In general I'm not a fan of "wake up in an alley" starts. It's just sooo....cliche.
Like if you suddenly wake up in an alley from presumably your home and unless you live in a city your going to be very fucking scared , panicked and most likely will run to the closest cop or convenient store or something while you process everything .
Secondly , gamer fics tend to all fall into the same story eventually .they all follow the same patern and it becomes boring. If we got different gamer abilities from different games then it might make them more enjoyable. ..but nopeee...
I understand I've retread a lot of old tropes, but I'm hoping to put a (relatively) new spin on a lot of them. The SI is more the type to think things through than immediately panic, and I've always thought the hysterical screaming and/or crying that a lot of SIs go through is, whilst probably realistic, not necessarily applicable to everyone.
Also, I very deliberately told the first few hours through a retrospective look to hopefully imply that that's largely what the SI wants to think of that time as, and not necessarily an accurate depiction of it.
The purpose of the whole 'wake up in an alley' cliche is largely to show that the SIs origins in the world are unimportant - if I explained the specific mechanic by which they arrived, I'd feel obliged to have the SI look into it and try to reverse-engineer it, because that feels realistic. By leaving it mysterious, I'm hoping to convey that the story will focus on the SIs actions in this world.
I'm also hoping to tread some new ground in regards to the Gamer tropes, if only by having it take place in a (fairly) uncommon Self-Insertion choice. Whilst originality is pretty difficult to pull off, I hope you'll keep reading for the plotline and not just the mechanics of the power.
The simplest conclusion from the combination of finding yourself in a fictional universe and having a game gui is that one is plugged into a VR simulation of the fictional universe. However acting upon that assumption could potentially be harmful to others.
The SI has definitely not made any kind of real decision in regards to the reality of this world, and is indeed still grappling with the true implications - he just doesn't know it yet. This issue will come up again throughout, hopefully with some thoughtful (and interesting?) discussion of potential causes.
In general I'm not a fan of "wake up in an alley" starts. It's just sooo....cliche.
Like if you suddenly wake up in an alley from presumably your home and unless you live in a city your going to be very fucking scared , panicked and most likely will run to the closest cop or convenient store or something while you process everything .
Secondly , gamer fics tend to all fall into the same story eventually .they all follow the same patern and it becomes boring. If we got different gamer abilities from different games then it might make them more enjoyable. ..but nopeee...
To your first point, I would agree. I much rather like the "reincarnate as a monster" trope for my SI stories. The SI is thrown into crazy situation and has to adapt to their new powers.
To your second, "gamer abilities from different games"? What does that mean? Like, the Gamer would gain abilities from FPS? Or rather, would the SI would still have RPG-style abilities, but they would be original ones? Or perhaps the SI wouldn't have Gamer's Mind and Gamer's Body? That'd be interesting.
The purpose of the whole 'wake up in an alley' cliche is largely to show that the SIs origins in the world are unimportant - if I explained the specific mechanic by which they arrived, I'd feel obliged to have the SI look into it and try to reverse-engineer it, because that feels realistic. By leaving it mysterious, I'm hoping to convey that the story will focus on the SIs actions in this world.
I'm also hoping to tread some new ground in regards to the Gamer tropes, if only by having it take place in a (fairly) uncommon Self-Insertion choice. Whilst originality is pretty difficult to pull off, I hope you'll keep reading for the plotline and not just the mechanics of the power.
I really like this. Have been always interested in Gamer fics, but this is the first time I ever looked at one in execution and I gotta say, it's good.
The walk towards Alias Investigations had netted me a good three points of VIT. I wasn't completely sure of the significance - I was guessing that Vitality (the only thing I could think of the three letters standing for) measured my overall health, fitness- stamina, maybe?
But how did Strength relate to that?
Speed and Dexterity also didn't gain anything, which I guess made sense - I wasn't exactly pushing the limits of my running ability, nor doing anything particularly dextrous.
Thinking through what I was going to say to Jessica did, however, provide a single point to WIS, which I would have been happier about had it not come after coming to the realization that all of my ideas for how to approach her were pretty shoddy.
Hell's Kitchen.
Honestly, it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be. From the way it had been portrayed in the shows, in the comics, it sounded like it would be some crime-ridden hellhole (heh) with muggings on every street corner.
Fortunately, it seemed pretty similar to the part of town I'd just exited, so I didn't think I had much to worry about.
I glanced around. 485 West 46th Street, 485… There?
I wandered closer, looking closely at the signs on the doors - a notice! Simple. Minimalist. Shoddily put together.
"Second floor, Alias Investigations, Private Investigator." I murmured the words aloud, eyes skimming over a phone number printed at the bottom.
I heaved out a deep, uncertain breath. I still had no real plan, no idea what I was going to say to this traumatised woman to convince her that I wasn't some slave of Kilgrave, trying to drag her back into his life.
I shook my head. What has my life come to, that I have to convince a woman with super-strength that I'm not being mind-controlled?
You got teleported to a fantasy world. Or… You're a brain in a vat somewhere, having experiences programmed into you by scientists. Or this is some kind of malfunctioning, insanely detailed virtual reality experience. Or you're dreaming. Or a thousand other explanations, all equally as likely.
In conclusion, it's vanishingly unlikely that any of this is actually real.
And yet, I'm treating all this like is real… Why?
I could justify it to myself pretty easily - a Pascal's Wager type of deal. If it's not real, I stand to lose very little by treating it like it is. Whereas if it is real, I stand to lose a lot if I treat it like it isn't. Morally speaking, at the very least, and likely in terms of my own wellbeing.
But that's not really the reason, is it?
Just because, intellectually, I thought I knew why I was doing it, didn't mean that was the actual, instinctual reason I was doing so.
The real reason was just because it felt real, and since I didn't have any better ideas, I would go on treating it as such. At least until I figured more out.
Through reasoned and thorough decision making, you have gained +1 WIS!
I sighed again, just because I could, then pushed through the front doors of the building. Cheap place, looks like, but it did have a functioning elevator.
I pressed the button for the second floor - oddly, the second-lowest one. Could no-one go to the ground floor?
Right, American - their first floor is our ground floor, their second floor our first. Should probably get used to that.
The elevator is grimy, but I fortunately don't have to be there long. Unfortunately, that then means I have an even shorter distance to go to the door emblazoned with 'Alias Investigations' at the end of the hall.
I step out of the elevator a moment ahead of the closing doors.
Okay, you're an 18-year-old with no way of identifying yourself, here illegally - how the hell do you convince a cynical, jaded Private Investigator that you have her best interests at heart?
… You don't, do you.
I gritted my teeth as the door drew ever nearer. Do I phrase it differently? Start at some vague notion of danger, try to convince her to look into it herself, have her discover it on her own? Or would that just cast me in an even more suspicious light?
The door was only a few feet away now, and my feet were just dragging slower and slower, unwilling to bring me to cross that threshold.
Come clean right from the get-go? Lay all my cards on the table, hope she doesn't label me a nutcase and kick me out?
I came to a stop just outside the door, eyes laser-focused on the printed letters of 'Alias Investigations' on the window.
They were painted on surprisingly professionally, considering that Jessica had been under the thrall of Kilgrave less than a year ago. Had she paid someone? Gotten a commission? Just been very careful?
Or was it actually really cheap to get someone to paint on glass? You wouldn't think so, surely… Was it even paint? Were they, what, stickers? Carefully laid in place by Jessica herself so as to look professionally done?
Through intense and sustained examination, you have gained a new Ability!
Ability gained: Observation!
I blinked. An actual observation ability? Why was that?
I navigated quickly to my Status sheet - there, at the bottom.
