CR: Hello there ladies and gentlemen, and welcome once more, to "Game Time". For this moment, neither Hatter, Alex nor Daphne will be here with me, since I will have to explain a couple of things beforehand.
If you've received the notification of an update, and went to check the fic again, please stay and read what I'm about to tell; for those who are reading this fic for the first time, please ignore this message and scroll down until this symbol "_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_" appears near the top of your screen.
Okay then, now, the reason I'm rewriting Game Time is not because I'm displeased with the plot and with the route that it is taking, no; rather, the way things are going in this fic is superb, and just the way Hatter and I envisioned; however, what displeases me is the inconsistency of the plot.
If one was to pay attention, then you would notice that there were many instances where Gami-chan just gave Izuku quests, and despite finishing them, he never received the rewards; another thing that was also inconsistent was the format of the Stat Sheets, because in some chapters it showed more stuff, in others it showed less stuff, and as such, I feel that it would be very confusing for the attentive readers that pay attention to the smallest details, and as such, I seek to fill in those plot holes by providing you guys with a more consistent system.
Now, the next thing to change, is the grammar and pacing of the fic; for the earlier chapters, I mostly wrote on my phone at night (not the most ideal situation, but inspiration for some reason always comes during the night), which means that my focus was shot, and with a smaller keyboard, the chapters were more prone to have typos sneak past me, which, when combined with the straightforward dialogues, it made for a bizarre combination that in my opinion ruins the fluidity of the reading, something that I seek to correct with these rewrites.
The next thing that I will mention is mostly a personal desire, which is to provide you with a more thorough experience as you read this story. What do I mean by that? Well, what I mean is that the way that the fic was written, was so that the reader could not only envision the events that occur in each chapter, but could also replicate the sensations and emotions of every character so that each dialogue has more depth to it.
And... I guess that's all, then. Well, I won't take more of your time, so, for those that read this message, feel free to ignore the following Author's Note and enjoy the new, revisited chapter of Game Time.
P.S: Link to my Discord will also be down below in the next AN, so if you wanna check it out, and just have some fun with some of my friends and me, then it will be down below, anyone is free to join.
CR: Alright guys, I'll admit that this fic is pretty different to the ones I usually do, but I hope this placates you all.
Alex: Where were you?!
CR: To be honest with you, this fic is one of the reasons I've been missing for the most part. Everyone, welcome to "Game Time"!
Alex: Is this another "Gamer Fic"?
CR: It is, but this story doesn't exactly belong to me. I was invited to collaborate with the original author, who's also here with me: DavidHatter16!
Hatter: *pops up behind Alex* HI GUYS!
Alex: GAAHHH! Where did you come from?!
Hatter: AO3, that is where this whole fic was posted to begin with. I had asked CR to help, so that's been awesome. It kinda took a while though, oops.
Alex: *stares at Hatter then at CR* So... this was why you haven't updated at all?
CR: *chuckles sheepishly* It didn't help that college started pressuring me, I also had a massive writer's block, and this fic helped me get back into gear.
Alex: As long as you get to update the other fics.
CR: Let's hope so. Either way, before we start this, I just want to tell you guys beforehand that this fic was originally inspired by Yojimbra's fic "Level Up", however, most of the things there won't happen here, and if you see some slight bashing... we apologize.
Also, links to our Discord Servers will be down below, so feel free to check them out if you want to talk to us about the fic, or just overall have fun with us and the other members.
Now, I seriously doubt that we need to explain this but: we're not the owners of Boku No Hero Academia, nor its characters; instead, they were created by Kohei Horikoshi, and thus, they are his property. OCs are of course original, so take that as you will.
CR's Starbound City: discord dot gg/ 4vCAydn
Hatter's Quirkshop: discord gg/ 8J2QNce
"Speech"
'Thought'
"All Might Speech/Super Moves"
[Gamer Interface]
[Quirk]
That is all...
On With The Show
Izuku groaned as the sun rays hit his eyes, forcing him to wake up; he idly covered his eyes with his arm until they got used to the light, and let out another groan as he got up, stretching his body as he looked at the calendar. It was Monday, meaning that he'd be going to school soon.
'School…' The sigh that he let out at the thought of his school was not of relief, nor of the aggravation of having to learn the same things repeatedly because others didn't get it so easily, like most teenagers do, no…
It was of grief, for it was another day of hell on Earth for the greenette.
At this point, it's old news that Midoriya Izuku is [Quirkless], a fact that everyone that isn't his mom or aunt milk for all that it is worth, and not in the good way either; they constantly steal his stuff, forcing him to learn how to hide his things better; they constantly beat him up, which in turn forced him to increase his pain tolerance and learn when they would turn hostile towards him.
But most of all, they always mock him for wishing to be a Pro Hero, since he had no Quirk to use in that line of work. Every day, it was the same thing, and the teachers didn't help matters, always looking at him with either thinly veiled pity or with disregard. But his biggest tormentor was in fact, his best friend: Katsumi Bakugo.
Since they were kids, she led the army of his tormentors, beating him up, insulting him in every way that she could and was never afraid to use her Quirk, [Explosion], on him. He sighed again, wondering why he didn't choose to leave her, considering how much she hated him.
Oh, right, because there was another reason for all of that.
He didn't know why, but in his soul, he could feel that there was more to it than just her being cruel, her eyes told him that much; in those crimson orbs, there was a strange glint that clashed heavily with her malicious grin every time she snarled at him. He shrugged, whatever it is, now was not the time to dwell on it.
After all, this is but another day of his Quirkless, normal life… well, at first it was.
[You have slept in your bed. HP has been restored to maximum capacity.]
"... What the heck?" He asked himself as he looked at the light blue translucent box that was now floating in front of him; tilting his head, he slowly raised his hand in curiosity, waving it around, hoping that it was just an illusion, but the box did not fade, even when his hand went through it. Curious, he tentatively pressed it, and he recoiled when he felt his finger touch something solid and the box faded, much like when he turned off a TV.
He gasped in bafflement. "What is this?!" He then exclaimed in shock as he theorized what happened. He was 14 years old, almost out of junior high. "Quirks don't appear after you turn five! This is an established fact that has been reinforced many times by science, so what the heck is going on!?" He shouted to his empty room, hoping that he could at least get an answer out of this.
Surprisingly enough, another box appeared in front of his eyes, and a childish voice with a feminine tone echoed through his head.
[Sorry about that. My development took ten more years than what was meant to take, but now I'm here, so all's good!]
"...Development?" Izuku pondered, then he shook his head. "Wait-Wait-Wait! Why am I taking this so well?! Why is there a g-g-g-g-g-g-girl's voice in my head all of a sudden?! Is my mom safe?! Is a villain doing this?! Why me?! What do you want?!" He started ranting, his hands clutching his head as his eyes were wide with fear, hoping that nothing bad would happen to either him or his mom, while stuttering from embarrassment at the thought of a girl being in his head.
Then, he lifted his head as he heard the sound of something flapping, and saw that the box flipped, this time showing a different text as the voice once again echoed through his head.
[Worry not, Izuku-kun. I am not the Quirk of a villain, and your mom is safe, I can guarantee you that. For now, just take a deep breath, and don't worry about me being a girl; I know how you are, and I don't mind that. So, how about we take a look at the patch notes?] The screen said, and Izuku decided to trust it, after all, it didn't do much than just flip.
Once he calmed down, he saw another screen appear beside the speech box, and read through it.
[Development patch: 1.0:
Fixed interface personality.
Added basic leveling system.
Placed Basic stats (D & D/Manhwa/Fate style)
Numerous crashes and bugs fixed.]
Izuku blinked at the information displayed. "'Manhwa'? 'Fate'? What are those supposed to mean?" He asked himself, and then, another question came to his mind, one that he sincerely doubted, but nonetheless, the nagging feeling that brewed within him made him believe this to be the most possible theory. "... And is this my Quirk?" He asked. This time, both screens faded, and a new one appeared, this time it showed a pale pink haired girl with amethyst eyes gleaming with joy and innocence as she gave him a beaming smile.
[Ding Ding! That's right! Hello Izuku! :D My name is Gami-chan, and I am the moderator of your Quirk, the [Gamer System]! Feel free to call upon me when you need it! And unlike a certain blonde-haired bitch, I won't bully you] Said the girl on the screen, pouting at the end, which somehow didn't faze him as much, considering the curse that she let out.
Izuku easily determined who this 'Gami-chan' was talking about, for there was only one person that fit that description. He flinched as a bruise from a few days prior pulsed at the thought of her 'lesson'.
Noticing how the mood soured, the girl- Gami-chan- started shifting awkwardly while scratching the back of her head.
[Uh… Would you like to see your stats?]
Izuku looked up as she spoke, and nodded, appreciating the distraction from the aches of his injuries and the visage of his friend. This time, Gami-chan's screen minimized as another screen popped up, filled with numbers and words.
[Name: Izuku Midoriya
Title: N/A
Status: Bullied (-50% ? Gain with people (Doubled with {?} affiliated members), 50% Chance of being attacked by {?} affiliated members, -75% Charisma Gain)
Race: Human (5% Gain to All Attributes {EXP, Stat, Skill, etc.})
Age: 14 (7 Months until your 15th Birthday)
Level: 1 (50 EXP to Next Level)
Class: N/A
Strength: E- Rank: 9 {Decent, but below average}
Dexterity: E- Rank: 7 {Below Average. Scar tissue slows you down}
Endurance: D Rank: 12 {Able to handle a certain bitch's explosions}
Intelligence: B+ + Rank: 20 {Could easily be one of the smartest beings alive, held back by a lack of confidence}
Wisdom: E- - Rank: 4 {Not good. You still see Katsumi as a friend… (sorry)}
Charisma: B- - Rank: 3 {If there's something that you inherited from your dad, it's this}
Luck: A+ + Rank: 20 {On one hand, you have me. On the other hand… there's a lot of stuff in your way that you don't deserve}
Money: 1,620
Stat Points: 0
Perk Points: 0]
Izuku stared at the list with wonder, looking at his stats with an inquisitive expression. "So… what do the numbers mean, and what are the ranks?" He queried to the mod, and then her screen expanded.
[The way your stats work are as followed:
-Each stat has around 5 Ranks, which are measured as (E, D, C, B and A); well, it's technically 6, but I'll explain that later. For now, let's just focus on the main 5 Ranks:
The E-Rank in terms of quality can be measured to the level of a Quirkless civilian, and it is the lowest Rank.
The D-Rank now is 50% better than the E-Rank in terms of quality, and it is the level most weak Quirked users classify under.
Now the C-Rank is 50% better than the D-Rank, and this is the level that most Hero Students and Sidekicks are classified under, depending if it's because of a Quirk or not.
The B-Rank is now the level of an average Pro-Hero and it is 100% better in quality than the C-Rank.
And the A-Rank is the level that most of the top 30 Pro-Heroes classify under and in terms of quality it is 100% better than the B-Rank.
-Now, the next aspect of the stats is the numbers. Now how that works is simple:}
Each stat can have the numbers of 1 to 20, which are labeled as "Levels", and it is also shown in the Ranking in this way: "- -", "-", "Signless", "+" and "+ +".
