The Gamers: Prologue - Gamers, ASSEMBLE!

[Renose]

(Insert Possible Sai Art Here)

Prologue

Gamers, ASSEMBLE!

April 20th, 2075, only 9 days remaining until Golden Week begins. On this day, a group of various individuals scattered across the city of Neo Tokyo would awaken from what should have been ordinary sleeps. That is because they were indeed ordinary sleeps. What was out of the ordinary though is what happened to these individuals once they awoke. Nothing was different with them at all physically, except perhaps waking up a little more refreshed than normal. Perhaps very much so, as if they all had gotten a good night's sleep.

Nothing wrong with that at all.

What was wrong is what they could see above their heads.

'The Gamer'
Last Name, First Name, Lv 1

In light blue text above their head was floating text. It looked like something straight out of a video game. How many of these individuals actually played video games was another story, since most, if not all, had jobs or lives that were keeping them busy and thus possibly unable to be huge gamers. Maybe these five had played some games before, perhaps a couple? Well regardless... the text is there, and it doesn't seem to be going away, no matter how many times any of them close their eyes or pour water on their faces.

Above other people's heads throughout their day they would see similar floating text. Their last name, first name, LV, and a number next to that. It usually ranged from 1 - 3, with around 3 being for those who looked or seemed a small bit tougher. The occasional tough martial artist looking type or tough police officer was around Level 5, those definitely being people who had gotten into fights or danger.

As these five went about that Friday, the text didn't seem like its going away at all. No one else seemed to notice it at all, or if they did they were master actors as they weren't bringing it up. Most likely though it is no one noticing it at all as otherwise that would have to be thousands of people in on a joke.

Saturday comes rolling around after Friday, so at least time itself hasn't changed.

What also hasn't changed is the presence of the text. Its still there, so either this is a very long dream or a very surreal situation. Its also still above everyone else's heads as well and no one seems to notice. Of course, if everyone got a full night's sleep, then they would see the following window and feel very refreshed.
​

Getting a full night's sleep in a bed has left you awake and refreshed.
HP and MP fully restored.
All Status Ailments removed.​

Despite how bizarre and surreal this is, these days will continue being halcyon days. Nothing is changing. Perhaps the small additional perks provided from this bizarre scenario aren't too bad.

Sunday, the 22nd and a week away from Golden Week, rolls around. The text is still there, as is the same notification they got when they woke up on Saturday. As they awoke in the morning to face the day ahead, however; another window would appear suddenly without warning.
​

The Quest: "Other's Like Me" has been created.

Accept?
[Y] [N]​

If they clicked no, the window vanishes and that is that. If they click yes... however...

Other's Like Me

Other's Like Me

Issued By
A Passing Thought

Objective
Find others who bear the class, 'The Gamer'.

Rewards
6 EXP, 1 AP
More information on 'The Gamer' power.

Failure Results
Unknown

A Quest. Information perhaps. Thankfully today is Sunday, so unless any of these individuals had an important job to get to then today couldn't be a better day for seeking out other 'Gamers'.

The Search has begun.​

 

[ERode]

Two days had passed, and yet, this strange 'program' persisted, an augmented reality system that notified her of 'Talent' level ups, unlocks, and gave her a sense of her stats, broken down numerically via a system that she did not understand. At first, she had thought of it as some sort of new function enabled by her smartphone, but there was nothing on the news about it, nor did the application of this as a technology seem possible at all. Then, she turned her attention to the possibility of some sort of government conspiracy that she didn't remember getting involved in at all, but that too seemed unlikely. Being able to know the name, title, and 'level' of someone, whatever those things meant, was a breach of personal information but otherwise similarly pointless.

Ultimately, after deciding that this new change in her life had little effect on her schedule and her future plans, Rin Narimasa, sole heir to the Hokushin Itto-Ryuu, adapted to it, shelving the presence of this mysterious, visual affliction until something showed up about it on the news. Perhaps this was a new mental illness?

That would certainly be exciting.

---

Sparrows chirped in the morning rays, jumping from twig to twig in the wide open backyard of the Narimasa family. Gnarled trees shed sakura blossoms that drifted downwards at the speed of five centimeters per second, each breeze bringing along with it a floral scent that tickled the nose. Spotted koi fish swam absentmindedly in a small pond, while an elderly lady swept the cobblestone paths that cut through fields of well-trimmed grass.

