All Gamer related text is subject to change for future balancing. Stats, Items, Titles, etc.
Ping!
Due to sleeping on a comfortable surface, HP and MP have been fully regenerated! All ailments and negative status effects have been cured!
The first thing Harry saw when he woke up confirmed that last night had indeed been real. He thought it was all a nightmare like he usually has. Turning to the nightstand, he saw that it was six in the morning. One hour before his 'family' normally woke. They expected him to have their breakfast cooked by the time they waddled downstairs, otherwise, he would be punished. He had about 40 minutes of free time before he would have to begin. He got up to get ready for the day; brush his teeth, take a shower, and attempt to tame his hair.
He failed.
Putting on the new clothes that his aunt and uncle graciously bought for him, Harry took a glance at the clock. It was just about time for him to begin cooking. Arriving at the kitchen, he got to work. After lighting the burners, he glided over to the refrigerator and pulled out the ingredients he would use. A carton of eggs, a package of bacon, and two packages of sausage. His uncle and cousin loved food as much as they loved being ordinary. At least Vernon had manners when eating, the same could not be said for Dudley. It was like watching a pig flounder about in the mud. The mere thought twisted his stomach in disgust.
Ping!
You received a Quest!
Cook breakfast for your family!
Surprise your family with your newfound cooking Skill!
Rewards:
Neutrality from your family
50£
250 Exp
Failure:
Beaten within an inch of your life!
Harry accepted the Quest and dismissed the screen. He had to cook anyway, so why not get rewarded for it too? He wondered what it meant by his newfound skill?
Ping!
Skill created!
[Cooking - Passive - Lvl: 13]
(The ability to prepare and cook a meal. The higher the level the better the flavor, aroma, and nutrition of the meal.)
65% increase in the overall quality of the meals you prepare.
Harry chuckled slightly. Ask and you shall receive. The Skill's level seemed okay-ish to him, he has been cooking for his family since he was seven. He finished just in time as his aunt, Petunia, came down the stairs.
"What's that smell?" Petunia asked as she got a whiff of the food Harry prepared. She's never smelled something so good in her life.
Harry helped her sit before serving her some food. His aunt ate the considerably less than Vernon and Dudley. He shrugged. "I studied some of your cooking books to better my cooking ability," Harry confessed. "Thought it was least I could do after you bought me clothes."
Petunia took a bite and hummed in pleasure. She was going to berate him for touching her expensive cookbooks, but the incredible taste persuaded her not to. From the stairs, Vernon followed by Dudley entered the kitchen and took a seat at the table. Harry served each a large portion and poured all three a glass of orange juice.
"By far the best meal you've ever cooked, boy." Venom noted, ignoring Dudley inhaling his food like a vacuum cleaner next to him. "How did this sudden improvement come about?"
Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Anything that wasn't normal must be caused by magic and therefore freakish. They were the worst kind of Humans. "I wanted to do something special in thanks for everything you've done for me. I read aunt Petunia's cookbooks in the hope of increasing my cooking skills." Harry lied, easily.
Vernon narrowed his eyes as his freak of a nephew to see if he was lying. Seeing that he was being truthful, Vernon returned to his meal. "It's a good start, boy."
Ping!
Skill Created!
[Lying - Passive - Lvl: 2]
(The ability to lie to someone without getting caught.)
10% chance of success.
Harry wasn't allowed to eat with them. His freakish-ness might taint their oh-so-important meal. One of the things that stayed the same. He would just eat his portion after he cleaned their dirty dishes.
Ping!
Quest complete!
Cook breakfast for the family!
Rewards:
Neutrality from your family
50£
250 Exp
Ping!
You have leveled up!
After finishing his plate and cleaning it, he looked around to see if he was alone. Seeing nobody, he decided to look at those Skill Books he received last night. Harry imagined them appearing in his hands and two identical books popped into existence. They looked like an ordinary book except for there were no words on the inside. He placed one on the counter and focused solely on the one residing in his hands.
Ping!
You found a Skill Book! Would you like to learn?
Y/N?
Harry was hoping it would tell him what the Skill would be first... He gave it a mental affirmative. The cover of the book glowed with letters he didn't recognize. The book disintegrated into light particles that immediately flew into him.
Ping!
New Skill acquired!
[Instant Dungeon Create - Active - Lvl: 1]
(The ability to create a mirror dimension to fight monsters to level up rapidly. Level 1 has a 1:1 time scale.)