From 1 to 4, the Rank will be of "- -" (Example: A- -). From 5 to 9 the Rank will be simply "-". From 10 to 14 the Rank will not have a sign and it is the most average measurement of the Rank. From 15 to 19 the Rank will be "+" and lastly, when the stat is 20, the Rank will be "+ +".
Once a stat reaches its Rank's limit, it is possible to "Rank Up" by meeting certain conditions, in which case the stats shall convert like this: "D+ + (20) to C- - (1).
Now, when a Stat reaches the A+ + Rank, it is possible to "Ascend" it by meeting certain conditions, in which case, the stat shall be converted into the "EX'' Rank, which is 200% better than the A-Rank in quality, and it shall be demonstrated like this: "A+ + (20) to EX (20+)". {Note: Once a stat reaches the EX-Rank, it can no longer increase tab wise}.
Final detail: You can use "Stat Points" to increase your stats, but depending on the Rank of the stat, the amount of stat points needed to do so increases as well. Here's a brief chart of how this works:
E-Rank: 1 Stat Point.
D-Rank: 2 Stat Points per Level.
C-Rank: 5 Stat Points per Level.
B-Rank: 10 Stat Points per Level.
A-Rank: 20 Stat Points per Level.
And those would be the stats. Also, as a way to make it easier for you to measure it, a verbal comparison will be placed right beside the numbers. The Fate system is applied as the Ranks, while the Manhwa system is applied as the Levels and the D & D system is applied as the verbal notes. Please keep it in mind]
"I see…" Izuku trailed off, finally dressed as he looked at himself in the mirror and nodded to himself in satisfaction. Then, a thought came to his mind. "By the way, Gami-chan, how do I measure my Health Points?" He asked her, and the UI's image suddenly froze, literally.
He was surprised when the screen suddenly fell down to the ground, shattering in the process as the shards then faded into snow. Then, another screen popped up, with Gami-chan chuckling sheepishly.
[You don't have to worry about that. I will just tell you if you have taken damage. There should be a bar with a number on it in the top left portion of your vision, in case you want to keep track of it]
"Oh… thank you Gami-chan." Izuku responded, briefly greeting his mom as he started to eat breakfast.
[You're welcome! :)]
He smiled in response as he ate. A few minutes afterwards, he finished his breakfast, packed his stuff while bidding his mom goodbye and quickly left.
Thankfully, there were no incidents, and while he did get to see not only Kamui Woods fight a villain in person, he also got to see the new debuting Pro Heroine "Mount Lady" (although he did blush a little bit when she presented her full ass to everyone), nothing else worth noting happened, which allowed him to calmly arrive on time for class. Once he finally got to the classroom, he sat down in usual seat in the back of the room.
The back seat in the class was his favorite, because that way he would be left quiet for a bit longer, and he could easily be left unnoticed by the others. The teacher, as usual, ignored him in favor of the other students; that was a relief for the greenette, for that meant that he wouldn't be humiliated more than what he usually is. And then Katsumi came in, much to his chagrin.
Her eyes swept through the room, eventually landing on Izuku's visage with the intensity of a hawk. Her ever present scowl intensified as her eyes narrowed with that same strange glint that he always perceived in her eyes and took a swig of her thermos, the scent of coffee softly reaching his nostrils.
This was another thing that hinted him of something being amiss with Kacchan: She drank a lot of coffee ever since they were kids, and he was pretty sure that that wasn't healthy for one. 'Is she not sleeping well?' Izuku asked himself for the millionth time, but dropped it as the Drone (his teacher) started speaking. "So… today's your first day of Senior Year at Aldera Junior High, everyone, I'm sure all of you know that." the teacher declared, and the students decided to pay rapt attention.
"You should all begin to think about what High Schools you want to apply for, and what your future careers will be. I'll be handing out the charts with all schools and institutes where you can develop your skills. Now, I think you all know this, but just in case, I'll say it either way: be realistic. I know you all wanna go to the Hero Course, but only a select few have the necessary potential to shine in that line up." He droned on (HA!), looking at Katsumi directly by the end, with said girl responding with a savage grin.
The teacher proceeded to give each student the charts and forms to note down, but when he reached Izuku's desk, the Drone silently scoffed, passing to Izuku the chart and form reluctantly, which Izuku briefly ignored in favor of receiving the papers.
He briefly looked over the charts of all the schools, institutes and professions that were available to him, and his eyes briefly landed upon the thread of UA, the best High School for future Pro Heroes. Deep down, he already knew the answer to that, but his fears laid upon Katsumi's reaction to that; he knew that this would trigger the blonde severely, but as much as he didn't want to make her angry, he still needed to note it down in order for the application to be made.
So, with a heavy heart, Izuku filled the form with his career choice and institute being: "Pro Hero; UA High School". Now it was time to wait, and pray that the teacher was merciful today and didn't instigate more humiliation.
Ten minutes passed, and everyone had filled in their forms and the teacher started retrieving them; as that happened, Izuku looked down, silently praying over and over for the teacher to give him some peace the closer he got to the greenette's desk. When the teacher picked his form, sweat trailed down his forehead as the teacher started at his form with an unreadable expression, and then returned to his desk with a nod.
Izuku sighed in relief, for the teacher wouldn't put him under the spotlight.
"Well, some of these applications are very interesting, I must say. So, you're applying to UA, right, Bakugo-san?" Said the teacher, and everyone gasped in shock.
"What? UA? Seriously?" One of the students whispered.
"UA is said to be the best Hero School of Japan, possibly the world." Another one followed up.
"Yeah, not only that, but it's said that it was the school that birthed All Might, Endeavor and Best Jeanist!" A third one added.
"And of the thousands that apply to the Hero Course, only the 0,02 percent are accepted!" A fourth student finished, and Katsumi smirked as she laid her feet over her desk and crossed her arms behind her head, uncaring of how unladylike she was currently being.
"Well yeah, of course I'm applying to UA; only the best can go there, and as far as I'm concerned, I'm the best that there is in this trashy ass school, where none of you extras won't even manage to work as a D-Lister Sidekick!" She bragged, and all of the students cried out in outrage, until she started making small explosions on her hands, shutting them up from fear.
Izuku didn't doubt that she would apply there, heck, he didn't doubt that she would even be accepted because of the potential of her Quirk. However, the teacher's eyes then fell upon the greenette, and Izuku realized that he may have tempted fate with his prior thoughts.
"And that reminds me, Midoriya-san, you're applying to UA too, right?" Said the teacher with a badly concealed grin, showing that he did that on purpose.
The room was silent for a hot second, and Izuku couldn't quite contain his reaction of banging his head on the table with a groan. Once he did so, the entire room exploded in laughter as they pointed at him mockingly.
"Midoriya?! You of all people?! You're Quirkless!" One of the other guys in the class mocked him as the teens kept cackling.
"Yeah! You're even more useless than we are!" Yelled a girl, with nobody minding the backhanded compliment since this was Izuku they were talking about.
The greenette timidly raised his head to look at the class that kept berating him, and then he whimpered in fear as he saw the explosive blond twitching slightly after hearing that he was applying to UA.
"T-there's n-no rule that s-says Q-Quirkless p-people can't apply. Th-th-they took away that r-r-restriction, so I-I have a chance. Even if I'm Quirkless, I still have to try!" He tried to defend himself, but it only made them laugh even louder. A screen suddenly popped up in front of him, but when he saw that nobody reacted to it, he realized that only he could see Gami-chan's messages.
[But you're not Quirkless, Izuku. After all, you have me, please remember that. (っ. ᴗ .)っ]
Seeing her sweet response was like a breath of fresh air, and it made him feel warm in his chest; however, that quickly faded once he noticed that Katsumi was looking right at him, and boy oh boy she was pissed.
It was easy to tell, since she was eerily quiet, her eyes boring into his own with that same strange glint, this time more prominent, which nobody else noticed; slowly, she got up from her seat, and with slow steps, she started approaching his desk, with each step her shadow seemed to increase and the glint intensified, making him gulp and shiver slightly in fear.
By the time she stood in front of him, she almost looked like a giant, while he felt like an ant; although, even in these circumstances, he barely found the strength to look up and not cower from her intimidating visage. "Deku…" She started, her voice eerily calm, further frightening the boy.
Izuku swallowed the lump in his throat and barely uttered out his reply. "Y-y-y-ye-es K-Kac-ccc-chan?" He replied, then gasped as she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, roughly, and snarled in his face.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing by applying to UA? Didn't you hear what the teacher and I said?" Katsumi growled, which made him sweat nervously as he tried to find the right words to placate her.
"I-I-I-I-I d-di-di-d h-he-ea-ar wh-what yo-y-you said, b-b-but you kn-n-n-now that th-this is my-m-m-my dream-" Before he could continue, she gave him an explosive punch to the stomach, singing his uniform with soot as he gasped from the pain and doubled over to the floor; the blonde then grasped his hair and forcefully lifted his head to make him look at her, grinning at how his eyes were wide with fear.
"Listen here, you little shit. I will be the only one in this shitty school to apply to UA, after all, as I'm the best, it makes sense that no one can match me… or do you think that you're better than me?" She told him, the hand holding his scalp slowly heating up with every word, which made him wince from the pain. A screen appeared right over the blonde's face, and Gami-chan's face was revealed, with said girl somehow managing to scowl angrily.
[Well, with that attitude, he's already better than you. And with me, not even you will stand a chance against him, Tsar Bomba :(]
Izuku was thankful that Katsumi couldn't see Gami-chan's messages, or else he would've already been in a world of pain. He whined again as the hand heated up even more. "N-no-n-n-no, Kacc-chan, that's not wh-what I thin-" Izuku barely had time to grit his teeth as another explosive punch was launched at his stomach, and he grunted from the pain, all the while Katsumi was fully snarling at him now.
"Then know your fucking place! You'll never amount for anything in this world, Deku. After all, would UA really accept you into the Hero Course? UA? Tch, not even in a million years!" She yelled, dropping him roughly on the ground as she then walked back to her desk, but then Izuku somewhat heard her whispering something under her breath, but he didn't exactly understand what it was.
With a heavy sigh, Izuku fixed his desk and sat down, and he managed to muster the anger to glare at the teacher, who flinched at seeing the ever timid greenette having such an… evil look. Gami-chan beheld it all with a sad expression and sighed as she decided to leave Izuku alone for now.
After the rather disastrous events of the first class, Izuku's day went as normal, or well, as normal as suddenly being a Quirked teen can be; even now, he still couldn't quite wrap his mind around the fact that he now had a Quirk, or rather, always had; it made him wish that he could show off Gami-chan to everyone and hopefully gain their friendship, but he quickly squashed down that thought as he realized that it wouldn't be worth it.
His classmates always tried to find a way to ridicule him, mostly because of his Quirkless status, but there were times that they mocked him because he wasn't as physically capable as the others, or because of his Hero Notes, and at times it was because of his mumbling habit, something that he inherited from his dad (or so his mom said).
