1 damage dealt, 1 durability lost.
1 damage dealt, 1 durability lost.
I hammered at the pipe with the toilet seat, my muscles burning. I could smell the rotten egg smell of the sulfur in the water. A bit of the rusty metal gave away with each hit, but it wasn't enough.. I could probably get some of those shards of glass, but I didn't want to use up my scarce resources. I wondered…
I took a few steps back, breathed in deep. This pipe was standing between me and freedom. It was looking at me smugly like an asshole, telling me that I would only me let free if I mutilated myself. This pipe had dragged me to this world, and not a nicer world like Naruto or Harry Potter. This pipe was the enemy. I stepped into the wall, putting all my weight into a harder hit.
The rust cracked under my weight and strength, sending a cloud of rust shards through the room. I coughed and wheezed. I rubbed my eyes, trying to clear it away, keeping my mouth closed.
Power attack perk gained through spontaneous action.
Power attack. The will to destroy. Focus your will and hate and unleash it against a target in range. Does double damage at the cost of 5 stamina, and causes a critical hit if focused on a weak point.
Critical hit! 10 damage.
1 strength gained from powerful action (suspended till rest and food).
I tore off my shirt, dunked it in the water, and held it to my mouth and breathed. Clean air. Cleanish. Better than toilet dust air. I looked around.
Several shards of wall porcelain had flown out. A few had hit my hand, causing minor bleeds, and one had even hit Jigsaw.
Oh yeah, I don't think I considered that much yet. So, a 'corpse' was lying in the middle of the toilet with a gun in hand. This was Jigsaw. The guy who had put us in here. He was here to watch, because this serial killer was creepy like that. A bald man in a bloody white shirt, so we thought, but actually a killer.
I glanced at him and winced.
Unknown man.
Dead
Level 5
0/250 HP
?
The shard was sticking into his arm, and-
Arm of unknown man. Durability 9.9/10. 1 damage.
Of course, the game had individual stats for each body part. I looked at myself. I had similarly lost 0.1 health for each of the three shards that had gotten past my clothing. So, he took the same damage as me? Despite being a high level boss? Could I disable his limbs and then cut away at his health over time?
Thoughts thoughts. If I attacked him he might wake up with supreme powers and own me.
Gordan had copied me, and made a makeshift mask with his clothing- from the looks of it, before I had gone in. He could work out my actions. He was smart.
"Tell me next time you do that." He said, his voice crisp and calm.
I nodded. "I think it's almost broken. I could use the hacksaws to finish it, but they would probably snap. They're flimsy looking."
"It might be better to leave them in if they got too deep. They could nick an artery. If you're not bleeding to death now, you're fine."
I shook my head. "If I had an easy life, sure. I doubt it'll be the last bit of exercise I do in this hellhole."
I summoned my stat screen, and looked at the stamina bar. A new piece of info appeared.
Regeneration. 1 stamina per minute.
So, I would be back at full in ten minutes. That would work. I turned back to the pipe, the cracked toilet seat in my hands, and opened my mouth to warn Gordan.
Then I closed it.
I might have a unique chance here. Whilst I was tied up I might be able to grind dexterity by using a hook to grab the gun and the tape recorder. I wasn't sure if we should play the tape recorder since it was made by a creepy psycho to manipulate us, but I could at least get some stat points for then.
I looked around, taking off my shirt and then trousers.
"What are you doing?"
I glanced at Gordan. "I'm gonna get the gun. If it's fully loaded then maybe I can shoot my way out."
I looked around for something else to help me- lots of pipes, toilets, shards of glass, the bathtub-
New skill gained! Scavenge. The will to find and exploit the world for your own benefit. Level 1. 1% chance of a common property on a scavenged item, and a better chance of finding useful items.
I felt my senses sharpen as I was able to better examine each part of the room for useful items. And there it was. The bathtub plug.
I yanked it out and tied it onto the end of my shirt.
It took me more tries than in the film. I got the cassette player easily, but hooking the gun proved unfeasible.
"Can I help?"
I looked at Gordan.
"Yeah. Can you hook it to you? I don't mean to hog the gun, just, it's useful."
He looked around, and shook his head. "No.. but I can shove it to you."
With some work Gordan yanked out the toilet next to him, and tossed it at the gun.
It knocked Jigsaw's hand away, and the gun slid across the room, closer to me.
I managed to get it then.
For finding two key items with your dexterous action (Gun, tape recorder) you've gained 2 dexterity (suspended until you get rest and sleep.)
