First of all, Happy Holidays to everyone out there.

Now, guess who's back with another story that isn't the one you've likely been waiting for...

Being completely honest, I haven't made much progress with the sequel to GoS. I have all these ideas for plots and new developments that people hopefully haven't seen anywhere else but there seems to be a disconnect somewhere; the actual story isn't coming together. So it's been many months since I've posted anything here that I'm pretty sure people think I fell off. That I gave up on writing. Thankfully that's not the case; I still write a bit. That's where this story comes in. I've been working on it for a good while now on a different website under a different pseudonym and I decided perhaps I should post it here as well. It won't make up for the months of radio silence but perhaps you will find some amusement from it. Onto the content.

I'm a gamer now

Never thought I'd become one of those people who keep a journal but needs must I guess.

Not that I'm actually documenting this anywhere. Can't ensure the safety of a physical journal and don't exactly trust computers so I'll keep everything in my mental logs. Not a bad usage of my newly gained perfect memory and I think taking the time to reflect on events through these entries will do me a lot of good.

Now how should I move forward from here? The beginning? Would make the most sense, wouldn't it? Or do I need to provide some background first?

Ugh, I always did struggle in English class when it came to writing an intro and transitioning to the actual story. Didn't think it would apply to my personal journal too. You know what? I'm not doing this for a grade and no one is ever going to see - wait, it's in my mind, hear? - this so I can do whatever I want. It's my story. I think starting with the beginning is best and I'll try and weave in those extra context clues as well.

Alright. Personal journal entry number one starts now.

…

It's the first day of my summer vacation and last night I stayed up late scrolling through one of my go-to sites for stories to read. I'm a big fan of reading, started when I was young and we couldn't afford to keep the cable running year-round and over the years it's become an enjoyable pastime for me. From the popular YA novels when I was younger to more… adult, works as my interests shifted. Don't judge me.

Anyway, found something interesting to binge and didn't put my phone away until after two in the morning. So I was understandably confused upon waking up completely refreshed while the faint sunshine coming in around the blinds mark the time as 'too early to be up during the summer.'

"Huh?" And just as I acknowledge how weird this is, I become aware of information that I have no reason to have. "What the fuck?"

It reminded me of a game status page so I suppose the best way to visualize it would be something like this.

Lucio Campbell

LVL: 19

HP: 39

MP: 52

STR: 4

AGI: 4

END: 3

INT: 6

WIS: 4

LUK: 5

SP: 0

There was more to it than just that though; I had a long list of skills composed of everything I'd ever done in my life. Stuff like various sports, cleaning, singing, etc.; all things I'm familiar with only now the list puts a number beside it as if to say how proficient I am with that skill.

Can you believe cooking was one of my higher ones? Thanks Mom.

Two skills grab my attention however: gamer's body and gamer's mind. As per the mental influx of info, I know what those things are. Body gives me a video game character's body with potential for better integration with time, basically means I can look forward to becoming more game-like. Yay. It also comes with faster recovery and the ability to sleep off damage. As for mind, I would summarize it as the ability to regulate myself. It doesn't take away my emotions but it allows me better control over them so they won't be the only guiding force behind my actions. Kind of like some Navy SEAL or something being cool under fire despite whatever fear or tension they're feeling. I got that without having to go through the toughening experiences.

Pretty sweet starter pack, you know, assuming this is real and I'm not tripping.

And on that note I push my blankets aside and get out of bed. It's with hesitant steps that I make the short trip to look at my face from the mirror above the dresser. Can't stop the sigh of relief that leaves me then. I'm still me in all my dark haired, grey eyed glory. All my teeth are in place, the top canines didn't suddenly become fangs or anything. No discoloration or new body accessories when I look myself over.

Crises averted because new powers - supposedly, fingers crossed - are one thing, having physical deformities to go along with those powers is something else entirely. Blame it on all the books I've read or the X-Men movies I've seen but having visible clues that I'm different from every other human is not something I want. Down that path lies discrimination and sharp tools inside sterile labs. I prefer my insides go un-probed thank you very much.

I suppose the next thing to check now is if I really do have powers. Something that I'm drawing a blank on. At this point I'm pretty sure I'm not dreaming or hallucinating since I can read the spines of the books I own. Actually, the very fact that I remembered about that little test leads me to believe that I'm awake. But just because I'm awake and I have weird information in my head doesn't mean I have superpowers all of a sudden. Or at least none that I'd actually want.

I guess I could injure myself and- no. Just no. I don't feel like testing gamer's body in that fashion. Why would I even think of that?

I end up racking my brain and all six points of my intelligence and come up with one concrete idea by the time I head out for breakfast. So I brush my teeth, shower, and get dressed before joining my parents where I get a bit more proof that I might not be boringly normal Lucio anymore.

And I didn't have to cut myself to get that either.

Andrea Campbell

Human

That's my mom.

David Campbell.

Human

And that's my dad.

Just like with the information about my status page, I look at them and just know their names and that they're humans. I can't jump to any conclusions yet since I already knew those things - or I at least assumed in the case of their species - but it means that all I have to do is find some random strangers and see if I get the same knowledge. And then figure out if it's accurate I guess. Shouldn't be too difficult since I already planned on heading out to the sports complex to test a couple things.