Suddenly having a Quirk wouldn't change a thing. Besides, Izuku honestly doubted that he would ever see them again once he goes to UA. Was that a cruel thing to think? Perhaps, but at this point Izuku was angry, even if he didn't show it, so there was only one thing that he could do whenever he was angry.
'Focus, Deku, focus. Don't give into the pressure, rise above it. After all, many others go through this, you know this, so don't give up; for the people who need a pillar of strength, the people who need the reassurance that they can succeed.' He thought to himself, repeating it in his mind like a mantra as he finished writing down what the teacher was telling them to note down. Suddenly, a screen appeared, facing seemingly nowhere, with Gami-chan staring impassively into the air… or so it seemed.
[Yes, Izuku turns his anger into determination, dear readers]
Then the screen spun around to face Izuku.
[Your Skill has leveled up! {Emotional Strength (A+++)} is now Level 2!]
The sudden notification startled him, but Izuku managed to hide his reaction from the others as he then looked at Gami-chan. At first, he was about to open his mouth, but then decided against it, since he didn't want to out himself just yet, and instead considered other options.
'Can I talk to her in my thoughts?' He wondered to himself, and decided that he had to try it at least. 'Gami-chan, can you hear me?' He thought, and the UI's screen floated before him as she nodded.
[Loud and clear, Izuku. What is it that you require from this humble and loyal User's Interface? (・ω・ )]
It nearly made him laugh from how cute and eccentric her response was, but he contained it, choosing to remain serious. 'Say, Gami-chan, what was that about "Emotional Strength"? Is there more to my Quirk than just the stats?' He asked, and the screen flipped.
[... I forgot to tell you about that. Yes, indeed there's a lot more to the System than just the stats, as you have seen with "Emotional Strength". Now, please say "Menu" (in your mind, obviously) so that we can start] She said, and he did as told. Soon, another screen appeared in front of him.
Menu:
- Quests*
- Stats
- Skills
- Perks
- Inventory
- Inbox*
- Wardrobe
- ?
- ? **
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
[As you can see here, the Menu is where you can find the tabs for certain functions, with the blurred ones being functions that at the moment are blocked. Each tab will have a mark when there's something worth checking out. Now, say "Quests" to open the Quest tab] She instructed him, and he nodded.
'Quests' He thought, and the screen changed again.
[New Quests:
- None
Ongoing Quests:
- Waking Up On The Gamer's Side Of The Bed (Part 1 of 2: Open The Game) {Difficulty: E-}: 37.5%
? Quests:
- None
? Quests:
- None]
[This is the Quest Tab, it is where most of your Quests can be seen whenever you want to do them. In some instances, Quests will be mandatory and denying them will not be an option, or in other cases, an instant Game Over, and we don't want that, now do we?] She explained, and the thought made him shiver. She continued. [Now, select the ongoing Quest] She said and he did by subtly pressing the name.
Another screen appeared in front of him:
[Quest: Waking Up On The Gamer's Side Of The Bed (Part 1 of 2: Open The Game) {Difficulty: E-}]
[Description: Your Quirk has awakened, and it is time for you to learn the ropes of how to make the most of it, step by step.
Objectives:
-Learn how to bring up the "Menu": COMPLETE
-Learn how to see your "Stats": COMPLETE
-Learn how to see your "Quests": COMPLETE
-Learn how to see your "Skills"
-Learn how to see your "Perks"
-Learn how to see your "Inventory"
-Learn how to see your "Inbox"
-Learn how to see your "Wardrobe"
Rewards: 100 EXP, 5,000¥, {E-Ranked Item}]
[And there you have it, by selecting each quest, you can see its description, objectives and rewards. Most Quests will have bonus objectives that are optional, but they do bring in some sweet rewards, so if you see a Quest that has Bonus Objectives, work for those, baby ;)] He nodded in response, and smiled at the last part from the amusement.
Gami-chan turned serious again. [Back on track, please close the tab by pressing on the 'x' on the top right corner and open the "Skills" tab] She instructed him, and he nodded slightly.
Before he closed the tab, however, an idea came to his mind, and he willed the screen to lay down on his desk; much to his surprise, it followed his command accordingly, leisurely resting on the table top, and inwardly, he grinned in satisfaction as he pretended to tap the desk from boredom, but was in fact closing it. The UI had to applaud for his ingenuity.
'Skills' He then thought, and another screen appeared in front of him.
[Skills]
[- 1) Observe - Active/Passive (EX): Level 1 {Next Level: 48%}
- 2) Emotional Strength - Passive (A+++): Level 2 {Next Level: 4%}
- 3) Detect Danger - Passive (B): Level 1 {Next Level: 89%}
- 4) Linguistics - Active/Passive (B+): Level 1 {Next Level: 23%}
- 5) Plan Crafting - Active (C+++): Level 1 {Next Level: 6%}
- 6) Rational Explanation - Passive (C-): Level 1 {Next Level: 1%}
Skill Points: 0
[As you can see here, when opening the tab, your Skills shall be displayed on a list that you can check whenever you want, which shows their type, Rank, current Level, percentage of Progress and the amount of Skill Points that you have, which you can use to instantly level up a Skill. To learn more about the skills, please select one by tapping the name of the skill] She explained and Izuku liked how it was simple to understand. So, he willed the screen to float beside his notebook and tapped on the first skill. The screen faded and another one popped up.
[Observe - Active (EX): Level 1 {Next Level: 48%}
Description: The ability to take note of something specific or something in general, it can be either a person, an item or a place. When leveled up, this skill allows you to look into the tiniest detail with the utmost accuracy and perfection (Due to the lateness of the System's Activation and past experiences, this Skill has been granted the {EX} Rank from the get-go).
- Can let you see: Name, Title, Level and Class.
- 150% Intelligence Gain.
- 50% Wisdom Gain.
- 25% EXP Gain for {Plan Crafting (C+++)}.
- 50% Chance to find [Weak Spots] in: Objects, Enemies {Doubled when Observing Quirks (Note: This feature is of Passive nature)}.
[By selecting a Skill, you can see now their description and what they can do. The Rank determines the quality of the Skill and the bonuses that it provides. Depending on the Rank, it'll either have more bonuses or they'll have fewer, but extremely powerful bonuses at the start. Also, the Skills' bonuses augment every time the Skill levels up, and by the higher levels, it'll take more uses to level them up, so get to work, soldier!] She told him and he nodded.
The screen closed as Gami-chan appeared once again on another screen.
[On another note, in regards to the Skills, every ten levels, the Skills will require double the amount of Skill Points to level up each time. Now that that's done, it's time for you to check the "Perks" tab. I don't think I need to explain to you at this point how to open it, do I?] She asked him and he shook his head at the obvious statement.
'Perks' He thought, and another screen popped up.
[Perks]
[- 1) Quirk Theorist (EX): Maxed.
- 2) Hero's Will (A++): Level 3/4.
Perk Points: 0
[Now, here in the Perks tab, you can see all of your Perks, their Ranks and the amount of Perk Points that you have, which can be used to either buy or upgrade your perks. Please select one Perk to continue] He did as told by choosing the first Perk, which had piqued his interest, and his eyes widened in shock as he saw the Perk.
[Perk: Quirk Theorist (EX-Ranked)
Description: It is one thing to look at a Quirk and guess how it works at first glance, but it is a completely different thing to study a Quirk and theorize how it works by dedicating minutes, or even hours of your life to it. Due to your dedication towards this, you've managed to turn the skill of "Quirk Theory Crafting" into an art that few can ever hope to replicate. You should be proud of this.
Grants:
- 100% EXP Gain for {Observe (EX)} (Doubled when the following target is involved: Quirks).
- 75% Chance to develop a new [?] Skill (Doubled when using the Skill {Observe (EX)}
- 50% Intelligence Gain (Doubled when studying the following theme: Quirks)
- 50% EXP Gain for {Plan Crafting (C+++)} (Doubled when the following theme is involved: Quirks)
- 25% EXP Gain for {Rational Explanation (C-)} (Doubled when using the Skill towards the following theme: Quirks)
- 25% EXP Gain.]
[Again, Perks are far superior to Skills because they cannot be blocked by any means, and their bonuses are always going to be extremely powerful, hence why they're so costly. Let's move on] Gami-chan gave her explanation to the shell shocked Izuku, who was baffled by how powerful his first Perk really was. Eventually, before the teacher could notice, he closed the tab and pretended that he was still paying attention to the class (Since he was already done, he didn't exactly need to do that, but regardless, he did so).
Once he felt that he was safe, Izuku turned back to Gami-chan, who was waiting for his response. 'Okay, so, next should be the "Inventory", right?' He asked her, and she nodded. 'Well then, let's see the Inventory' He thought, and a new screen showed up.
Inventory
1- Nothing
2- Nothing
3- Nothing
4- Nothing
5…
And Izuku was met with this new tab, which was filled with small windows that were empty.
[The Inventory is where you can store most inanimate objects, such as items, props, clothes and even weapons. However, you cannot store organic living beings like plants, animals or humans; on another note, food can be stored, but only if it's prepackaged, so Bentos are a go. ;) Try storing any item by placing it over a box] Gami-chan told him and then he thought of what could be simple and that nobody would notice.
Twirling the pen in hand, Izuku stared at it for a good while, then he willed the screen to float behind his notebook, and placed the pen over one of the boxes and let it go. Much to his surprise, he didn't hear the pen clank against the table and the box now had a small picture of the pen.
[Items that are stored in the Inventory are automatically safeguarded and they can only be accessed by you and me; the order in which the items are shown depends on your selection, Izuku. To bring out that same item from the Inventory, just pick it from wherever you feel most comfortable and pull it out] She explained once more as Izuku complied with her instructions.
So, the greenette carefully did a grabbing motion with his index finger and thumb, and he was surprised when he felt something being grabbed on; then, he pulled it out, revealing the pen, which looked the same way it did when he last put it there.
[Another thing to note is that depending on the size of the item that is stored, the box will have a different size, at least enough so that you can grasp it easily] She added, which Izuku thought was nifty, and broken; Even if he just unlocked it today, it has so many applications that he would only see on gadgets or if someone had multiple Quirks (somewhere else, a blonde skeleton of a man and a potato faced man that was sitting on a chair sneezed at the same time, with the former spitting out blood while the latter felt as if he should be proud).
Noting how there was nothing else to do about the [Inventory], Izuku promptly closed the tab and opened the next one, which was the [Inbox]; when he opened it, it looked much like the Jmail Inbox page.
Inbox:
Apology Bundle - Sent by: ?, ?, ? & ?
Gami-chan took the chance to speak. [Here in the Inbox is where you can see any messages about any updates or gifts, be it from the system, or from your friends (How that works, will be explained at a later date). To see the messages, please click on the one you want and it'll open for you. When it's just one message, just say/think "Open Message"] She explained, and Izuku nodded.
However, before he could do as she instructed, the bell rang and it was time for lunch break, of which the kids immediately left for the cafeteria, with him following suit, but unlike them, he first made sure to check that no one was following him. When he saw nobody, he sneakily took a detour towards a more secluded hallway, sighing in relief as he looked back again, just in case someone ended up walking down the hallway, but saw nothing.
