Greg Veder vs The World (Worm/The Gamer)

Tutorial 1.1

ZFighter18

Greg Veder Fanboy




"My reflexes have been honed by years of videogames!"




Art by Vikconder

Greg Veder / The Gamer Cross. Inspired by Perfection, We are number one but it's Greg and he's a Superhero, and A Bad Name.

Also posted on Royal Road.​



Beta-ed by Mannymcdude, Segev, DasStan, dzk87, and kenmadragon







Greg Veder vs The World
(In which Greg Veder's super nerdy gamer dreams come true)

Tutorial 1.1



It was still there, to his frustration.

Mocking him as it hung there, ignoring gravity.

It wasn’t the first one, either.

One had been there when he woke up.

It remained there when he took a shower.

It didn’t vanish when he brushed his teeth, either. Even after spitting a mouthful of water at it, it didn’t magically disappear, the frothy spray passing through it and splashing all over his mirror and back onto his face. Oddly enough, it did seem to jump back when he tried to lick it. Greg wasn’t sure whether to take that as an insult or not.

It did finally disappear when he prodded it with his toothbrush, so that was something.

Even now, as he sat at the kitchen table, all this new one did was hover in the air a few inches over his mother's blonde head of hair, mocking him and generally being an annoying distraction from his Frosted Flakes.


Susan Veder
Nurse
Lv 9



Odds that I’m hallucinating? Greg paused to think about it, raising a spoon of his favorite cereal to his mouth as he continued to stare at the semi-translucent words hanging in the air across the table from him. Words floating in the air that Mom can’t see makes me wanna say yes but...

Greg thought back to the blue screen that had greeted him in his bed when he woke up.

You have slept in your own bed. 100% HP and MP recovered.

“Home Sweet Home” Bonus applied. 15% chance of recovering from [Debilitating] wounds upon waking up.


Okay, that one had been super weird too. But at the very least, it had the decency to vanish when he poked it.

Greg wrinkled his nose, slightly annoyed. Already tried poking the one above Mom’s head when she sat down. All that got me was a weird look and a bunch of questions.

Although in hindsight, maybe trying to excuse his actions by telling his mother he was “looking for lice in her hair...uh... like a monkey!” was not the best idea he’d ever had. No Mom, I didn’t go in your medicine cabinet again.

It’s like she thinks I’m five or something. With a mental shrug, Greg glanced around the kitchen, not noticing anything out of the ordinary apart from some terrible wall art someone had gifted his Mom with recently. Okay, no dancing technicolor elephants. I might not have lost all my SAN points just yet.

So, if I’m not crazy, Greg’s gaze flicked back to the glowing blue lettering, then how do I explain you? Unless this is some cosmic prank or something...

After a moment, Greg blinked, dropping the spoon back into the bowl as his eyes widened. This a prank, isn’t it? Of course, that makes perfect sense. I’m being pranked… by a cape! His eyes widened further as he pieced together the game-like quality of the pop-ups and which cape would - or could - go to that extent for a prank. It’s Uber & Leet. It’s Uber & Leet!

Blue eyes lit up with barely-repressed glee as Greg forced himself not to let out a happy squeal. As a long-time watcher of their web show and periodical editor of their PHO wiki page, Greg was naturally a huge fan of the gaming and pop-culture themed cape duo. Oh my God, this is the best day ever!

After taking several excited breaths, Greg managed to calm himself down, eyes lowering somewhat as his mouth curled upwards into a self-congratulatory grin. “Okay, come on out, guys!” Greg shouted out. "Joke’s over! Love the idea, by the way.”

“Greg, sweetheart, who are you talking to?”

Greg snapped back to reality, suddenly aware that this might not be a prank at all and that his mom was still in the kitchen, sitting right in front of him.

“...Uhh, nothing, Mom. Just practicing for Drama club.”

“Wait,” His mother frowned slightly, a few strands of blonde hair falling into her face as she cocked her head to the side to fix him with a curious stare. “You’re in Drama?”

“...no.”

Blue eyes narrowed suspiciously, pinning him to his seat.

"I-I mean, no... Wait, Drama, yes! I m-meant, yes! Yes!" Greg mentally slapped himself as he finished stumbling through the sentence, his mom’s expression already flashing between confused, annoyed and suspicious. The worst combination.

Raising his arms in a weak shrug, he gave his mom a sheepish expression and tried again. "...no?"

“Greg Lucas Veder," his mom paused, her eyes still pinning him to his seat with the glare all moms seemed to perfect, "what have I said about lies in this house?”

“Aww, M-mom, it’s not…” his voice was already cracking as he tried to explain away the weirdness of the last thirty seconds.

