I don't own RWBY.
Hello there!
I'm aware some people look for specific things in fics. So I've made a few things you may want to know before starting this fic, so that you don't waste your time: (Warning: very light spoilers)
- MC is an OC. He is 15 years-old and the story starts about one year and two months before RWBY Vo.1 Chapter 1. Narration is First Person and may switch to Third Person for other characters.
- This story is not just about the world turning into a game and the MC powering up. This is a story about MC too. MC has his own family and history. His family members are, of course, OCs too, and his friends and aquaintances are OCs too. He doesn't start a blank page without relationships, even if he's not a very social person.
- Compared to the average fic, we will not see the main cast of RWBY at the start. (for reasons that you will quickly understand) There will also be a lot of OCs who may or may not be important. MC will meet the main cast eventually though.
Well, with this list and the summary, that's about everything that could turn people off.
Anyways. I don't have too much experience in writing, and English isn't my first language. I read quite a lot though. Regardless, I'm excited to start this story.
Here we go.
Prologue:
The birds were singing on a tree branch outside the classroom.
They had that melodic sound, answering and completing each others tones in a high-pitched, yet relaxing music, coupled with cicada noises. It was that time of the year. Summer.
An admirable effort, because no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't break through the noisy chaos and disorder that reigned in the classroom.
I sighed, annoyed by my classmates' noise, but resigned to endure it.
The class was too noisy today!
However, it was natural for them to be this noisy. It was, after all, a free-period pause occurring just before the last class of the day, the last day of the school year. Tomorrow: holidays. So it was normal that people would be excited, and impatient anticipation would naturally fill a room full of high-school students.
Still… I could really have used my headphones today. But I forgot them back home. I always forget something. I'm a pretty forgetful person.
Normally, for a day like this one, I would stay sat at my place at the rear of the classroom by the windows, barely containing my excitement at the prospect of holidays. Nobody would bother me, and I wouldn't bother them.
I had no friends here. Not in this class anyway. I had a few acquaintances, like a nerdy know-it-all Faunus guy who liked to chat with me for reasons that escaped me, or the quiet girl who I'm sitting next to; but they were no friends. I was a pretty aggressive person with a short fuse and little to no tolerance for people's bullshit.
I glanced at the girl sitting to my right. Her black hair was hiding her eyes. What was her name again? I don't even remember – no, wait, it was Caitlyn. I think.
I wasn't sure I ever heard her voice. Though she was not mute, according to the teacher. I liked her, I always got paired up with her for some assignments, we worked fast and good; we made an efficient team. Though I couldn't consider her a friend since she never spoke. But I didn't mind.
If only everyone was like that. This classroom was too damn noisy.
"Fuck me, I need a break from this." I mumbled to myself, standing up. "Move." I said. Caitlyn racked her chair forward to let my big ass through, and I made my way outside the classroom.
I walked rapidly through the empty corridor, and descended the stairs before turning around a corner and arriving to the restroom. It was a rarely-used one. Years ago, the school built an expansion to the building for more classrooms, and this bathroom ended up weirdly placed in the building, quite a bit isolated from the main corridors.
Well, I didn't really need to use the bathroom. I just needed to refresh myself a bit.
I glanced to the right. There were two stalls, door closed, and a row of urinals beside them along the wall. In front of them were a row of sinks with two hand dryers.
I moved to the farthest urinal and did what I was supposed to do in slow motion, enjoying the quiet peace.
I finished, and walked to the sinks to take a look at myself in one of the bathroom mirrors.
There, staring back at me, was a guy with light-green eyes and short, light brown hair. My body was a little chubby due to not doing much sports, but this was compensated by my height and muscle. I was a naturally big guy, with big bones. I wore a gray t-shirt, wet of perspiration because of the damn heat, and long denim shorts.
"Man, it is hot. I must be smelling quite a bit." I mused, sniffing my t-shirt. I shrugged, not caring too much.
I washed my hands and splashed some fresh water on my face.