Observation (LVL 1 - 47.08%)
Grants the ability to gain detailed information on an object or person merely by looking at it/them.
Well. That was descriptive.
I focused on the letters again.
Observation: 'Alias Investigations,' a sign painted onto glass via stencil.
Somehow simultaneously more detailed than I expected, and less. Maybe it just answered whatever question I was thinking about at the time?
I cast my eyes about the hallway, but each Observation seemed to just give me the barest minimum detail about whatever I Observed, the specific information given seemingly selected at random.
Observation has levelled up!
Observation has levelled up!
Observation is now LVL 3!
The brief, blue-panelled pop-ups were getting irritating now, but I was beginning to get used to them. In fact, the information was-
"You got a case for me, or do you enjoy waiting creepily outside peoples' apartments?" There she was.
Okay, that was just creepy. I may as well have been standing in front of Krysten Ritter, the actress, replete with focused scowl.
For amount I, was too stunned to talk. I thought I was standing in front of a celebrity, and all I wanted to do was ask for an autograph.
"Creepy waiting it is." She rolled her eyes, moving to close the door from where it had been whisked open.
"Wait!" I called out, a little too loud. Jones frowned.
Shit, I thought to myself. British accent, probably not great for any afflicted by Kilgrave.
It was then that I realized - Jessica would never trust me on anything related to that monster.
Through making conclusive deductions, you have gained +1 INT!
Thanks for the confirmation, I guess.
"I…" I paused, thinking through what I was going to say, and evidently the break went on long enough for Jessica to become irritated.
"Come on in," she said, rolling her eyes. "Have a seat, tell me what the problem is. We can discuss my rates afterwards."
I said nothing, merely followed her in. As we went, I tried Observing her.
Observation: Jessica Jones, Private Investigator, a woman with a deeply traumatic past.
Informative.
She indicated that I take a seat in front of her desk, whilst she sat down across from me - slouching a little, an expectant look on her face. I slid into the seat, still on edge, hovering on the lip of the chair.
"Start at the beginning." She said, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.
"I…" I hesitated. Her eyes tensed at the accent. Fuck. I couldn't go this route - I couldn't subtly try to guide her to Kilgrave- I wasn't experienced enough at that kind of thing, and Jessica wasn't stupid, she'd be able to point fingers back at me - especially with the PTSD and general irrationality.
By coming to an insightful conclusion, you have gained +1 INT!
The pop-ups were beginning to get annoying.
"Forgive me for the deception, Ms. Jones," I finally began. "But I didn't come here with the intention of purchasing your services. Instead, I was interested in working with you as part of an unpaid internship - I'm deeply interested in becoming an investigator myself, you see, and I'd like some hands on experience. You wouldn't have to pay me, just bring me along on the occasional case." I tried to give my pitch as best I could, with a minimum of pauses and waffling.
Lying has levelled up!
Lying has levelled up!
Lying is now LVL 3!
Like I need a reminder that I'm lying out my ass about this…
"…" Jessica remained silent, a frown now marring her surprisingly-delicate features. Well, I suppose not surprisingly, since she was a carbon-copy of the actress who played her. Finally, she spoke up. "Did Hogarth put you up to this? You piss some of the higher-ups off, they give you punishment duty."
"Uh… No?" I half-stated, half-asked. I remembered that Hogarth was the lesbian lawyer Jessica sometimes went to for cases – and who also did some pretty shady shit with regards to Kilgrave.
"… Right." Jessica replied, rolling her eyes and uncrossing her arms. "Well, sorry kid," she continued, getting to her feet with a belaboured sigh. "But I'm not looking for an intern, and besides, you already creep me the hell out."
"Ah. Um… Sorry."
I stood up, more than a little awkwardly. I… Well, I hadn't expected it to work, not really, but I had expected to come away with something more than just an insult and a super-strong woman irritated at me.
I honestly had no idea what to do now. Was there anything I could say? Any way to convince here? Appeal to emotion, try to get her to pity me? I was basically homeless, after all.
Ultimately, I flapped my mouth open like a fish for just long enough for it to get uncomfortable, for Jessica to arch her eyebrow threateningly, and for me to get the picture – I couldn't salvage this situation.
That was a fucking disaster, was the refrain running through my head as I sloped out of the office.
The fuck was I going to do now?
||Getting Sidetracked||
I ended up wandering the streets for long enough to get a +1 VIT, doing my best to level Observation as I went.
Not much else to do.
The levels really began to slow down at 14, at which point I was getting a full paragraph of information about the things I looked at – brief history, short summary of what it was, and a couple of interesting factoids.
This would be a very helpful skill for a Private Investigator, I couldn't help but think to myself resentfully.
What else could I do for now? Try to get a job? Work on this whole… Game thing?
I needed… A list. A way to consolidate my thoughts for the future, write down my thoughts so that I could get a clear grasp on what I optimally should be doing.
It wasn't great that I didn't have a pen and paper to write it all down, but you can't get everything you want.
Firstly: Goals. What were mine?
Principally, I guess, there was Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. I couldn't remember the entire thing, but I remembered that the base level was essentially water, food, sleep, clothes, shelter. I wasn't sure how that figured into my new 'Gamer's Body,' which seemed to imply that any health lost from hunger would be regained by sleeping, but I would assume for now that I still needed food to live.
Other than that… Safety from the insane shit in this world? A way to help people away from the truly horrific things, like Kilgrave, and Dormammu, and… I guess Thanos, eventually?
I couldn't quite wrap my head around the idea of these threats even existing- hell, I hadn't even wrapped my head around the idea of actually being in the Marvel world, no matter how trippy and convincing meeting Jessica Jones had been.
So.
With that in mind- what were my options?
Starting with the other Defenders:
Luke Cage still, presumably, owned a bar at this point, and he had an issue with Diamondback, and some other shit, I'm sure. Nothing as repulsive to my sensibilities as an amoral mind-controller, but there were certainly avoidable deaths. Although that all took place after his first bar got trashed, so maybe his place of work wasn't a reliable way to deal with this stuff.
Matt Murdock – Daredevil – may or may not have set up his and Foggy's firm yet. I didn't know the exact date it had happened, nor the exact date it was right now – but Jessica's relative ease seemed to place it at least some time before the reappearance of Kilgrave, and the existence of Alias Investigations at least some time after her escape from him.
If their law firm was set up, then it might be conceivable that I could get an unpaid internship. They could hardly turn away help at this point – though if they had gone through the whole Karen debacle they might be disinclined to adding another employee. Plus, I had no legal experience, nor any idea of the requirements to work at a law firm. Plus there was the fact I had no idea, nor any real documents, and whilst I might be able to get away with that at a bar, I doubted it would fly in a law firm.
Danny Rand was basically a no-go – I was pretty sure he was still in K'un-Lun, so there wasn't necessarily an in-road there. Although… If I could help out with the whole 'Hand' situation, he might not be opposed to putting me on Rand Enterprises payroll. He could probably help out with the whole 'no legal documents' thing too.
So, most of the Defenders were kind of a blow-out, at least for now.
Iron Man? Stark Industries was a major corporation, and if I could somehow demonstrate my abilities to him, he might be able to help me out? It felt like a long shot – I had no guarantee I'd be able to get to him, that I'd be able to prove myself satisfactorily, and that he'd have any inclination to help me.
Thor was a bust, Bruce Banner was either a bust or had the same problems as Tony Stark, Steve Rogers was… Well, see above, and given that this was post-fall-of-SHIELD, I wasn't sure Nick Fury could do anything for me.
I knew Stephen Strange went to… Nepal? I was pretty sure it was Nepal – to heal his hands and learn magic. It wasn't inconceivable that I could do the same, but the associated costs and documentary requirements would certainly be beyond me, so that would have to wait until the whole… Temple-thing… relocated to New York City.