Sometimes irregular and sometimes rhythmic, the 'thwack thwack' of bamboo blades clashing sounded through the tranquil garden. It was a good morning, pleasantly cool with a brilliant blue sky. Sliding barefoot over grass, two armored individuals duelled, parrying and riposting, a fast-paced conflict between swordsmen who sought to eliminate all extraneous movement. A vertical swing to split the skull was deflected an upraised blade. That same swing fell vertically once more, before a twist of the wrists caused it to swerve horizontally, evaded by the difference of two centimeters with a measured backstep. Before momentum could be completely lost, the tip of the shinai centered itself and thrust forwards, grinding forcefully against her opponent's blade. Engaged in absolute close quarters, they locked blades, neither intent on breaking apart. Locking her wrists and straining her muscles, the smaller combatant pushed forwards, forcing her father a step back, then two.

Momentum had to be preserved.

But.

"Too hasty."

A backstep.

As she lurched forwards, opposition disappearing, her father pivoted to the side like a swinging door, before a quick swing struck her gauntleted wrists. It was shock, more than pain, that caused her to instinctively recoil, but her grip remained solid as she wheeled around to face her opponent once more.

"That's enough for this morning," her father said, untying the back of his own helmet, "It's clear you're lacking focus this morning."

Rin didn't reply, simply nodding. The grass below her feet was a verdant green, each strand level.

"Your stance is off and your breathing is uneven," he continued, ignoring how her gaze avoided his, "While your descent swing is lacking in both conviction and sharpness."

Rin didn't reply, simply nodding. Why was this visual impairment rewarding her for her failure?

"Go wash up," he finished, turning away, "And eat breakfast. If this is what your condition will be like by 10, I won't need your help with classes."

"…yes, father," she finally said, her tone neutral. She looked at her hands, still clenched over the hilt of the bamboo blade, before she released. The helmet was removed, held in front of her shamefully sweat-stained face as she unravelled her head towel with her free hand. Wiping off her face, she bundled the towel inside the facemask, before letting out a deep breath. Three notifications stood in the corner of her vision.

Her 'Katana Use' had Maxed out, and without thinking too much, she pressed the only option that wasn't grayed out: Ranking it Up.

She was afflicted by the Fatigue debuff, causing all actions to have their success rate decreased by 10, whatever that meant.

There was a Quest, something that she had never seen before. Innocuously titled, Rin accepted, also without thinking about it too much. It popped up with much more detail, speaking about the existence of others like herself, while also bringing up topics such as 'rewards'. She narrowed her eyes at that. She was to find others like herself in a city as large as Neo Tokyo?

She had other things to focus on. Though the past two days had not brought up significant problems, it was now clear to her with this morning's training session that the foundation of skill and strength that she had built up through the entirety of her life had now become unstable. Mistakes were being made at a much more common rate, and, despite how it shouldn't happen, the raven-haired girl had caught herself making beginner mistakes that were uncharacteristic of her.

Ten years of intensive kendo training, and she fell for a simple push-and-pull trick like that?

Pat-

"Rin," her grandmother called, "Eat before your breakfast gets cold!"

It wouldn't get cold, because the rice was kept warm inside the rice cooker, and every other food item could be warmed within grains of puffy, steaming rice, but she liked her grandma. Hiding the anxiety within, Rin smiled. "I'll be there in moment," she replied, as she strode towards the dojo to store away her equipment.

---

Her father was finished eating by the time she stepped into the dining room. The stern, bespectacled man gave her one look, before exiting. There was a bald spot on the back of his head, the size of a ten-yen coin, but she couldn't find it in her heart to smirk this time. He was right. Her performance was subpar, to the point where she couldn't pass it off as a bad night's rest. Like this, how could she even expect to win the Inter Spring Competitions? It was her first year in high school, and though her seniors made it clear that they expected her to be the first player when it came to team matches, if her skills were in such flux, to the point that it couldn't bridge the gap between size and physical strength…

A rough, yet soft, hand pressed against her shoulder. Her grandmother's face creased into a smile.


"Rin, your breakfast."

Another deep breath. She still had time. She still had to eat. And even though breakfast was the only meal her grandma made, it was still a feast in its own way. Salted char, rice, tomato salad, miso soup, sunny side up eggs, lightly fried ham, even after the men of the family had eaten their fill, there was still more than enough for Rin to fill herself up on. Without worrying about her weight, she ate fill, washing everything down with green tea after cleaning up as many dishes as she could.

