Chapter 83 - My SI Stash #83 - Perfect Method by Consolidate Means (DCU Justice League) (2/2)
Name: Barbara Gordon Title: ? Age: 16 Level (?): ? Description: ? Relationship: Neutral
This caught Damien off guard, he had seen dozens of people with Observe, but this was the first time he had been unable to see a person's level. Was she really that strong? Word around the street was that she had been trained by the Commissioner had taught her how to use a gun, and she received self-defense lessons. It could explain her abnormal level, after all, he did not know at which point a level would become unknown.
As he began to ponder the new knowledge he had acquired a small ding alerted him that a new screen had popped up once again, this one was a congratulatory one that awarded him 50 XP after he pressed Ok on it. It seemed that it had been enough to fulfill the quest requirement.
On top of his status he noticed a blue bar that was almost full slowly begin to move as the XP was gained, it seemed to be his level bar. The 50 XP was just enough to level up.
Lvl up! Select to View Gamer Status.
First level up will be commemorated with a skill. Please select one.
1. Shadow Walker - Shadows are your friend, they will protect you from unwanted attention. Chance to be invisible to perception within shadows, chance will decrease with enemy's level (Will begin the Rogue Path).
2. Create Minion, allows user to summon small dirt golems that can cause minor damage (Will begin the Mage Path).
3. Blessed Gains, enables the user to gain 10% more XP from each quest completed (Will begin the Adventurer Path).
Damien stared at the screen with incredulous eyes, this was already more than what he wanted to mess with. He instead closed the window and chose to figure out what exactly was going on at a later time, preferably when he was not on school grounds and would seem like a weirdo touching the air.
Damien spent the rest of his day simply observing everything he could see, items, people, and even places. His Observation ability would work on absolutely everything. Somethings were exactly what you expected, but other things provided information that was considered 'important'. Things like date of creation and maker could be found on more custom items.
The school day had come to a close and instead of heading to the library as usual, Damien headed back home, the sooner he got home the more time he would have to explore this phenomenon. The way home was normally spent with his head down, it was normal to not make eye contact with strangers in Downtown Gotham. One never knew when they would encounter a crazy that would like your guts spilled in a dark alley.
But today, Damien held his head up and his eyes were dragged across everything and everyone. He seemed like a country-pumpkin that had never been to the big city with all the gawking he was doing. He soon began to notice a pattern with people's levels. They were all D and in the range of 10-35. He had spotted the irregular obvious thug that was bigger than his peers that reached into the 40s, but aside from that no one else had '?' levels like Barbara Gordon had.
Now that I think about it, Barbara's level wasn't the only thing that was '?' so was her Letter Rank, does that mean that I couldn't see her level because she had a higher letter than my own?
Ding!
System: Gamer is only able to accurately see a person's level if they are within or lower than your own Letter Rank.
There was that System again, it seemed to run this whole Gamer thing, Damien came to the conclusion that the System was keeping a constant eye on him and on his thoughts. That aside that meant that Barbara Gordon had a higher Letter Rank than himself, at the very least it was C. He had thought nothing of it when he had first seen it, but after seeing countless people with levels that barely reached the 40s he was sure, Barbara Gordon was freakishly strong compared to everyday people. A metagene?
Wherever her strength came from, Damien knew that her level was hidden as a sort of helping hand from the System, it served as a warning that he would be unable to beat an enemy with '?' as their level. His thoughts swirled his head as he headed inside his old apartment complex, hobos littered the sidewalk in front of the place. A sorry sight.
As he sat down and read his options once again in the safety of his apartment he couldn't help but notice that each skill came with a 'Path' what that entailed he wasn't sure, he had a pretty good idea what it meant but there was no way to know until he accepted it.
Shadow Walker seemed to be the most useful on of the three, he could understand from his knowledge of video games that an XP boost would be really helpful when levels required a lot of XP to proceed. However that was more along the lines of an effect that will cause benefit in the distant future, he was feeling impatient and wanted to see what this was all about now.