Bip bip!
I took out my scroll at the sound of receiving a message.
'Mom and Step-douche won't be home tonight. You'll need to cook again.'
Fucking hell. Annoyed, I growled quietly, typing back.
'I don't 'need' to cook. Just get pizza'
I got a salivating emoji as a reply. I groaned again.
'No emoji !'
'-_-'
'I'll grab it before going home, it'll do'
'Thx big bro'
"Fucking Carl..." I sighed and put my scroll back in my pocket. Why did it always fall on me to take care of him? I had made plans tonight to hang out with Daryl, a friend of mine. This wasn't fair.
I sighed again. Step-Asshole strikes again, taking mom with him.
I'll figure something out later, maybe take Carl along? But I can't have fun if I have to watch him constantly. Besides, Daryl is not exactly a good influence.
Bah, I'll think about it later. For now, time to go back.
Right as I started to make my way out, I heard an unexpected flushing noise, reverberating within the restroom.
I froze, before slowly turning towards the noise that came from one of the stalls.
Was someone there already? Were they afraid of pooping too loudly?
Go ahead my dude, I won't judge you.
Still, it was unusual for someone to go out of their way to come here. And that splashing noise didn't sound like the normal 'shit hits the water' splash.
I waited. But the restroom stayed deathly quiet, as if the noise never occurred.
I narrowed my eyes. I was sure I heard a noise… Was someone spying on me?
"Hey. Anyone there?" I asked, knocking on the door.
No answer. Was it my overactive imagination? Or maybe they were very shy and wanted to poop in peace? But if that was the case they should be making a bit of noise.
I was curious now. Frowning, I knelt down, expecting to see a pair of feet behind the door of one of the stalls.
Nothing.
"The hell?" I muttered to myself, as I stayed still, completely rigid. Were they standing up on the toilet? That would be hilarious.
I stayed immobile for a few seconds. I was really going to be late for my class. But screw it, it was the last day, and there were plenty of people skipping school today anyway.
"…" Nothing...
I stood straight, shrugged, and walked to the door.
Splash!
A weird, splashing sound. Water hitting the floor.
"Ohoho, oookay. Now I know I wasn't hearing things." I half laughed. It was probably just a student messing with me.
Splash splash splash
What in the world were they doing? Stop splashing water everywhere! Were they pissing on the floor or what?
Fucking eww, man.
I knelt again, observing the floor. I hadn't really paid attention before, but it was very wet.
Suddenly, the splashing noise ended and I could make out what looked like two black feet landing on the tile floor.
Those, however, were not a commonly used pair of sneakers. Those feet looked a bit too small… Like they belonged to a child. And the shoes. What the hell were those shoes. Was this some kind of animal skin? Leather?
I knelt down further, to take a peek above the shoes.
Green.
Green skin.
My heart suddenly started beating faster.
Fuck. Shit.
Calm down, it was probably a Faunus with a particularly freaky animal feature.
Yes. That was probably it. A lizard faunus. And they were a bit self conscious, which was why they were hiding.
Makes sense.
Splash splash splash.
The feet moved, each step making a splashing noise from the water on the floor.
I quickly backed away.
The door squeaked open.
In the toilets was a tiny green person with red eyes... a little abomination.
It had the body of a small child, except it had thin muscles. It harbored an ugly smirk, pointy ears and a dirty set of canines. For clothing, it had some white, wet tissue wrapped around his groin.
This was no Faunus. This was no Grimm.
In fact, its race was clearly indicated by the shining red letters above his head.
?Goblin Sct?!Er^or!#?!&"(
What is this, a glitch from an RPG?
"G-goblin." I read the words dumbly, fear taking hold in my stomach.
Its ears perked up, his smirk widening, probably picking up on my fear.
"Kah… Kah!" It groaned, reaching around his back and brandishing a sword – no, a dagger – that I hadn't noticed.
"Uuah!" I took a step back, frightened. "Stay back!" I yelled.