There still was a difference, huh, between her cooking and the cooking of an 'Expert of Japanese Cuisine', according to the title floating over her grandmother's head. A crisp purity that went beyond just a scientific optimization of nutrients. Something that she didn't have.

Food Boon: +10 Recovery and + 5 Regen
Duration: Three Hours

Rin blinked. A new message? Bonuses from eating? This…

"Grandma," she asked, "tonight, could you teach me something new?"

"Oh? Is this for a boy? My my, Rin, growing up so fast!" The older woman chuckled.

She smiled awkwardly in response. "No, but I was wondering if you knew any meals that provided lots of energy?"

"For staying active late at n-"

"Nonono, nothing like that! Just," she hesitated. Would exposing such weakness strain her grandma's relationship with her father? "…I've been feeling tired recently, so if you had anything like that…"

Those creased eyes darkened slightly. "Oh, yes, I can dig a couple recipes like that from my old cookbook. But, Rin, if you're really that tired, you should tell your father that. You're in high school, after all, and it's the beginning of the school year. Adjusting is t-"

"No." A pause. "Thank you. But I'm fine. Just want to learn some new things. Dad's tired these days too. I want to help."

That rough yet soft hand stroked her head. "You're a good girl, Rin." That same hand had never touched her father's.

She swallowed the bile, and nodded. "Thank you."

It was a bit cold in the room. Rin wished it was hotter.

---

She was still feeling uncharacteristically fatigued, but her bicycle with a white frame and a basket, was pushed out of the shed regardless. Taking her phone out of the pocket of her jeans, the kendo girl accessed the student forums of her school and began her search from there. A simple topic, titled 'Anyone know what "The Gamer" is?' was created, and with that, she cycled down the hill towards the downtown core of Neo Tokyo.

A cityscape of high-rises expanded before her, streams of cars on the roads visible even from a distance. As nature dissolved into concrete, the air become stuffier and space becoming more constricted, Rin slowed down, eyes alert for pedestrians and automobiles. A flurry of names, levels, and titles expanded in the crowds, almost dizzying, but the buildings, for all their flashy advertisements, were mercifully unmarked. Various 'Students' and 'Yakuza' and 'Police' and 'Maids' strolled on by, each possessing a level that was curiously less than 10, but those weren't what she was interested in. After all, what she sought was the elusive 'Gamer' tag.

And yet, as she continued to cycle beside the sidewalk, all she spotted were 'Streamers' or 'Pro Gamers', neither which sounded right.

The exhaustion was getting to her once more. Slowing to a stop, Rin pushed her bike over to a vending machine, tapping her phone against the sensor before selecting apple juice. A clank sounded and she retrieved her drink. While enjoying the nostalgic flavor, her blue eyes scanned over the screen once more, checking up on the 'bait' that she had laid.

Ah, there.

Shimo[11:40]: Something that you should forget.
Soren[11:43]: Meet at Mr. Frost's Ice Cream at 12?

Shimo was interesting, suspicious, but Soren sounded like the someone who knew something, if they were willing to meet face-to-face. No doubt, the plan was to identify each other using the visual 'affliction' the two of them had. Good.

Tsuki[11:48]: Ok.

Five minutes later, she arrived at the stylish, yet child-friendly ice cream parlor. It felt somewhat bad, taking up a space within the shop when she had no intention of purchasing any, so instead, Rin leaned against the side of the building, her bicycle chained up beside her. She sipped her apple juice again, eyeing a new promotion.

Golden Apple Gelato.

Tempting, but her allowance wasn't going to last.

 

[Omnial]

Day 1

Friday. A great day under normal circumstances, but this Friday would be even better than most. It was the Friday prior to golden week, and Soren had no plans aside form kicking back and playing games, and tinkering with his hand and other electronic devices. At least, that was what he WAS going to do. That plan sort of flew out the window as he looked out the window.

Why does everyone have number above their heads? And is that their names? Adjusting his glasses and squinting, Soren stood at his window, his messy hair sticking up in every direction like a lions mane, fitting perfectly with his pajamas barely staying on his scarred body.

"Huh..." Shrugging it off, Soren decided to get dressed instead of focusing on something he had no control on. It was while he was taking his pajama shirt off that he felt the strangest. Or more correctly, when he realized he wasn't aching all over, and that he felt really good. "Well...Whatever screw that's loose in my head seems to have a beneficial side." He continued on, stepping into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Observing the mess atop his head, he put the minimal effort in to tame his hair, wetting his hands and trying to push down his crazy hair, to some avail. The Tag of his own name, level and class staring him down as he did all of this.