Lastly, Create Minion, it seemed somewhat useful, but there was no information on what the golems could do, perhaps they were unable to attack at all. Either way, he had no magic to use so maybe it might end up being completely useless.
Considering all his choices, Damien selected Shadow Walker.
Quest!: Path of the Rogue Steal anything!
Rewards: 600 XP, Starter Rogue Set.
Failure: System Rejection.
Accept?
Once again a quest had appeared and he was not allowed to refuse. The XP was probably good, he had no reference for his judgment after all. What really caught his eye was the Starter Rogue Set, What does that mean? And System Rejection? That definitely didn't sound good.
And the quest simply said to steal something, that would be harder to pull off that what he was willing to do. Stealing in Gotham happened all the time, but more than half the time the capes would swoop in and stop the thief and when they didn't then maybe the cops would, or even other criminals. It was inviting trouble, and unless you were equipt to handle it, you were best off keeping to yourself.
The quest said steal anything, so maybe he didn't even need to go out. After all his mother left her money for drugs under her bed. It wasn't much, only a few hundred dollars. Enough to pay a month's worth of rent, or get her high a couple of times. He knew which his mother preferred.
Damien felt a bit bad about stealing from his mother, but he would only take a dollar and return it after the quest was complete. He hoped that the System would recognize this as stealing. He lifted his mother's mattress slightly and pulled out one of the crumbled up bills. The quest did not complete. He wondered to himself if he would have to go steal from a store before a thought struck him. He walked out of the room.
Ding! Quest Step Complete!: Path of the Rogue Steal anything!
Rewards: 600 XP, Starter Rogue Set.
Ok.
Damien noted the usage of the word 'step' and pressed Ok. True to his observations a new screen popped up.
Quest Updated!: Path of the Rogue Steal $1,000 in any form.
Rewards: 1,000 XP, System's Blessing, Rogue Basic Skill Set.
Failure: System Rejection.
Accept?
The value of the things he had to steal had gone up in the next step, it made sense. Games only ever got harder not easier. Plus a blessing, he had noticed that Skills and Blessings had different categories after all.
Still stealing so much money, it would certainly not be as easy as the first step. He had no idea how he would even go about it or if he even wanted to. These things were piling on to his mind once again, but he was completely at ease. It would not be strange for a person to feel overwhelmed and have a nervous breakdown from such an intrusion on reality, but Damien only knew tranquility. The Gamer's Mind, this was the cause of this, a blessing. Having no other choice to accept it, Damien selected 'Accept'. The dismissal of the screen only brought a new screen in its place.
Lvl up! Lvl up! Lvl up!
Select to view Gamer status.
Starter Rogue Set added to Inventory.
His rewards had come, the levels were nice. It was an interesting feeling, it was barely noticeable when he went from level 9 to 10, but three levels at once was a major difference. He felt himself grow slightly stronger, it was small but it was undeniable progress.
The thing that really had his interest was the set given to him. He called out his Inventory and spotted the previously empty slots had now seven slots filled. His inventory was supposed to hold up to 100 unique items that might be able to stack depending on the item. He tapped each of the items and they read:
Scarf of the Initiated Rogue (D): +5 INT, part of the Initiated Rogue set (1/7) Grips of the Initiated Rogue (D): +5 STR, part of the Initiated Rogue set (1/7) Vest of the Initiated Rogue (D): +5 DEF, part of the Initiated Rogue set (1/7) Boots of the Initiated Rogue(D): +5 AGI, part of the Initiated Rogue set (1/7) Cloak of the Initiated Rogue(D): +5 MP, part of the Initiated Rogue set (1/7) Pendant of the Initiated Rogue (D): +5 WIS, part of the Initiated Rogue set (1/7) Dagger of the Initiated Rogue (D): +5 STR, part of the Initiated Rogue set (1/7)
A new prompt appeared as he continued to survey the effects that the items had.
