Chapter 1: Life is but a Game
Adam Edwins lived a good life. He went to college, got his masters in accounting, and got a job in a large accounting firm. He was making a good wage for his age and was able to sustain himself and have enough money for extracurriculars. Adam was content.
All of that, however, was cut off in an instant. He was sitting in his car waiting for a red light to turn green when a steel beam from a nearby construction site fell over, crushing his car instantly. One second, he was thinking about what to have for dinner and the next, all he knew was pain, and then, nothing.
Ah, so this is it, huh? Adam thought to himself. He felt weightless as he floated through the abyss. This is the afterlife we've all been theorizing about? How underwhelming.
For a long time, Adam waded through the eternal darkness. How much time had passed? Days? Years? Adam had no idea.
It was only when Adam was at his wit's end something appeared in front of him.
Congratulations!
You have completed the trial of endurance!
What the hell is this, S*O? Adam thought to himself. He looked at the glowing pop-up for a second before it vanished, only for another screen to appear.
You have survived indefinite nothingness without opting out once.
Reward: The Gamer
I was allowed to opt out? Adam thought as he stared at the pop-up. He seethed with rage. He screamed. He cried. He cursed. But not once did he say that he explicitly wanted it to stop. He just assumed that it never would.
Now, what is this Gamer thing? Adam then focused his attention to the bottom half of the pop-up. As if responding to him, another pop-up appeared.
Good luck.
What?! Answer me goddammit! Adam shouted in his head as the world started to light up. Before Adam could register anything, the light had grown to the point where it was blinding. Then, a cacophony of senses.
Light flooded his vision and multiple sounds invaded his ears. The sound of a woman sighing with relief. The beeping of a machine. A cry of joy.
For what seemed to be the first time in an eternity, Adam's lungs started to hurt. As he opened his mouth to greedily drink in as much oxygen he could, he heard another sound.
A baby… crying? Adam thought. As the seconds passed, he felt more of his senses returning. He would be happy, if it weren't for the big, glaring problem he was now faced with.
I'm a baby?! Adam tried to shout, but it only succeeded in making him cry louder.
"Oh, he's so beautiful," Adam heard a woman's voice. He tried to turn his head, but he found that he wasn't able to.
"What do you want to name him?" A man that Adam couldn't see asked.
"Senshu," The woman replied. "I think Senshu would be a good name."
"Tanaka Senshu," Another male voice replied.
Adam… no… Senshu blinked, and a pop-up appeared before his eyes. Before reading it, Senshu noted that no one else reacted to the floating screen.
Name registered: Tanaka Senshu
There was only one thought that ran through Senshu as he read the message.
What the fuck?
/
It has been three years since Senshu started his new life and the young boy was finally starting to get a grasp on the world around him. Firstly, he now knew that he was in the past. While he died in 2022, he was now living in 1983. Secondly, he got to know more about his parents.
His mother, Tanaka Yui, was a wonderful woman. She worked at Homurahara Academy's elementary school division as a math teacher and helped out at the local orphanage when she had free time. Senshu found the name of the school to be a funny coincidence. Before his death, he was a huge fan of Type/Moon. He wasn't one of those psychos who would go out of his way to challenge anyone who said something wrong about an inconsequential detail of the Nasuverse, but he did know a good amount.
His mother liked to spoil him with love and affection. While someone else may feel suffocated by the love, Senshu found himself quickly growing fond of his mother. She had a gentle soul that he rarely saw in his old world.
Senshu's father, Tanaka Daisuke, liked to appear tough, but Senshu knew better. He had a cold exterior whenever work or outside life was involved, but he treated Senshu with the gentleness and care that Senshi never expected. Whenever he talks about his job with Yui, he would say he works as a taxi driver, but Senshu knew better. He would sometimes come home wounded and Yui would treat him and scold him for taking "dangerous jobs" and would tell him that his boss would understand.
Overall, his parents were a loving couple that loved him, and he loved them back. Senshu loved his original parents, but at the same time, Daisuke and Yui deserved every bit of love Senshu gave them.
Then there was the real problem Senshu had to deal with.
Status, Was the first thing he thought as he sat up on his bed. A screen appeared before him and the young boy sighed.
Name: Tanaka Senshu
Age: 3
Class: None
Level: 1
HP: 30/30
MP: 0/0
STR: 2
SPD: 1
VIT: 2
END: 1
INT: 5
WIS: 4
LCK: 0
Senshu scowled as the screen vanished with a silent command. He knew what these things were. He played a lot of RPGs in his spare time. That being said, he had no idea how any of it translated to the real world. He could only assume that his intelligence and wisdom were higher because he still had his adult consciousness, but that didn't really mean anything when he didn't know how smart 5 points of intelligence made him.
Another thing was the skills he had. He only had three, but they all seemed pretty broken.
Gamer's Mind (Max Lvl)
Allows the user to calmly think things through.
Grants the user a calm mind.
Immunity to psychological status effects.
Gamer's Body (Max Lvl)
Grants a body that allows the user to live the real world like a game. (He receives no physical damage from attack and pain is only inflicted for a few seconds after the loss of HP).