Nodding to himself, he looked at a part of the wall that at first seemed pretty normal, but if one were to look very, very closely, they would notice the barely visible gap in the shape of a square; quietly moving towards the square, he knelt in front of it, pulling out a key from his pocket, and he proceeded to grab to one of the corners of the wallpaper and carefully peeled it, revealing a wooden door with a small keyhole right at the center.
Putting the key in the keyhole, he turned it and unlocked the door with a 'click', smiling as the door opened, revealing what looked like a vent; he took out the key and put the wallpaper back together, making sure that no part would remain unstuck, and once that was done, he crawled into the vent, his small stature making such an ordeal very easy. He then turned around and closed the door, causing the vent to be left completely dark as he locked the door.
Once that was done, he put the key back in his pocket and turned around again as he pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight; now with some illumination, he started crawling down the vent for about a minute, occasionally turning left and right, until he reached another door, but unlike the first door, this one did not have a lock, so with a gentle push, he opened it and got out of the vent, quickly getting up as he dusted himself off and looked around.
The room he was currently in was completely dark, so he looked to the wall behind him, where right over the vent entrance, a switch was placed, which he immediately flipped, and immediately there was light. He blinked a bit due to the sudden brightness, but once his eyes got used to the light, he opened them and smiled as he gazed at his personal hideout.
The room was about the size of four classrooms in length and width, the walls were of brown board and batten wood, which were neatly polished in a way that gave it a pretty rustic look; the room was mostly barren, save for a few bookshelves filled with books of every kind placed near the corner of the far left wall from his position, a rack with a TV on the far right corner where there was a poof a few feet in front of it, some desks neatly placed in a row beside the shelves and a couple of chairs stacked on top of each other beside the desks.
On the floor there was a yellow and brown carpet with a neat design of a mosaic diamond, and the lights were of a warm tone. Izuku didn't take long before he picked up a desk and put it in the middle of the room, soon followed by a chair, where he then sat on as he dropped his bag on the floor, opened it, picked his lunch from there, put it on the table- smiling as his nose was assaulted by the delicious smell of Katsudon, his favorite dish- and with a quick 'Itadakimasu', dug into the food.
Izuku ended up finding this place about 3 years ago, when he was running away from Katsumi and her cronies after he had (once again) analyzed a Hero's Quirk and she overheard it; as he ran, he accidentally ran into the (at the time) janitor, who was spooked by the greenette's accident; fortunately for Izuku, the janitor was one of the rare few that didn't judge him for his Quirklessness, so, feeling bad for the young boy, he gave Izuku the key to the hidden room, which allowed Izuku to evade his pursuers.
The room was supposed to be a refuge for the kids and staff if the school was ever attacked by villains, that way the staff could take the children and hide them away until everything was ok; however, as there were no villain incidents near the school since All Might's uprising and they grew to rely more on the Heroes' timing, the room was left to collect dust. When Izuku started using the room more frequently, he decided to clean it up and tidy it, and thus, the room is what we see now.
This was his special abode, his own little haven in this hellish school, the only place where he could rest from all the bullying and harassment. Much to his surprise, a screen popped up in front of him.
[You've entered: Lair of the Gamer (D-)
Description: A hidden room that was once meant to be a hiding spot for children in case of an attack, but as the years passed and the school relied on the timing of the Heroes, this room had been left to gather dust and spiders as the school built new rooms that further closed this room off… or at least, until a certain green bean found it and restored it.
Now, this is a safe haven for Izuku Midoriya, where he can take a reprieve from all of his torment in the Aldera Junior High.
- +100% Chance of not being detected (reduced to +50% if someone has a tracking Quirk).
- +50% Intelligence Gain when in this room.
- +50% EXP Gain for {Mental} Skills (A.k.a: Linguistics, Plan Crafting).
- +25% Strength Gain when in this room.
Current Items: Student Desk (E-) {x8}, Student Chair (E-) {x8}, Puff (D-), Rack (D), Bookshelf (D-) {x3}.
P.S: This room can be customized and upgraded]
He did not expect that, at all. "Huh?" He wondered aloud, and Gami-chan sweat dropped as she laughed sheepishly.
[Ehehehe, I suppose that this was meant to come up later on, but another function of the "Gamer System" is that you can set up what are known as "Safehouses", where you can use as checkpoints or set up your own personal lab; more information about it will be provided at a later date. For now, let's just continue with the tutorial] She told him, and he nodded in response.
Opening the [Inbox] once more, Izuku selected the message there and the screen changed, this time showing a message, as well as the picture of a chest. As he ate, Izuku read the message.
"Dear Izuku Midoriya"
"We are well aware of how much you have desired to have a Quirk when you were 4, and the grueling disappointment when it didn't appear and the doctor declared you Quirkless, and it saddens us to see such a sweet boy feel so betrayed; like your User Interface has said, the System took 10 more years of development due to the many features that were added to it, as well as the many bugs that we had to fix in order for the system to run smoothly and prevent reality from tearing itself apart because of your powers.
As it is, right now, your System has a solid basis, with many more updates to come, depending on what you may encounter or create. While the stats cannot grow anywhere beyond EX (For now), your Skills have more leeway, with a very special surprise if you ever max them, and many more secret features that we hope are to your liking.
So, as an apology, we have decided to give you some items that we feel that will aid you in your journey as a Hero, which are within this chest. To claim this reward, just select the chest and place it wherever you want for it to materialize, then open it. Whatever you do with the chest afterwards is up to you. Please have good gaming moments from now on."
"Sincerely…"
"The Game Devs"
It honestly shocked him that his Quirk was in fact made by other worldly forces, and that they would actually bother with someone like him, to the point that they even apologized to him and gave him compensation; Izuku didn't notice it, but tears started falling from his eyes as he couldn't quite contain his happiness at having someone of great power show him care.
[Location: ? - Target: ? - Same time]
Two males were sitting in front of a desk, which had a simple computer and a keyboard, with one male sitting in front of the computer while the other male sat right behind him, looking over his buddy's shoulder. Eventually, the male spoke. "So, you wrote Izuku an apology letter." He stated.
"Yup." Replied the male in front of the computer.
"And gave him a bundle with… what exactly?"
"..." The male with the computer was about to answer, but then he turned to the screen and smirked. "... Why ruin the surprise? Our dear readers may be looking at us right now, my friend, so to give away that knowledge so soon would be… foolish." He replied, and the male behind him nodded.
"I see… Say, why are we showing ourselves to the readers, especially after another emotional moment?" Said the young man, to which the other one in front of the computer just shrugged.
"Felt like it, Hatter; kinda out of place, but I think that the people should know that our little green bean has our love and support. Trust me, we'll show up again, and I do hope that you, dear readers, get to enjoy our presence here." He replied, turning to the screen as he spoke. The other figure (now known as Hatter) nodded.
"Alright then, Rev. For now, just keep typing." He told his friend, Rev, who chuckled.
"Will do." Was his only response as Rev turned back to the monitor and continued typing.
All the while, a dragon in the background smirked as he slept and a shadowed observer that was leaning on the wall chuckled.
[Location: Secret Room, Aldera Junior High - Target: Midoriya Izuku - Same time]
Eventually, Izuku dried his tears with a napkin and pressed on the image of the chest, which immediately faded from the [Inbox]. Already having an idea of where it went, he didn't worry much about it as he closed the tab and went back to eating. Gami-chan took the chance to speak up then.
[Well, now that that's done, it's time to move on to the last feature of the system to finish the tutorial. Now, please open the "Wardrobe" tab] She said, and Izuku nodded.
Willing the tab to appear, this screen showed an image of his own body, with small tabs pointing towards his hands, forearms, chest, head, legs and feet respectively, with the tabs saying the same thing. There were also two tabs on the top left corner of the screen, which said "Skins" and "Accessories" respectively.
[The "Wardrobe" is where you can see what you are currently equipping, both clothes and armament, as well as where you can utilize other features, such as "Skins" and "Accessories", more information about these features will come later. For now, please click on the "Torso" tab] She explained to him, and he did as much after swallowing some of his food.
As he clicked on it, the image of his school blazer expanded, and another tab appeared beside it.
[Aldera Junior High School Shirt - Rarity: E (Common).
Description: It's a simple white button-up shirt, which forms part of the dress code of the Aldera Junior High school, which consists of a black blazer, a white button up shirt and black pants. Shoes are optional.
Durability: (29/40)
Grants:
- +5% to Endurance when wearing this.
- +2% to Intelligence when wearing this.
- -35% to Wisdom when wearing this.]
It shocked him that just using his shirt caused such a detrimental effect on his Wisdom, and it was then that Gami-chan spoke up, her face turning solemn.
[As you can see, each cloth that you wear might grant you some effects that differ in nature, some of which are detrimental rather than beneficial; due to the nature of Aldera, anything that you use that is affiliated with it. I'm very sorry about this, but the Devs had already designed it that way] She explained, to which Izuku looked up with a confused expression.
"Hmmm… why did they do it that way, Gami-chan?" He asked curiously, and she looked down.
[... They don't really like Aldera, and they can see that it affected you deeply, negatively, that is, so they made everything related to the school apply debuffs because they want you to steer away from it] She responded to him, and he looked down in thought.
"... Even Kacchan?" He whispered, subconsciously thinking of the glint in her eyes that nagged him so much. Because he looked down, he didn't see that Gami-chan's face darkened at the mention of the blonde's name.
[Especially Bakugo, Izuku. I'm sorry that you have to hear this, but it's for your own good] She told him, and he looked down in thought.
He didn't deny her statement, after all, he was well aware of what Katsumi had done to him for all of these years, as well as the effect that she had on him; he was, after all, a gentle person by nature, he just couldn't bring himself to harm others, which was something that the blonde took advantage of and further scared him from standing up against her.
However, he knew her, very well, and so, he knew that, as mean as she was, she intended to be a Hero, in her own way; oddly enough, she didn't bully anyone else the way she bullied him, and while it could be because he was an easy target, he noticed that there were other students that were also "easy pickings" (as cruel as it sounded), yet she only yelled at them.
Not only that, but whenever she looked at the others, she didn't possess that glint that she had when she looked at him, which made it even weirder.
Usually, he would've forgotten about it, but something within him kept nagging him about it being not normal, that something was amiss, and that she could be potentially in danger.
He was surprised when a screen suddenly popped up.
[Due to certain circumstances and actions, the skill "Intuition {C}" has been created]
[Intuition - Passive (C): Level 8 (Next Level: 0%)
Description: Intuition, most commonly known as the "Gut Feeling", is the seldom 6th Sense that every human has, but not everyone is aware of it; the Intuition is known for warning the person of certain clues about what is correct or what is safe, like say, finding a treasure, or when danger is imminent.
The more in tune the person is with their Intuition, the more chances they have to be right, which can be a game changer for most things in life. Don't underestimate this skill {Due to possessing the Skill (Sense Danger [B]), this Skill has been leveled up to Level 8 from the get-go}.