It walked closer, threatening, and making squelching sounds with his wet shoes. Jaune looked desperately at the exit. It was behind the abomination.
Shit, I need to go through that thing to escape and get help!
"Kaha!"
Suddenly, the goblin lunged forward with unexpected speed, and I reared to the right to avoid it.
I heard the dagger bounced on the wall behind me, while my head did the same with the one on the right. I fell on the floor, a sharp pain emerging in my skull.
Looking up, I saw the creature re-position itself between me and the door again, his dagger ready.
Then the goblin dashed towards me once again.
"GAAAH!" I turned on my back and kicked out in reflex. It connected on his chest, my leg outreaching his range.
Apparently the goblin was very light, for it to be sent flying a good two meters into the air.
The goblin's body fell into the sink, and for a moment I was shocked by my own power. I always had a natural strength, but I never sent anything up in the air like that! I quickly came back to my senses when I noticed the goblin getting up, still with his sword still clenched in his fist.
Panic overwhelmed me. I had to make it to the exit! In pure terror, not even getting up, I crawled along the floor, desperate to get away from the threat.
I'm going to die. I don't want to die!
I threw a quick glance backwards, only to see the green creature, wet, angry and bloodthirsty, jump off the sink, and land in a puddle of water, before dashing towards me again.
Zzzwip!
With a comical sound, it slipped on the wet ground and fell on its ass. I let out a maniacal laugh, as I started getting up in panic, before falling on my ass again like a fool. Fuck!
Apparently, laughing had been the wrong thing to do, as the goblin rose again, angrier than ever, but now advancing more carefully on the treacherous, wet floor.
He made a weird movement with his arm, almost like he was sheathing his blade in an imaginary sheath, or as if he was going to throw it.
"Kaha!"
He threw it. He threw it! Before I could react, the blade landed in my left thigh, and I let out a piercing scream.
"AAAaah!"
"Kukukuku!" The goblin laughed as he continued his march towards me.
This fucker. I'm gonna fucking kill him. With a rush of adrenaline spreading through my body, I grabbed the dagger's handle, yanked it out of my thigh, and tried to hold it in front of me.
"Come here, you little bastard."
Pain was screwing up my nervous system, and I couldn't even see the blade properly! But I was going to skewer the bastard.
As I was struggling, the goblin was coming closer and closer, until it swung his claws at me.
I screamed again, stumbling back, more pain shooting up from my leg. This caused more cruel chuckles from the goblin. His expression was happily twisted, he clearly enjoyed playing with his food.
'I am NOT going to get killed by a weak little thing like you! I thought as determination swelled up within me. I brandished the dagger in the air, as if it was some kind divine relic.
Feeling warm blood run down my leg, I knew I had to end it quick, and I couldn't escape because of my injury.
So I decided it was my turn to throw the blade, imitating the goblin's previous move.
The sword flew through the air, passed by the monster's head harmlessly, and fell in the sink.
There was a moment of silence, as the goblin turned its head to look where the dagger landed, and then back to me, his smirk widening.
I might not have landed that throw, but at least the goblin had been dumb enough to take its attention off me.
Stumbling forward, I swung my fist with all my strength, and punched the goblin's face right as he was about to look back at me, wiping the smirk off his face, and I even felt his teeth break.
It was not my first time throwing a punch. I knew how to do it, having gotten into my fair share of fights in the past. So, the goblin flew several meters away before crashing… in the sink.
On the dagger, precisely.
Ding!
Critical Hit!
I blinked at the yellow letters that appeared, and grimaced, looking at my bloody pants. I pushed my hands on my wound, doing my best to limit the bleeding.
Meanwhile the goblin screamed in agony, and tried to get out of the sink, only to fall on the ground and make the dagger dislodge itself from its chest.
I chuckled, and spat on the floor towards him.
It whined and struggled for a while on the ground, looking at me hatefully as if it was refusing its fate, until eventually it stopped moving.
'Fuck me. What the hell was that!' I thought, wide eyed. I was not sure how I had managed to survive, but I did it. I survived.