"Maybe people aren't a good thing today...can't have people seeing this." He kicked off his pants and plopped himself down in his boxers. "If something is wrong with me a day of rest, from people and screens will fix it."

Acting like it wasn't there, Soren focused on tinkering with alarm clocks, his hand, and going over instruction books for mechanical engineering.

Day 2

Waking up to what appeared to be a digital screen in front of his face. Soren just lay there, staring at it. Not frightened, but taken back a bit, yet at the same time suprisingly calm about it.

"Does it go away on its own? Do touch it?" Reaching out, he closed the morning window. Well, at least that explains why I feel so darn good. Stretching, Soren rubbed his hands over his marked body. normally this would be a rather uncomfortable feeling, but he just felt soo damn good.

This must mean something, maybe there is a legenedary prophesy about this. I need to do some research.

Flicking his mouse about, Soren woke his computer up, and ignoring the blinking lights in the corner indicating he had messages to read, he went straight to the search engine. He managed to successfully waste his time.

At some point later in the day, after reading a prophesy about spaghetti, he decided it was best to step away from his computer and just figure things out on his own.

Proving to be a much better option, Soren discovered a few things about what was going on, such as he had menus, like a game. Without missing a beat, he put tools in and out of his inventory and playing around. With the discovery of the status screen, He noticed he had leveled up from the day before. Was it due to the time he spent tinkering? It was most likely, but he shrugged, not having a concrete answer. I'll need to do more and see if it changes anything.

Day 3

Waking up to that friendly screen, Soren rolled out of bed, scratching his butt as he picked up book on engineering theory before heading towards the washroom. He didn't get to make it there though, as a new window blocked his path. A quest? Others like me? He tossed the idea around in his mind. clicking to accept it after some thought.

"I'll get to that after I finish a few chapters." With the quest accepted, he closed the door and sat on the porcelain throne while reading his book.

Flopping down to check his computer, Soren had a blank moment, as he tried to think of how he was to find the other Gamers, and how many there could be. Staring at his screen, his eyes turned to the blinking in the corner of his screen notifying him of a message. Maybe someone I know knows something?

Checking his email, and then moving on to forums, he scanned the topics to see if any sounded like they could lead him in the right direction.

Stumbling upon a lead, and having a desire to eat icecream for lunch, he set up a meeting place and time.

Arriving right on time to Mr Frosts, it didn't take Soren long to spot Rin. One of the Gamers he had to find for his quest. That was easy, Placing his hand on the blue and white mascots face which was plastered on the door, Soren pushed it open before moving to stand in line. He eyed the mint chocolate, then glanced back towards Rin, then back to the icecream.

 

[Weracious]

Friday

Morning

Kira wakes up when her alarm goes off on the nightstand next to her bed. Yawning, she scratches her head. Her morning seems like nothing out of the ordinary at first, but then she notices the blue letters above her head. She tries to recall if she'd taken any strange drugs the previous night, or if someone might have tried to drug her, but her Thursday had been boring.

Assuming that the letters are some kind of new groundbreaking ad, she elects to ignore them. She'd file a complaint, but she doesn't know what corporation may have put these letters above her head yet. If she finds out, she might pay them a visit with a can of spray paint.

She changes underwear, puts on a shirt with her band's logo, before exiting her room and turning on the stereo in the living room. Nyoko has probably gone to school by now, so there's no need to worry too much.

She doesn't get far after putting on the music before she hears an angry yell from Nyoko's room. Oops, she's accidentally awakened the slumbering beast. It's too late to undo it now, but she lowers the music anyway.

They end up arguing during breakfast, despite the fact that Kira tries her best to appease Nyoko. Sometimes she wonders why they share an apartment, and other times…

She leaves for school after emphasizing how she's sorry.

At school she's greeted by her large group of friends, who all have letters above their heads as well, but they don't seem to notice them. During class a window pops up, telling her that she can now unlock the "Knowledge Talent".

What…?

Afternoon

Kira's afternoon crawls by slowly, as she's too excited for the gig her band has later tonight. She spends time at a cafe with a number of friends to distract herself, but it doesn't help much. When she gets home, she's pumped because she's decided to kiss and make up with Nyoko. Her roommate does not appreciate the kiss, and Kira flees the apartment to travel to the pub where her band will play their gig.

