Returning to the blackness he- I wasn't alone. There, floating in the air was a cabinet. Each of his-my items were held, from his inventory, along with a shelf with trophies for each achievement and universe.
The void was becoming a bit more homely.
There in the corners, chained to pipes, sleeping as well, were his two captives. Ethan, and Eve.
He checked his status screen.
Name: ?
Job: Gamer
Level: 1
Level: 1 (0/100)
Title. Zombieslayer
HP: ?
Stamina: ?
Strength: +12
Constitution: +2
Dexterity: +2
Intelligence: +5
Wisdom: +4
Luck: 0
Three stat points available.
521 perk points available.
Skills
First aid level 8 30/100 exp
Scavenge, level 92 32/100 exp
Observation, level 94 0/100 exp
Baseball, level 9 10/100 exp
Stealth, level 30 0/100 exp
Computers, level 6 99/100 exp
Crafting, level 99 1/100 exp
Disease control, advanced apprentice grade, level 15 76/100 exp
Diplomacy, level 12, 15/100 exp
Shooting. Level 63, 67/100 exp
He sighed. He had bled for those increases.
He could still feel the skin crawling sensation of death, of dying, or being eaten, of being torn apart, of being burnt, of bugs crawling in his brain, of stabbed and shot and of tearing his own nose off. I- he. Felt disconnected from my- his- her whatever's own body.
And the heroin had faded away.
He let out a loud scream, and clenched his hands hard enough to draw blood, breathing fast. "Fuck you, game, fuck you bakers, fuck you everyone". He ran to the trophy case, picking up the one for amputating his foot, a golden image of a foot in glass. He hurled it at the cabinet. It smashed, and then almost instantly regenerated, returning back to the cabinet. He went all out, smashing and cracking the cabinet again and again and again, venting his fury.
He shouted at the two individuals in the corner. They stayed asleep through it all, unreactive to his anger.
He shouted at himself, for his mistakes.
He kept going till he felt the tightness in his chest relax a bit, and breathed deep.
That was how he handled emotional pain. Unleash it a bit, rant and rave, then bury it so his subconscious could handle it.
Lessons learnt. He needed a more powerful gamer's mind to handle scenarios like that. He didn't know all these universes well enough. Teamwork was very effective if handled well. He had missed some free dex points, and potentially he could have farmed that universe for infinite dex and strength points. Levels reset, so he could gain 100 perk points and 10 stat buffs per universe potentially.
He was pretty sure even if it had taken every perk point he had left, and all 8 inventory slots, his old self would have taken Ethan, because of those flaw features that tugged on your emotions. Emotionally, without a stronger gamer's mind he wouldn't have been able to grind that universe. Not that he regretted his current choices that much.
Ethan was a genius, amazing at crafting. With his help he could grind up his own skills to new heights, along with learning enough medical science to craft a cure.
Eve was a biological weapon who was looking back on it, probably the main villain of the game he had been in. That said, with the right location he might be able to make an enhanced version of her plague. Or just her for her abilities. He could become a superhuman, bypass the need to buy perks, become super durable and tough and get mind control powers.
That would need new skills. He checked his.
He had reached level 99 in crafting. He was pretty sure he got stronger exp for advanced apprentice grade crafting, and the 60 or so levels he had in that had translated to some big bonuses. Last level was a doozy though. Insane exp requirements to go up. Every point was a drag.
He was level 63 in shooting. Nice.
Disease control had ticked up to level 15 by the end. And it was advanced apprentice grade. He checked the perks for that.
Zombie bite! You can inflict a controlled infection on someone, passing on a disease you have. With greater disease control you can selectively pass on infections or not. 6 points.
A nice melee augment.
Zombie spit! You can spit a glob of toxic disease fluids, likely infecting anyone you hit, and doing a constant 10 damage a second to them. Damage may increase with some diseases. 6 points.
A nice debuff, ranged attack.
Plague master! You can store one plague between worlds, reinfecting yourself. 6 points.
Once I made a reliable super augment plague, this would be solid.
Disease purge. Choose a disease you have. Exert your will on yourself or another, and reduce symptoms to low levels. Note. Long term perk, requires a lot of stamina. 6 points.
Useful, back in the real world. I could cure people with weakened immune systems of infections.
A new tab had opened up.
Diplomacy.
Number one had been under it, and now it also had-
Raid leader. You are a competent leader, and skilled at organizing dangerous situations. Once per combat scenario you can bolster all your followers, granting them +2 stats and +10 HP. 25 points.
Ooh, solid buff.
For 3 points each it, it had Mia, and Clancy. I could take those forms. It also had this.
