Jun is such an odd ball character. I like how their personality and motivations turned out.
"The power of The Gamer...", I quietly mused while pushing the pull-out bed back into the couch. I put the couch cushions back in place. I moved the coffee table back in front of the couch. I glanced at my palm for the millionth time as I sat down on the couch. "Then, there's Magic Bla-", I started before covering my mouth in horror. I barely avoided making my earlier fear a reality.
"I really should be in a protected space, just in case.", I said nervously. I glanced between my palm and the wall I had blown up earlier. I knew I had learned a skill from making the protected space. I just couldn't remember the name of the skill. So, I retraced the beings instructions and manually created a protected space. A window appeared in front of me.
You have entered an instant dungeon.
Like before, I felt something was off as I created the space. This time, I noticed what was missing. There were no sounds of cars honking or running engines. I couldn't hear the upstairs neighbors screaming at each other while things got broken. I didn't even hear the refrigerator running.
"It's kind of...", I trailed off. I was struggling to describe my new surroundings. "Peaceful, I guess?", I said with a shrug of my shoulders. It was just what I needed to keep my thoughts in order. I really needed to stay focused if I was going to figure out my newfound abilities. I held my palms away from me, just to be safe.
"So, I said Magic Blast earlier...", I trailed off as nothing happened. "Magic Blast.", I said quietly. A destructive blue ball of flame erupted from my hands and slammed into the refrigerator , exploding on contact. The explosion threw the refrigerator partially through the wall. "Huh, I really do have to say the name of stuff before I can use it.", I said, more than a little annoyed. I leaned back in the couch and slouched a little. With that sorted out, I could try tackling another problem with my powers.
"In theory, being a game character sounds great but how do I access the game menus?", I asked as I twiddled my thumbs. I looked back at the fridge I launched into the wall. I knew how to trigger my skills: saying the name of the skill. I quickly sat up straight as the being from earlier came to mind. The being had asked what skill I created.
"That can't be a coincidence.", I said, a little upset that I didn't notice it sooner. I gently chewed on the tip of my thumb as I went back through my exchange with the being. "Obviously, it wanted to teach me how to create and leave these spaces. What else did it say?", I pondered as continued to nibble on the tip of my thumb. "Think about the games you've played.", I said, paraphrasing the being.
"Most of the games I've played are borrowed from Mac and they're almost always sports games. Outside of that, Darren and I usually play MMOs together.", I said with a smile but the smile didn't last long. The being's hint also implied it was watching us. I really didn't like that thought. Still, what if my power could support basic systems from MMOs? I grabbed an unused notebook and pen from Alice's room. I wanted to write down everything I could think of.
"Character creation, class systems, talent trees, skill teachers, skill books, crafting professions, loot tables, quests, dungeons, raids, pvp arenas, auction houses, fast travel methods, limited time events, cash shops...", I spoke as I wrote down my checklist. I listed off every system and convienence in MMOs that I could think of. "I still don't know how to use any of the game menus but it'll be good to have a list of things to look into.", I said as I went over my list.
"Now, let's shift gears and focus on more traditional RPGs.", I said as I wrote 'MMOs' above my first list. It didn't take long for me realize I was drawing a blank on RPG systems. The laptop was pretty old and the only console we owned was an original Playstation. As a result, I was only familiar with RPGs from the early days of console gaming. It didn't help that the RPGs I did know from that era had most of the same systems. "Well, I doubt I'll learn any skills from leveling up since I can create skills.", I said, frustrated at my lack of RPG knowledge.
"For now, that just leaves figuring out how to open different menus.", I said as I chewed on the end of the pen. Before long, I pulled the end of the pen out of my mouth. "It wouldn't hurt to make a list of the different game menus I've seen.", I said as I wrote 'Menus' at the top of the paper. I drew a single line from the top of the paper to the bottom to act as a dividing column from my 'MMO' list. "Status-", I stopped speaking when a window popped up in front of me.
Name: Jun Tachibana
Occupation: The Gamer
Level: 2
Age: 15
HP: 120/120
MP: 70/70
Strength: 5
Agility: 11
Intelligence: 5
Wisdom: 4
Luck: 19
Points: 0
I felt my jaw drop. I literally just needed to say the name of the menu I wanted to see? It didn't take long for me to come up with a few more questions. Could other people see these screens? Could I even touch the screens? What other menus were there? I settled for the easiest question to answer. I reached out and touched the status menu in front of me. A small pop-up was immediately laid over the status menu.
