed as various other observers started to notice various proverbial red flags in other games they were suppose to monitor... As it sootd right now calls were being made for the rooms where the testers were residing for confirmation on various subjects. Names for example as to whether they were implemented or not at the start of the session. Some were. Others given. For better or worse Izuku's name, as his primary observer found out, was added into the game as per procedure in regards to the RDR testing protocal to help facilitate the immersive experience.

XVX

(Inside the simulation)

The boy turned just in time to see the door softly close in his face. Perplexed and bewildered, Izuku attempted to open the door to no avail. After a few minutes he gave up and was forced to follow what was readily made apparent to be part of a ship's deck to what he could only hope was the front, the bow.

Thankfully it was.

"Whoa..."

There, before the ship at the harbor it was evidently docked at, detailed in all its glory was a city. Victorian in design, majestic... and even from a distance looking a tad grimy. Still though, Izuku couldn't help but gape at the scene as he felt the wind gently buffet the side of his face, swaying his hair in the meantime. Amazed even further, Izuku took his time in making his way to the ramp as he outstretched his hand to glance it along a crate along the way; much like the chair he could feel the roughly weathered wood grind against his fingers, as well as the gently sharp nip of cold when his fingers loosely brushed against a set of nails whose heads were sticking out of the wood. As he passed by a lone sailor mopping the deck he let loose a nervous greeting in his passing. The man, an npc so life-like much like the man in the tuxedo he was conversing with, rose his head up to acknowledge the teenager with a grunt before dipping it back down to his work.

Blinking, curious, he swiveled his head toward the pier the ship was docked at for another look at his surroundings. There were other ships of course, of various makes and models that Izuku could not place—all he knew was that they were built long before the era of quirks, docked at various piers much like the one he was standing on. And there dominating the entire side of the wharf they were docked at was a single two story building seemingly walling off the wharf from the rest of world; multipurpose for what it's worth, save for the middle section it seemed most of the 'wall' served as warehouses where people were milling to and from.

Seeing nothing better to do Izuku began his trek to what he could only assume to be an immigration office, briefly wondering all the while as to whether or not he needed documentation or not... As he parted further and further from the boat he noticed something beginning to change within his vision. The further he began to stray from the ship by virtue of slowly pacing down the ramp connecting the ship to the pier a circle began to fade into existence within the corner of his line of sight. With each step it gradually became clearer and more defined until it was revealed to be what he began to expect: a minimap. One which immediately outlined his current surroundings, plus a dot with a stylish I seemingly confirming exactly where he was to go—the multipurpose building... His first mission? He would have to find out at any rate.

XVX

"Papers please..."

Between the stranger and the sailor, plus a few npcs encountered along the way, Izuku wasn't surprised per se... or rather he shouldn't have been. Aside from the stranger the npcs he had mildly experimented with thus far in attempting to engage in a conversation were... limited. Varied but limited thus far to the point where it boiled down to greet-npc acknowledgement/greeting/sneer. Followed by attempt to engage a topic-npc acknowledgement/sneer/apathetic response until it ultimately ended up with him being ignored regardless of the words used thus far. Very few npcs seemed to have acknowledged him either by glancing to his or else speaking up in some form of greeting, though to be fair most of them were busy with some sort of task... regardless, though varied dependant on the character in question they once again could be shuffled into variations of the same archetype based intent. As such this was the most unique one he had since his encounter with the sharp dressed man as made evident with the bored glare boring into him from behind a bared window with but a slot leading into his apparent office...

Regardless, before he could reply a line of text ghosted into existence at the bottom of his line of sight: "Retrieve your immigration papers from your satchel." With a blink of confusion Izuku looked down and to his side at the aforementioned item, noticed prior during his walk and experimentation, opened it and reached into it. Not even a second later the world grayed like an ancient black and white photo as a menu of sorts erupted into his gaze. Upon a black field peppered with grayed blocks sat only one item symbolized as two sheets of paper stacked together, the top one tilted to show the one underneath it. Seeing as he had no other choice his eye flicked over it, seemingly highlighting it and, on a hunch, clenched his fist like he was grabbing something. Sure enough the menu closed and upon pulling his hand free he had the requested item within his grasp. Soon enough said item was handed to the clerk who, despite his bored appearance, seemingly sneered at either him or the paperwork as it was handed to him... and unfortunately Izuku got the distinct impression it was aimed more at him than anything.