Where did that leave me? To get a normal job, do my best to help people, warn others of what was coming? That seemed… Very much non-optimal.
By having a profound realization, you have gained +1 INT!
By thinking through a situation calmly and thoroughly, you have gained +1 WIS!
Through continued exercise, you have gained +1 VIT!
I paused in my walking, as the sudden pop-ups obscured my field of view. If the game was trying to send me a message, then I got it loud and clear – focus on the game stuff. Get strong, then consider your options.
NAME Albert Erhohen LVL 1 – 0.00% HP 100/100 MP 100/100
VIT 11 STR 5 SPD 5 DEX 5 INT 8 WIS 10 LUK 5
SKILLS
None
ABILITIES
Gamer's Body (LVL MAX)
Grants the ability to live life as a game. Grants the ability to restore HP, MP, and AP as well as removing negative status effects through sleep.
Gamer's Mind (LVL MAX)
Grants immunity to mental status effects and mitigates mental and emotional trauma.
Sense Danger (LVL 1 – 31.88%)
Grants the ability to sense impending personal harm, whether motivated by humans or external events.
Lying (LVL 3 – 18.16%)
Grants the ability to have intentionally false statements be accepted as truth by those the user intends to deceive.
Observation (LVL 14 – 06.91%)
Grants the ability to gain detailed information on an object or person merely by looking at it/them.
The walk towards Alias Investigations had netted me a good three points of VIT. I wasn't completely sure of the significance - I was guessing that Vitality (the only thing I could think of the three letters standing for) measured my overall health, fitness- stamina, maybe?
But how did Strength relate to that?
Speed and Dexterity also didn't gain anything, which I guess made sense - I wasn't exactly pushing the limits of my running ability, nor doing anything particularly dextrous.
Thinking through what I was going to say to Jessica did, however, provide a single point to WIS, which I would have been happier about had it not come after coming to the realization that all of my ideas for how to approach her were pretty shoddy.
Hell's Kitchen.
Honestly, it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be. From the way it had been portrayed in the shows, in the comics, it sounded like it would be some crime-ridden hellhole (heh) with muggings on every street corner.
Fortunately, it seemed pretty similar to the part of town I'd just exited, so I didn't think I had much to worry about.
I glanced around. 485 West 46th Street, 485… There?
I wandered closer, looking closely at the signs on the doors - a notice! Simple. Minimalist. Shoddily put together.
"Second floor, Alias Investigations, Private Investigator." I murmured the words aloud, eyes skimming over a phone number printed at the bottom.
I heaved out a deep, uncertain breath. I still had no real plan, no idea what I was going to say to this traumatised woman to convince her that I wasn't some slave of Kilgrave, trying to drag her back into his life.
I shook my head. What has my life come to, that I have to convince a woman with super-strength that I'm not being mind-controlled?
You got teleported to a fantasy world. Or… You're a brain in a vat somewhere, having experiences programmed into you by scientists. Or this is some kind of malfunctioning, insanely detailed virtual reality experience. Or you're dreaming. Or a thousand other explanations, all equally as likely.
In conclusion, it's vanishingly unlikely that any of this is actually real.
And yet, I'm treating all this like is real… Why?
I could justify it to myself pretty easily - a Pascal's Wager type of deal. If it's not real, I stand to lose very little by treating it like it is. Whereas if it is real, I stand to lose a lot if I treat it like it isn't. Morally speaking, at the very least, and likely in terms of my own wellbeing.
But that's not really the reason, is it?
Just because, intellectually, I thought I knew why I was doing it, didn't mean that was the actual, instinctual reason I was doing so.
The real reason was just because it felt real, and since I didn't have any better ideas, I would go on treating it as such. At least until I figured more out.
Through reasoned and thorough decision making, you have gained +1 WIS!
I sighed again, just because I could, then pushed through the front doors of the building. Cheap place, looks like, but it did have a functioning elevator.
I pressed the button for the second floor - oddly, the second-lowest one. Could no-one go to the ground floor?
Right, American - their first floor is our ground floor, their second floor our first. Should probably get used to that.
The elevator is grimy, but I fortunately don't have to be there long. Unfortunately, that then means I have an even shorter distance to go to the door emblazoned with 'Alias Investigations' at the end of the hall.
I step out of the elevator a moment ahead of the closing doors.
Okay, you're an 18-year-old with no way of identifying yourself, here illegally - how the hell do you convince a cynical, jaded Private Investigator that you have her best interests at heart?
… You don't, do you.
I gritted my teeth as the door drew ever nearer. Do I phrase it differently? Start at some vague notion of danger, try to convince her to look into it herself, have her discover it on her own? Or would that just cast me in an even more suspicious light?
The door was only a few feet away now, and my feet were just dragging slower and slower, unwilling to bring me to cross that threshold.
Come clean right from the get-go? Lay all my cards on the table, hope she doesn't label me a nutcase and kick me out?
I came to a stop just outside the door, eyes laser-focused on the printed letters of 'Alias Investigations' on the window.
They were painted on surprisingly professionally, considering that Jessica had been under the thrall of Kilgrave less than a year ago. Had she paid someone? Gotten a commission? Just been very careful?
Or was it actually really cheap to get someone to paint on glass? You wouldn't think so, surely… Was it even paint? Were they, what, stickers? Carefully laid in place by Jessica herself so as to look professionally done?
Through intense and sustained examination, you have gained a new Ability!
Ability gained: Observation!
I blinked. An actual observation ability? Why was that?
I navigated quickly to my Status sheet - there, at the bottom.
Observation (LVL 1 - 47.08%)
Grants the ability to gain detailed information on an object or person merely by looking at it/them.
Well. That was descriptive.
I focused on the letters again.
Observation: 'Alias Investigations,' a sign painted onto glass via stencil.
Somehow simultaneously more detailed than I expected, and less. Maybe it just answered whatever question I was thinking about at the time?
I cast my eyes about the hallway, but each Observation seemed to just give me the barest minimum detail about whatever I Observed, the specific information given seemingly selected at random.
Observation has levelled up!
Observation has levelled up!
Observation is now LVL 3!
The brief, blue-panelled pop-ups were getting irritating now, but I was beginning to get used to them. In fact, the information was-
"You got a case for me, or do you enjoy waiting creepily outside peoples' apartments?" There she was.
Okay, that was just creepy. I may as well have been standing in front of Krysten Ritter, the actress, replete with focused scowl.
For amount I, was too stunned to talk. I thought I was standing in front of a celebrity, and all I wanted to do was ask for an autograph.
"Creepy waiting it is." She rolled her eyes, moving to close the door from where it had been whisked open.
"Wait!" I called out, a little too loud. Jones frowned.
Shit, I thought to myself. British accent, probably not great for any afflicted by Kilgrave.
It was then that I realized - Jessica would never trust me on anything related to that monster.
Through making conclusive deductions, you have gained +1 INT!
Thanks for the confirmation, I guess.
"I…" I paused, thinking through what I was going to say, and evidently the break went on long enough for Jessica to become irritated.
"Come on in," she said, rolling her eyes. "Have a seat, tell me what the problem is. We can discuss my rates afterwards."
I said nothing, merely followed her in. As we went, I tried Observing her.
Observation: Jessica Jones, Private Investigator, a woman with a deeply traumatic past.
Informative.
She indicated that I take a seat in front of her desk, whilst she sat down across from me - slouching a little, an expectant look on her face. I slid into the seat, still on edge, hovering on the lip of the chair.
"Start at the beginning." She said, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.