Equip Initiated Rogue set?
Yes / No
Finally having a choice in these prompts made Damien less stressed out, he could decide to deny the prompt. Not that he would, but the choice was a nice gesture. Selecting 'Yes' Damien felt a boost in power surge through him.
Full set bonus active: +20 AGI +15 INT +10 STR +5 MP
It was then that Damien saw his attire had changed, he now wore a dark leather vest that covered his whole torso minus the center where his brown undershirt could be seen, at the edge of the vest were silver buttons. His hands were now covered by brown long gloves that ran all the way slightly past his elbow where it met the sleeves of his vest. A black scarf covered most of his face except his eyes, he also wore black form-fitting pants that led to dark boots that ran up to his knees. around his waist were two brown belts that hanged loosely to each side, a few pouches in each belt. He noticed a cloak that was dark on the outside and silver on the inside, the cloak's hood covered his head well. Hanging down his neck was a small red stone in the form of a pendant.
Looking down to his left t_h_i_g_h he noticed a brown leather holster, in it a short silver blade with a black handle. It was very clearly sharp.
”Status.”
Gamer Status:
Select an item to view additional information.
Name: Damien White Title: The Gamer Age: 16 Gender: Male Level (D): 13 Debuff: Mental Corruption X100
HP: 48 SP: 43 MP: 8 (13) Magic: E8 STR: D33 (D55) DEF: D23 (D28) AGI: D18 (D43) INT: D93 (D+113) WIS: D63 (D68) CHAR: B LCK: B Points: 8 Money: $16
Ding! INT was unable to progress to C rank due to current level Letter Rank, received ”+” denotation to reflect this.
Studying the status a bit more, he realized that buffed attributes displayed the buffed value in ”()” while the natural value remained the same. Judging by that final alert, it seemed INT was meant to evolve into a C rank but was unable to, likely due to his D rank for his level. His thoughts began to shift to the quest, he needed to steal a thousand dollars worth of stuff, the suit was very cool and literally doubled his strength but he couldn't simply walk into a store with it on and steal stuff. He could get shot, a cape could find out, police, and a million other things could happen. And sneaking in was just as difficult, he didn't know how to even begin sneaking into anywhere. No lockpicking skills, cool Mission Impossible gadgets or anything of the sort. So how?
It was then that an idea reached his brain, maybe he didn't even need to use the suit to steal $1,000, maybe he could simply walk in and out of the store with the merchandise. With this Inventory, he could simply drag expensive items into a slot and walk out with it, even if they suspected him of shoplifting they would not find the items in his possession. This could work...
Quickly heading out to the nearest big-box store to him, it was only a few blocks away. No need for a subway ride!
Heading out of his apartment he was once again hit with the smell of piss from the local hobos. Their pleas for some cash fell on deaf ears, Damien could barely take care of himself, and these people asking him for charity placed him in a sour mood.
Upon reaching the store Damien had a thought, which section was the easiest to steal from? Without a second thought he began to head down to the electronics section of the store, he remembers always passing by there and seeing exorbitant prices for those things. Stopping at the sign that read: 65” 4K Smart TV, he looked at the pallet filled with the things. He glanced at the price, $1,208.99. He would only need one. He placed his hand over the unbound item and thought Inventory.
The TV was completely gone, no trace of it remained. Looking down at his inventory he spotted the TV taking up a slot. He had it in his possession, but just like last time the quest did not complete.
When he stole his mother's dollar, he had to leave her room before the quest was completed. The same thing applied here, he had to leave the scene of the crime before the system recognized the item as stolen. So he headed to the cashier and grabbed a chocolate bar to pay for, just to look a little less suspicious.
He smiled and waved at the young cashier and walked out of the store with over a thousand dollars worth of merchandise.
”This is way easier than what I thought it would be,” he muttered to himself.