Night

The gig doesn't go particularly well, and Kira feels that she could have performed a lot better. Maybe it's just not her day. The audience doesn't seem to have a problem with her performance, but this is supposed to be a stepping stone to greater glory. She can't fail and falter this early on the journey. To forget about her troubles, she gets hammered with her bandmates.

Stumbling home early in the morning, she feels like shit, but her mind isn't as clouded as it should be. What's the point of getting drunk to forget her troubles if she doesn't feel any different? Did the bartender pour water in her drinks? What a bastard! Another window pops up with some message about 'Minor Poison Resist'. Whatever...

When Kira arrives at home, she can still tell the difference between her own room and Nyoko's, but what's the fun in that? If she can't sneak into Nyoko's bed with her to cuddle, she's not living life to the fullest!

Besides, Nyoko doesn't know that the bartender gave her worthless drinks.

Saturday

Morning

Nyoko doesn't mind being the little spoon, and Kira is too hungover to get out of bed. They lay under the blankets until afternoon, forgetting the fact that they were at each other's throats yesterday.

Afternoon

Kira travels to the academy of music, because she can practice drumming there without annoying anyone. She always thought it would be awesome to move to a bigger city, but it's had its drawbacks. She doesn't have a place of her own to jam anymore, and she can't play the drums at home without getting on Nyoko's nerves. It wouldn't be so bad if the neighbours would have stayed out of it. Nyoko isn't at home 24/7 after all.

Her entire afternoon is spent behind the drumkit, and she performs a lot better than she did yesterday at the pub. Why does she have to suck when others are watching her!? Sigh, how will she ever climb to the top this way…

One of her friends shows up to practice the piano, and after they're both ready to call it a day they go to eat lunch together. Kira gets a call by an overly excited band member who shouts about how they've gotten another gig tonight, and they're going to open for a fairly famous band called Dreaming Reptiles. Kira has some vague memory that she's heard the name before, but she can't recall where. She's listened to so many new bands since she became a music student. It's a glorious existence!

Night

She's nervous as they make final preparations to open for another band, since her bandmates are all worked up, and it's contagious. However, it's great to be nervous for once. It's almost become routine to play at these clubs and pubs. Today they get to open for a well-known band, and if they perform well, they might raise their own renown.

The performance goes a lot better than last night, and Kira feels like she's almost on top as a number of attractive women cheers them on, screaming and hollering. The stage and the audience isn't as large as they should be for her to be satisfied, but in her head she's imagining a crowd of thousands of people. One day she will get there, but tonight this is plenty enough.

They are all wonderful, and she makes sure to tell the audience how much she loves them whenever she's finished singing a song from behind the drums. Once upon a time she wanted to be a lone drummer, become famous through skill, but these days she's playing drums while singing. One of the greatest compromises she's made, as she's both the lead of the band and the spine.

After they're finished playing, she gets a message from Nyoko, who asks her to join her and her friends at a late night comedy event. Considering how she failed to get drunk last night, it sounds like a better idea than drinking with her bandmates. She hugs each of one of them before leaving to meet up with Nyoko.

Sunday

Kira is up early, because she's made plans to meet with friends at their favourite karaoke bar. She gets a new message about some silly quest. She's suspected this ad is a game for a while now, but she hasn't acted upon it.

"Others like me, huh?" she mutters, shaking her head.

While Kira may have felt as if she was the only gay girl in her small hometown, that was a couple of years ago now. She's met so many new friends since then, and she still has some of her old friends.

The statement is inherently wrong because she's 1. Unique, and/or 2. Already among friends. Kira's about to press N, but hesitates. What harm could it do to press Y? She should seize the opportunity to find new friends, right...? Sigh, she's giving into corporate propaganda, but she presses Y anyway. Maybe she'll find answers this way. More importantly, maybe she'll get rid of these annoying pop ups and letters above people's heads.

Reading the new message which pops up, detailing her quest, she sighs. She doesn't care for EXP or games. Kira is not a little kid anymore. She's got a real life and real problems, and real loves and real happiness. This virtual stuff are for unhappy people seeking to escape reality, not her.

At 9am, she arrives at the karaoke bar to meet with her friends. They're all people she met at the music academy, and they've been coming to this karaoke bar early on Sundays for quite a while now. Sometimes they're all hungover, but in those cases they just keep drinking to cure the worst of it.