"I…" I hesitated. Her eyes tensed at the accent. Fuck. I couldn't go this route - I couldn't subtly try to guide her to Kilgrave- I wasn't experienced enough at that kind of thing, and Jessica wasn't stupid, she'd be able to point fingers back at me - especially with the PTSD and general irrationality.
By coming to an insightful conclusion, you have gained +1 INT!
The pop-ups were beginning to get annoying.
"Forgive me for the deception, Ms. Jones," I finally began. "But I didn't come here with the intention of purchasing your services. Instead, I was interested in working with you as part of an unpaid internship - I'm deeply interested in becoming an investigator myself, you see, and I'd like some hands on experience. You wouldn't have to pay me, just bring me along on the occasional case." I tried to give my pitch as best I could, with a minimum of pauses and waffling.
Lying has levelled up!
Lying has levelled up!
Lying is now LVL 3!
Like I need a reminder that I'm lying out my ass about this…
"…" Jessica remained silent, a frown now marring her surprisingly-delicate features. Well, I suppose not surprisingly, since she was a carbon-copy of the actress who played her. Finally, she spoke up. "Did Hogarth put you up to this? You piss some of the higher-ups off, they give you punishment duty."
"Uh… No?" I half-stated, half-asked. I remembered that Hogarth was the lesbian lawyer Jessica sometimes went to for cases – and who also did some pretty shady shit with regards to Kilgrave.
"… Right." Jessica replied, rolling her eyes and uncrossing her arms. "Well, sorry kid," she continued, getting to her feet with a belaboured sigh. "But I'm not looking for an intern, and besides, you already creep me the hell out."
"Ah. Um… Sorry."
I stood up, more than a little awkwardly. I… Well, I hadn't expected it to work, not really, but I had expected to come away with something more than just an insult and a super-strong woman irritated at me.
I honestly had no idea what to do now. Was there anything I could say? Any way to convince here? Appeal to emotion, try to get her to pity me? I was basically homeless, after all.
Ultimately, I flapped my mouth open like a fish for just long enough for it to get uncomfortable, for Jessica to arch her eyebrow threateningly, and for me to get the picture – I couldn't salvage this situation.
That was a fucking disaster, was the refrain running through my head as I sloped out of the office.
The fuck was I going to do now?
||Getting Sidetracked||
I ended up wandering the streets for long enough to get a +1 VIT, doing my best to level Observation as I went.
Not much else to do.
The levels really began to slow down at 14, at which point I was getting a full paragraph of information about the things I looked at – brief history, short summary of what it was, and a couple of interesting factoids.
This would be a very helpful skill for a Private Investigator, I couldn't help but think to myself resentfully.
What else could I do for now? Try to get a job? Work on this whole… Game thing?
I needed… A list. A way to consolidate my thoughts for the future, write down my thoughts so that I could get a clear grasp on what I optimally should be doing.
It wasn't great that I didn't have a pen and paper to write it all down, but you can't get everything you want.
Firstly: Goals. What were mine?
Principally, I guess, there was Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. I couldn't remember the entire thing, but I remembered that the base level was essentially water, food, sleep, clothes, shelter. I wasn't sure how that figured into my new 'Gamer's Body,' which seemed to imply that any health lost from hunger would be regained by sleeping, but I would assume for now that I still needed food to live.
Other than that… Safety from the insane shit in this world? A way to help people away from the truly horrific things, like Kilgrave, and Dormammu, and… I guess Thanos, eventually?
I couldn't quite wrap my head around the idea of these threats even existing- hell, I hadn't even wrapped my head around the idea of actually being in the Marvel world, no matter how trippy and convincing meeting Jessica Jones had been.
So.
With that in mind- what were my options?
Starting with the other Defenders:
Luke Cage still, presumably, owned a bar at this point, and he had an issue with Diamondback, and some other shit, I'm sure. Nothing as repulsive to my sensibilities as an amoral mind-controller, but there were certainly avoidable deaths. Although that all took place after his first bar got trashed, so maybe his place of work wasn't a reliable way to deal with this stuff.
Matt Murdock – Daredevil – may or may not have set up his and Foggy's firm yet. I didn't know the exact date it had happened, nor the exact date it was right now – but Jessica's relative ease seemed to place it at least some time before the reappearance of Kilgrave, and the existence of Alias Investigations at least some time after her escape from him.
If their law firm was set up, then it might be conceivable that I could get an unpaid internship. They could hardly turn away help at this point – though if they had gone through the whole Karen debacle they might be disinclined to adding another employee. Plus, I had no legal experience, nor any idea of the requirements to work at a law firm. Plus there was the fact I had no idea, nor any real documents, and whilst I might be able to get away with that at a bar, I doubted it would fly in a law firm.
Danny Rand was basically a no-go – I was pretty sure he was still in K'un-Lun, so there wasn't necessarily an in-road there. Although… If I could help out with the whole 'Hand' situation, he might not be opposed to putting me on Rand Enterprises payroll. He could probably help out with the whole 'no legal documents' thing too.
So, most of the Defenders were kind of a blow-out, at least for now.
Iron Man? Stark Industries was a major corporation, and if I could somehow demonstrate my abilities to him, he might be able to help me out? It felt like a long shot – I had no guarantee I'd be able to get to him, that I'd be able to prove myself satisfactorily, and that he'd have any inclination to help me.
Thor was a bust, Bruce Banner was either a bust or had the same problems as Tony Stark, Steve Rogers was… Well, see above, and given that this was post-fall-of-SHIELD, I wasn't sure Nick Fury could do anything for me.
I knew Stephen Strange went to… Nepal? I was pretty sure it was Nepal – to heal his hands and learn magic. It wasn't inconceivable that I could do the same, but the associated costs and documentary requirements would certainly be beyond me, so that would have to wait until the whole… Temple-thing… relocated to New York City.
Where did that leave me? To get a normal job, do my best to help people, warn others of what was coming? That seemed… Very much non-optimal.
By having a profound realization, you have gained +1 INT!
By thinking through a situation calmly and thoroughly, you have gained +1 WIS!
Through continued exercise, you have gained +1 VIT!
I paused in my walking, as the sudden pop-ups obscured my field of view. If the game was trying to send me a message, then I got it loud and clear – focus on the game stuff. Get strong, then consider your options.
I sighed aloud.
I hate grinding.
||Getting Sidetracked||
NAME Albert Erhohen LVL 1 – 0.00% HP 100/100 MP 100/100
VIT 11 STR 5 SPD 5 DEX 5 INT 8 WIS 10 LUK 5
SKILLS
None
ABILITIES
Gamer's Body (LVL MAX)
Grants the ability to live life as a game. Grants the ability to restore HP, MP, and AP as well as removing negative status effects through sleep.
Gamer's Mind (LVL MAX)
Grants immunity to mental status effects and mitigates mental and emotional trauma.
Sense Danger (LVL 1 – 31.88%)
Grants the ability to sense impending personal harm, whether motivated by humans or external events.
Lying (LVL 3 – 18.16%)
Grants the ability to have intentionally false statements be accepted as truth by those the user intends to deceive.
Observation (LVL 14 – 06.91%)
Grants the ability to gain detailed information on an object or person merely by looking at it/them.
Snipped for a Witcher/MTG SI, this is set at the end of the Witcher 2. Though the timeline is a bit off due to butterflies.
Geralt decided that politics wasn't his lucky suit. First King Foltest is assassinated, his daughter Princess Adda, asks him to identify the killer and now he's her bodyguard at the great summit of Loc Muinne to determine the fate of nations.