“I swear to God, Gregory,” Mom didn’t let him finish, finger raised and pointing right in his nose. “If you lie again, no games for a week.”

Greg sunk down in his seat, a groan on his lips.

Crap on a cracker.
 
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ZFighter18

Greg Veder Fanboy
So, yeah, this is my new fic.

I've always loved the whole Gamer thing but I never got around to making one.

Instead of finishing up the promised last chapter of my current fic, I decided to be a raging dick and write something new. Ain't I a stinker? In all honesty, though, I'm working on that chapter. It's just longer than I expected. Anywho, I'm trying something new. I've always wanted to write a Gamer Fic and Greg is enough of a blank slate that I feel like I can work with what I've got and make something great.

Image by Preoprix
 
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huh, I'm still reading your other fic, whelp lets see where this goes.

[edit] out of curiosity will you use elements from Scott Pilgrim as well? Also I know what you mean I have tons of unfinished fics and I'm still making more as the ideas come to me.
 

ZFighter18

Greg Veder Fanboy
huh, I'm still reading your other fic, whelp lets see where this goes.

[edit] out of curiosity will you use elements from Scott Pilgrim as well? Also I know what you mean I have tons of unfinished fics and I'm still making more as the ideas come to me.
Funny enough, the Scott Pilgrim movie and video game soundtracks are basically my playlist for writing this fic and my previous/current one. There will be nods to Scott Pilgrim, but nothing overt. No one's going to burst into coins after dying and no one's gonna pull a sword out of their heart.
 
Funny enough, the Scott Pilgrim movie and video game soundtracks are basically my playlist for writing this fic and my previous/current one. There will be nods to Scott Pilgrim, but nothing overt. No one's going to burst into coins after dying and no one's gonna pull a sword out of their heart.
T_T

Will you at least use subspace? or give a Mythril skateboard to Greg as loot?
 

ZFighter18

Greg Veder Fanboy
huh, I'm still reading your other fic, whelp lets see where this goes.

[edit] out of curiosity will you use elements from Scott Pilgrim as well? Also I know what you mean I have tons of unfinished fics and I'm still making more as the ideas come to me.
Funny enough, the Scott Pilgrim movie and video game soundtracks are basically my playlist for writing this fic and my previous/current one. There will be nods to Scott Pilgrim, but nothing overt. No one's going to burst into coins after dying and no one's gonna pull a sword out of their heart.
T_T

Will you at least use subspace? or give a Mythril skateboard to Greg as loot?
I believe that I can implement subspace. It's not gonna be any time soon, though.
 
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Zoneco

Verified Evil Overlord
This looks fun, considering its Greg this can end amazingly or terribly and I am excited either way.
 

Oniele

(Unverified Felinid Infiltrator)
I am anticipating the next chapter, can't wait for the world to crush Greg's hero expectations!
 
Tutorial 1.2

ZFighter18

Greg Veder Fanboy
Tutorial 1.2



He had avoided a grounding.

How?

Greg really wasn’t sure, to be honest.

He would like to say that it was most likely his well-reasoned arguments about how being punished for a little white lie was cruel and unusual. It was nice to think that his logical points had spoken to his mother and gotten her to realize how unfair she was being.

However, it was most likely due to the fact that his mother didn’t like to see him cry.

Not that he did.

Cry, that is.

No, Greg Veder does not cry.

He begs.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------

“Please, mommy, don’t take my games.”

“Greg…”

“I’m sorry for fibbing. It was a joke. Pleeeeease.”

“Greg.”

“Mom, it’s not fair. You can’t do this. I wasn’t lying. I was just joking around, Mom.”

“Gre-”

Pleeeeeeeeeease.”

“Gregory!”

As she barked his name, Greg flinched and relaxed his grip on his mom’s mid-section, pulling back from the one-sided hug. As he stepped away from his mother, he gave her his best smile, the visual spoiled by the wetness all over his face. “Yeah, mom?”

Susan Veder let out a deep sigh, the sound coming from a place of deep frustration. A hand went down to her scrubs to brush off some imaginary dirt before she raised her head again to fix Greg with a tired stare. “Just keep your games, Greg.”

Greg lit up, his downtrodden expression replaced with a bright grin in an instant. “Thanks, mom!”

Greg moved in for another hug, only for his mom to stop his forward movement with a palm to his forehead. “Greg, just...." Susan let out another sighh.

"Enough with the hugs, sweetie. Just... go do something. I’ll see you when I get home.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Ugh, that was close.

Greg let out a heavy sigh as he collapsed backwards onto his computer chair, the old thing creaking slightly as he dropped all one hundred and thirty-five pounds of himself onto it. Almost got grounded ‘cause I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.