Kira's singing is great during the first two hours, when Elvis carries her through, but it gets worse during the third hour. No surprise, really. It's difficult enough to play gigs for two hours straight. The others perform better than her towards the end, but she's not a sore loser. She's more interested in spending time with her friends while discussing their shared interest - music.

"Where do you want to eat, Kira?" Miko asks her, when they're getting ready to leave.

"I'd like to eat you out," Kira thinks to herself, letting her eyes trail over Miko's figure for a moment. The petite brunette is quite pretty.

"What did you say?" Miko folds her arm over her chest, scowling.

"I, huh…" She didn't think she'd said it out loud. She must be tired from last night or something, but Miko won't have any of it. They haven't been on the best terms since she got a new partner, but thankfully, he's not around. He's not as interested in music.

The worst part is how it is such an old and tired line. Nobody will be impressed. At least if she'd been clever, they might have laughed.

"It was a—"

"You know, forget it, everyone heard. You can stay here for all I care," Miko says, heading for the door. The other two looks at Kira as if she's irredeemable before following Miko.

Great, she'll have to try to smooth—

Your social graces here were not their best at all, and made the conversation turn sour. It's something to learn from though.

+5 Charisma SP

"Oh, fuck you," She's had it with these pop ups now, but she has no idea how to turn them off. She's been ignoring them so far. However, it's clear they're not going away.

Exiting the karaoke bar after her friends have left, she decides to pursue the silly quest the extremely intrusive ad has given her. Kira is uncertain where to start, but everyone's got letters over their heads, and she's the only who has a gamer tag. If she strolls around the entertainment district, she might get lucky.

It's a long shot, but she's in Neo Tokyo. The massive city doesn't have to make it easy on her to find another person with a gamer tag. It can take days, weeks. Maybe she should return home instead, use the internet to see if this game is mentioned online. Well, she doesn't mind a stroll for now, and she needs to find a place to eat.

 

[Sairoh]

Day 1​

Tae Min woke up with a feeling that it was going to be a good day. Everything was in its proper place - mercury was in retrograde, new books sat on his desk, and the even the cactus on his windowsill was starting to bloom. Now if only my hair could stay in place for once, he thought off-handedly as he raked his hands through his purple strands. To no avail, they remained adamantly in away from his head. Tae Min let out a soft sigh in defeat. A battle for another day, he thought.

With a sigh, Tae Min swept his comforter off and swung his legs over the edge of his metal framed poster bed, before bouncing up and off. Just a few feet off from the jutting partition where his bed was, was a large, dark wood desk that housed a dual monitor computer and a growing pile of books. An outwardly protruding, rectangular window loomed over the desk, letting in copious amounts of the morn's sunrise spill over the clutter. On the wall opposing his bed, was a folding door that led to a spacious walk in closet that was half full of more books that Tae Min hadn't been able to shelve. And just a little farther down the wall, a quarter turn away from his bed space, was another door that led to his bathroom.

There was a light spring in his step as he made his way to that adjoined bathroom to start his morning rituals. With a flick of his wrist, he all but threw the door open.

"Good Mornin-"

Tae Min froze mid-yell, his mouth snapping shut with a click of his front teeth. Something was very, pointedly different. He gingerly touched the mirror, wiped it once, twice with his pyjama sleeve. Patted his head, pinched his elbow, then ducked in a sharp breath.

"Well this is new," he said dumbly.

Tae Min learned in as close as he could to the mirror, smushing the tip of his nose to its cold surface as he tried to look at the words floating above his head.

"Those weren't there last night, were they?" he thought out loud. Tae Min frowned, then poked his cheek, before pinching and pulling it. "Ith thtill hurth," he muttered softly. He continued to poke and swat around at the floating text like a madman until a knock rapped at his door, followed by the gentle voice of the housemaid, Mina.

"Do-ryeon-nim*, your tutor will be here in about ten minutes."

Crap! Tae Min scrunched up his face and let out a rough, but soundless sigh, before shoving a toothpaste-covered toothbrush into his mouth. He practically flew into his closet, changing as fast as he could while precariously brushing his teeth at the same time.

"Do-ryeon-nim?"

"Oops, forgot to reply..." Tae Min muttered to himself as he slid one leg into a pair of gray pants. "I'm awake Mina!" he called out as he struggled to get his other leg into his pants. "Just," he adjusted the toothbrush in his mouth, "Getting dressed!"