After sleeping in a bed, restores HP and MP to max and cures all status ailments
Inventory (Lvl 3)
Able to store items in an inventory with unlimited space where time does not pass.
Put more items in the inventory to level up.
Secondary effect unlocked after Inventory reaches level 50.
Senshu had no idea what the secondary effect could be, but he was curious. He placed whatever he could get his hands on in it. His inventory mostly consisted of fallen leaves, junk, and the occasional toy, but he was fine with that.
"Senshu!" The young boy heard his father calling to him from the other room. "Are you awake?!"
"I'm up, dad!" Senshu called back. He slipped out of bed and made his way over to his drawers and changed into a T-shirt and shorts. It was summer, after all. He then turned when he heard the door open, revealing his father. His hair was slick and combed to the side and his glasses amplified his brown eyes.
"Are you ready for your first playdate?" Daisuke asked with a small smile on his face. Senshu had to admit that he had never seen his father smile unless he was doing something related to either Senshu or his mother.
"Yep!" Senshu nodded eagerly. Today was a big day. He had spent the past three years cooped up at home, but today was different. Daisuke's boss apparently had a granddaughter his age and the two had set up a playdate. Conveniently, they lived right next to each other, so Daisuke and Senshu would be heading over to meet them.
"Alright, we should head over then," Daisuke said as he walked over to Senshu. "Do you need me to carry you?"
"Dad, I'm not a baby anymore!" Senshu whined.
"Alright, alright," Daisuke's smile widened as he put his hands up in surrender. "I want you to hold my hand though."
"Alright!" Senshu smiled brightly as he grabbed Daisuke's index finger with his puny hands. In truth, he liked these little moments of bliss. He missed being a child, and didn't mind having a second go as one.
"Ara, are you two heading out already?" As the two made their way to the door, they passed by Yui, who was in the kitchen.
"Yeah," Daisuke pecked his wife on the cheek. "Can't keep the boss waiting, you know?"
"Well do me a favor and bring these, will you?" Yui handed Daisuke a picnic basket. "I don't know how long you'll be there, so I packed some bentos for you all."
"Thank you, honey," Daisuke smiled and nodded before turning back to Senshu. "Now let's get going, kiddo. We wouldn't want to be late."
"Un!" Senshu nodded. The two then made their way out the door. The walk took maybe ten seconds as they just went to the house on their left. As they did, Senshu felt that the house to the left of his destination was familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
The two found themselves at their front porch before long. Daisuke knocked on the door three times, not saying anything. After a few seconds, the door opened.
"Ah, Daisuke," The man opened the door. Senshu flinched as he saw the man's face. "And you must be little Senshu, no?"
That face… I've seen it before… But from where…? Senshu spent a few seconds studying the man's face. It was eerily familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"That's me," Senshu didn't sound as enthusiastic as he intended to since he was still trying to decipher the puzzle before him, but he paid no mind.
"Well it's nice to meet you, Senshu. My name is Fujimara Raiga," When the man introduced himself, a lightbulb went off in Senshu's head.
So that's where I know him from.
/
The Fujimara estate was nice. It was a bit bigger than the house the Tanakas lived in and there were traditional decorations on the walls and tables. Senshu saw none of it, however, as the full force of his revelation hit him.
I'm in the Nasuverse, those four words repeated themselves in Senshu's mind. I'm in the Nasuverse… with crazy magi and vampires and heroic spirits and Zelretch and—
"Well, my Little Tiger should be somewhere here," Raiga's voice snapped Senshu out of his stupor. "She should be here…"
"Don't call me Tiger!" A squeaky voice shouted. Soon enough, a tiny Fujimara Taiga appeared, running across the room, barreling straight towards Raiga. She then stopped next to Raiga's leg and started to beat on it softly.
"Oh you'll always be my Little Tiger," Raiga said softly as he rubbed Taiga's head, who whined out in protest.
For the first time since Raiga originally opened the door, Senshu stopped complicating his impending doom to look at the adorable child bantering with her grandfather.
Well, at least this place has something other than magi mercilessly killing each other, Senshu smiled at the scene before him.
"Now Daisuke and I are going to talk about boring grown-up things," Raiga put a hand on Daisuke's shoulder. "Taiga, why don't you show Senshu here your new toys?"
"Okay Grandpa!" Taiga flashed Senshu a smile that lit up the room. "C'mon! Grandpa got me some new toys! Play with me!"
"O-okay…" Senshu returned the smile with a shaky smile of his own. His muddled mind grasped onto the first thing it could focus on, which was Taiga.
Maybe I can play for a little bit, Senshu thought as Taiga grabbed his arm. I can think about plans for the future later.
His lips curved more and more until a genuine smile was plastered on his face as Taiga dragged him into her room to play.
Thank you for reading this first chapter! I decided to have a little self-indulgent fun and make a Gamer fic. A big thing to note right from the start is that this isn't the same system featured in "The Gamer" story. You'll be seeing some of the differences as time goes on. Please leave a review if you feel inclined and if you want to join, I have a discord server! The url is CpVs7R8KXz. Unfortunately you'll have to type the rest of the url in manually because I'm not allowed to post links. I'll catch you on the flipside.