I took a hesitant step towards the body, before another 'ding' resonated in my skull, and a light gray window popped up in front of me.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Exception detected!
An unregistered player was injured by an unregistered monster!
Exception detected!
An unregistered monster was killed by an unregistered player!
Special achievement confirmed!
Calculating rewards and compensation…
"..."
"… The hell is this!" I yelled out loud, narrowing my eyes at the window. "This looks like something out of one of Carl's games."
Screw this. My leg first. I grabbed the lower part of my t-shirt, tearing a strip, and wrapping it around the wound in my leg, making a knot. I tightened it as much as I could, gritting my teeth at the pain. If I came across another goblin in the corridors, my leg better be bandaged than not.
Oh man. I'll need to go to the infirmary...
As I was about to leave the toilets, other dings resonated in my head once again.
The 'calculations' were done, I guessed.
Despite my earlier fight, and whatever those messages were, I could not help but gather a bit of anticipation. It always felt good to have a bit of a compensation after something tried to kill you.
"Let's see." I spoke earnestly.
You have defeated a Goblin Scout.
Ding!
Congratulations! You are the first to witness the changes that will affect Remnant!
Rewards:
- New Unique Title [The First Player].
- New stat: [Leadership].
Ding!
You have been thrown into the game too early and have been injured as a result.
Compensation:
- +500% healing rate until the injury is fully healed.
Ding!
Congratulations! You are the first person to kill a creature and experience the game!
Rewards:
- New Unique Skill: [The Gamer]
- New stat: [Luck].
Ding!
- New stat: [Willpower].
Ding!
- New stat: [Physical Resistance].
Ding!
The [Vitality] stat has increased by one.
I stroke his chin for a moment, reading through all this, and, for the third time of the day groaned:
"The hell is that!"
Okay, so that pretty much confirmed that the letters above the goblin had been real. Unless I was high or I was crazy. But let's not assume that for the moment. I knew very well the difference between high and not high, and I was definitely not high.
It also confirmed the fact that that creature had been, in fact, a goblin, and not an ugly Faunus. Nor a Grimm.
"I was not ready for today." I sighed as his eyes fell on the weird skill. "The Gamer? The First Player?" He read. "What on Remnant is that..."
Two windows opened themselves in front of me again, as if answering my questions.
[Title: The First Player]
Rank: Unique
Description: You are the first to witness and experience the change that will occur to Remnant. May you guide the others through a new path to follow…
Effects: +10 to all stats.
[Skill: The Gamer (Passive)]
Rank: Unique
Level: Beginner Level 1
Description: None
Effects: +20 % effectiveness of [Luck] on item drops. +20% XP to stats and skills. -20% stat requirements to gain stats, learn skills, or use items. Negates other requirements to gain stats, learn skills or use items. Grants immunity to stats and skills decay. Grants additional benefits for many items.
Available Sub-skills: [Identify]
Note: Grants 20 points in [Willpower] upon learning this skill.
"So it reacts to my voice?" I wondered. "A unique skill… So, one of a kind? I almost believe it."
That sounded cool on paper. If I wasn't so confused and it was some kind of MMO, I'd be very happy with these rewards.
Unfortunately, it was reality, and I had just killed something that might not even be categorized as a Grimm, and my thigh was injured. So I was, understandably, a bit apprehensive.
"This Gamer skill seems pretty good. No stat and skills decay? Isn't that the bare minimum in a game?" I wondered. Did that mean my stats would have slowly decreased if I didn't have The Gamer skill and I didn't maintain or train them? "And that decreased requirement is nice, I guess." My brother was the one who played RPG games, so I didn't know how good that was.
"That title is pretty good too." I admitted, scanning the windows. "Plus ten to all stats sounds… But I guess it depends on my actual stats? If I have 200 in strength, +10 would be pretty meaningless."
A new window popped up.