Available Dungeons:
Zombie I.D. - Lvl 1
Harry was interested. So far he's leveled up quite quickly but knew that it would progressively increase in difficulty in the future. He would have to test out this Skill later tonight and see what opportunities it presented him. He grabbed the book he placed on the counter and assimilated it too.
Ping!
New Skill acquired!
[Instant Dungeon Escape - Active - Lvl Max]
(The ability to escape from an I.D.)
After breakfast, Harry began on his other chores. He was nearly done when Petunia, Vernon, and Dudley came down looking like they were getting ready to leave. His uncle and cousin didn't spare him a glance before they left through the front door. Harry was perfectly content with this; they wouldn't acknowledge him and he wouldn't them. His aunt walked up to him with her lips pressed into a thin line.
"Dudley, Vernon, and I are going to be gone for a couple of hours. You're expected to finish your chores before beginning on the lawn and garden, understood?" Petunia demanded, looking into the same eyes her sister Lily has.
Harry avoided meeting her eyes by looking down. "Yes, ma'am." His aunt nodded before following her husband.
Finishing his chores, he went up to his bedroom to change into his old baggy clothes. He wanted to keep his new clothes in the best condition for as long as he could. They were lauded for having the best garden and healthiest looking lawn in this annoyingly ordinary neighborhood, something that his aunt and uncle got praised for. Of course, neither of them has ever dirtied their hands maintaining it, it was his responsibility. Something he didn't mind, as it allowed him some time to do something he liked.
After two hours of work under the blazing hot summer sun, he took a small break to hydrate himself. Washing away the sweat from his face, he patted a rag softly on his face. Recalling that he got another Skill earlier, he took a look at it.
[Green Thumb - Passive - Lvl 25]
(The ability to maintain and cultivate all forms of nature. Especially flora.)
105% increase in the overall quality of all forms of nature you tend to.
He also increased his STR stat by one when he was dealing with some weeds that sprouted. He wondered if he could improve both his STR and END stat by doing some basic exercises? In gym class, they did sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, and ran around the track field. Something he would test out once he finished with the garden. But for now, he wanted to try out the ID Create Skill. He was going to fully explore it later that night after the rest of the house went to bed. Harry thought it would be best if he did some recon so he knew what to expect.
"I.D. Create: Zombie!"
His surrounding darkened while a weird sensation filled his senses. It felt like the world around him twisted and shifted before returning, but he knew he didn't move an inch. He was still inside leaning on the sink. For a moment, he thought it didn't work. Everything was the same. Harry shrugged, before heading to the front door. He walked down the path to the sidewalk.
He was wrong.
It worked.
Unless the sky was always purple. Not to mention the alarming stillness of the neighborhood. He doubted it. Everything inside of him screamed at him that this was wrong. It felt wrong. Extremely wrong. He didn't see any zombies as he looked around. But he did notice something else, the disgusting ordinary row of houses looked abandoned. It looked like nature had attempted to reclaim what the Humans took from it; vines and moss wrapped the outside of the houses. The asphalt of the road by far looked the worst, having cracked with flora overflowing from it.
Harry forgot why he was there. Or how he got there. His stomach twisted with nausea. He was frozen. His memory was failing him, every time he tried to recall something it faded away. And the silence, his mind couldn't handle it. The emptiness was gradually causing his mind to slip. He was so consumed by his mind that the shuffling noise from behind him never reached him. The noise heightened as whatever grew closer and closer to Harry.
It was only when something pushed him did he snap out of it and return to reality. It was only thanks to Dudley's favorite pastime, "Harry Hunting" that he was able to roll away from whatever knocked him down. He looked back to where he rolled from and saw a horrifically damaged body. There was no way it could be alive; part of its stomach no longer existed. And yet somehow, it continued to move as it struggled to stand.
Everything came rushing back to Harry. He had taken a break and decided to scout the Zombie Dungeon, which meant the thing before him, was one of its occupants. Harry cursed at himself, he could have died during his little panic...
"Observe."
Zombie - Lvl 4
HP: 600
MP: 0
(The weakest type of zombie. It's slow and dumb but has a powerful hold.)
[Kill to earn 50 Exp.]
Harry backed away as the zombie finally stood. He didn't have any weapon to kill it and he couldn't let it grab him. He continued to keep his distance, which was easy as it was slow. An idea occurred to him. Harry slowly led the zombie inside his aunt's house while paying close attention to his surroundings. Halfway up the pathway, he bolted inside. When the zombie reached the opened door, it slowly stumbled by it before suddenly letting out a horrid screech as its head flew through the air.