"Hey sweetie, set the table for me ok?"

Routine Quest: Set Table

Reward: 5 XP

Once again, info straight inside my head only it's a notification this time. Interesting. Looks like I just figured out how I can potentially go up to level twenty.

…

It's official. I have powers.

The first confirmation came from pitching my voice to sound different and then calling out names of perfect strangers. I didn't do it often but the few times they heard me the targets turned to look around them in confusion. That was all I needed to accept the new status quo yet I went to the complex for something in specific so I got that done too.

My objective was figuring out what my stats actually meant. I was level nineteen but what did that mean? It sounded like a noob character but if others my age had the same level then it meant I was average. My stats also seemed pretty low but once again, can't be low if my peers had the same. Since I couldn't see the stats of those around me I went out to test my own. The mental stats were hard to check and luck was impossible but I was pretty familiar with my physical body. Just had to do some exercises to see if anything had changed despite not feeling any different. And so I did. My pushup and crunch max hadn't changed and a mile still took me a sad seven and a half minutes to run at a pace I could maintain. Really the only thing that was new was how fast I bounced back from that run. Normally I would have been wiped out for the rest of the day but in just thirty or so minutes I was perfectly fine.

That was some crazy superpowers shit right there. And after those tests the numbers on my status page started making some sense to me.

The numbers seemed low but assuming I hadn't changed and neither had the people around me, I could make some guesses. I was seventeen, about to be a high school senior, and there were certain things I knew to be true. I was stronger than the average student who didn't work out at all. I was faster than most people in a sprint but long distance was not my thing. Stamina had always been the one thing not included in my free genetic package. So knowing this, my seemingly low stats stopped being depressing and instead just became a numerical representation of my body. Made sense that my strength and agility stats were tied while endurance was behind. Intelligence was easily the highest which did not surprise me. I was kind of lazy physically, but my grades were always good as my parents pushed me to do well in school. Wisdom was hard to explain but it looked good based on everything else. So did luck, somewhat.

You would figure the guy who gets powers in a world where they don't exist would be super lucky.

I made the assumption that a ten in each stat would be around the peak. Like Olympian level athletes and top scientists. Again, that was just an assumption and it's actually more likely for the physical stats than mental. Humans have shown that it's their brains that keep them at the top of the food chain so mental stats could easily peak around fifteen or even more.

So what did I do after confirming I had powers?

Exactly what anyone else would have done in my position. Experiment with it and think about how I could use it to my benefit. I'd tried working out before, even took the offered weight training classes a couple times, so I had some ideas as to how gamer's body could be of use. Hint, I'm now protected from atrophy and I can recover faster than normal. This meant I could theoretically get gains easier than everyone else which was something I couldn't ignore. Not if it meant getting that three in END out of my face. Head, technically.

I didn't stop at my physical stats either. Knowing I had to retake the SAT or take the ACT the coming school year I decided to use our old desktop and browse free exam prep materials. The aim was to raise my INT and prepare for the entrance exams. Wisdom and luck were two things I wasn't sure how to work on so I left them alone.

Aside from working out I also tried to level up. I learned within days that XP was obtained through doing things so that's what I did, volunteering for chores and simply doing things before my parents even asked me to do them. The rewards were tiny, usually five points on average, but I knew each point counted and pushed me closer to level twenty.

Just like that, the days crept along until something interesting happened two days before summer vacation ended.

…

Level Up!

+3 SP

Don't you just love it when hard work pays off? I certainly do.

Despite what pop culture would tell you, I didn't become some Tony Stark level genius with Captain America's body in the short break I had. Far from it actually. The biggest increase in stats came from endurance which went up a full two points. I did focus on that more than my other physical stats plus it was the lowest so I guess that explains it. Everything else went up one with the exception of luck. Needless to say, if this summer was any indication as to how difficult it will be to raise my stats then these level up bonuses are soon to be my best friend. Unless those only come with certain levels, like multiples of five or ten or something like that. Even then, free stat points!

The question I'm facing now though is what to do with them. More specifically, where should I put them? I suppose saving them is an option, supported by the idea that I should train my stats naturally for now and leave the points for when doing that becomes too time consuming but I also need to consider the timing. I'm about to start my senior year in a couple days meaning I only have one year, less actually, to make myself stand out to those top colleges. My current GPA is nice but it's not enough seeing as how academics is all I have. I already accepted I had to do better and now I have additional means to do so.

I can add these three points to INT for an even ten which might or might not be around the peak. With the additional brain power I can take on more AP courses and hopefully ace them, ace every class actually, and get a high score on whichever entrance exam I decide on. I would potentially be smart enough to maintain those perfect grades while making time for a sports team. Something like that would look great on my resume; every college wants a great student who can also generate lots of revenue as an athlete.

Yeah… that sounds like a plan. Here goes nothing.

SP drops to zero while INT jumps to ten.

There aren't words to describe the feeling of increasing a stat by that much that fast. My world explodes.

Let me know your thoughts. And I'll update this weekly for now.