The messages were a bit different every time. Was my omnipotent overlord writing each from above?
Asshole.
I opened the gun, checking for bullets. There weren't any.
Intelligence check failed. 11/20.
Well, that was a mystery. Maybe I should smash the gun like I did the mirror? Did it have a secret compartment? I inspected it.
Revolver. Unused. 20/20 durability, 5 armor. Made of good steel. +2 damage.
"No luck." I called out to him.
5 armor. Could I bash it against anything and it would be unbreakable? I did not know. Something for later. I wasn't willing to risk it till we got the bullet. I remembered it was somewhere.
Was it just a generic revolver? I guess I didn't really know guns well enough to identify a specific model. You pointed them and shot things? They worked with explosives? You shouldn't point them at people you liked.
Whilst I waited for my stamina to refill, I checked my menu again to work out what skills were.
Skills. Your will to master the world. Gained through action, these allow you to more easily accomplish basic tasks.
Perks. Your mastery of some aspect of the world. Guarantees success in certain tasks against any person or object of a lower rank, and grants new options. Can be a branch of a skill, or an evolution of one. Ranks apprentice, advanced apprentice, journeyman, master, grandmaster.
And one of my skills explained my advanced photography perk.
Skill. Observation. Your will to perceive and understand the world. Grants knowledge of the world around you. Current rank, advanced apprentice. Level 6. 6% chance of finding a journeyman quality photograph.
I also found in my perk area how to earn more points
Quests.
The hunted becomes the hunted! 1 perk point for each canon Saw character you catch in a trap. Extra points for irony.
Escape The Room. 100 perk points. Escape the room, unharmed.
Altruistic escape artist. 100 perk points. Escape the room with Gordan alive and unharmed.
Disc one final boss. Kill Jigsaw. 1000 perk points.
The last one sorely tempted me, but I resisted the urge. My wisdom was screaming warning signs at me. Amanda was probably watching, and I didn't trust Jigsaw to obey the laws of biology and stay down, even with whatever drugs he had used to fake being dead.
I flicked at one of the shards of toilet wall in my hand. A little blood dripped down. It hurt, but I had a high pain tolerance. I would endure this agony to escape. I got my top back on and wrapped my shirt around my hands, so that I wouldn't get sliced again.
With my Stamina at full and so not leaving me helpless I warned Gordan, angled my body to minimize the blowback, and charged in again, focusing all my hate, pain, and anger at the fucking leg slicing pipe.
Critical hit! 10 damage.
I quickly shielded myself from the inevitable smoke cloud, and waited it out. My makeshift shield didn't do much, and I got a full lungful of gases. I felt woozy.
I was free. I yanked my handcuff off the broken pipe, and walked over to my companion.
"Can you get me out now?" asked Gordan.
I nodded. "Soon. I'm gonna loot the room. We need supplies. First though- I held up my blood soaked hand.
He nodded. "Come here." He waved his hand at me, gesturing for me to come closer.
Luckily, none of the shards were near arteries or veins. He was able to-
"Owww." I said, as he yanked out a shard.
"You smash a pipe in with a toilet bowl, and this is what makes you hurt?"
"Yes." I nodded. "Be gentle. These hands have loved many women, and I hope to love many more in the future with them. The pain is a signal of what to- Fuck. Shit. Fucking shit." I swore, as he failed to respect my lady killer hands and yanked out another shard.
I blinked. That was a weird thing for me to say. I shook my head and focused again.
"What about you. You got anyone special?" I asked. I was avoiding going too much into his backstory, but it was good to bond.
"A wife, kids." He said without much passion.
"Ew, marriage. Not got a mistress on the side, eh?"
Wisdom check failed. 3/5
That was low.
He looked at me curiously, and dug the shard a little deeper in.
"No. Sorry." He said, not sounding sorry about digging it in.
"Hey man. Bros before hoes. Buuuut but but but, I won't pry." Why was I prying? He had a mistress or something which is part of why Jigsaw captured him, to protect the sanctity of marriage.
He nodded and drew out the shard.
For observing a master level doctor performing first aid, you have gained a skill! First aid.
That was neat. More skills. I'd look over the skill description later. I already had a headache. Something was making me less smarter. More dumber. Something.
I glanced at my status.
Dust poisoning. 50% mental stats for one hour.
And they rounded down. Of course they did.