Harry exhaled heavily as he slowly lowered the bat in his hand. He watched the head and body of the body dissolve into wisps of darkness. The only thing that remained was a small green orb that rolled to him and disappeared. It reminded him of how he absorbed the Skill Books.
50 Exp earned!
25£ earned!
Harry knew he should feel sick for killing something. Undead or not. He should feel something. But he didn't and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing. He sighed. For now, he'd take it as a blessing, but it would be something he has to actively be aware of. As much as he would love to continue, he knew he had to get back and finish his work in the garden. He glanced down at the bat. He felt excited about what he had done; killing a zombie and getting rewarded for it.
It was intoxicating!
But he didn't prefer being up close and personal with the zombies. Maybe it was because of his perception of what a Wizard should be, but he wanted to stay back while he fought. Like a support-character. After all, he wasn't a swordsman-something he would look into bout learning sometime in the future-that could slay anything that approached him with his sword. He was a Wizard with magic.
Now that he thought about it, what did Wizards and Witches do exactly? Magic, of course, but to what degree? He had twice as much MP as he did HP, but he had yet to use any Skill that required MP. He thought back to one of Dudley's games, he recalled that a Fireball was very common and that most of, if not all, Mages could conjure one.
Could he produce one since he was a Wizard? He supposes he's capable of anything due to the Gamer ability. He possesses a Skill that allows him to create other Skills as long as he had the necessary requirements. A fireball was the simplest magical attack he could think of. Besides MP and intent, what else would he possibly need? Perhaps a visualization would be needed.
Tightening his hold on the bat, he walked out the door in search of a zombie. Harry would leave after he tried what he wanted. He was excited, if this were to work he would be using magic for the first time. On purpose, he amended, recalling his little disappearing trick at school.
Find a zombie, create the Fireball Skill, and proceed to kill the zombie with however many were necessary. Then get back to his dimension to finish up. In less than a minute, he found a zombie to experiment on, the same type as before. It groaned as it noticed him and began to stumble after Harry. He stayed at least 3 meters from it and had his bat ready just in case.
He wasn't sure what to do, but he reminded himself that he was experimenting, so he tried his previous idea.
Raising his hand, he imagined-willed a ball of fire to materialize in his hand. Momentarily mesmerized, he then tossed the ball of fire towards the zombie, as one would with a baseball. The fireball exploded on its chest.
Ping!
You created a Skill!
[Fireball - Active - Lvl 1]
(Create a ball to fire to attack your enemies.)
Cost: 100 MP
Damage: 150 HP
Yes! It worked! Now it was time to kill it. "Observe."
Walker Zombie - Lvl 4
HP: 300/450
MP: 0
(The weakest type of zombie. It's slow and dumb but has a powerful hold.)
[Kill to earn 50 Exp]
He was hopping in joy! Magic! Real magic! Refocusing, he tried something else. Raising his hand again, he willed 2 Fireballs to appear, and instead of tossing them, he flicked his hands towards the zombie. And just as intended, they flew and made contact one after the other. The zombie was screeching as its body was scorched by the flames, a second later the zombie dissolved into wisps of darkness, and the only thing left was a small green orb on the ground. He absorbed it, like last time.
50 Exp earned!
25£ earned!
His life was now a literal game. He could do anything-be anything he wanted. What did he want to be? What did he want to do? Harry hadn't the faintest clue.
"Status."
{Status}
Harry James Potter
Title: The Gamer
Race: Wizard (Magical)
Age: 11
Level: 4
EXP: 100/750
HP: 520
(Regen: 60/min)
MP: 970/1080
(Regen: 180/min)
STR: 4
END: 4
DEX: 4
INT: 16
WIS:12
CHR: 2
LUC: 26
Skill Points: 30
Currency: 100£
Description: Harry James Potter is the only son of James Potter and Lily Potter nee Evans. He was left at his mother's sister's place at the tender age of 1 and has since lived with his aunt and uncle, Petunia and Vernon Dursley, and his cousin, Dudley Dursley. He resents them for how they treated him when he was younger and can't wait to leave. He knows his parents are still alive due to overhearing such from his uncle one night. He doesn't understand why they would leave their only child and not take care of him. A newly accepted student at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Harry nodded. He needed to know why his parents left him. He could only begin to learn what the answer was at Hogwarts.
What he didn't know then, was that he would learn the reason sooner than he could imagine and from a person he didn't know existed until they met in two weeks.