Unfortunately Loc Muinne had turned into a battleground. Black Ones in heavy armor had poured out the portals right as the talks were about to begin. Queen Adda had thrown sunflare spells through the portals, they collapsed and hadn't yet returned. Sill that was only after a hundred, maybe a hundred and fifty, Black Ones came through in ill fitting black armor emblazoned with the Golden Sun of Nilfgaard.
The Black Ones who came out of the portal attacked like rabid animals. Hacking into the Redanians first. King Radovid was among the first to fall, cut to pieces after tripping over his own armor in a panic as he tried to flee. Then they ran towards the Aedirn and Kaedweni delegations. The fighting was fierce, the Black Ones fought with wild abandon, apparently all too happy to die in battle.
Prince Stennes of Aedirn was dead, killed by a crossbow bolt. King Henselt of Kaedwen was not among the fallen, Geralt lost track of him when Adda's guards charged the Nilfgaardian delegation. Shilard Fitz-Oesterlen, the Senior Ambassador of Nilfgaard to the Northern Realms was the first to die. His ornamental armor no match for an enchanted longsword through the stomach. His guard, Renuald aep Matsen, the elite Impera veteran, struck down several of his attackers before Adda hit him with a burst of searing white light, he keeled over, missing his head.
Two Black Ones from the portal ran towards Geralt screaming Nilfgaardian battlecries. It was almost like they slowed down when they neared him, choreographing their swings. With an expert parry and two precision slices he killed both of his attackers. Geralt got a good look at the eyes of his dying attackers. That's when he decided it was time to find Triss and leave.
He spared a last glance at the fighting, taking note that several Black Ones were also leaving the summit room, heading towards the camps with swords raised.
Geralt ran for the camp of Adda's Temerian loyalists, vaulting over walls and jumping over ruins. He felt another portal open, a much more powerful one in the center of the Temerian camp. Once Geralt was close enough he could see it, a greater portals, one of Queen Adda's innovations. They took a dozen mages to power one but you could march ten men through it shoulder to shoulder. An attribute that was currently being made use of by Temerian royal guards marching into the camp.
Geralt made straight for Triss who was sounded by half dozen Temerian officers and as many mages.
"Geralt, what happened? I sensed magic and we heard fighting, Keria called for reinforcements and Roach took the Blue Stripes to investigate." Yelled Triss over the clanking of Temerian soldiers marching double time through the large portal. Geralt noted these weren't royal guards coming out of the portal anymore but regular footmen, the Viziman regiment if he wasn't mistaken, Adda had been prepared, suspiciously so.
"Black Ones attacked through portals." Simple short, got the message across. the Temerian officers immediately flew into action, screaming orders and drawing steel.
Eyes wide, Triss covered her open mouth with her hand. "Oh gods, Adda was right, Emhyr's trying to finish what he started with the coup on Thanedd Isle."
Geralt pulled Triss aside, once he was sure no one was paying attention to them, he turned back to the sorceress. "Triss we need to leave, grab anything you need and teleport us to Kaer Morhen."
"Geralt! Why? What about Adda and..."
"Triss, Adda is fine, the battle has already been won. I need you to trust me, we have to get out of here, now. I will explain everything once you teleport us out. Just this once, do as I say without question."
Geralt didn't care how distracted the rest of the camp was, he definitely wasn't going to say what he'd figured out where it could be overheard, that would earn him a spot on a proscription list.
The Nilfgaardian ambassador has been shocked when Black Ones came through the portal, that didn't mean anything true, Emperor Emhyr wasn't known for sharing his plans. The glassy eyes and blank stares on the Black Ones who Geralt killed was proof though. The same glassy eyes and blank stares on many mages in Adda's court after Thanedd, he'd also seen in on some of the rebel nobles that Adda captured, one that quickly pledged themselves to her cause. And on the archpriest in La Valette castle, when securing Foltest's illegitimate children, Adda charmed the obnoxious priest with her magic so as not to spill blood in a holy shrine.
The sounds of fighting were getting louder, no longer just coming from the summit chambers, Geralt could summarize what's happening. Some of the summit's attendants were no doubt taking the chaos as an opportunity to settle scores. The Kaedweni and Aedirn would naturally came to blows almost immediately, but they were unprepared and leaderless respectively. The Order of the Flaming Rose was united, surely taking the opportunity to murder any mages they could get their hands on if what Adda told him was true. The Redanians would be thrown into confusion with the death of Radivod, no telling what they'd do.
The Temerian loyalists looked to be heading towards the Nilfgaardian, Order of the Flaming Rose, and Redanian camps. Geralt had no doubt that a great slaughter was iminate. Naturally it followed that their next target was the divided camps of the Temerian rebels. What had Adda told him before they left the siege of La Valette castle? "If you must play a chess master, best to kick the table out from under them before they corner you."
AN: I had this idea for my own SI while rereading @Shujin excellent Witch (MTG/Multicross), full credit to her for meshing the Witcher and MTG universes.
Shijun is a red green planeswalker, me on the other hand, well I'm white black. I doubt access to violent men who don't ask questions, piles of gold, and royal power would improve my, or anyone's, character.
In case anyone is wondering, the SI is an old-walker planeswalker using Adda as an avatar, though that didn't come up in this snippet beyond the SI's mastery of portals and teleportation.
Thank you! I tried to reasonably think through a way to have the SI get her on his side, if only to start messing with canon early, but I just couldn't find a way for the character to fit. Fortunately, I have other plans.
I should probably make a thread for this at this point, right? ... Eh, I'll get round to it.
I ended up going back to Central Park for the grind. Somehow, doing press-ups in the middle of the street seemed like it would attract the wrong kind of attention.
When I started, however, I pretty quickly found out the odd limitations of the stats.
STR only increased when I was doing exercises directly relating to arm and leg muscles, despite the fact that I was pretty sure that wasn't how strength really worked.
Other exercises you'd expect to relate to strength – sit-ups, for example – would only ever increase VIT, which I had initially assumed would apply to cardiovascular fitness. Again, I was apparently incorrect.
Sprinting, specifically, rather than just running or jogging, increased SPD, which was a little more understandable. Jogging was far more efficient for boosting VIT, which was reasonable, and otherwise trying to complete other exercises as fast as possible increased SPD.
Oddly enough, the only two things I found that caused DEX to increment was climbing a tree, and hitting a tree with a stick.
Which… I mean, what? I got that DEX referred to dexterity, which could reasonably apply to both of those activities – but it seemed like such a specific subset of activities. Only this was what DEX applied to? Why?
Trying to think through my situation had only earned me a few more points of WIS, which seemed to already be experiencing diminishing returns – not a great sign if I wanted to go for a magic-build.
INT had been a little more reasonable, with me recalling facts and trying to build connections between the things I could remember about the MCU netting me more points. There seemed, however, to be less of a barrier between activities that built INT and WIS than the other stats, which was… interesting.
Try as I might, I couldn't find any way to train LUK. I'd even found a discarded nickel on the ground, and tried to call heads-or-tails for almost half an hour before deciding that I was just wasting my time at this point.
I'd also gained a few more levels in Observation, but not any in Lying – it looked like I couldn't lie to myself, even when I actually knew the answer, or when the answer was a matter of opinion.
I'd been tempted to try and level Sense Danger by standing in traffic with my back turned, but quickly decided that that was just endangering myself for the sake of endangering myself.
In the course of the four or five hours I'd spent training, however, I had gained a few Abilities.
The running had netted me Athletics, the tree-climbing had gotten me Climbing, the flailing about with a stick Blunt Force Weapon Mastery. That third was particularly interesting, since it implied the existence of more types of weapon mastery – indeed, it had inspired me to try using half-remembered karate lessons on a tree.
