Well I'm Back and hopefully updating regularly again. No promises though. All depends on time and imagination. This was honestly an idea that came from the multiple gamer fics out there, funnily enough this was originally going to be a Danny Phantom gamer story, but it became a Transformers Prime one instead. How, I don't know. Well, here's hoping you enjoy.
I own nothing.
"Regular speech"
[System text]
If someone were to ask Jack Darby what life was like in Jasper, Nevada he would describe this the town was quiet, uneventful, and the most boring place on Earth. Nothing amazing, strange, or extraordinary happens in this town. Which is why he is convinced his K.O. meal was laced with something, because there was no way he was looking at a floating blue screen in front of him.
To be honest his day kinda sucked. This morning he had a flat on his bike and after fixing it he arrived at school late and his teacher, who just so happened to be the strictest teacher in the school, assigned extra homework as punishment. After that he to deal with a surprise pop quiz, Vince and his cronies using gym as an excuse to pelt him with dodgeballs, and due to being in a rush he forgot to bring money for lunch.
Work wasn't any better, most of the customers he dealt with today were rude, making large messes or dining and dashing. His mother June would be working at night in the hospital and since neither him nor her had time to pick up groceries, Jack had to get food from work. Now after biking home and finally taking a break after a day of bad luck a screen pop up out of nowhere after he took a bite of his cold burger.
The screen was light blue with white borders. The words were written (Or typed) in white letters giving of a technological or digital feel with only two words on it.
[Press Start.]
"Okay what is going on?" Jack thought. Was K.O. Burger lacing their meat with drugs, if so, that would explain why people actually ate there when they had a choice. "Maybe it will go way if I ignore it."
A task while doable proved to be fruitless. While the screen didn't stay right in front of him it did however fallowed him around the house. Watch T.V.? Floated right next to him on the couch. Doing homework? Floated right above his textbooks. Using the bathroom? Made it really difficult to go due to it floating in front of him. Finally, Jack had enough.
"Alright fine! Let's get this crazy and probably drug driven hallucination over with." Jack snapped. Bring his hand up he tapped the screen and to his shock he actually touched it. As if a thin sheet of ice the screen broke into millions of pixels before forming a new message.
[Initializing game]
[Loading interface]
[Setting up character page]
[Game start]
[Welcome! By pressing start you have taken the first step of your new life. You, Jack Darby, have gained the ability Gamer. Only a few beings in the multiverse have this amazing ability! From now on your life and very reality is affected like a video game. From gaining skills to completing quest and leveling up a world of new opportunities have opened up and you are in forefront of it all.]
[Word of warning though, gamers tend to fall into three types. Those who use this ability for good, those who use this ability for ill and those who completely ignore this ability. While the Gamer ability has no moral preference, it is wise not to simply ignore it. Those who do tend to meet an unfortunate fate. So, no matter on personal morality it is highly recommended you use this ability. Good luck and have fun!]
Jack stared in shock as he read and reread the screen trying to comprehend what he just read. He gained an ability? His life was a video game now? Was he just threatened not to ignore this?
"Maybe I should call for help." Jack muttered thinking whatever was in that burger was starting to really get to him but at the word "help" a screen popped up again.
[Help menu active]
[Attributes and Skill Points]
[Leveling]
[Quest and Challenges]
[Dungeons]
[Perks]
[Skills]
[Ailments]
[Zero HP]
Jack looked at the floating screen with resignation as he finally had to admit this was real. Sighing he pressed "Attributes and Skill Points".
[Attributes are what makes you well you! They are group by three categories. The physical category contains Constitution (CON), Strength (STR), and Dexterity (DEX).]
[Constitution is your vitality, the higher your Constitution the more health and stamina you have. Health is calculated by (100+(CON x LVL)= total HP) for example an LVL 20 character with a CON of 2 would have heath stat of 140. Stamina is calculated the same way. Health and Stamina recovery is also affected by this stat. Recovery calculation is .5 HP/ SP per second for every 1 CON point. So better to stay healthy.]
[Strength is your overall athleticism, your melee damage stat, and your ability to use certain items or preforming actions. Some weapons will require a higher Strength stat then others, sometimes raw physical strength will be needed to get something done. Overall Strength is a great asset to have.]