Fluid shapeshifter. For the sake your companions, you adopt whatever form is most pleasing, so long as you have purchased it. 6 points.
Yes. No more gender bending required.
This is my final form. Using stamina proportionate to the difference in stats, adopt the stats and skills of any form you have purchased. 100 points.
That would be nice. I could gain super powers. I need a lot more stamina, and maybe some stamina perks, to make it useful.
Stealth had leveled up to 30, and it had a triplet of perks ready.
Stealthy predator. You are a skilled predator, avoiding notice from any not greatly gifted in senses. You can find enough food to survive in any natural scenario. 25 points.
The stealth upgrade, presumably flavoured that way because of the last scenario.
Holdaway compartment. You can hold one small item away from the notice of any searchers. A very thorough search may still find it. 3 points
Useful.
Hungry for flesh. By consuming the flesh of humans or other sentient beings, especially their brains, you can gain some degree of their knowledge and secrets. 6 points.
A cannibalism perk. Of course. Would it give me free skills? Could be useful. I didn't really want to eat people though. I wasn't a fan of vore.
Super strength had had a special requirement. It didn't say it here. Maybe it was world dependent? Like if I went to Halo and got to be Master Chief, I was pretty sure I'd be strong enough to get the perk then. Did some of the other special perks have hidden requirements? This game could do with a manual.
Gamer's mind- upgraded. For an extra 200 points, you can upgrade this to the second level. 20% reduce in all mental stat debuffs, and all mental conditions will be healed within one day.
Backup Gamer's mind. If your gamer's mind is ruptured, a new one will replace the old one within an hour. 6 points.
Useful things. I guess if you used a perk, you got upgrades.
He had some free con perk choices as well, from amputating his ankle.
Amputee veteran. While you may lose capabilities from losing limbs, you don't get any stat debuffs. You can remove any of your limbs easily and quickly.
Joint master. Using 10 stamina, make an attack against a joint. Do 100% extra damage if it hits.
Flexible bones. You can dislocate and break your bones fluidly, and heal faster from such actions, allowing you to escape traps and problems.
And finally, inventory upgrades. Computers had got a few levels, but not enough to get me perks. I hadn't used them much.
Enhanced inventory. For an extra 200 points, you can upgrade this to the second level. 16 slots.
Backup chest. You can store up to 8 items here, swapping them in and out of your inventory. 6 points.
Relive the trauma. In your personal space, replay the experiences that hurt you. Popcorn, doritos, and mountain dew included. 3 points.
That last one was curious. I selected it, and purchased it.
A tv, small and bulky, a VHS player a PS4, a vr set, a chair, and a dvd case and a VHS.
Saw.
Resident evil 7.
Which one to play first? The real choice.
Mental health is a bitch. Sometimes you don't have time to unload, and just need to bury it deep deep down. Luckily, he has some video games and movies to help him handle those. Isn't he a lucky guy?
Soon, he shall go into Saw 2. Any build suggestions are appreciated, or new perks to add in.
Mistersnx. They probably fled and adopted Eve, and Mia probably got crystalled and later rescued by Joe/ blue umbrella. Happyish ending, so long as Eve can restrain her psychopathic urges. Mia was always her favourite family member anyway. She was her handler, and reasonably able to control her. That said, if we return later we can see what happened in more depth.
Thorison1080. I mean, Saw is always fair and nothing ever goes wrong and complicates things. Now it's just of course gonna be gravy and easy missions. And the perks are always fair and accessible. Always. It's not like the universe is cruel and unfair and deliberately complicates the protagonist's life. Don't worry, I have plan for this.
Sylphi. Yeah. That's how RE 7 goes. You start off sorta grounded, resources scarce, going through it slowly and carefully and meeting lots of dangerous, facing mostly realistic humanoid foes with special toughness. Then it ends grand, flashy, and insane. They go for the boss battles of 4 and 5 and such. Saw never gets that over the top, so he won't be having that there. This is just how RE 7 works. He follows a bit the narrative beat of worlds. So, grounded body horror, light sci fi, then over the top madness. And yeah, he can emulate Mia so that Ethan and Eve can comply.
DG2. Re7 is like that. You can get your leg sliced off or get hit by a car and shrug it off with a potion. It's mad game. I'm glad I played it. Honestly, I think ethan is a bit tougher than Mia here. Mia got like sliced in two by one blow, but Ethan can take several chainsaws to the face or arm and be ok.
Gatling2746. Thanks. Soon we shall go into Saw 2.
Any build suggestions or new perks always appreciated. Soon, he shall be off into Saw 2, to experience all madness.