A daring synthesis (Worm/The Gamer)

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Fuck that gay wizard shit 1.1
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    • Ironypus

    Ironypus


    Running away from girls and your problems: A Greg Story prologue​

    I had always known I was special, a being beyond all others. That one day I would awaken. Not that I wasn’t already woke af, mind you, it was just that I had now ascended.

    “You may lefer to me as Dr. Wu.”

    Dauntless cringed into his armour for some reason.

    “May I ask why you have come to my juggering pavirion,” I swept my throwing knives into the air and juggled for a few seconds.

    Your DEX has increased by 1!
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    Shit! I nearly dropped my knives when the popup box sprang into view, but me being awesome me I managed to vanish all my knives into my inventory as they fell, which I knew looked super trippy from the outside.

    “Just…” Dauntless smiled. “Bein’ neighbourly. New cape on the block, y’know, I wanna make sure you know the Protectorate has your back if you want.”

    “Domo arigato,” I inclined my head. “But it appears I will be doing just fine.”

    Dauntless coughed, “That so? Well, give it a think eh? Kid like you might find some trouble from the, er, ABB. The gangs know not to go after Wards though so-

    “I am, of course,” my voice cracked as I cut him off. “Eighteen.”

    “Oh, um, really?” he replied skeptically, scanning me.

    “Yep,” I replied in moderately fluent Japanese, pointing at him with one hand. “And there’s nothing you can do to prove otherwise.”

    He started slightly, “Beg pardon? I’m sorry, I can’t speak Japanese.”

    I smiled, the expression hidden behind my mask. Yeah, I was so fuckin’ slick.

    “I merery wanted to get your autoglaph, Dauntress-san. I am very big fan.”

    Dauntless laughed and shuffled a step back, “Hey uh, yeah, I’d love to but I don’t have a pen.”

    I clicked, extracting a pen from my inventory.

    I saw his eyebrows crease behind his Centurion helmet. “Y’got paper in there?”

    I had post-it notes. Another click. He hastily scrawled his name and made to leave but I pointed at a bucket filled with various coins and notes.

    “Donations, prease.”

    He fidgeted a bit and threw in a measly buck. Man, fuck you Dauntless you fuckin’ cheapskate.

    Quest ‘Get dat green, son!’
    Money collected: 57/100
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    I dismissed the popup.

    I had no words to describe this bullshit. Being a Hero was dangerous, being a Villain was deadly but being a Rogue? Being a Rogue was fucking tedious. Of course, I expected no less from the government, an entity whose sole purpose was to keep everyone chained into endless pseudo-slavery and kept in line with bread and circuses. Like, for fuck's sake, it was so much effort to start up a business as a Parahuman you may as well just do it illegally as a vigilante.

    The problem was, I wasn’t not going to use my powers to be the ultimate ninja warrior, but I also didn’t want to get merced by any one of the two dozen insane fucktard villains in this shithole city because I accidentally scuffed their new NIKE’s or something; so I needed lawyers and accountants and shit.

    And I needed money to get all that started anyway, which I didn’t have, no thanks to Dauntless.

    An hour or two came and went, mostly with me sitting down and pretending to meditate in the shade of my beach umbrella until enough people gathered around and I would juggle a bit and blow some smoke.

    Quest ‘Get dat green, son!’ completed!
    Money collected: 147/100
    Gained: 100xp
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    “Hello there.”

    My eyes snapped open and I sprang to my feet, coming face to face with a girl. Blonde, cute, green eyes; just my type!

    “Herro~” I Observed her. Sarah Livsey, Inference Engine; very nice. Age sixteen, hates parents, brother necked himself, a teenage runaway, Tattletale and Undersider, works for Coil. Ah, I see. “Gorgeous!” I continued, hurriedly sweeping my cash, cash bucket and umbrella into my inventory. “I have to reave for raisons!”

    New Quest! ‘Flee you fool!’!
    Get the fuck out of here, Tattletale is on your tail and you need to ditch her. Get to safety!
    Rewards: 100xp
    Failure: ???
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    She suddenly got this deer in the headlights look of shock and I bolted up the Boardwalk as fast as I could.

    “Wait! Stop!” I heard her call after me.

    I turned to see her waddling as fast as she could, laden down with a dozen shopping bags. I whimpered and sped up. Fucking fuck! Coil?! I didn’t expect any of them to be onto me so soon. They feared me, I knew.

    You have gained the skill ‘Running’!
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    Feared my potential.

    But how did he know?

