The grappler
ForewordWell, if you're reading this, it means that somehow I have died. It doesn't matter how, nor do I care now as I am dead. You must be wondering what this book is about. Well, it's simple. I feel that a story needed to be told. One, not about me really but of those that were closest to me and how they fulfilled their dreams against all odds. However, I do have two questions for you before you continue reading. They may seem simple to answer, and in a way, they are, but when is life ever that simple? I spent most of my life searching for the answers to these two questions.
When does a man die? And When is he truly free?
—-
Chapter 1The day that changed my life forever started off like any other day. I woke up and then proceeded to go back to sleep, or at least I tried to, however, my little sister put a quick end to that wish as from the door I heard:
"WAKE UP, YOU FAT SLUG! YOUR BREAKFAST IS GETTING COLD," followed by the sound of hurried steps of her going back down to start breakfast, as my mom likely got her to wake me up first so we could eat together.
"URGGH", I intelligently replied
So I got up … slowly. I am a lazy bastard. Sue me. Anyway, after faffing about trying to get dressed in my normal homeware of boxers and a singlet, which didn't even cover all of my gut, I walked down the stairs and had family breakfast. It was normal and boring, as usual, with mom trying to start conversations, dad reading the newspaper and my little sister doing her best impersonation of a black hole. I ate quietly while I surfed the net on my phone, too busy to notice the disappointed looks from my family. Or, maybe I just didn't care enough to look, maybe both. Well, sadly, you don't know what you have until you lose it.
After I finished first eating 3 whole plates of breakfast, I went back upstairs to chill out and game before I had to leave for school. At the time, school seemed like it was just a waste of time. I got perfect scores on all the tests, so what if I didn't listen to the teacher? It's not like they care at all Just because someone put cameras in the girl's locker rooms, and they think it was me, which it wasn't, for the record. Why go through the effort when I've got all the 2d girls I could ever want. But I am an easy target to pin the blame on. It's not like it's hard to find out who really did it,not like that matters to them.
Evideently Ii had to leave by myself as my sister has early clubs she attends so, she had dad drop her off but Ii didn't have that privilege. Ii needed to hurry or I would miss the bus which would just be the bad start I needed right now.
At this point of my mooding, I was walking down the street looking at my phone, which is just as good as a constant of the universe. Ilogged into my discord account Captain_Lolz. After checking on the many servers I am on, I came across some interesting posts. It seemed like the guys finished while I was asleep. That's a shame. It may help if i explain what i am referring to, right? Late last night a new chapter of one of my favourite one-piece fanfics got updated and within it was a puzzle for the main character. However, a group of guys on the fic's discord thought we would give it a crack. I guess we cracked it and now we were celebrating.
-RookVibadag- That was an awesome collaboration
-NolanR- That last part had my mind spinning. We solved it though!
-Vroxic- Yeah we're kinda stretched out mentally ngl
-MrBallin- The World Government's going to be on our asses if we ever get hit by truck-kun lol.
-Captain_Lolz- That'd be the least of our worries if we were in One Piece.
-Vroxic- We'd have cheats ofc, a gamer system
-Jon Reeve- dude, our bounties would be insane
-RookVibadag- Who said we'd be pirates?
-Vroxic- We'd all have our own perks
-Captain_Lolz- dont worry, we'd have extra lives, gamer and all that
-NolanR- I call dibs on hancock, although she'd be on calm belt
-Jon Reeve- shiet, all the girls are hot though. i call momo's sister in wano
-Jon Reeve- I gotta go to wano to get mah waifu
-MrBallin- How are you even going to get there lmaoo
-NolanR- No idea lol.
-RookVibadag- Just gotta swim through the calm belt. Get grinding, doesn't your waifu deserve the work? XD
-Vroxic- We wouldn't go on an adventure together though, that'd be boring
-MrBallin- Lol, I'm fighting Garp style.
-Jon Reeve- i'd be the kicks guy
-Captain_Lolz- I'd be the badass guy who takes no shit and gets all the waifus
-NolanR- I wouldn't eat a devil fruit, I'd be the charming Rogue
-Vroxic- I'd be a marksman
-NolanR- alright i'm gonna crash now, see ya
-Jon Reeve- I'd be a carpenter
-Captain_Lolz- #NoDFforlife
-NolanR- We all know just want to be a rip off baki
-MrBallin- The stat system should be simple.
-Vroxic- I have an idea, 5 base stats….
That bastard Nolan! So what if it's true, don't have to call me a rip off. I am original … anyway it was at that point when I heard a shout I looked left and saw a truck barreling down the road with the driver half outside the window.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY, I CAN'T STOP!", he shouted while waving his hands about, which really wasn't helpful right now.
For some reason, I looked to the right and saw my childhood friend walking across the street with her kid brother, ready for preschool. It seemed like with her ear pods in she couldn't hear anything. We haven't talked in ages and at the rate the truck was going, we wouldn't ever again. However, it was at that moment that something jump-started in my heart. It felt like there was lava in my veins as it spread to my legs as they burned and it was only then did I realize that I was running towards them. I don't know why I was running - it's not like I would make it. I didn't know why I was bothering to even attempt such a foolish action, but I was. As I got closer to the two of them, the truck was almost upon them. I knocked them out of the way and that's all I remembered of my life before it was changed forever.