Strength: Impacts HP, physical strength, and physical damage.
"Well, that settles that.", I said plainly after I finished reading the pop-up. I went through the menu and touched the name of each attribute to see what they did.
Agility: Impacts movement and physical attack speed.
Intelligence: Impacts spell damage, maximum MP, and memorization capacity.
Wisdom: Impacts mana regeneration.
Luck: Small impact on all manner of things.
Points: Points that can be allocated to increase other attributes. You gain five points per level up.
"That was surprisingly informative.", I grumbled as I mulled over the implications of my stats and level. "Basically, I'm a weakling who's done nothing to improve myself.", I growled, annoyed. "Alright, what other menus are there?", I asked as I glanced over my 'MMO' list. It didn't take long for me to cross off classes, talent trees, and timed events from my list. "Party.", I said as my frustration continued to build due to a lack of results. A pop-up appeared in front of me.
A party has not been created.
"Okay, that's good to know.", I said, happy to finally stop crossing off parts of my list. I decided to go out on a limb. "Create party?", I asked carefully. Another pop-up showed up.
What would you like to name your party?
"How do I name a party?", I pondered while chewing on the pen again. Another pop-up appeared.
Party "How do I name a party" has been created.
"Ha ha. Now, how do I disband a party?", I grumbled, frowning as I read the newest pop-up. "Based on previous results: disband party.", I said, hoping my test worked. I was rewarded with another pop-up.
The party has been disbanded by the leader.
"Skills.", I said, hoping for a result. I was happy to see another menu open up. There were a total of five skill icons shown. I hummed quietly as I touched an icon that looked like a blue ball of flame. A small window was laid over the skill menu.
Magic Blast Active - Lv:1 Exp:11.5%
Cost: 15 Mana
Attack with a blast of mana from afar. Skill damage is linked to Intelligence.
Range: 10M
Effect: Deals 300% magic damage.
"Wait, skills have levels?!", I yelped out of shock. "That can be a good and bad thing. A higher skill level means more damage but could also increase the mana cost.", I said as I remembered briefly watching someone play Disgaea. "I wonder if crafting works the same way. It is a skill, in a sense.", I said as I resumed chewing on the pen.
"Quests.", I said. I was rewarded with another menu. "Okay, my power can make quests. That's kinda weird.", I mumbled as I started writing. "Map.", I said, pleased with my progress. A bit later, I crossed off the rest of my list except for character creation. "I hope this is a thing.", I mumbled. I modeled my first attempt after how to create a party.
"Create Character.", I said nervously, hoping for a response. I was not disappointed. A window appeared before me.
WARNING!
You are attempting to create a new character. All levels, stats, and skills of the current character will be lost. Are you sure you wish to do this?
There was two buttons, one for 'Yes' and the other for 'No'. I hesitated for a moment before pressing 'Yes'. The window disappeared and was replaced by a much larger window. To the right of the window, I could see a second window showing me as if I were standing up. It really felt like the character creation menu of a game.
There was several tabs on the left side of the window. One tab had two symbols intertwined with each other. One symbol was blue and the other symbol was pink but I couldn't make out the details of the symbols. Below that, there was a tab with the icon of a blank face. There was also a tab with an icon of the human body. The second to the last tab simply showed a plus and minus sign next to each other. The last tab simply showed a green checkmark.
I tapped my pointing finger on the tab with the two symbols. The menu displayed two options. The first option had an icon of a blue circle with an arrow attached to it. The other option was a pink circle with what looked like a plus sign attached to it. I was a little confused. I took a moment to think it over and realized what the symbols meant.
"Well, I know what choices Alice and Darren would make.", I said, troubled as I looked at the gender menu. I was faced with a problem: I had never really felt like I was one gender or the other. I had always felt like I was somewhere in the middle. Then, a small pop-up window appeared.
New gender choice unlocked.
At the same time, a new button appeared in the window. It had a icon of the two gender symbols intertwined. I pressed the button out of curiousity and felt my entire body quickly shift and change in various places. The feelings caused a shiver to run down my spine. I inspected my body once the feeling of change went away. I was a little unnerved by the fact that I didn't feel very different.