    I barely made it to the main street through the tearing stitch in my side. I heard my VIT go up as I staggered up the pavement trying to hail a taxi. Christ, that was only a half mile run; 19 INT but only 5 VIT, the perils of min-maxing.

    I gasped out my destination to the cabbie then used my power to instantly equip a different disguise.

    I slowed my breathing, I knew this day would come. That I would be hunted. But so soon? I had to go underground, lose this heat. The taxi pulled over, I was here. I handed the guy the correct change and kicked the door open.

    “What the fuck, kid?” he spluttered as I strode away with great purpose. “You little shit.”

    But I had no time for his problems, my destiny awaited.


    Gregory Veder
    Level 1 (83%)
    HP: 50/50
    MP: 200/200
    STR: 4
    DEX: 5
    VIT: 5
    INT: 19
    WIS: 3
    CHA: 2

    SKILLS:

    Mana Smoke (active) lvl.3 (27%)
    Even in its most raw, unfocused form, Mana can be useful. This skill produces a thick cloud of concealing smoke.
    Two cubic feet of smoke may be created per point of mana spent.

    Sneak (active) lvl.1 (3%)
    The basics of stealth, moving quietly, going unseen, concealing your presence.
    10% increased chance of avoiding detection.

    Juggling (active) lvl.5 (38%)
    It’s juggling.
    Juggle up to six small objects.

    Observe (active) lvl.6 (91%)
    Observe a target more closely to gain all sort of information.

    Running (active) lvl.1 (7%)
    Running distance or at speed, you know how to do it all.
    Top speed: 7km/h.
    5% increased VIT while running for more than 30 mins.

    ABILITIES:

    Japanese (passive) lvl.5 (23%)
    You can speak, read and write in Japanese at a beginner level.
     
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    • Magni Imitator

    Magni Imitator

    A Simple Imitator
    Greg, you’re at least smarter then the other one. Then again, he isn’t suffering from mana not existing and bad drawbacks. Utilizing different disguises and such will throw some people off the trail which is decent enough, it’ll fool the rank and file which is all he needs.
     
    Segev

    Segev

    ZFighter18 said:
    My feelings.

    Such pain.
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    If it makes you feel any better, I like yours better. Which isn't to say I dislike this one, but it has only one chapter, and I have no idea where it's going. It's also hard to tell, from Greg's perspective here, how little or much others are buying his "disguise." Dauntless did at least pretend to when he warned of the ABB and recruitment, but winced at the bad accent, which could indicate he knows Greg is making a racist stereotype.
     
    dzk87

    dzk87

    So I think the difference is that this Greg behaves......

    I mean just look at him. This story reads like a cracky comedy, which has it's own appeal.
     
    .seth

    .seth

    is dr wu one of many fake cape names he uses, and would it be for safety or maximum trolling? i mean if he is smart enough to use stealth and escape it could be that certain disguises are safer in certain areas. maybe its the second thing though, the last time he was seen as wunderkid, the amazing aryan.
     
    Maverik

    Maverik

    Flow the memes we’re unstoppable now
    We didn’t know best but now we know how
    To bring to life this marvelous kid with a most creative hand
    Now get up my shitpost and stand

    Wreak havoc
    in all of the world and fill it with memes
    Keep their eyes on the screen and don’t let them blink
    Memes everywhere even in their homes and their sinks

    Remember our creation you’re special and unique
     
    Ironypus

    Ironypus

    Roldy1419 said:
    why japanese??
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    It will be explained in three chapters.
    Epitome of Eccentricity said:
    This feels like it starts halfway into it already, and what's there didn't really draw me in. I prefer reading stories that start at the beginning.
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    My original draft started earlier, but this is only like three weeks into having powers. I'll post them once I've gotten through my canon chapter stack.
    discard15 said:
    Dunno Tattletale in first chapter is a huge red flag
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    ;)
     
    Xeno The Mad

    Xeno The Mad

    It needs a bit of formatting help
    and that it started in the middle of things - eh I don't mind that much. But the cringe of dauntless is hilarious

    I'm getting a kung fu hustle vibe here.
     
    Fuck that gay wizard shit 1.2
  • Threadmarks
    • Ironypus

    Ironypus

    “Hello, I would like to join The Wards please.”

    The receptionist never lost his sunny grin, “Of course-“

    “Awesome!” I beamed, looking around the lobby of the PRT building. “Can I see Miss Militia? She’s my favourite, really makes the Army look work if you know what I mean. Plus, sick guns, man. I have her PS4 shooter, do you know her rank? Anyway, I’m Plat I bet I could 360 no scope her ten times out of ten. Probably tell her this is urgent though, Coil’s after me.”