The paperwork wasn't quite snatched out of the teenager's hands but there was a definite sharp jerk. The man gave the documentation a once over before grumbling as he set it down on his desk and resigned himself to stamping it with a seal of approval before handing it back to the green haired teen. "There. Do me and everyone else a favor though and not muck up either our city or country like the rest of your kind."

Izuku gawked at the man as he unrepentantly glared back and made a shooing motion. "Go on! I have better things to do than be stared at by some foreign hick polluting my air!"

Izuku worked his jaw but could not for the life of him could not think of a response as he did what he was told; so stunned was he that he practically didn't note the fact he was making his way out the building to the other side, into the city proper until he came to a dazed stop upon the side walk. It was several minutes before he finally gathered himself and began to observe the city, albeit while still frazzled from before...

Cobblestone streets, older architecture, definitely not Japan despite seeing some of the towers earlier... Americans garbed in more antiquated clothing... Victorian? No. Similar though. It was definitely not a style worn by modern day standards as best showcased by Miss Justice in America; despite her quirk to phase through solid objects she kept tripping over her own dress till she switched over to a style more reminiscent to a horse jockey 'back in the day' or so he read...

... it was then he belatedly realized that thus far his interactions thus far had solely been in English, with him speaking Japanese so far. It was interesting to say the least. It was also enough to at least encourage a small awkward chuckle from his lips which helped relaxed him if only a little; all those years of teaching himself English to follow All Might's exploits in America as recorded by them had seemingly paid off. He simply hoped he could speak it well enough.

It certainly wouldn't hurt to try as he tried to figure out... what... to... do...

"Search for a place to live."

Like the minimap a line of text had ghosted into existence in his field of vision. Whereas the map took up the lower right corner, the 'mission statement' sat on the bottom of his line of sight. Speaking of the minimap it seemed certain sections have been highlighted.

... now that he thought about it, did he have a map?

Acting on that thought he checked his satchel...

There wasn't any.

After a bit of thought and recalling his past experience of videogames he acting on a new thought. "Map!"

Alas, no map. Either to encompass his field of vision or after checking his satchel again and saying "map" once more there was no map to be had. With a sigh of defeat he resigned himself to not only heading to the first highlighted area but to practice his English along the way, with a mild experiment or two along the way.

"Uh, kon'nichiwa!" he offered to a passing npc woman. White. Upper class given how pristine her clothing was. A sneer appeared on her disgruntled face. "They let more in? What is happening to our country?"

As she waltz off Izuku uncomfortably scratched his cheek as he departed in thankfully the opposite direction... Sadly he wasn't spoiled for choice as far as trials were concerned. "Hello?"

"The poor house is at the other side of town."

... it was going to be a long walk if he chose to partake in this brand of experimentation... alas, twisted yet reluctant curiosity drove him to try again—

"Foreigners... no sense of manners."

—and again—

"I already have enough servants, thank you."

—and again.

"You speak English? There's some hope in the world after all!"

... the worst part was that one seemed outright genuinely hopeful to Izuku's ears... it was going to be a loooooooonnnnggg walk.

XVX

... it was a long walk indeed.

First area encased in a gently highlighted glow on the map was fairly close... sort of. He ended up having to take a few detours to avoid what seemed like an openly hostile gang lurking on one street corner, and to avoid likewise ornery police officers who at best ignored him even when greeted as politely as possible. In the end though it was for not—he wasn't even permitted entry at the hotel door.

One by one he pursued the other highlighted sections which led to other inns, places of rent and tenements the further he got from 'The Wall' as he was internally dubbing it. For better or worse however he was turned away from each of them for varying reasons, though thankfully more kinder and reasonable with each successive failure.

"Sorry but we're full up. Worse, with the way this city's been going to hell you might have to end up sleeping in the streets with every other wretch who came here looking for work."

Case and point which earned a defeated sigh. "T-thanks..." he let out as he began to trudge away to what seemed like the final area to search in.