This in turn had gotten me Martial Arts Mastery, which I was quite proud of. I had tried a few other things as well – slashing at a tree with a piece of broken glass had gotten me Improvised Weapon Mastery rather than the knife or blade weapon mastery I was hoping for, but I suppose you can't get everything you want.
It was also this training session that got me my first Skill.
Mighty Blow, gained after – I admit – my frustration with the various Masteries got the best of me, and I punched a tree as hard as I could.
It was a moment of weakness, but fortunately one that resulted in a gain in power, rather than breaking my hand, or something.
I also found the difference between Skills and Abilities – or, at least, one of them – in that Skills cost MP, while Abilities did not. I didn't know if that assumption would later be proved wrong- I only had one data point for Skills, after all.
It was upon this… Achievement, I guess, that I decided to finally take a break. I'd been grinding out stats and abilities for almost three hours, and the monotony was taking a toll. In movies, the montage always gets skipped over – in real life, you have to live through all of it.
"Status," I sighed out, stretching a little as I reviewed the fruits of my labour.
Article:
NAME Albert Erhohen LVL 1 – 0.00% HP 100/100 MP 100/100
VIT 21 STR 18 SPD 16 DEX 11 INT 13 WIS 15 LUK 5
SKILLS
Mighty Blow (LVL 1 – 37.22%)
A Skill to unleash the innermost strength of your arms, focusing your might into a single blow able to shatter even the most steadfast of barriers. Cost: 20 MP
ABILITIES
Gamer's Body (LVL MAX)
Grants the ability to live life as a game. Grants the ability to restore HP, and MP as well as removing negative status effects through sleep.
Gamer's Mind (LVL MAX)
Grants immunity to mental status effects and mitigates mental and emotional trauma.
Sense Danger (LVL 1 – 31.88%)
Grants the ability to sense impending personal harm, whether motivated by humans or external events.
Lying (LVL 3 – 18.16%)
Grants the ability to have intentionally false statements be accepted as truth by those the user intends to deceive.
Observation (LVL 17 – 06.91%)
Grants the ability to gain detailed information on an object or person merely by looking at it/them.
Athletics (LVL 16 – 73.06%)
Grants the ability to more skilfully exert oneself, streamlining movement and action to ensure optimal movement.
Climbing (LVL 5 – 57.65%)
Grants the ability to ascend or descend sheer vertical surfaces without the aid of equipment.
Blunt Force Weapon Mastery (LVL 12 – 11.96%)
Grants the ability to more skilfully wield weapons inflicting damage via blunt force trauma. Increases damage done by blunt force weapons.
Martial Arts Mastery (LVL 14 – 17.78%)
Grants the ability to more skilfully perform martial arts and attack whilst unarmed. Increases damage done whilst unarmed.
Improvised Weapon Mastery (LVL 8 – 72.29%)
Grants the ability to more skilfully wield non-weapon objects as weapons. Increases damage done by improvised weapons.
I had no metric by which to measure my progress, but I had been left feeling noticeably stronger. My Strength and Vitality had skyrocketed, since they were part of so many of the exercises I'd been practicing. Past about twelve, strength had noticeably slowed, but I wasn't sure of the reasoning – it had seemed like I'd met any particular threshold for the stat?
Regardless, Speed had similarly shot steadily up, once I had begun trying to complete exercises as quickly as possible. Dexterity had taken too long for me to practice significantly, and it had been difficult to focus on Intelligence and Wisdom whilst exerting myself as much as possible.
Still, I thought I could reasonably chalk up this session as a success. I'd gained a solid foundation for how to improve my skills in the future, at the very least. I'd also learned that training wouldn't affect my Level in any way, not that I'd expected it to. I'd gained a Skill, and I could begin to more fully explore my new… Powers.
I let out a shaky sigh, sinking down into a bench. I rubbed my palms together anxiously, gaze fixed on the tower poking out over the skyline, emblazoned as it was with the stylized A.
How the fuck did this happen? Was the only question I could ask. How am I here? Why? Can I get back? What do I do?
If I was being rational – and I tried to be, whenever possible – the most likely situation was… What, exactly? I only had evidence for the existence of the here and now. All my memories… They could have been implanted. A false history of the world, keyed in with knowledge of the real world, what I thought of as the Marvel Universe, in order to… What?
The situation was fucked. All of it was- it was insane.
Was I insane? Suffering through some hallucinogenic fever dream? Stuck in a coma, dreaming, while my family fretted around me?
Was there any way to tell the difference?
Through contemplation of your situation, you have gained +1 WIS!
I sighed, ignoring the blue panel as it sprang up in front of me, instead looking up to the rapidly darkening sky. The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, and I was homeless.
Probably. I might still have my home back in England, if it still exists and there's not some other version of me in there – but effectively, here in New York, I had nothing.
I sighed, and let myself slump over to the side, back resting against the cold wood of the bench. I didn't feel particularly tired, but I needed to get an early start tomorrow, start figuring out a way I could… Survive in this place.
My eyes slid shut, and with a heavy sigh, I slept.
||Getting Sidetracked||
You have slept outside. HP and MP restored by 25%.
The morning pop-up was almost better than an alarm clock. A bright blue panel blinking into your vision has a surprisingly alarming quality about it.
I jolted into awareness quite suddenly – I was briefly aware of an intense soreness in my back and legs, before it was washed away in a surge of… What I can only describe as homeostasis.
Gamer's Body? Or some other side-effect of my high Vitality? I didn't know enough to make assumptions.
Nor did I have time to.
I stood up and stretched, enjoying the feeling of pulling at newly-improved muscles, even if I no longer got the satisfying pop of bones releasing trapped air.
With that done, I blinked blearily into the morning sky, clearing the grit from my eyes. My eyes instantly landed on the Avengers Tower, no longer a symbol of wonder in my mind, but a reminder that I was trapped, far from home, in a land of danger far greater than any my world had ever experienced.
I sighed. Check on Nelson and Murdock, I guess.
||Getting Sidetracked||
At least, that would have been my plan, if I'd had any idea where in the hell their law firm was. Or, well, the apartment they were setting their law firm up in.
I performed a repeat of my trick from earlier, asking to borrow a phone to check directions, earning me another level in Lying, and directions to the nearest library.
A quick internet search for 'Nelson and Murdock,' 'Matt Murdock,' 'Foggy Nelson,' (I couldn't remember his real name), and 'blind lawyer,' had turned up nothing.
By this point, the guy was beginning to look agitated, so I quickly looked up the location of the nearest library and gave the man his phone back. He shot me a dirty look, then hurried off, presumably irritated at being forced to stand in the cold for so long.
Speaking of which – it was absolutely freezing. I could see frost on the ground, people were bundled up in coats and scarves, and yet I could feel none of it. I wasn't warm, by any measure. Perhaps a little below room temperature – enough so that I knew it was supposed to be cold, but not so much that I was actually cold.
It seemed an odd thing for Gamer's Body to include – I'd have thought the cold would have gotten me some form of resistance Ability, but either that wasn't something I could attain, or I hadn't crossed that threshold yet.
I ruminated on the system, walking silently towards the New York Public Riverside Library, which was thankfully close to Central Park.
I was hoping to be able to use a computer for a more detailed search about the whole Daredevil plotline, so that even if I couldn't find Murdock himself, I could still find information about the events of the series. Karen Page, and the Union Allied situation would surely be in the news- if, indeed, it had happened yet.
Getting on was probably going to be difficult without a library card, or identification of any kind – but, hey, that's what Lying was for.
The building was surprisingly modern, a monolith of grey brick and dark glass windows, set in an even grid, below a skyscraper that cut off halfway up, exposing scaffolding and half-finished construction work. Leftovers from the Chitauri, I assumed.