Grants:
- 27% Chance to avoid {Imminent Danger}
- 18.5% Chance to discover a new {Quest}
- 3.75% Chance to discover a new {Interlude}]
Izuku hummed at the details of his new skill, although it did surprise him by how easy it was. He then turned to look at Gami-chan, who was looking at the screen with interest.
[... Well, I gotta say, I didn't expect you to create a new skill so soon, Izuku, that's a first. But alas, we still need to finish the quest, so let's move on] He nodded in agreement as he noticed that it was almost time for classes to resume.
And so, the [Wardrobe] appeared once again.
[Well then, as you've seen, the Wardrobe is all about what you wear, but there are certain themes to it that can give you splendid bonuses. Try selecting the "Skins" tab] She explained, and he did as he was told.
Immediately, the tab changed, but not his image; however, on the side, he could see small boxes with human shadows in them. They had odd shapes at times, but he could easily see the humanoid outline from them.
[To begin, the Skins feature is one that is still in development, and more Skins will be added over time; what makes them so unique is that they always come in a full set, and once it is complete, all the bonuses that it provides are on par with those of Perks. You may at one point find parts of these skins, which you can select in the original tab, but they won't be as powerful as they would be with the full set. For example…] She trailed off, as one of the screens lit up, showing a picture of himself wearing what seemed to be Johnny Cage's outfit from Mortal Kombat 11.
As it came to be, he saw himself suddenly wearing the same outfit, with glasses and everything, as the screen now showed his image, as well as its stats.
[Current Skin: Extreme Stunt Actor (B+)
Description: "No stunt doubles, baby, I'm all me." That's the motto that the arrogant movie star "Johnny Cage" goes through as he is known worldwide for his talent at martial arts, to the point that he decided to participate in the dangerous tournament known as "Mortal Kombat".
With this Skin on, the user is capable of doing feats that were once thought to be impossible… or as impossible as those feats were when the game was first published; nowadays it is something that is practically a must if you want to be a Hero.
Grants:
150% to DEX.
100% to STR & END.
75% to CHA.
{Martial Movie Star} Skill Tree is unlocked.
{?-?} ? is unlocked.
[Skins can overlap the equipment, depending on the circumstances and details of said outfit, while keeping the effects of said equipment. Now, please open the "Accessories" tab] Gami-chan elaborated, and so far he managed to understand that.
So, doing as he was told, he finally opened the tab, and the screen was relatively the same, only, the items within the boxes were smaller and had many different shapes. Then, she spoke. [Now, unlike Skins, Accessories are items that you can use at any time so that you may gain any bonuses, but they're not as powerful as the Skins; however, certain Accessories may overlap certain Skins, depending on the nature of said Skin, which will allow you to create a possible combo that will give you niceu~ effects. For example...] She continued, as one of the boxes lit up and the image of cat ears popped up.
As it did so, he felt something twitch on top of his head, which made him reach up and felt two furry things twitch again, and oddly enough, he felt the touch of his hands. Right at that point, Gami-chan somehow brought up a screen that functioned as a mirror, and saw that there were now two green cat ears emerging from his hair, which oddly enough didn't even undo his human ears.
Soon, another screen appeared beside the mirror.
[Nekoboy Ears (E+) {Common}
Description: Cat ears on a human, one of the most common tropes among people, as well as one of the cutest, and most erotic features in a teen (according to the teenage consensus); these innocent little triangles may seem useless, but when you consider the biological aspects of these, the possibilities grow by the second.
Grants:
New Skill: "Radar - Passive (E-)"
50% ? Gain (Tripled with: Females)
25% EXP Gain for {Detect Danger (B)}]
[The Accessory here that you would probably unlock first would be this one, the "Nekoboy Ears" have a lot of utility hidden away by their adorableness…] While Gami-chan said that, she seemed to whisper something under her breath, but he didn't question it… yet.
Then, she continued. [But as I said before, Accessories are but only one aspect, and they're not tied to other pieces in order to work, and who knows? Maybe by combining other Accessories and Equipment you can create a new Skin; it's up to you, honestly] She finished.
Once he noticed that she had ended her explanation, he closed the tab, and the cat ears on top of his head vanished. It was then that another screen showed up, and this one made him feel an emotion that he never felt before in his life: Pride in himself.
[Quest: Waking Up On The Gamer's Side Of The Bed (Part 1 of 2: Open The Game) {Difficulty: E}: COMPLETE!]
[Description: Your Quirk has awakened, and it is time for you to learn the ropes of how to make the most of it, step by step.
Objectives:
-Learn how to bring up the "Menu": COMPLETE
-Learn how to see your "Stats": COMPLETE
-Learn how to see your "Quests": COMPLETE
-Learn how to see your "Skills": COMPLETE
-Learn how to see your "Perks": COMPLETE
-Learn how to see your "Inventory": COMPLETE
-Learn how to see your "Inbox": COMPLETE
-Learn how to see your "Wardrobe": COMPLETE
Rewards: 100 EXP, 5,000¥, {Kitchen Knife (E)}, new Features in the Main Menu]
[You've leveled up! Health has been Maxed! All Debuffs have been cleansed! 5 Stat Points!]
Izuku then saw a dim glow surrounding his body and he let out a sigh as the light courses through it, which made him feel as if he was receiving the best massage of his life; as the light dimmed he turned to look at Gami-chan, who was smiling at him.
[Congratulations for completing your first quest, Izuku! We shall continue the tutorial later, I believe the bell is about to ring] She congratulated him, and just in time, he heard the bell ring, and immediately packed his stuff and rushed towards his classroom, but there was a noticeable smile on his face all the while.
As the classes continued, the greenette seemed to ooze an aura of confidence, which surprised the other students, as they've never seen him be so happy before, even Katsumi was caught off guard, and this aroused some suspicions in their minds.
He didn't seem to notice it, rather opting to just focus on the class with a newfound purpose; the class was about English, one of the languages that he wanted to learn so that he could one day visit America, the place where All Might spent a few years in, as well as where he met David Shield, the only man to ever provide the Symbol of Peace with Support Tech.
At one point, as Izuku was noting down everything that the teacher had written on the board, a soft 'Ping!' echoed through the air, which made him look around (without moving his head, otherwise it would've made everything worse), and a screen popped up before him.
[Your Skill has leveled up! {Linguistics (B+)} is now Level 2!]
'Oh, thank you for notifying me, Gami-chan' He thought, idly dismissing the notification as he focused again on what the teacher was saying, this time with a little more speed as he now understood it a bit better thanks to his skill.
As the class went on, Izuku's understanding of the language increased, to the point that by the time he was done with the teacher's assignments, he started to study the more advanced parts of his study book, yearning for more knowledge while he did it.
When the class was over, Izuku then realized that he ended up zoning out, and his notebook was much more filled than what he expected; it was at that moment that he saw the screens floating right in front of him.
[Your Skill has leveled up five times! {Linguistics (B+)} is now Level 7!]
He was surprised, but he didn't really have much time to ponder on it, as the bell rang and he immediately packed his stuff and left the classroom with the other teens, but whereas all of them were going down the stairs to go to their homes, he instead went up the stairs until he reached the school roof.
As he beheld the serene skies, he smiled as he sat down against the wall and pulled out his notebook labeled "Hero Notes For The Future N 13" and opened it, quickly ending up on the page where he noted up all that he knew about his Quirk, prior to the tutorial, of course.
He smiled as he looked at the page of his own Quirk, but right as he was about to write down on it, a new screen appeared before him.
["Sense Danger" has been activated! 3 feet behind you!]
His eyes widened, but before he could react, his notebook was snatched from his hands, making him turn around with an indignant yell bubbling up in his throat, but he froze as he saw Katsumi standing there with her cronies, glaring at him with that same glint in her eyes as she held his notebook in her hand.
"We're not done yet, Deku…" She growled, which made him flinch as he could tell that she was still furious. She then turned her glare towards the notebook, narrowing her eyes as she looked at the title; one of her cronies, a fat kid with red wings, peered over her shoulder, and his eyes widened.
"Is that his diary?" He guffawed before he looked at the greenette and started laughing while pointing his finger at him. Izuku shook his head, fidgeting in his place as Katsumi's eyes landed on him once again.
"N-No! Tha-th-those are my n-n-notes for when I b-become a Hero in the future! Th-that's not my diary!" He attempted to explain himself, but as he finished, smoke started coming out of the hand holding his notebook, making him freeze from the fear.
She stopped her snarling, but she was still baring her teeth at him. "'When'?" She started, clenching the notebook in her hand tighter. Izuku gulped, but didn't say anything.
She chuckled lowly, the smoke coming from her hands becoming much more prominent. "It seems that it still didn't get through your thick skull, you useless nerd…" She continued, and right then, her hand ignited with a small volley of explosions, burning the notebook in the process.
Izuku couldn't quite hold back the little wail of despair as his notes were burned, and before he knew it, she chucked the now ruined notebook over his head, to which he followed up to the edge of the balcony and watched helplessly as it fell into the koi pond below.
Katsumi's cronies let out a cackle in synchrony, all the while Katsumi stood there with a cruel grin on her face; the greenette turned to look at them, tears pooling in the corners of his eyes as his lower lip trembled. "That's so mean…" He whimpered, which caused the other boys to let out another cackle.
The explosive blond marched towards him, which made Izuku swallow the lump that was forming in his throat as his body stiffened; once she was within reach, she put her smoking hand on his shoulder, clutching it tightly. He winced from the pain, but he remained silent as she pressed him against the edge.
She growled. "I am the only one in this shitty school that will get in UA, I am the one that's destined to be the best, and as such, I must have a perfect backstory, with no one to stand up to me. You? You are at most a pebble on the road of my glory, a stepping stone towards my success; without a Quirk, you are nothing, without a Quirk, you'll never get to be a Hero!" She ranted and he flinched with each emphasis. It was then that a screen popped up right beside her head.
[Ohhh, if I could, I would kick your ass six hundred, sixty six ways to hell, you damned bimbo!]
For that brief moment, Izuku thanked the stars once again that Kacchan could not see the screens. He winced once again as the hand on his shoulder heated up, and then Katsumi leaned onto his ear. "So don't you fucking dare try to apply to UA, alright?" She whispered with a sickly sweet tone, and he gulped nervously as he nodded.
She grinned once more. "Good." She said and let go of him, causing him to plop down to the floor. The cronies laughed at Izuku's expense, all while he looked fearfully at her, tears still pooling in his eyes. Once the other boys quieted down, she spoke. "But you know… there is a way for you to get a Quirk…" She started with an ominous tone, one that made the greenette's heartbeat accelerate from the anxiety, and the feeling of impending doom that had suddenly overcome his being.
"Wh-what way, Kacchan?" He whispered, and another screen appeared in front of him, this time it showed Gami-chan looking at him with an incredulous gaze.
[Izuku! What are you doing?! Don't listen to whatever this bitch says! Remember that you have me!] She tried to tell him, but he was too scared to listen properly. Eventually… Katsumi gave her answer.