    I tapped my nose, giving him a significant look.

    “Of course he is,” the receptionist still grinned. “Why don’t you take a seat over there?”

    He pointed to a neat row of chairs along a wall.

    “Thanks, chief!” I tipped him a quick, two-finger salute and strutted to the chairs. I plopped myself into one and equipped my phone into my hand.

    xX_Void_Cowboy_Xx: just checkin in to the join the wards lol

    GStringGirl would love this, I was a cape now and bitches love capes. Also, she was a bigger capenerd than me somehow, and she’d kill for any insider info. And now, for her, I could be the biggest PRT security breach ever!

    I was a good friend.

    I put my phone away and tapped on my knees to the tune of some J-Pop, joining the Wards was a good decision. I’d researched, of course. Sure for the first year or whatever I’d be making minimum wage, but I’d still be getting that crisp 50k trust fund. Plus I’d be famous, especially after the first year when my powers were really growing.

    Or at least I assumed that was how they worked, like, I was an RPG character now or some shit and they all got to get crazy strong at max level. Even if for some reason I got no extra skills and capped out at max human stats, I still healed to full health every hundred minutes and could Observe.

    Triumvirate tier, no doubt!

    “Are you ready, sir?”

    A voice jolted me out of my contemplation of my own awesomeness. I looked up to see a hefty security guard giving me a bored sort of customer service smile.

    “Absolutely!” I pop and locked to my feet. “Lead the way!”

    I followed him as he started walking towards the exit for some reason… No. This was a test!

    “Nice try,” I said smugly, stopping and putting my hands on my hips. “But you won’t fool me with that, a faker would have fallen for it but I’m the real deal, right down to the marrow of my bones.”

    The guard sighed, a long drawn out exhalation of pure uncompromising Done With This Shit.

    “Get out, boy. I won’t ask again.”

    I scoffed again, but even to me, it sounded weak. Uncertain. Did they really not believe me? The guard gave me a hard look, but when I didn’t move he stepped forward and grabbed my wrist, dragging me like a child’s toy.

    “I see you know your Judo well,” I stammered, resisting. “I-iyada! This is democracy manifest!”

    He yanked, sending me stumbling forward.

    -1hp

    “Ow!” I cried, tears springing to my eyes. “W-why?”

    He pushed me out the door and stood, an impassable wall to my destiny.

    “We don’t need any more Militiamen, d’you know how many of you creeps we get a week?” he crossed his arms. “Get!”

    “F-fuck you, I’m not,” I sobbed, lashing out at the wall with a fist.

    -5hp

    “Fuck!”

    You have gained the skill Resist Damage [Physical]!

    The tears stopped. Oh. Oh right, I could just show them I had powers. I sniffed and wiped my eyes with my sleeve.

    “Behold!” I raised a hand and cast it down, dark blue smoke bursting into appearance, covering us. “Smoke bomb!”

    I posed smugly amid panicked shouts, klaxon wails and… oh no. I’d read this fic before when the SI got forced into a life of villainy when he accidentally spooked the PRT by doing pretty much this. Shit! Fuck!

    “That wasn’t an attack,” I shrieked through my smokescreen, throwing my hands as high as I could. “It’s not poison gas! I surrender, don’t tase me, bro!”

    There was a clunk and a harsh whirr, I felt a breeze and my smoke was sucked away into a series of vents inside the building revealing a half-dozen PRT troopers fully decked out in Kevlar and Kalashnikovs.

    My knees wobbled, a tinnitus-like ringing drowning out whatever orders one of them was barking. The scene blurred through tears. So this is how it ends? I hoped my parents didn’t go through my hard drive.

    “Wait!” a reedy voice cut through the stretching silence and the dumbfuck receptionist stumbled out in view. “I didn’t think he was a parahuman.”

    The trooper captain rounded on him, “explain.”

    “He said he was here to join the Wards,” the man looked stricken. “He said he wanted to see Miss Militia, I thought he was just another one of her creepy fanboys so we kicked him out. I, he really didn’t seem legit!”

    I sank to a crouch as the guns were lowered and everyone in the lobby started murmuring to each other. Wew, 0/10 on RT, would not do again. I took this brief intermission to dry my uncool tears and get my shit together.

    Ok, we cool Greg?

    Yeah, bro, we cool.