That hadn't seemed to affect the functionality of the library though, leaving me free to just stroll right through.
I wasn't asked for proof of ID, nor for my library card, so I just headed over to the computer section.
I briefly checked out one of the unattended computers, but immediately saw that it did, indeed, require a library card.
While irritating, that wasn't necessarily a death sentence to my plan. If I could catch the right person as they were leaving, convince them to let me really quickly look something up on the computer, it would give me a few minutes to get some information on the state of New York, and where exactly I was in the timeline.
Plus, while I waited, I could get to seeing if the other part of my reason for coming to the library checked out.
Skillbooks.
They were a nearly ubiquitous present in RPGs, and from my recollections of the original manhwa, it was possible to gain a new skill or ability from… Dissolving the book? Somehow?
It was a vague memory, but I wanted to check it out.
To that end, I headed to the nearest shelves. Funnily enough – or perhaps intentionally – the section closest to the computers was on coding, so I glanced across the shelves to find one I was familiar with- there.
C++ For Dummies. I knew the language a little from a couple years of lessons in secondary schools, but was sad to say that I'd largely forgotten everything I'd learned during that time. I picked out the book, and was instantly hit by another pop up.
You have picked up the Ability book: Programming – C++!
Would you like to learn Programming – C++?
[Yes] [No]
Well. That was a lot to parse.
So… I could instantly learn skills – or, Abilities here, I guess, though the distinction seemed largely semantic. Would that destroy the book, like I remembered happening in the manhwa? If it did, I probably wanted to avoid that.
I glanced up- no one abandoning their computers yet. I had some time.
I flicked the book open, and began reading.
It caught my attention, at first – used some casual language that was easy to engage with, and it helped that the terminology brought back memories of secondary school lessons, so I was spurred on to see what else I could remember.
Still, by the end of the first chapter, my attention was beginning to wane. I found myself checking on the state of the computers more often than was strictly necessary, and I was becoming more and more reluctant to continue on.
That changed, however, when finishing the chapter netted me a point of INT. From that moment, I suddenly found my interest renewed.
Reading the rest of the book only produced another two points, but then, when I had finished…
Through focused and determined study, you have gained a new Ability!
Ability gained: Programming – C++!
So. I could also get a new Ability just by reading the relevant book? That was… Interesting? What was the purpose of the initial pop-up then?
I was inclined to think that if I had agreed to learn Programming, I would have destroyed the book, and thereby any chance at stat gain. The reward for actually reading the book, I would assume, was stat increases and the ability to keep the physical thing.
Still. A lot of effort to go through for a few measly points of Intelligence.
I slotted the book back into the shelf, and was about to pick out another one at random, when I noticed movement in my peripheral vision.
A teenage girl in a pink hoodie, maybe a little younger than me, had stood up from her computer, pulling on a larger coat as she did so. I quickly moved to talk to her before she could log off.
"Hi," I interrupted, leaning in from a little distance away so she wouldn't think I was creeping up on her. As much as I had affected nonchalance, Jessica's comment had cut a little deep – maybe because I had been described as such before? Bah, I thought to myself. Enough of the amateur psychology, Albert. "Terribly sorry to bother you, but I'm afraid I forgot my library card back home, which I only realized after I actually arrived. I feel a little stupid, but could I very quickly just confirm something on this computer before I go back to get it?"
Lying has levelled up!
I admit, I was playing up the Britishness a little. I didn't know a lot about the science of lying, but I felt that giving the deceive-ee something to focus on other than the lie itself would help them to not think about the content of the lie.
In other words, it was a distraction.
"Uh… Sure, yeah, go ahead." She replied, understandably a little hesitant. I flashed her a quick smile, then slid into the seat she had just vacated.
Still warm, I noted absently, before berating myself. That's why you get described as creepy, Albert!
I carefully pushed down on my conscience and focused on the present – another search for Nelson and Murdock turned up very little, but when I searched for 'karen page union allied,' it turned up a multitude of news articles.
The first one indicated that, yesterday, she'd been arrested for the murder of Daniel Fisher, but had since been released – presumably into the custody of Nelson and Murdock, though the article didn't say as much.
So. That, at the very least, gave me an indication of where I was in the progression of Daredevil – very early, almost at the very beginning. Presumably, Matt had had the shit beaten out of him last night trying to save Karen from that hitman. Did he have a name? I couldn't remember.
I quickly tried to find out a little more information, but there didn't seem to be any more info on Nelson and Murdock, nor could I find anything on Luke Cage.
Damn. Another dead-end? At the very least, I had confirmation of when I was – twelfth of January two-thousand-fifteen. Three years in the past, and in another reality. A fictional one, if my memories were to be believed.
I grew suddenly aware of hoodie-girl's position in my peripheral vision, and quickly closed out of the browser, standing up and sliding away from the girl in pink.
"Sorry," I said, smiling quickly at her again, before looking away. "All yours."
"Thanks…" She replied slowly, which I took as a cue to leave, nodding a little and giving a small, 'See ya,' wave.
I left the library and re-entered the chilly New York atmosphere with a frown on my face. I had a few other avenues I could explore, I guessed, but I was having trouble deciding which to take.
The problem was, I couldn't help but consider, that none of them were good options. There was no clear best route, no one way that was clearly better than the others. Indeed, none of them were clearly good full stop, and thus I was stuck with the one thing that was anathema to gaming- a lack of direction.
||Getting Sidetracked||
NAME Albert Erhohen LVL 1 – 0.00% HP 100/100 MP 100/100
VIT 21 STR 18 SPD 16 DEX 11 INT 16 WIS 16 LUK 5
SKILLS
Mighty Blow (LVL 1 – 37.22%)
A Skill to unleash the innermost strength of your arms, focusing your might into a single blow able to shatter even the most steadfast of barriers. Cost: 20 MP
ABILITIES
Gamer's Body (LVL MAX)
Grants the ability to live life as a game. Grants the ability to restore HP, and MP as well as removing negative status effects through sleep.
Gamer's Mind (LVL MAX)
Grants immunity to mental status effects and mitigates mental and emotional trauma.
Sense Danger (LVL 1 – 31.88%)
Grants the ability to sense impending personal harm, whether motivated by humans or external events.
Lying (LVL 5 – 63.47%)
Grants the ability to have intentionally false statements be accepted as truth by those the user intends to deceive.
Observation (LVL 17 – 06.91%)
Grants the ability to gain detailed information on an object or person merely by looking at it/them.
Athletics (LVL 16 – 73.06%)
Grants the ability to more skilfully exert oneself, streamlining movement and action to ensure optimal movement.
Climbing (LVL 5 – 57.65%)
Grants the ability to ascend or descend sheer vertical surfaces without the aid of equipment.
Blunt Force Weapon Mastery (LVL 12 – 11.96%)
Grants the ability to more skilfully wield weapons inflicting damage via blunt force trauma. Increases damage done by blunt force weapons.
Martial Arts Mastery (LVL 14 – 17.78%)
Grants the ability to more skilfully perform martial arts and attack whilst unarmed. Increases damage done whilst unarmed.
Improvised Weapon Mastery (LVL 8 – 72.29%)
Grants the ability to more skilfully wield non-weapon objects as weapons. Increases damage done by improvised weapons.
Programming – C++ (LVL 1 – 00.00%)
Grants the ability to write and read code, programs, and other materials written in the language of C++.
The first half of that was a list of skills, not a chapter. So I skipped it. And, in the process, skipped the last half of the chapter where the world-establishing was the first time around.
I got some idea about Gamer fic. How about we take new spin at the Gamer mind? When think of gamer mind people tend to play the "keep player calm" part but, there are another part of Gamer mind people tend to ignore the "perceive live as a video game" part.