"Go take a swan dive off the building and pray you'll have a Quirk in your next life. It's that simple." She said, speaking as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
A terrible silence fell over the roof, as Izuku looked at her with horror stricken in his face, same as Gami-chan, who turned her screen to gape at the blonde, while the cronies smirked while nodding in agreement. When Katsumi received no response, she wordlessly walked away from him, the goons following suit, and as they reached the stairs, she slammed the door, leaving the greenette alone on the roof.
He looked down to his trembling hands, the tears that were pooling in his eyes finally started falling one by one. 'Wa-w-w-was my hunch wrong all along? Does she actually hate me?' He thought to himself, briefly looking over to the balcony, much to Gami-chan's alarm. However, before she spoke, Izuku took a deep breath, holding it in for a few seconds before he let the air out.
'Either way, Deku, you may never know, but if you can't keep trying if you're dead.' Was his next thought, which did surprise the UI, but she smiled when he dried his tears with his sleeve, opting to remain silent.
He smiled in irony as he mulled over his current situation. 'Well, if anything, Kacchan just helped me find a way to help someone if I ever face a situation where someone is about to commit suicide. So get a grip and be strong…' He thought to himself, and his smile widened slightly when he looked at Gami-chan, who returned it in kind. 'After all… you already got everything that you need.' He finished.
Now in a better mood, Izuku finally got up, dusting his clothes while he fetched his backpack. Once he put it on his back, a new screen popped up in front of him.
["Emotional Strength {A+++} has leveled up! Your Skill is now Level 3!]
"Thank you Gami-chan." He thanked her, which she responded with a nod. After that, he looked at his shoulder and frowned as he saw the burn mark on his blazer, and he turned back to the floating screen. "Hey Gami-chan, would I be able to turn things like my uniform into 'Skins'?" The verdant themed boy asked. "Because that would certainly help with the clean-up." He elaborated.
The UI hummed in thought for a few seconds, and she finally gave a cheerful nod. [Yep! It's something that I can do for you, but you can't do it yourself because the rules say so.]
Her answer piqued his curiosity, and confusion. "What rules?" Voiced the greenette.
At that very moment, her visage turned solemn. [That is the second best question since "Who are the 'Game Devs' and why do they exist?"... The answer to your question is very straightforward: "The rules of the 'Gamer System'." What those rules are is up to the Dev Team though so you might never actually figure them out. Just assume that the Grand Theft Auto logic applies unless told otherwise.] She gave her answer.
He didn't say anything for a couple of seconds, until he came to a… very scary conclusion. "So… I am allowed to do anything that I am capable of doing, unless the universe suddenly shifts and I can no longer do it?" He summarized it, and she shrugged.
[Well, what can I say? The Devs like you, a lot in some instances. It's a bit like God Modding in that regard… which is why I am here to make sure that you don't go completely insane from all the knowledge about… Okay, as it turns out, I am not authorized to tell you anything else until much later, most likely whenever the Devs deem it fit. Sorry about that. (/~~~\)]
He let out a good natured chuckle at her final statement, and he almost wished that he could pet her. "No worries, Gami-chan, you've already done more than enough for me." He told her.
[O/O Y-You-Y-Y-You're welcome.]
He chuckled again as he walked towards the door, but as he opened it, a screen appeared in front of him.
["Sense Danger" has been activated! 1 foot to the right!]
["Sense Danger" has been activated! 1 foot to the left!]
He barely reacted in time as he ducked from two fists swinging at his face, and in those brief seconds, he saw that Katsumi's cronies were the ones who tried to ambush him, and he quickly started running, jumping over a couple of stairs with each step.
"Get him!" Yelled the fat one with wings as he propelled himself into the air with a bat of his wings and flew forward, with the other cronie, a lanky square faced boy with stretchable fingers followed suit.
Already on the lower floor, Izuku forced his legs to run as fast as they could across the hallway, his heart was racing from the adrenaline and fear of getting caught by them; as he looked back, he saw that they were quickly catching up to him, however, he gained some hope as he recognized the next turn, where right at the corner, there was a closet where he could quickly hide and lose them.
So, he did as planned, turning sharply to the right, where there was a door; he took a hold of the handle and turned it quickly, thanking the stars as it was unlocked, and quickly got in, shutting the door right as the cronies took the turn.
"Where did he go?!" Yelled the lanky one with the long fingers.
"He probably went that way! Let's keep going!" Replied the fat one, and Izuku held his breath as he heard the sound of footsteps growing fainter by the second.
After a few moments, he shyly opened the door and looked at both sides in case of a trap. When he saw none, he sighed in relief as he stepped out, but it was quickly replaced by fear as he saw the next notification.
["Sense Danger" has activated! Right above you!]
This time, he had no time to react as the fat teen tackled him to the ground, his backpack not doing much to cushion the fall. Izuku groaned as the other's boy's bigger physique weighed on his skinnier form. "Found you~." Sang the rotund boy creepily, and the lanky one appeared from behind the door, both of them grinning menacingly.
"Ts-T-Tsubasa! Yoboro! I-I-I-" Izuku stuttered, trying to come up with something to say, but the fat teen, Tsubasa, quickly shushed him.
"Tut tut tut, don't try to save yourself from this one, Deku, after all, you just reinforced our reasoning." He said, with the lanky boy, Yoboro, nodding in agreement.
"That's right; we heard everything that you said." Added the other teen, freezing the greenette as he finished speaking.
"H-Huh?!" He gasped in horror as he realized that they heard him talking to Gami-chan.
Tsubasa chuckled. "Yeah, and here we thought that you were creepy enough with your mumbling nonsense, now you had to make an imaginary friend. How pathetic can you get, Deku, seriously." He explained, shaking his head mockingly as he got up, all while he held Izuku's right arm.
Yoboro was quick to grab the other arm, and when they traded callous grins, they unanimously started dragging the greenette, who tried to pry himself off of their hold, but to no avail.
Izuku's heartrate quickened once he saw that they were actually dragging him off to the rooftop, and a sense of foreboding came over him. "Wha-wh-what're you going to do to me? Wh-what do you want?!" He started to question, struggling with much more strength, but they still held on to him strongly.
Screens appeared left and right of his view, but he didn't pay attention to any of that, instead opting to try and free himself. Yoboro chuckled at his struggle. "Well, Deku, we've both decided to do Katsumi a simple favor." Izuku did not like where this was going.
"Wh-what kind of favor?" He hesitantly asked, and right as he finished, his back collided with the edge of the balcony, and a horrifying conclusion came to mind. "No… No no nonononono-" He tried to plead, but Tsubasa just laughed.
"Oh yes yes yes yes yes yes, Deku; Katsumi may have given you the choice, but we'll be doing her, and the whole world a favor by taking it from you!" He finished, and together, the cronies pushed his body so that it was leaning dangerously over the edge.
Gami-chan appeared once again in front of Izuku, she was just as afraid as the greenette himself. [IZUKU!] She yelled, but he couldn't hear her.
Izuku's eyes widened considerably as he looked down below, and fear was etched onto his expression when he looked back at the two boys. "P-Please, stop!" He pleaded once more, but Tsubasa and Yoboro just looked at each other and grinned before they turned back to the greenette.
""May you be a useful human being in your next life, Deku!"" They shouted at the same time as they gave one final push, and Izuku could no longer feel the ground.
Gami-chan's eyes widened from the horror when the greenette started falling. [NOOOOOOOOO!] She yelled, and thinking quickly, she did something that, for the moment, only she was capable of doing by the Devs' design.
["WORLD PAUSE!"]
At that very moment, the entire world seemed to freeze. Citizens all over the globe froze, cars stopped moving, the waters stilled, birds and airplanes seemed to just float in the air, and everything now had a greyish tone. Gami-chan sighed in relief as she saw that Izuku had also frozen, as well as Tsubasa and Yoboro, who she wished she could kick in the balls for approximately 15 times each. Alas, it was not time to dwell on plans of revenge.
[Think Gami, think, think, THINK! What can you do to save Izuku from this? What way is there to prevent him from dying? Think think think think think think!] She kept muttering to herself, then she decided to look around the place, hoping to find something that could help her.
When her eyes noticed a strange blob moving towards Izuku's direction, she brought up the [Observe] screen, and her eyes widened as she processed the information that she received. A few moments passed, which she spent by taking a deep breath, and once she let out the air in her figurative lungs, her expression turned into one of resignation.
[Miss, I hope that you can forgive me and- by proxy- Izuku for what I'm about to do…] She whispered to herself as she then brought up a new screen.
[This is User Interface 75421817, codename "Gami-chan". I request permission for an {Emergency Update}. Content in question: "Party Mode"] She spoke with a serious tone, and the screen faded once she finished.
It was quiet for a few moments, but eventually, another screen appeared in front of her.
{Emergency Update 1.1 authorized. Commencing Update Now. Current Progress: 28%... 62%... 98%... 100%. Update is complete} She smiled when it finished, but she got serious again as she looked towards Izuku and the blob.
[Well then, time to work…] She whispered to herself as she then continued. [Activate "Party Mode". Start "Forced Party Summoning". Target: Ochako Uraraka] She said, and when she finished speaking, she saw that the blob's body started glowing, and she smirked.
[... "World Continue"]
And with those words, everything moved.
Ochako Uraraka always loved to take strolls.
She loved the movement of her legs as she climbed up, ran down and skipped across all sorts of terrains, all while she looked at the beautiful landscapes; it was something that she always did as a kid back in the Mie Prefecture, and it was something that she couldn't quite get rid of… even if it involved certain perils.
Her mood almost soured once she recalled the incident that almost cost her dream, were it not for that man's kindness and good nature that not only gave her the support needed to overcome it, but also another solution to achieve her dream of being a Pro Heroine in the future.
Although, the way said solution worked was… peculiar.
As it was stated before, Ochako loved the movement of her legs, however, when you're a pink slime, it's really difficult to enjoy that sensation. If it wasn't clear enough, she wasn't always like this, but considering her situation at the time, she would rather be amorphous than to be useless.
Currently she was… oozing across the city of Musutafu, the city where she would now live in order to be closer to UA High School, which she decided to explore in order to not get lost and to familiarize herself with the foreign terrain; she certainly did enjoy the urban setting, even if it was a lot louder than the Mie Prefecture, and right now she was taking a stroll near the Aldera Junior High School.
When she looked at the building, she frowned as her mind conjured the memories of the rumors that she heard of this school; not only were the teachers average at best when it comes to teaching, but they were clearly biased towards Quirked people, specifically strong ones.
If you had a strong Quirk, then they would at most give you a slap on the wrist if you were caught doing something wrong, in the hopes that their "Rising Star" would put the school on the map "For Being The School Said Hero Studied In". In her honest opinion, that was just bullshit (pardon her French).
Regardless, as she oozed through the alleyway next to the school, her attention was caught by the silhouette of three boys near the edge of the balcony; she stopped as soon as she saw them, fearing that they might fall by accident, but much to her horror, the boys on the sides actually threw the boy in the middle, and as he began to fall, she tried to ooze faster in his direction, hoping that she would get to his position in time.
Before she knew it, her vision suddenly blanked out, and her body felt as if she was being forced through a drainpipe again. It wasn't a horrible experience per se, only a bit strange, but she digresses.