Status Window:
Name: Shean Mauve
Age: 15
Race: Human
Title: [The First Player]
Strength: 22 (+10)
Vitality: 5 (+10)
Agility: 6 (+10)
Dexterity: 8 (+10)
Intelligence: 9(+10)
Wisdom: 7 (+10)
Physical Resistance: 5 (+10)
Luck: 0 (+10)
Leadership: 0 (+10)
Willpower: 39 (+10)
Current Status Effects: [Minor Wound (Bleeding)]
Conditions: [Asthmatic]
Perks: None
Other titles: None
"Okay. Plus ten is a LOT." I grinned despite the situation, getting excited. As expected, my strongest stat was my strength. Without any training I was a 22. Now that also explained why I had sent the goblin flying.
My vitality, agility and dexterity were trash, as expected.
But what's with the intelligence at 9 and wisdom at 7? I'm smarter than that! I think.
… What was the difference between intelligence and wisdom anyway? Weren't these the same thing, more or less? I would have to ask Carl.
And the willpower stat was at 39 already, having increased by 20 from the Gamer skill and gaining an additional +10 from the title. This meant that the stat had started at 19, even though I had just unlocked it. Shouldn't it start at 0 like the Luck stat and the Leadership stat? Weird…
As for Physical Resistance, that was a bit of a weird stat to find here… One would think it should be handled by Vitality, but no, it's got its own stat too. And I also wondered where did these 5 initial points came from.
I continued reading, noticing the bleeding mentioned in the status effects. I suddenly noticed that while I was engrossed in reading these floating windows, the pain in my leg had decreased by a lot.
Now, I knew I was going to see the school's nurse sooner or later but I could not resist experimenting a bit before leaving. I had, after all, received a 500% healing boost so I was confident it was going to heal fast, whether or not I went to the infirmary.
I walked to the sink and brought my injured leg in it, allowing the flow of water to wash the blood. It stung a little. Then I grabbed a shit ton of toilet paper and put it on my wound, before taking off my belt and putting it around the improvised bandage.
I stood up. The belt effectively maintained pressure on the toilet paper on my wound. I checked back his status window.
Current Status Effects: [Deep Wound (Badly Bandaged)]
I smiled, feeling pretty good about myself. I had successfully stopped the bleeding. It still hurt like a bitch, but I didn't mind the pain too much anymore for some reason. Maybe because of my increased willpower, or the healing speed boost.
Then the Conditions. [Asthmatic]. Oof… Those were probably like status effects, except they were permanent. I didn't even want to read it, it was too demoralizing.
"Wait a second. There's no HP?" I remarked as I scanned the window repeatedly. There was no HP bar.
I knew, in most RPG games, there was a HP bar. But not here. Nor were there a stamina bar, or an MP bar, or an Aura bar for that matter.
"Hmm. Is there an inventory?" I wondered. "Inventory!" I called.
Nothing happened. No inventory then.
"Uh… Journal? Quests?"
Nothing.
"Map?" Nothing.
"Options?" Nothing.
"Titles!" The titles window opened, with only one title : The First Player.
"Skills!" The skills window opened, showing my skills. I skimmed through it:
Cooking (Passive) (Beginner Level 3) [Common]
Street Fighting (Passive) (Beginner Lv2) [Common]
Drawing (Passive) (Beginner Lv8) [Common]
Biking (Passive) (Intermediate Lv6) [Common]
Car Driving (Passive) (Beginner Lv2) [Common]
Withstand (Passive) (Beginner Lv4) [Uncommon]
The Gamer (Passive) (Beginner Lv1) [Unique]
Identify (Active) (Beginner Lv1) [Rare]
Huh… It represents me fairly accurately, I suppose. I got [Identify] as a sub-skill from [Gamer], and I guess [Withstand] is a courtesy from my Step-Furher back in the day. Now that I think about, my Step-Douche might also be the reason for the Physical Resistance stat, too. Although I do get into a lot of fights.
I'm a bit surprised I don't have a Mechanic skill though. I'm pretty good with cars for my age; it's about the only thing mom does with me these days.