[Dexterity is your agility, flexibility and reflexes. From dodging attacks to balancing on wires high in the air Dexterity is a friend you want on your side. With this range attacks can do more damage; sneaking is easier, and fingers are nimbler. Thieves, rouges and musicians value this stat above all others.]
[The mental category holds the Intelligence (INT) and Wisdom (WIS) stats.]
[Intelligence is how smart you are and how much magic you have. With this stat you can build incredible items, learn skills faster and come up with knew ideas. Magic is calculated similar to health and stamina. (100+(INT X LVL)) Better start hitting those books!]
[Wisdom is your judgment, intuition and common sense. While many seem to lack it, one should never disregard this stat, especially since it helps with recovering your magical reserves. Magic recovery is similar as HP and SP. .5 MP per second for every 1 WIS.]
[The final stat is not of the body or the mind. Luck (LCK) is known to affect everything in life. From near brushes with death to finding loot, a high luck stat is beloved by any adventure. Just don't get cocky, lady luck is fickle, and it pays to have to skill to back up your luck.]
That was a lot of information to digest. Jack rubbed his head trying to keep the headache that this is causing at bay, a small part of him still thinks this is an illusion but it was getting smaller by the second. "What was next? Leveling right?"
[Leveling, the key to many video games and your best bet, more like only bet for surviving anything! There are two types of leveling, Character Leveling and Skill Leveling.]
[Character leveling is as you guess when you level up. To do this you must earn experience points (XP), you can earn XP through quest, challenges and defeating enemies. Every time you level up you will gain 5 attribute points to spent.]
[Skill leveling is different. Skills level up through use and unlike Character leveling skills have level caps. (See more in skill section.)]
"Well that was short, but I guess there isn't a lot to explain there. Next one."
[Quest, Challenges, and Dungeons are often your best source to gaining XP, loot, and crafting items.]
[Quest are gain through multiple ways, from setting goals, hearing rumors, or even exploring new places. Quest can be a single time or repeatable event with specific tasks to complete. They will have a primary objective to complete. Successfully completing quest will grant various rewards but failing to complete the objective may mean the quest will fail as well. Each quest may have secondary objectives for bonus rewards but failing these will not cause the quest to fail.]
[Challenges are events that require a specific action to be preform a number of times. Challenges are not repeatable, but they may have tiers. A tier one challenge may require an action to happen a hundred times while a tier five challenge may require the same action five hundred times. In completing a tier or a challenge you may gain items, perks, and various other loot that relate to the challenge.]
Jack nodded at the screen, that was fairly basic for any video game, at least rpgs. The challenges did intrigue him since it seemed a good way to get gear. "This may be useful." He thought before going to the next one.
[Dungeons come in three types, natural, event, and creation. All dungeons are useful for any adventurer for gaining XP and resources. Most dungeons will have multiple foes to defeat and loot to find. All Dungeons except event dungeons have a time dilatation. For every ten minutes in the dungeons, one minute will pass outside the dungeons]
[Natural dungeons are created due to abundance of magic or [Unknown]. Within these area creatures will have powerful abilities and skills making them a challenge to fight. These dungeons must be found physically and meet the level requirement to enter them. These dungeons can be returned to at later times, note by doing so the dungeons may be at higher levels.]
[Event dungeons are single time events that are cause by certain circumstances. Once completing these dungeons will disappear and no longer be available. Due to this loot and other items tend to be very valuable.]
[Creation dungeons are pocket dimensions created by the player and can be accessed any time. Within these dungeons the player can find various types of foes and creature to face. These dungeons will have unique loot that can only be found within them. Only available when player reaches level ten.]
"That's weird, why is there a part unknown? So far everything has been up front, but whatever this is the system doesn't know or more likely not telling me for some reason." Jack thought to himself.
[For making a logical conclusion +1 INT]
"And apparently, I can increase stats through my actions. At least I can find places for grinding but I should hold off until I have a better understanding of things."
[For thinking things through +1 WIS]
Ignoring that for now, on to perks.
[Perks are passive bonuses to skills and attributes. Perks are generally permanent, but some can be lost due to certain circumstances or have short duration periods. Perks can be earned through quest, challenges, and performing certain actions.]
[Skills are actions and abilities that the player can use, from mythical to the mundane skills come in various forms. Skill are unlocked by preforming certain action or learning new skills. Skills are improved through repetition. The player may be rewarded for maxing out a skill.]