—-
My first thought when I woke up was: Did I wet the bed again? For the record, It's perfectly normal for kids at my age to do that. Anyway, that was not the case. When I looked down to where my covers would be, ready to feel shame, instead, I found myself on a beach on the edge of the surf, soaking wet. That's weird, it's not normal to wake up in the surf. Anyway, quickly realizing that I should stop laying in the surf, I got up. As I did that, I realized that I was still wearing my school uniform that I had put on this morning, but nothing else; no phone, no bag, nothing.
At that moment, many thoughts raced through my head. Where am I? How did I end up here? Am I dead? Is this heaven? If so, this sucks! The whirlwind of such thoughts continued for who knows how long ended. when I spotted a hovel down the coast. It seemed like it was a fair walk away. Realizing that I had nothing better to do, I set off walking towards the only sign of human civilization. As I walked, I had to admit, when I finally took in the sights of this beach, and not thinking of whether I was in hell or heaven, that this place was beautiful. The sand was silky soft, the water so crystal clear it nearly looked unnatural, only one or two small clouds in the sky that didn't block the powerful sun from beaming down, there was a lush tree line that marked the boundary between the beach and beyond , even with its own pack of growling hungry looking wolfs
*SKILL: OBSERVE UNLOCKED*
Name: Tequila wolf
Lv: 3
Description: The Tequila wolf is native to Wolf Island, it managers to stand out from the rest of the native wolf species due to its weird gait and facial expressions which are said to be like that of a drunkard coming home from the bar late at night. , you would be advised not to think this makes them an easy foe, as this unpredictability allows them to take out even veteran soldiers should they let their guard down. They have been known to raid towns with the aim to raid their food stores and their bars for alcohol. It's not commonly known why they target the alcohol stores.
They have been known to grow to lengths of about 6 to 7 feet and heights of 3 feet. They are natural fighters; the system advises you to run or you will be killed.
Stats:
Health: ?
Brawn: ?
Vitality: ?
Dexterity: ?
Intellect: ?
Wisdom: ?
Charm: ?
Oh, is that a group of crabs dancing cool….. It's sad how long it took for me to realize what my eyes saw, but to double check, I looked back over my left shoulder. Yep, my eyes didn't lie to me there were three wolfs, specifically three tequila wolfs, based on the glowing text above each of their heads which brought its whole new set of questions however they didn't look like they would wait much longer, so I did what any man in my place would do.
"HELP, PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP ME OH LORD, I AM GOING TO DIE A VIRGIN!" I calmly yelled as I gracefully started running like my life depended on it, as at that moment it probably did.
"COME TO ME, BOY!" Out of nowhere I hear what must be the voice of an angel sent to save me, I look around as I am sprinting. I found where the voice was coming from up ahead was the angel in question waving his arms about to get my attention. While he didn't have any white feathery wings or a halo that didn't matter to me. As I got closer and closer I was able to see what looked like a gun of some kind in his hands. Thinking I am saved I try to put all I got into making it to the angel and the hovel he is in front of, however, I trip over at the worst possible time.
-5hp
Ouch, I think I twisted my ankle. It's the first time I ever did that. Well, there is a first time for everything, but this was the worst time for it to happen.
"WOOF WOOF" comes from much closer to me as I turn around and not ten meters behind me are the three wolves that would love to have me as their dinner. Thankfully for me, it was also the time I heard a loud bang and near instantly I saw a splash of sand right next to the lead wolf spray up into its face. Itshocked the wolf into stopping, two more shots got the others to stop too, and from behind me, I heald a deep voice full of conviction.
"Back off, you pesky mutts, before I put one between your eyes!" that threat somehow worked as they, after going still, started to back off and turn around to run away.
I fell onto my back, exhausted, as that was the fastest I had run in a long time and running in a school uniform while under a clear sky on a beach is not advisable.
It was finally now that i could actually get a good look at the one who saved me, and he wasn't what i expected; his face was all wrinkly like a dried-out raisin left in the sun too long he had a slight hunch that most elderly have along with some thick glasses and baggy clothes. He also carried the tool he used to save my life, a rife on closer inspection. However, it looked like a flintlock, which didn't make sense given the number of shots he fired.
"Thank you, sure you saved my life is the-" I started thanking him until he interrupted me by saying.
"Contentment is the greatest wealth," he said as he shook his head slowly.
"I saved you as that was the right thing to do, anyway I think it's best if we get you inside and see to that ankle", he continued as he went to help me up.
"Oh, I don't want to bother you, sir, I can get up myself see" as I got up, showing him I was fine … Wait, didn't I just have a sprained ankle, how can it not hurt? As I focused on my ankle, a pop-up appeared in my vision over my ankle.
PERK: GAMER BODY
This skill grants the body immunity from injuries as if the user was a game character.
Limited time: 23:45 left.
It was at that moment I realized I was living out one of my dreams as a real-life gamer character.