Food for thought.
But man did I feel a lot smarter than usual... These 10 extra stats from the title were pretty damn effective.
I didn't bother reading the skills' descriptions, it would take a bit too long, and my leg still needed taking care of. I also needed to alert the teachers of the goblin's presence, to confirm I wasn't crazy. Despite my fight with the goblin, and my wound healing fast, I still wasn't 100% sure this whole thing was actually real.
"Close." The windows closed themselves.
Now. Maybe I should inform people that a goblin creature was roaming around school. There could be others in the area-
Ding!
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen!
Today is a fun day! Your normal lives crumble and come to an end! Don't expect your two gods to come save you, for they have already abandoned you. Do not lose hope, though, for what replaces such boring, wasted existences are lives filled with adventure, grind, new skills and titles and much more excitement!
In 60 seconds, you will all be registered as players and the Game will be coming to the world of Remnant.
Please prepare yourselves!
- Countdown before the Game begins: 59 seconds...
In a daze of confusion, I stared at the black screen stupidly for several seconds.
"Fifty five." I read out loud. What was going to happen at the end of the timer? The Game? It made me very anxious, because if I was right, I just had a taste of what it was going to be.
And I just wasted a lot of time that I could have spent on alarming everyone.
"Shit, my class!" I exclaimed and began to limp back to my classroom.
- Countdown before the Game begins: 45 seconds...
The timer remained after closing the window, counting down ceremoniously as I made my way through the corridors.
I was determined to at least warn someone. I wasn't sure what was going on, but if I was the only one to see this panel, everyone would be caught by surprise!
I quickly climbed the stairs, and emerged in the quiet corridor, where I bumped into someone and fell on the floor.
"Oh, I'm sorry! Are you hurt?" A kind voice said to him.
"A little, but I stopped the bleeding," I replied fast, gazing up at a teacher, who gasped when she saw my leg.
"Oh my god! What happened to you?"
"I was nearly killed by a creature in the bathrooms!"
"What?!"
"It even had a.. dagger..." Shit, I should have grabbed it! "Do you see the counter? The counter on the floating window?"
"Oh yes. Everybody sees it."
"Then why aren't you all outside," I questioned, though it was probably a bad idea now that I said it out loud. "Or, I don't know, preparing for what is to come!" I urged, confused.
"What is to come?" She repeated, her frown deepening at my manners. "No, no, it's just some sort of prank. From a Huntsman, maybe. It has to be. We're in the Kingdom of Vale, we're protected."
"Protected? I was just ATTACKED, you fucking idiot!" I yelled at her, frustration taking hold of me as I grabbed my scroll. I just wanted a reaction, something!
"Do NOT raise your voice at me! It's not the holidays yet!"
I ignored her. Quickly, I sent a message to all my contacts.
'The countdown is REAL. I was just attacked by a monster in school.'
Send.
"...Was it a Grimm?!" The teacher asked, eyes widening in fear, finally realizing that this might not be aprank. She grabbed my hand. "Come with me. You need first aid. What's your name-"
Then a noise rose from the city, freezing us in place and filling us both with dread and terror.
It was the sound of an alarm, one the city would use should a Grimm attack occur. Threat level: 6.
At this moment, the teacher understood just what kind of mistake she made. "Quick, we need to apply the procedure! Seek shelter and..."
Ding!
- Countdown before the Game begins: 0 seconds.
Game Start! Good luck and have fun!
We just had enough time to read the panel before something made the teacher's body fly across the corridor and explode against a wall in a splash of blood.
"AAAHH!" I fell on my ass and screamed at the sight of a giant troll that had appeared out of nowhere in front of us, three meters tall and red-eyed, wielding a bloody mass and filling the entire corridor.
The monster roared back at me as if it felt threatened, and kicked me into a classroom. Pain flashed through my limbs as I crashed into many chairs and tables. I just had time to register numerous screams of terror and agony reaching my ears before going unconscious.