Hopefully whatever was happening now would allow her to save him in time.
Izuku felt weightless for the brief moment that he was falling; everything seemed to slow down for him, and he chuckled as he realized just what was happening. 'Is this the famous moment that when you're about to die, your whole life flashes before your eyes?' He thought to himself, but he just shook his head mentally. 'If it is, then I don't want it; after all, this life gave me nothing good, and the day everything seems to shine brighter, I am fated to die. You're a cruel bitch, you knew that, Fate?' He kept thinking, and right then and there, his whole life appeared in brief flashes.
The days of his friendship with Katsumi, the days he kept replaying All Might's debut with his mother, the day where his hopes were crushed as he was diagnosed as "Quirkless" (Then again, the doctor was a lazy bastard by only checking his foot, wasn't he?), the denial of his mother, the mockery of his peers, the creek where his friendship with Katsumi was strained, the bullying, his dreams, the nights with his mother, his dad's consolation, their support, and finally, today.
Once everything passed, he almost gasped as he realized that his life wasn't all suffering and bullying, and in his stupor, he forgot about the good moments; if he could, he would smack himself in the forehead. 'Stupid, of course you had great moments in your life; how dare you forget them? Idiot, stupid Deku' He berated himself in his thoughts, but in the end, he let out a mental sigh as he looked up again, and his mind flashed to his mom, dad, Auntie Mitsuki, Uncle Masaru, Katsumi and finally, Gami-chan.
'I guess that I won't be able to say goodbye to you mom, dad. Auntie Mitsuki, Uncle Masaru, I hope that you don't hate Kacchan for this; Kacchan, I seriously hope that you can become better now that I'll be gone. And Gami-chan… Thank you, for making this the best day of my life, however short may it have been' He thought for the last time, slowly closing his eyes as he started feeling the wind more prominently, his mind now at peace…
…
…
…
… "But who says that you will die today, Midoriya Izuku?"
His eyes snapped open as he heard the booming voice speak within his head, but as he opened his mouth to speak, he felt himself submerging into something strange, making him close his eyes and his mouth when the substance entered his mouth, which was when he suddenly heard a gasp around him, and he opened his eyes again to see that everything was now pink.
Once he became aware of that little detail, he also noticed that there was something in his mouth, something that for some reason tasted like strawberry jelly. Before he knew it, he was quickly ejected from whatever he was currently in, which caused him to land on the ground with a 'thud', where he briefly groaned while swallowing the jelly-like substance in his mouth, all with his eyes closed.
"Oof… Wha-what was that?" He whispered to himself while holding his head, his heart now calming down from the frightening experience of almost dying.
He was snapped out of his musing when he heard a feminine voice speak. "Wha-?! Did yo- Did you just e-eat me?!" The voice said, and he raised his head from the surprise as he opened his eyes.
"Wha- Wh-Who said that?" Izuku asked out loud, and he was surprised when he saw that the substance that he fell on was actually a pile of pink slime on the floor.
It wobbled for a second as he then heard the feminine voice come from the slime. "That hurts, you know! Just what possessed you to eat me right after you fell into me?!" Demanded the slime, who Izuku identified as a female… and once he processed that tidbit, he turned as pale as a sheet as he realized just what he did.
"WHA-I-I-I-I'M-I'M-M-M-M-M-I'M S-S-S-SO SORRY MISS! I-I-IT WASN'T MY INTENTION, I SWEAR! I-IT JUST WENT INTO MY MOUTH WHEN I FELL INTO Y- W-WAS I INSIDE YOU?! Oh God now I can't get married! Now I will be sued and be labeled as a harasser, even worse, a rapist! Oh God, my mom will have a heart attack once she hears of this, my dad will probably bail me out just to kill me, and Kacchan might castrate me for that. Oh God what do I do what do I do whatdoidowhatdoidowhatdoidomuttermuttermuttermu-" Before the two of them knew it, Izuku was already mumbling up a storm as he shook like a leaf in an autumn breeze.
The pink blob sweatdropped as he kept envisioning scenarios, and from what she caught, he was now envisioning his time in the prison show- Ooookay, maybe it was time to stop him before he gets an aneurysm or dies from shock. She oozed towards the desperate greenette (who was still muttering about every tragedy possible that was bound to happen to him), and extending a small tendril, she gently poked him on the leg, causing him to stop in his tracks as his body froze completely.
She giggled when he immediately froze at her poking, even more so as he slowly and stiffly looked down at her. She then spoke. "Don't worry, you sweet cinnamon roll. You're not in trouble, after all I can tell that it was just an accident, so relax, you're not going to jail anytime soon." She eased his worries, and she giggled again when he let out a loud sigh of relief.
Izuku wouldn't lie, it was a hell of a relief to know that she wouldn't sue him for that. Now that his heart calmed down once more, he finally paid attention to the pink slime near his feet, and he was surprised when he saw it changing shape right before him.
Slowly, the slime reached up to his height of 5'2, where the head was now taking on a more round, feminine shape, with round pink translucent eyes, darker splotches on pink forming around the area of the cheeks, indicating that she sported a natural blush, her hair now resembling a voluminous bob cut with two bangs that framed her face and reached down to her solar plexus.
Once the face was done, her upper took the general shape of a woman's covered bust (Izuku blushed once he became aware of what he thought), but below the navel area, everything else was amorphous. He blushed once again as he realized just how cute the girl that he was talking to actually was, even as a slime (He mentally smacked himself in the face as he realized what he just thought about her).
She gave him a charming smile as she extended her pink hand towards him. "I'm Uraraka Ochako, a pleasure to meet you." She introduced herself good naturedly.
Izuku didn't know if it was because of his attempted murder, or if it was because of something else, but he extended his hand and shook her own with it without a single speck of nervousness or shame. "Midoriya Izuku, same here." He responded in kind, even going as far as to return the smile.
Once the introductions were out of the way, he looked up, prompting Ochako to do the same, and they both saw as Tsubasa and Yoboro were looking at the two of them for a few seconds before they walked away from the balcony.
The greenette looked thoughtful as he looked at the two boys, whereas the slime girl narrowed her eyes into a glare at their visage; once they left, Izuku turned to look at her with an apologetic expression as he saw her glare. "Sorry about falling into you, by the way, I-I didn't mean to upset you or anything." He tried to apologize, which snapped her out of her musings as she turned to him and her eyes widened as she caught on to what he was trying to say, and she shook her head vehemently.
"N-N-No, it- i-i-it was not your fault or anything. Rather, I was actually trying to get to your position as fast as I could in order to save you, but something happened that was similar to the time I went through a drainpipe, and before I knew it, you fell right through me." She explained herself, and while it did calm him down, it also piqued his curiosity.
"I see… So, what exactly happened that made you remember going through a drainpi- by the way, how exactly did you go through a drainpipe?" He asked, now completely curious.
She hummed in thought for about a second, and then she replied. "In reverse order: I was testing out my Quirk's flexibility and capability of getting through anything, and nothing's as tight as a drainpipe, let me tell you that. As for what happened just now, well, like I said, I wanted to get to you as fast as possible, but as I was reaching you, some sort of force seemed to push me through something while my vision was all white, and by the time I regained my sight, you fell right into me." She explained, and Izuku hummed in contemplation.
Before he could come up with a theory, Gami-chan appeared right in front of them, but this time, it was not on a screen. Instead, she now showed up as a 7" 3D hologram, where she was now sporting a black short sleeved dress with light purple highlights that went down to her knees, white and light purple knee length socks and black shoes. Her short purple hair waved with each motion, as she looked at the two of them with a serious expression.
[Well, that would've been my doing] She replied, which caused Izuku's head to turn towards her. When he was about to nod, he was surprised when Ochako suddenly squealed and jumped back, pointing at… Gami-chan?
"Wh-wh-what is that? Is-I-Is it one of your f-f-friends, Midoriya-s-san?" She stuttered, earning a head tilt of confusion from the greenette… until he realized what was happening.
"W-W-Wait… You can see Gami-chan?!" He inadvertently yelled, and the pink themed girl nodded.
"Y-Yeah! Was I not supposed to?!" She riposted, and he nodded.
"Y-Yes! I-I mean no- I-I mean ye- M-Maybe? I-I don't know. So far today nobody was capable of seeing Gami-chan at all, so the fact that now you can see her is actually shocking to me. What is going on, right now?" He tried to respond, but ended up tangling himself in his own words, and then just looked down in embarrassment as he was essentially making a fool out of himself.
When Ochako saw this, she couldn't help but giggle a little bit more, but she was a bit surprised when Gami-chan joined in on the giggles herself. However, once they stopped, the UI turned serious.
[Okay, in all seriousness, the reason why Uraraka can now see me is because of a drastic measure that I had to take in order to save your life, Izuku] She started, and the two teens paid rapt attention to what she was going to say.
She sighed once she recalled those moments. [I really had next to no options, Izuku, but when I saw that Uraraka was coming to your aid, I could tell that she wouldn't reach you in time; so, I had to make an "Emergency Update" to add the "Party Mode" system, and I automatically added her to your party in order to activate the "Party Summoning" feature. I hope that you two can forgive me, but I had no time, and no options] Gami-chan explained, looking down as she finished her story.
The greenette and pinkette didn't say a word for a good few seconds, which made the UI feel more guilty, but eventually, she was snapped out of her musings when she felt something caress her on the head, which made her look up to see that Izuku was petting her head with his finger.
Once he stopped, Ochako oozed forward and also patted her on the head with her own finger, the two of them offering her kind smiles. "We're not mad at you, Gami-chan." Started the greenette, which the other girl nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, if anything, thanks to you, I was able to save him; there's no way that I could ever be mad at you for that." She added, and Gami-chan's eyes almost had tears starting to pool in her eyes, but she wiped them away with her arm as she gave them a grateful smile.
[Thanks guys, you don't know how happy that makes me] She told them, and the two teens only smiled in response.
Eventually, Izuku looked at the time, and his eyes widened as he saw that it was 16:26. "Oh crap! I'm late! Mom must be worried to death about me!" He yelled as he checked over his backpack, looking for anything that was amiss, until he remembered the notebook that Katsumi burned and threw to the pond.
'Oh, that's right, I still gotta pick it up…' He thought to himself as he closed his bag and put it on his back. It was at that moment that Ochako spoke.
"Hey uh, Midoriya-san, is there a problem if I go with you? I mean, with what just happened, I can imagine that you're still a bit shaken about it, right?" She requested, but as he was about to refute, he stopped himself as he pondered on her statement.
He will not lie, the fact that he was this close to death was a very terrifying thought, and the only reason that he was not currently having a heart attack is because Ochako kept him distracted (which he was thankful for); but he didn't quite trust himself to not possibly have one on his way home, plus, he still had to figure out what to do now that the girl was roped into this mess, so, for the moment, he could perhaps cook up an idea with her.
After much consideration, he turned to the slime girl and nodded. "Well, you're not wrong about that; meanwhile, tell me more about yourself." He agreed and she smiled as the two then started walking out of the alleyway, all while Gami-chan smiled as she looked at the screen that floated right above her.