That’s nothing new, though. Greg scrunched up his face as he thought back to all the times his mouth had gotten him in hot water. At least, I got out of it this time. He paused, leaning back in his chair as his face turned down into a frown. Still, this one wasn’t even my fault.

Greg spun around in his chair, turning to face his unmade bed as he dropped his chin to rest it on a raised palm. “And I still don’t even know what the frick that screen thingy was. Seriously, what was that thing?”


Quest Created

What the Frick?


Details: Find out “what the frick that screen thingy is” by saying [Menu].

Time Limit: 24 Hours

Success: 200 xp

Failure: None

Another one.

Greg leaned forward in his chair, his jaw slowly falling open as he read this new pop-up. Neurons fired off in his head as realization slowly dawned on him as to what this could be. Swallowing a mouthful of nothing, Greg let out a slow, shaky breath. “H-h-ho my God.”

Does this mean what I think it means? As carefully as he could, Greg raised a finger to poke the blue screen, the sensation feeling somewhat like a thin plastic film on his finger before it vanished a moment later. I think this means what I think it means.

Greg let out another uncertain breath, picking himself up from his seat slowly. His eyes were wary, but even then, he couldn’t suppress the eagerness that he was radiating. I swear to God, if I find out this is a prank, someone is going to die.

Shaking in raw excitement, Greg Veder let himself say the word.

“Menu.”

Greg rapidly inhaled as a screen popped into existence right in front of him, the words in front of him sending a feeling of raw excitement through him.


Stats

Abilities

Skills

Perks

Inventory

Quests

“Holy...”


Quest Success!


Gained 200 xp


Level Up! You are now Level 2.


You gained 2 stat points.

“...crap on a cracker.”


Jaw still hanging open, Greg raised a hand to rub at his eyes to make sure he was actually seeing this. “Please don’t be a prank. Please, don’t.” The whispered words were both eager and desperate, Greg’s blue eyes widening as he read each of the words in turn.


“St… stats,” Greg muttered, voice suddenly dry.



Greg Lucas Veder

Student

Level 2

XP: 0/500


Age: 15 (and three-quarters!)


HP: 80/80

MP: 50/50

Will: 30


STR: 2

SPD: 3

VIT: 2

INT: 6

WIS: 1 (-4)

CHA: 1 (+9)(-9)

Unspent Points: 2


Ctd...


“...uh-huh.” Greg blinked.

After a moment, Greg blinked again, his head moving backwards slowly before dropping back down to stare at his hands. "...uh-huh."

Without even looking behind him, he sat back down in his chair with uncharacteristic listlessness, the blue stat screen moving along with him. Thoughts and ideas rushed through his mind, each and every one of them related to the revelation that he had just experienced.

After a few long moments, Greg glanced back up to stare directly into the screen again. As he tilted his head, a gleam of excitement was visible in his eye and his mouth flashed into a grin.

“God exists and he’s a huge nerd.”
 
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I love the little detail you have with his intelligence being his highest stat. Since even Taylor said he is smarter then average. I mean it took a while for Dragon to find out Taylor's identity, Greg did it in way less time, and he is not even a Tinker or Thinker.
 

ZFighter18

Greg Veder Fanboy
I love the little detail you have with his intelligence being his highest stat. Since even Taylor said he is smartest then average. I mean it took a while for Dragon to find out Taylor's identity, Greg did it in way less time, and he is not even a Tinker or Thinker.
Yeah, it is his highest stat but it's also the highest stat for his level. I thought of making it much higher but it wouldn't make that much sense for a Level 2 to have that much INT.
 
Yeah, it is his highest stat but it's also the highest stat for his level. I thought of making it much higher but it wouldn't make that much sense for a Level 2 to have that much INT.
Hmm what's the average? I know some do the whole 10 average while some go higher. Is it based on level or does age/experience influence it? For example can an old man whos low level have a high wisdom because of his age?
 
Yeah, it is his highest stat but it's also the highest stat for his level. I thought of making it much higher but it wouldn't make that much sense for a Level 2 to have that much INT.
Hmm what's the average? I know some do the whole 10 average while some go higher. Is it based on level or does age/experience influence it? For example can an old man whos low level have a high wisdom because of his age?
Yeah what is the average stat for a baseline human?

I can't wait for the epics! Stories like Ark and LMS have lots of times when MC get royally screwed in some way, like someone ripping a contract or a guild hunting them, traps or corners them in some bad situation like where they have to keep shaking a pot for 34 hours, otherwise the cooking (for a rare skill and stat boost) will fail and the VERY rare ingredients will spoil and disappear, while on a boat by pirates hunting him and just him out of spite. Fricken hilarious.
 
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