"I wonder-", I started to speak before just falling silent. My voice sounded a bit higher, lighter even. I touched myself in a few places and started noticing changes. "So, I'm mostly a girl but, down there, I'm both.", I said with a big smile. I was starting to realize what the third button had done to me. "Gaia or whatever the source of my power is, thank you for not making me choose.", I said, hoping my thanks would be heard.
As happy as I was, I was still curious about the other tabs. I touched the tab with the face icon and watched the gender options be replaced with a new set of choices. There were sub-tabs at the top of the window for changing my face, hair, and eyes. I was pretty happy with how I looked, outside of my hair and eyes. So, I left my face alone and touched the sub-tab to change my hair.
The hair tab had tons of hair styles to choose from. It was like looking at Alice's old fashion magazines. The only thing I really wanted to change was the length and volume of my hair. I didn't want to go with the wrong length so I got up from the couch. There were several sliding bars beneath the massive options of hair styles.
Each sliding bar had it's own name. It didn't take long to find the options I wanted. I touched the sliding bars and dragged them with my finger to make the changes I wanted. I shivered as I felt countless new hairs sprout and grow to increase the volume my hair. It felt like there were dozens of bugs crawling around in my hair. The feeling was even worse when I made the length of my hair to reach my knees.
After that, I switched to the tab for changing my eyes. I had always thought it was really neat how some people were born with two different eye colors. So, I changed the color of my left eye from green to blue. I felt my eye itch for a moment. I looked at the second window that showed my body standing up. It was a little disorienting to see myself with two eye colors but I decided to keep the changes.
I was happy with how I looked after the few changes I made. I changed to the tab for changing my body. I wanted to see what options were available. It didn't take long for my scrolling to stop. I hummed as I eyed an option titled 'Breasts'. I tapped the option out of curiosity.
"So, I'm an A cup.", I said after I found a drop-down menu listing my size. I was curious to know what it felt like to be bigger than an A. I also felt like any major changes would just end up looking unnatural. I had always been pretty small, maybe even petite. I doubted I weighed more than a hundred twenty pounds. I backed out of the submenu and touched the tab with the plus and minus signs. I was surprised to see my stats get pulled up.
Name: Jun Tachibana
Occupation: The Gamer
Level: 2
Age: 15
HP: 100/100
MP: 60/60
Strength: 4(5) + -
Agility: 4(11) + -
Intelligence: 4(5) + -
Wisdom: 4(4) + -
Luck: 4(19) + -
Points: 24
"Do I really get to redistribute most of my base stats?", I mused as I sat back down on the couch. I thought about the stat descriptions I had read earlier. "I've always preferred to be in the middle of the action instead of using ranged attacks or magic. So, I want to go for Strength and Agility. Raising my Strength would help me with tanking and damage. Raising Agility would let me move quicker.", I said, mulling over my options while chewing on the pen. I took a lot of time to weigh my options between going melee or magic.
I had a feeling there would be no going back once my choice was made. In the end, I decided to do what I enjoyed. I split my extra points between Strength and Agility. I also added the one point back to Intelligence. I didn't like the feeling of being stronger by becoming dumber. I touched the green checkmark and a small pop-up was laid over the menu screen. The window showed my new stat distribution and asked me to confirm my choices.
Name: Jun Tachibana
Occupation: The Gamer
Level: 2
Age: 15
HP: 340/340
MP: 70/70
Strength: 16
Agility: 15
Intelligence: 5
Wisdom: 4
Luck: 4
Points: 0
Do you wish to create this character?
I didn't hesitate to press the 'Yes' button this time. I felt something pass through my body. I knew my changes were locked in. I didn't care that I had lost the skills I had created. It only took a moment for me to escape the protected space. I heard the muted sound of breaking glass. I was back in the apartment and had recreated two of the skills I had lost.
What I didn't expect to hear was the sound of a cup shattering on the floor. I felt warm liquid and shards of glass land on my bare feet. Alice was standing a few feet away from me. Her jaw moved a little but she didn't say anything. I didn't choose my words carefully. "Alice, I can explain!"
I had forgotten that the site loves to strip all the spaces and stuff out of stories. I am not sure how I feel about that.