[Party Update: {Uraraka Ochako} has joined the "Party of Izuku"]
[Location: Taris Arcade, Musutafu - Target: Bakugo Katsumi - Around the same time]
Katsumi panted amidst her grimaces, frowning at the fowl, acidic taste of her vomit as she let out her whole lunch on the arcade toilet (which in her opinion, wasn't exactly the best place to do so due to hygiene, but when you gotta go, you gotta go).
Grimacing one more time as the blonde bomber flushed the toilet, Katsumi quickly walked out of the stall as she approached the sink and quickly washed her hands, growling as she washed them furiously; once she was done, she quickly scooped some water and put it in her mouth, making sure that it would rinse it of the vile taste.
She gargled some of the water, which she quickly spat out, and repeated the whole process as the taste remained, but to a lesser degree; after three repetitions, she stopped, pleased as the taste finally left her mouth, and looked at her reflection.
Her eyes had more prominent bags than before, her hair was a tad messier than what it normally was, her skin tone was a bit paler, overall, she looked like shit, much like her personality. She let out a low chuckle at the irony of her thoughts, which then shifted to her best friend, Midoriya Izuku...
The explosive blonde frowned at the memory of the boy, but it was not because the mere thought of him displeased her, no… It was because every time she remembered the greenette, she was reminded of her actions against him; her cruel beatings, her mocking, her threats, every time she heard his name, she remembered her actions, and it sickened her.
Then again, as she remembered her actions, she also remembered the reason why she did those things... to keep him safe. As much as she wants to believe it, she knows that the reason for her cruelty towards him cannot excuse the damage she caused him, especially after what she told him today.
Katsumi shook her head strongly and inhaled sharply, and soon she slowly let out her breath. 'Calm down, Bakugo… You know Deku, better than any of those extras; you know that he's not capable of committing suicide, he's better than that' She thought to herself as she looked at herself in the mirror, but her eyes widened as her reflection started chuckling.
When the reflection stopped, it smirked at the explosive blonde as it then spoke. "Oh, come on, Kacchan~, we both know that that's a lie. After all, after everything that we put him through across the years, would it really be surprising if he did follow our advice and killed himself?" Her reflection said, speaking with a saccharine tone that almost made Katsumi growl, but she reigned it in before it happened, instead she just huffed.
"Shut up. You're not real, either way; you're probably just a hallucination that my mind created or some shit, so what would you know?" Snapped the blonde, but her reflection only chuckled.
"Oh, my sweet, sweet Kacchan~; you forget, I am not simply a figment of your imagination, I am you, dummy. Of course I know everything about you, after all, no one can know you better than yourself." Said the reflection, her smirk suddenly turning into a stony glare. "As such, it is my job to tell you to stop lying to yourself." continued Katsumi's reflection, which froze the tomboy in her tracks.
Slowly, Katsumi's expression turned into a glare, her hands subconsciously started emitting smoke from the anger. "... What do you mean by 'stop lying to myself'?" She questioned, but Re-tsumi didn't budge an inch.
"Exactly as I said it. We both know very well that what you're doing, what you've been doing these past few years is completely wrong, and there isn't a single motive in the world that can excuse your actions, especially since you knew that there was a much better way to go around this." Spoke the reflection, and Katsumi looked down in thought.
She knew what her reflection, her subconsciousness, was talking about, and she was right, the future Pro Heroine had to admit it, but at the same time, she believed that her reasons for doing the things that she did were valid, after all…
"... You may be right, but there's no way that Deku would be prepared to face the real world, not without a Quirk, at least." She responded, earning a raised eyebrow from Re-tsumi.
"Hmmm? But isn't there technology that could compensate for that? Couldn't Izuku craft his own gear and he would still have a chance at being a Hero?" Spoke the other blonde, which prompted another chuckle from Katsumi.
"Hehe… Gear is difficult to build, but at the same time, easy to destroy; nobody will actually respect his works, instead people will think that the gear is to help him use his Quirk. Not only that, if you can strip him of his gear, then he'll be defenseless, just like that." She explained, to which Re-tsumi did not respond.
The explosive blond took this as a cue to continue. "Besides… Deku is too optimistic, too naive; if he tries to be a Hero, he will be forced to look at the world for what it truly is, he will be forced to see things that he should never see, he will be forced to endure tribulations that nobody should go through. He is too pure, and the world is too dark and cruel; I refuse to let him lose said purity. Him taking mine is out of the question as long as I keep being such a bitch to him too." She kept talking, looking down at her hands that were now emitting less smoke, but they were still smoking.
Afterwards, Katsumi clenched them so hard that they shook from the pressure, and she looked back to her reflection, determination set onto her expression. "So, if it means that I have to bully him in order for him to be safe, then so be it; if I have to become his worst enemy, his biggest tormentor, his greatest villain, in order to maintain his purity, then I will do it. And if fate itself dares to lay a single hand on him by whatever means…" She trailed off, this time the smoke becoming more prominent as her spiky hair shadowed her eyes, but in those brief moments, the future Pro Heroine's eyes gleamed menacingly.
"... Then I swear, that I will avenge Midoriya Izuku, even if the world ends up going against me." She swore at that very moment, her hand briefly exploding, but she was unharmed.
The hallucinatory blonde only stared at her in silence, which Katsumi returned in kind; after a few moments, the reflection spoke once more. "... But what if, be it by some miracle or twist of Fate, he does achieve his dream of becoming a Hero… What will you do then?" Her question caught the blonde off guard, but she quickly recovered, and her response was… unexpected.
"... If it does happen… Then I will make sure that he can get even with me; it doesn't matter how I do it, but I will provoke him, and once he snaps, I hope he can smack some sense into me, after all, I will deserve everything that he gives me." Finished the blonde, and her reflection said nothing for a few seconds, but then she nodded.
The explosive girl reciprocated the nod and walked away, the reflection imitating her movement as the hallucination stopped at that very moment. As soon as she walked out of the bathroom, Katsumi winced as her ears were instantly assaulted by the loud noises of the arcade, her mood somewhat brightening as she wondered which game she could play.
It was at that moment that she remembered that those two extras told her that they would catch up to her real soon, but the fact that they were not at the arcade yet kind of annoyed her. She quickly fished up her phone to check on YellUp and text them. "Where the fuck are those two muppets?" She muttered to herself as she finished typing her message to Tsubasa, but right as she was about to hit the 'Send' button, she saw them from the corner of her eye.
She was going to approach them, but the girl noticed that they were visibly upset about something, and for some reason, her gut feeling told her that it was nothing good; so, Katsumi quickly hid behind one of the games and focused on what they were saying as much as she could.
"That goddamn slime freak! It ruined everything!" Said Tsubasa, which piqued her curiosity. Just what did they do, and who was this 'Slime Freak' that supposedly ruined what they did?
She leaned in a little more as Yoboro then spoke. "Yeah, makes me wish that I could go there and give it a piece of my mind for saving a waste of space like Deku." A sense of foreboding overcame Katsumi, and she did not like where this was going.
The winged teen nodded. "Yeah, I mean, were it not for that, then Deku would be out of this world, and Katsumi would've rewarded us handsomely for doing her a favor~." He added, his voice taking on a creepy tone that sent shivers down her spine.
Yoboro chuckled. "Well, you're not wrong about that; man what I wouldn't give to motorboat those melons of hers." The girl scowled as the two boys kept saying dirty things about her body.
She growled at the two pieces of meat that stuck to her chest, feeling a smidge of annoyance. The same thing happened when she looked at her derriere. The future Pro Heroine shook her head, ignoring those thoughts in favor of eavesdropping on their conversation.
It was then that Yoboro growled. "But that slime had to cushion his fall. Man it would've been so easy to stage a suicide, and the best part is that no one would give a shit! But now that he's still alive, we can't try that shit anymore." She froze as her mind connected the dots.
'N-No way… Di-d-did they…' She thought to herself, barely shaking her head in denial as she realized what they actually attempted. But Tsubasa's next words were the last straw.
"Hey, Yobo, don't look down; there will be other chances to kill Deku in the future, after all, he still has one more year with us, and once we leave him to sleep with the fishes, we can finally score with Katsumi, okay?" Consoled the fat teen, and the lanky boy nodded in agreement.
At that very moment, Katsumi appeared from behind the machine, which caught the attention of the two boys, who waved at her cheerfully. "Heya there, Bakugo, what's u-" Started Yoboro, but he and Tsubasa were shocked when she suddenly clutched their throats, gasping in pain as they felt her hands heat up.
Without saying a word, she immediately dragged them by the neck while making sure that nobody would see what she was currently doing; after a few turns, the explosive girl took a secret exit that led to a dim lit, deserted alleyway, which she grinned as she looked at it.
'Perfect, that means that there will be no witnesses' She thought to herself as she slammed the door and with a small explosion, Bakugo threw the two boys at the wall roughly, making them gasp from the pain of not having their necks burned, but also from their backs colliding harshly with concrete.
They slid to the floor unceremoniously, their eyes wide with fear as her visage loomed over them, the dim illumination of the street giving Katsumi a menacing shadow that further intensified their fear.
"B-B-B-Baku-g-g-o? Wh-why ar-re yo-" Tsubasa barely managed to whisper before his eyes widened as the rough girl gave him an explosive punch to the gut, causing him to gasp from the pain.
"Let me tell you what's up: My body count now that I know that you tried to kill Deku." She growled, her red eyes gleaming viciously; the two boys' eyes widened as they realized that Katsumi heard their conversation.
"U-U-Uh oh…" Voiced the lanky boy, to which the blonde grinned savagely.
"'Uh oh' indeed. Not only was it enough that you tried to kill him, but you also thought that it would be enough for me to waste my fucking virginity on your pathetic loser microdicks..." She continued, her hands smoking more profusely, much to their horror.
They tried to speak, but before they could, the ash blonde haired girl sent another explosion to their necks, weak enough to not behead them, but strong enough that it would ruin their vocal cords; they were left a gasping mess as they clutched their throats, but they froze as her hands balled into fists.
"Now, you will regret ever daring to wrong me like this." And with that said, the walking bomb let her rage consume her being, and the onslaught began.
Raspy gasps of pain, the sloshing sound of liquid meeting pavement and the sound of bones breaking echoed constantly across the alley, all the while amidst her blind rage, tears fell from the [Explosion] Quirk user's eyes as the image of Izuku falling off a building plagued her vision.
'Forgive me, Deku…'
CR: And that's all for Chapter 1 of Game Time!
Alex: ... Goddamn, this is surprising.
Hatter: Well, it is pretty packed, but hopefully the readers enjoyed it.
CR: I hope so too; this chapter was nearly 20k words long, and a struggle to make sure that everything is fine. FF dot net was kind of a bitch for deleting the whole "- -" thing, so I had to revisit this in order to fix it.
Hatter: Alright! So, rewrite of the next chapter won't come for a while, and I don't know honestly when Chapter 16 will be posted.
CR: It will also be for a while, be sure of that. Either way, guys, please leave a fave, review and follow this fic if you want more of it.
Smell ya' later