"Word of advice though." Curious, Izuku stopped so he could offer the man his perplexed attention. "If you really want to earn some coin? Leave. Get out of the city, get a job in a mine, work camp, hell, become a trapper. This city is starting to rot from the inside out between the gangs and the so called 'lawmen'." The graying haired man sighed as he picked up the crate he was hauling when Izuku arrived at his establishment. "Your choice in the end though," he muttered as he shuffled off as if he already resigned himself for the worst case scenario.

Izuku's lips quirked into a concerned frown before he let loose an awkward "thank you" which was ultimately ignored, though whether it was by personal choice or by scripted command Izuku wasn't able to tell. Still, to finish his objective he turned in the direction. It wasn't far, thankfully. Just a quick stroll down the street, passing all the ominous alleyways to the other tenement to—

"Fuera del camino!"

"OOF!"

Out from an alley he was passing by a pair of tanned men barged forth with their arms laden with purses, boxes and all manner of odds and ends that could be fit in such haste. From the darkness offered by the setting sun what sounded like whistles were being blown in the company of stomping feet. Regardless, with their sudden appearance one of the men checked the teenager, sending both crashing into the ground with the adult accidentally scattering his cargo as a result. With a snarl the man began to scoop up what he could as the whistles, stomping feet and shouts grew louder by the second before bolting off after his partner whom hadn't slowed in the slightest. As such he left the dazed teenager on the ground amongst a collection of purses, spilt jewelry and other ill gotten gains just several policemen burst forth from the shadowed alley, most of whom already pursuing the two men from before... yet by the time Izuku collected himself to at least push himself into a halfway sitting position he unwittingly met the glares of no less than three policemen looking down at him, one of whom was rhythmically tapping his baton in his hand.

... another one though had fished out a pair of handcuffs.

"You're under arrest for larceny, boy."

"Wait—what?"

That was all the excuse they needed to tackle his already prone form to the ground... between his lack of defense and their full grown stature, he didn't stand a chance.

A/N: I had admittedly wanted this to go on for longer, yet for some reason I could not seem to console the extension's scenes in my head with what was written here. Then again I still haven't read/watch MHA thus I may be subconsciously hedging it a little. I wouldn't put it past me...

As for those wondering how this and the following chapter would be "more palatable" than the other options Izuku had at the start, suffice it to say in my own little head cannon that it's the Strange Man's way of saying this route was basically less personal than the other routes. At least in comparison.

To give an example, take the Rancher option: for all intents and purposes a rancher wouldn't have much reason to interact with the Van der Linde gang barring some form of desperation be it financial (as in taking Straust's loan) and somehow convincing them to act as muscle against a perceived enemy (while personally I doubt it, it is however possible given that in the game Dutch had tried to work both sides of a family feud by indeed acting as hired goons in an effort to rob both families of their supposed hidden fortunes). They, the rancher, certainly wouldn't have much reason to be involved with any gang if they were part of a family, or at least were in good company, especially for all intents and purposes things are going well (At least in theory. While it would work with Izuku, let's face it, no one reacts to the same scenario the same way). But ultimately this pastoral bliss comes to a fiery and bloody end when a gang (say the O'Driscolls) comes a callin'... In the end the player would've been forced to flee and would've eventually run into the Van der Linde gang where they would eventually be taken in as one of their own.

Granted not exactly a great summery but that would be the gist of Izuku would've been put through if he gone through it. Even so all the Roles, classes, would've had a similar bent: Gunslinger—accused of murder regardless if they did it or not and thus on the run. Accountant: framed for embezzlement. Moonshiner: forced out of business by a rival. The assassin would be sold out by their employer, and so on and so forth with every other class. Basically all roads to elsewhere were burned down till only Rome's remained. Admittedly I took inspiration from Dragon Age Origins for this...

As for "personal histories", they just enabled unique encounters that added a little extra flavor to the game such as a onetime duel with the brother/sister of someone the player at least allegedly killed 'prior' (whether they are 'actually' responsible is a matter of choice) to the events of the game. Or more unique dialogue options from random npcs, an extra side mission, etcetera-etcetera.

With that said I hope you enjoyed this chapter (despite trying to match the undertones of the game's time period setting). Happy holidays and happy new year!

Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention. No refunds.