    “Yeah, I fukken told you so,” I rose to my feet, pointing at the receptionist dramatically. “Now bring me to Miss Militia for I much desire to speak with her.”

    ---

    Eventually, they got around to driving me out to the Rig, where we would meet up with my parents and Armsmaster because he ‘apparently’ had to handle shit like this. But he was my second favourite local hero, so I could fucks with that.

    And then, the very moment I set foot into the Rig-

    Quest ‘Flee you fool!’ complete!
    Tattletale and Coil can’t follow you into here, you’re safe!
    Rewards: 100xp
    Click to expand...
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    Level up!
    +5 stat points
    +1 perk point
    Click to expand...
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    Swiggety swooty. I knew I got perk points from quests as rewards and every five levels, but I was expecting one at level five! Next one at seven then I guess. I hummed jauntily as I was led to wherever it was exactly I was going, mentally browsing my stats and perk choices.

    Oh, you motherfucker! They were hidden behind stat walls! Good thing I was smarter than literally seventy-five percent of people or else I wouldn’t even be able to get the INT perk. Aw, but I was going to be a DEX pure, not fuck with any of that gay wizard shit.

    20% increased memory capacity and retrieval was nothing to scoff at though. All the DEX one would give me was Ambidextrous, which was cool and all but… I clicked my tongue. All the first tier perks were sweet, I wanted them all so I may as well pick Memory now and put my points into DEX after doing a bit of agility training.

    I mentally accepted Memory and the perks! Better memory, increased Crafting tech level, attention to detail and fucking Mana Control was the only one hidden behind 30 INT?! I mean, folklore ninja were basically wizards, right? That’s how they were in my favourite Aleph manga, Menma, which was like ninety-nine percent of my inspiration and- I sighed, putting everything into INT.

    “Uh,” a confused voice interrupted my very important Build Managing. “Are you ok?”

    I looked at my armed guard, “What?”

    “You were miming a lot,” she made a few jerky puppet-like movements. “Are you feeling ok?”

    “It’s a power thing,” I said sagely. “You’d understand if you ever played old-school RPG’s.”

    “Ah.”

    “It’s some real FFII type shit, namsayin? That’s my life now, the grind. Imagine playing Runescape but it’s for real, and I put like five thousand hours into that shit so this’ll be a piece of cake. I’m basically my own Isekai protagonist, and really there aren’t enough animes like that I really like the Isekai genre.”

    The trooper grunted.

    “The LN just isn’t the same, and it’s a shame there’s no western comics with that theme I reckon there’s a lot of money to be made there; y’know I’ve sent so many emails to the publishers about this and not even once have I gotten a reply.”

    “Terrible.”

    “Oh you don’t even know the half of it, Hombrero,” I shook my head despairingly. “A guy tries to do good and the establishment can’t handle it.”

    “We’re here,” she pointed way up the hallway and sped up.

    We hustled around two more corners and up a flight of stairs until we came to a door, slightly ajar. Clearly, she took her job very seriously. Good, that’s good. I’d need professionals to initially protect me from Coil until I could steamroll him effortlessly.

    I made to kick the door open, but noticed at the last moment it swung outward so I was forced to merely fling it open and step in.

    “Ok,” I clapped. “Let's do this!”

    Gregory Veder
    Level 2 (0%)
    HP: 75/75
    MP: 325/325
    STR: 4
    DEX: 5
    VIT: 5
    INT: 24
    WIS: 3
    CHA: 2

    SKILLS:

    Mana Smoke (active) lvl.3 (29%)
    Even in its most raw, unfocused form Mana can be useful. This skill produces a thick cloud of concealing smoke.
    Two cubic feet of smoke may be created per point of mana spent.

    Sneak (active) lvl.1 (3%)
    The basics of stealth, moving quietly, going unseen, concealing your presence.
    10% increased chance of avoiding detection.

    Juggling (active) lvl.5 (38%)
    It’s juggling.
    Juggle up to six small objects.

    Observe (active) lvl.6 (91%)
    Observe a target more closely to gain all sort of information.

    Running (active) lvl.1 (7%)
    Running distance or at speed, you know how to do it all.
    Top speed: 7km/h.
    5% increased VIT while running for more than 30 mins.

    ABILITIES:

    Japanese (passive) lvl.5 (23%)
    You can speak, read and write in Japanese at a beginner level.

    Resist damage [physical] (passive) lvl.1 (1%)
    You gain the ability to resist damage from physical blows.
    -1% to physical damage taken.

    PERKS:

    Memory: 20% increased memory capacity and retrieval.
     
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