"Lets get you out of here. First, as I said, supplies. I'm a little shocked from the dust, so don't be shocked if I say dumb things. Can you help me loot this place without making the water leak? Pipe means water. Umm. Yeah."
He looked at me with understanding. "That makes sense. Sure. I'll direct you."
He was cold, but efficient.
Scavenging leveled up! Scavenging leveled up! Scavenging leveled up! Scavenging leveled up!
At the end of it, I had quite the collection of the items.
9 assorted toilet fragments, with a combined durability of 75
17 shards of glass. Most were pretty pathetic. One damage, 1 durability. One benefited from my scavenging skill though, and had a special ability, sharpness, which let it destroy one armor in an object and do 2 damage.
2 pipes, 1 damage and 10 durability each.
Tapping on the walls, I found a secret compartment containing a box.
And then I worried.
I still had 40 minutes left while my mental stats were down, so I wasn't the smartest, but I remembered it was a really bad idea to play the tapes. Jigsaw seeded them to pit us against each other. I needed the key in his envelope, but not the cassette.
My brain felt fuzzy. It hurt. I couldn't think straight. But if we just sat still for forty minutes he would probably find it anyway.
"I need to tell you something. Tell you the truth."
"What… what did you do?"
He looked at Gordan.
"I've been tracking a serial killer. Name of Jigsaw." He- I saw recognition on Gordan's face.
"He kills people because he has-" Wisdom check succeeded! 5/5. Oh yeah. People listening. Adam wasn't that dumb.
I got close to Gordan. "Brain cancer. He likes to leave tape recorders for them so that they kill each other. That's why I was captured I think. I am pretty sure you will have a tape recorder, and it will manipulate your brain to kill me too. I have a tape."
I pulled it out.
"You do too probably. Along with more stuff. I need that stuff. Because we need to escape." My head was pounding. It was hard to explain things. Could I escape while less intelligent than an average child? Probably not. But I could get through this.
"It might contain helpful clues."
I shook my head.
"You want to follow his clues?"
He paused, for a long time, thinking, and then shook his head. "No, no, you're right." He patted his pockets, and soon drew out an envelope with a bullet, a tape, and a key.
That bullet, wow.
Bullet. A manifestation of man's will to slay others, in metal form. 200 damage. Breaks 10 armor.
That would help a lot.
And the key unlocked the box from the wall, granting us a phone, a lighter, and several cigarettes.
I looked over Gordan's character sheet while he tried to dial 911. His was a lot more impressive than mine.
Name: Lawrence Gordan
Job.: Oncologist
Level: 2
Title. Cold doctor (50% chance of giving a positive status effect to someone when you heal them, and 50% chance of angering them emotionally.
HP: 30
Stamina: 26
Strength: 12
Constitution: 15
Dexterity: 14
Intelligence: 20
Wisdom: 4
Luck: 30
Asshole- wait.
I looked at my own status.
Pissed off at Gordan. -50% reputation for five minutes.
Ok, irrational brain. You don't care what he does. Just so long as he does it. Ignore anger.
"I'm trying the police." The phone made a loud sound. He tried again and tried again. "It was meant to receive calls, not make them."
I nodded. "Useless to us then." I gestured at him. "Unless-" I said teasingly.
He nodded, and tossed it to me. I popped the battery out.
Phone battery. Toxic. 10% debuff to stats if touched when stabbed, and a chance of an explosion. It can also power phones, but that's not what you care about.
"There's another use. Let's get you free. Bullet is for door." I gestured at the solid door barring our way out, which we needed the bullet to open.
I got to work, smashing at the pipe connecting Gordon's leg to the wall. It took a few minutes, but I got it stripped off and saw-
Steel pipe. Made to resist escape attempts for the chosen subject. Quality and well made steel. 50/50 durability. 12 armor.
"Fuck you, Jigsaw. Fuck you."
It was time for a boss battle.
The adventure continues, and they meet the ultimate foe. A steel bar.
Dragonbornthesam, that does sound fun. A nice bit of randomization. Loot rolls and loot drops will be a major part of this fiction, where every item needs to be used to it's maximum potential, so that would add a nice random element to it. Could make a good upgrade to scavenge
Adrian King 1, metagaming is an important element of many a game. As you see with the gun, metagaming is not always enough to reveal the facts.
Acespeedninja. I shall continue. It's a fun and easy to write story.
Reviews always appreciated, along with any ideas for fun challenges, perks, or fun places to send the unlucky protagonist.