I want to see Gamer SI who affected by their unnatural gaming such as speed run or completionist. For example, I myself when play game tend to be a hoarder who keep everything in inventory so, when I become gamer that habit affects me and I become keptomaniac who keeps everything inside inventory.
People think and do thing differently when they play game but, I never see any Gamer affect by their gaming habits except for the Original who is mmorpg player.
Edit : Oh and maybe the gamer who never obtain 'Observe' skill. Afterall not everyone is an observant.
I got some idea about Gamer fic. How about we take new spin at the Gamer mind? When think of gamer mind people tend to play the "keep player calm" part but, there are another part of Gamer mind people tend to ignore the "perceive live as a video game" part.
I want to see Gamer SI who affected by their unnatural gaming such as speed run or completionist. For example, I myself when play game tend to be a hoarder who keep everything in inventory so, when I become gamer that habit affects me and I become keptomaniac who keeps everything inside inventory.
People think and do thing differently when they play game but, I never see any Gamer affect by their gaming habits except for the Original who is mmorpg player.
Edit : Oh and maybe the gamer who never obtain 'Observe' skill. Afterall not everyone is an observant.
Rather, the SI is in a world under the belief that he's playing a game, thus bringing up lots of jargon like saves and NPCs, but otherwise is just a normal as hell SI. Doesn't delve deep into the stats (not that it'd matter since the game he thinks he's playing is based off Animal Crossing).
Surprisingly, that idea come when I seriously tried to write realistic SI. It seem without resort to use much younger me or use something to tamper my mind, the current me would be pretty reckless and suicidal.
I'd like for a Gamer fic to exist that doesn't have bullshit abilities like [Lying] or [Bluffing]
It just doesn't work well when you think about it logically. They always seem to work even though there's a '2% extra chance of success with each level' or something similar.
Truth be told, my main issue with Gamer fics (SI and crossovers) is that most of them haven't bothered to map out how the Game System works, before writing the story. They simply keep on adding skills and numbers, not realizing that eventually it will start contradicting themselves.
I'd like for a Gamer fic to exist that doesn't have bullshit abilities like [Lying] or [Bluffing]
It just doesn't work well when you think about it logically. They always seem to work even though there's a '2% extra chance of success with each level' or something similar.
Truth be told, my main issue with Gamer fics (SI and crossovers) is that most of them haven't bothered to map out how the Game System works, before writing the story. They simply keep on adding skills and numbers, not realizing that eventually it will start contradicting themselves.
The problem I've had when looking at Gamer fics is they elect to be pretty pure power fantasies in my experience.
Specifically, they focus entirely on what the game system allows our hero to do, and not what limits they face. While having an ever expanding list of allowances. Our hero won't find that there's not a skill for X for sure, or that if they want to level a skill past a certain level (that is mediocre) they must find an 'expert teacher' and oh it turns out that, to pick a concrete example, the only expert teacher for Lying for your Naruto Gamer is... Orochimaru. (or at least he can't find any others). So after a point your Naruto has to pal around with Orochimaru to become a better liar.
No, instead they trend towards seemingly infinite leveling by doing and having skills for literally everything, and no 'pick one' kinda limits. Any game system is just as much about 'can't do' as 'can do', but these fics in no way cleave to that or understand it, in my personal experience.
What about a Gamer SI with a focus on crafting and item management? I've been considering making one for a really long time but I keep tweaking my Frankenstein's Monster of a System and right now it's a mess.
About the Gamer, I think the original system is good enough there're no need to change it. The problem with changing the system is it tend to make one too OP for once or nerf it and destroy what I want to see in another. ( I really want my power stay as it is)
What I want to see from the gamer isn't balanced system but how SI use them.
STR focus is suck because people don't want to write OP character.
Low WIS is suck because writer don't want his character to be OP
Balance system is suck because People think Original system is too OP!
Am I the only that can't find those so called "bad OP MC fanfic" because since I started reading fanfic I never got to see any Gary Stu (I don't read story with female protagonist)at all!
*calm down*
Ok, I think item focus Gamer is cool but, I have better and more novel idea in the name of Tower defense focus Gamer!
Well, for those who didn't read the Gamer in season 4 the story show that if someone attempts to attacking the Gamer base they will be taken into tower defense mini game where gamer can summon a unit( in canon case golem) to eliminating enemies!
Think about it The gamer who instead of grinding to power sit back and craft cute automaton doll girl to defeat enemy for him!
Edit: Oh! And thank to another thread I find out that we still don't have a Made in Abyss SI!
Wakfu/Dofus Eniripsa SI
You know the whole Healer meme?
Imagine that, but its a race/class/religeon/culture, you get wings, and you can learn speech based magic, meaning your cutting sarcasm actually cuts things...
SI is either in the setting, or in another series entirely.
whatever turned him into an Eniripsa, which skipped the usual way to become one, also technically granted him the body of an Enripsa demigod, meaning not only are they unaging, but their new siblings may want to have a talk to them....and when their end goal is replacing their parent as goddess, it may be best to avoid them
You know thinking back i now have an idea for a koihime musou si mixed in with a little dynasty warriors as well.
See i have a rough idea for the events of koihime musou. But this was all done under the impression of hey these events occured due to the protagonist existing and joining kanu. So what if he refused or chose the cowards way and turned around and left.
Hear me out i am not a brave man i am a coward a liar if it means that i live.
So what happens when a coward has to eventually draw a line against braver men. It is here where i take inspiration from dynasty warriors specifically 8. And the hypothetical routes. Yes wu and wei have people claiming messangers of heaven but they lack the detailed knowledge of what to do and who to save for their gaurenteed success.
So just using previous knowledge the si would work in the background to ensure that events go in shu's direction.
Look the base premise is what if the si protagonist from koihime musou said i am not who you think i am and instead of being a public face became their shadow only officially joining once he was certain that shu has a high chance of coming on top or for events that require direct intervention.
Wakfu/Dofus Eniripsa SI
You know the whole Healer meme?
Imagine that, but its a race/class/religeon/culture, you get wings, and you can learn speech based magic, meaning your cutting sarcasm actually cuts things...
SI is either in the setting, or in another series entirely.
whatever turned him into an Eniripsa, which skipped the usual way to become one, also technically granted him the body of an Enripsa demigod, meaning not only are they unaging, but their new siblings may want to have a talk to them....and when their end goal is replacing their parent as goddess, it may be best to avoid them
Here's the thing;
In Dofus/Wakfu, the less you act like your Race's stereotype? The weaker your racial natural abilities.
Because it's less "Race" or "Species" and more what God you worship, and acting against that god can piss them off.
Eniripsa's disciples must adhere to the following commandments:
Thou shalt take care to heal all ills.
Thou shalt not get wound up if someone ribs thee.
Thou shalt look after nature.
Thou shalt keep fit by doing lots of exercise.
Thou shalt explain to those ignorant in the art of plant-based medicine that it is not just limited to lavender bath oil.
Thou shalt always know the right words to fix a broken heart.
Thou shalt encourage novides to fly with their own wings.
Thou shalt have plenty of patients.
Thou shalt satisfy thy curiosity without killing the cat.
Thou shalt wash thy hands before coming to the operating table.
If thou dost not follow these commandments, thou shalt be forced to wear a gag and mittens as a sign of penitence.
Praise be to Eniripsa, the goddess with transluscent wings!
Here's the thing;
In Dofus/Wakfu, the less you act like your Race's stereotype? The weaker your racial natural abilities.
Because it's less "Race" or "Species" and more what God you worship, and acting against that god can piss them off.