Ding! Quest Step Complete!: Path of the Rogue Steal $1,000 in any form.
Rewards: 1,000 XP, System's Blessing, Rogue Basic Skill Set.
Ok.
Lvl up! Lvl up! Lvl up!
Select to view Gamer status.
Damien ignored the 'Lvl up!' messages and instead went straight for the Skills/Blessings section, he was really interested in the System's Blessing.
Blessings:
- Gamer's Body, your body is like that of a game. Damage received will decrease your HP rather than damage your body. Sleep will restore HP & remove status effects.
- Gamer's Mind, your mind perceives reality as though it were a game. Allows your mind to be calm despite the situation you may find yourself in, you are immune to all mental statuses and attacks.
- Gamer's Anathema, you will live life as though it were a game. Allows for Paracasual abilities.
- Gamer's Right, set of inalienable tools for the Gamer. Gamer can use Inventory and Observe. (Note that entities than exceed The Gamer's level by at least a value of 1 will have information hidden).
- System's Blessing, awards the Gamer minor Mystery Boxes on predetermined Levels, awards major Mystery Box for progressing a Letter Rank.
Skills:
- Shadow Walker: Shadows are your friend, they will protect you from unwanted attention. Chance to be invisible to perception within shadows, chance will decrease with enemy's level (1 SP/min).
- Stealth Strike: You take your enemy by surprise with an attack they never see coming. Hit target with 300% more damage, if target is unware of your presence deal an extra 200% (10 SP per usage).
- Shadow Step: You feel at ease in the night, flow through the shadows as though they were your home. 25% boost to AGI in the dark, your footsteps create no noise at night (5 SP/min).
- Rogue Dodge: A deceptive dodge that will take you out of your enemy's sight. Allows user to dodge out of an attack with 500% AGI boost, makes user turn to a purple mist as the dodge is performed, you are invulnerable for 1 second (10 SP per usage).
- Rogue's key: No lock can keep you away from what you want. Allows user to pick a lock that is at least one level below them (5 SP per usage).
- Rogue's acrobatics: Move like a true acrobat in the night. Allows user to move their body in such a way to effectively transverse their environment (Passive).
- Assassinate: No armor can stand against you, this is a true hit. Deals 200% True damage, ignore all armor and resistances (100 SP per usage).
Damien stood wide-eyed at the new skills he had received, it all sounded so incredible. Before he could spend more time looking over the new skills he had acquired a new pop up appeared.
Quest Updated!: Path of the Rogue Steal $1,000,000 in any form without being caught. Deadline: 1 month
Rewards: 1,000,000 XP, +10,000 Infamy, Cloak of Secrets (A).
Failure: System Rejection.
Accept?
1,000,000!?
Despite being a very smart kid he had taken this long to realize that he was trapped. He no choice but to accept the quests given by the system, before he could accept them and not worry about them but now... a deadline had been imposed out of nowhere. Failing the quest was still on the table, but quite frankly it didn't take a genius to figure out that 'System Rejection' did not sound pleasant at all.
His only hope now was that if he completed this step it would stop, three quest steps seem like basic game design so he could only hope that such a future came to pass.
Night was falling on Gotham City and so he hurried his step and headed back home, he had a whole month to plan and figure out how he would go about this.
AN: Happy New Year's everyone! I had some free time and I always wanted to write a gamer story so I decided what the heck and whipped something up. Not very happy with this chapter, I noticed that as a gamer fic, a lot of the chapter ends up being the system talking to the gamer, from next chapter on I'll find ways to minimize that clutter (Hopefully). A couple of things I wanted to get out of the way, obviously Damien is an OC, took me about all of five minutes to come up with him since he is supposed to be the epitome of normal. This DC Universe is an AU made from several different sources. I always hated the party system and the MC telling everyone about the gamer power so there will be none of that in my fic. Other than that, I think that's everything. Thanks for reading this far!