Okay that was fairly straight forward, where perks were bonuses that can help his skills while skills would be his actions. "But gaining them will be a challenge. But I'll worry about that later, I'm almost done.
[Ailments are debuffing perks that can affect the player and others in various ways. Some will affect skills, others will cause the loss of health, some be temporary, and some will be permanent. Ailments can be inflicted through damage, curses, or even consuming certain items.]
Jack gulped down the knot in his throat as he read that. These were just the ailments but seeing these can be permanent scared him a little. It made sense, unlike in most video games he would have to be careful. He can't walk away from things like car crashes and explosions like some video games characters can. He can still be seriously hurt if he's not careful. With morbid determination Jack looked at the last part of the list
[When the player or another being reaches zero HP normally means death of the being. But there are times when this doesn't happen.]
[In friendly and not so friendly spars hitting zero HP simply means losing the spar.]
[In creation dungeons zero HP will boot the player out of the dungeon for twenty-four hours.]
[In natural, event dungeons, and everyday life zero HP will mean death.]
Jack felt vile go up his throat. While he knew death was an everyday fact of life, his mother being a nurse and all, but it still felt more present than ever at that moment. It was almost overwhelming.
"Stop. I could die everyday before even getting out of bed. Focusing on it won't do me any favors." Jack ordered himself.
[For understanding your own mortality and everyday life +1 WIS]
"Alright, I need to see my own stats. Is there a character or status page?" At the word status a new page pops up in front of Jack.
[Name: Jack Darby]
[Race: Human]
[Title: The Gamer]
[LVL: 1 (0/300)]
[HP: 102/102]
[MP: 102/102]
[SP: 102/102]
[Con: 2]
[STR: 1]
[DEX: 1]
[INT: 2]
[WIS: 3]
[LCK: 1]
[Jack Darby is a sixteen-year-old male that lives with his mother June Darby. He enjoys going fast, motorcycles and playing his harmonica. He has no plans for the future besides saving up for his first motorcycle.]
Perks
Gamer's Mind: Allows the gamer to remain calm and focused in any situation when the gamer feels fear, terror, and insanity. When these feelings occur the Gamer's Mind perk will kick in calm you down. Gamer's mind also grants immunity to all but the most powerful illusions and hypnosis.
Gamer's Body: Allow the gamer to live life like a video game. Your body will be more resilient to pain and unless skill's description states it, you cannot lose limbs or any body part.
Skills
None
Ailments
Upset Stomach: You ate a K.O. Burger, will suffer minor pains for three hours. Try to pick better food choices.
"Level one?! I'm sixteen and I'm level one! How?" Jack exclaimed. To be honest he felt insulted, level one enemies were cannon fodder in video games, most enemies are level two. Groaning Jack calmed down. "Alright, it's like any video game, start at level one and go from there. Rome wasn't built in a day. At least I know why I'm not freaking out about all this."
Jack just sat there for a few moments trying to understand all of this. It was crazy, his life was a video game now. He had no idea what to do. He honestly wanted to ignore the whole thing a chalk it up to some crazy drug laced burger hallucination, but the. Boxes? System? Either way made a point about not ignoring this. Why? What is so bad about ignoring this. It not like…
"Wait. I'm the main character. Every main character in a video game somehow gets in some kind of trouble. A rouge army or a planet ending event that they had to face. I'm only level one. If something like that is coming, I doubt a level one character can stop it."
[For thinking ahead and not ignoring your new abilities +1 INT and WIS.]
Groaning Jack looked at the time. Nine fifty-five. He had school in the morning. Maybe he could get a hold of this after a good night's sleep.
[Name: Jack Darby]
[Race: Human]
[Title: The Gamer]
[LVL: 1 (0/300)]
[HP: 102/102]
[MP: 103/103]
[SP: 102/102]
[Con: 2]
[STR: 1]
[DEX: 1]
[INT: 3]
[WIS: 4]
[LCK: 1]
Welp there's the prologue, here's hoping I can stick to this better than before, I'll also try to update my other stories as well. Just need to reread them and see where I was going. Oh, and there will be a poll for the second type of magic Jack will be learning. I already decided frost for the first one, but I'll leave the second up to all of you.
Also, after writing this I have a huge appreciation of how tough gamer fics really are. Because these are monsters.
Have a good night, sleep well and stay safe everyone.