A soft sigh. "Breakfast is also ready downstairs at your leisure."

"Thanks Mina!" Tae Min called out as he finally finished dressing. He swung back into the bathroom and finished rinsing and washing up. Though, in his hurry to get downstairs, he also managed to forget his morning ritual of vocal exercises. "I guess I'll have to do them later," Tae Min mumbled as he left his bedroom with school work in hand.

Once downstairs, he swiped a piece of toast and four oven baked eggs from the dining table, before heading straight to the study that doubled as his classroom. Mina called out to him - something about fruit and balanced meals, though her calls fell on deaf ears. Tae Min had one egg in each cheek as he walked briskly down the hallways. By the time he reached the study, he was halfway through his toast and finishing off his third egg.

He paused to finish swallowing all of his breakfast with a small wince. I should've brought water or something, my throat's so dry... anyways. Tae Min took a breath, swatted his hair one more time, then pushed the ornate doors open.

The first of his two alternating tutors was a stern, young man, who carried a sharp aroma of peppermint and paper. Tae Min greeted him with a low bow and an apology for his tardiness. His tutor waved him off, having been more than used to his student's antics, before instructing him to read the results of his schoolwork aloud. Tae Min settled into his desk and complied, but not without staring rather stringently at the text floating above his teacher's head.

I'll have to look into it after lessons, maybe when I take my walk...

Day 2 ​

"You're being rather aggressive today, aren't you Tae Min?"

"I'm trying something new," Tae Min replied as he dropped a captured pawn right in front of one of his father's. A joining pawn lock.

Ji Hoon Lee chuckled into his palm. "First a Mino castle, now this? My, how fast you're growing, for the longest time you adamantly used only Yagura's," he teased.

Tae Min leaned back into the plush chair and folded his hands across his lap. "Well, to be fair, the Yagura castle is the strongest defensive position," he replied.

"Strength, however, is always relative," his father replied smoothly. Clack. The dropped pawn sat next to its brother in arms proudly, forming a modified fork.

This time it was Tae Min's time to chuckle. He leaned forward, peering over the board. A brief silence fell over the room, aside from the resounding tick of the grandfather clock installed in the wall among the crammed bookshelves of the study. Tae Min frowned lightly, his brows knitting together.

It was Ji Hoon that broke the elapsed silence, "So, how are your studies?"

"Fine, Shin Sseong-sang-nim's** lessons never cease to to be interesting between her anecdotes and analogies. She made this one riddle the other day, wherein I had to figure out when 99 is greater than 100..." Tae Min replied as he thought. He knew exactly what his father was doing. It was the same thing that all of his tutors, as well as his Mother, sister, and Mina did when they were around him - they were trying to make sure he talked as much as he could.

Five years had passed since Tae Min first talked, but his family still seemed to be stuck in the first few months after the multipart operation had been finished. A time when he stumbled over words and spoke in mostly garbled gibberish. Of course, he had improved immensely since then, but sometimes when he was flustered or surprised, he fell back on his old tendencies.

Clack. Tae Min moved his right side bishop to take his father's newly dropped pawn. The way it was positioned, there were no pieces that could capture it.

He looked up to meet his father's warm, golden brown eyes. "Well done," his father complimented firmly. Tae Min felt something that could only be described as comfort bloom in his chest. Ji Hoon then averted his gaze to look down at the board, mirroring Tae Min's previous pose as he assessed how to mitigate the damages of his son's last move. As he did so, Tae Min looked at the floating text hovering over his father's head.

The previous evening, he had taken a walk around the school island explore some more about the text. Nothing really eventful had happened, though he had noted some discrepancies in levels and the fact that no one else seemed to be able to see the text. Earlier that morning after dismissing a notification, some more exploration led him to find out two more things: Inventory and Status. Though, he admittedly spent most of his time putting a pencil in and out of his inventory, he noted how much everything resembled a video game. Maybe it's some sort of new promo that I accidentally clicked? I am pretty weak to click bait after all...

Clack!

The sound of the shogi piece brought Tae Min out of his thoughts and back to the his actual game at hand. His father smiled knowingly. A Lance had been brought to the front, teasingly aiming for the Gold at the edge of Tae Min's castle. Tae Min smiled back.

The two continued to trade back and forth, morphing battle positions along the board with conversation bits interspersed in between moves. Tae Min made a major blunder when he was unable to move a freshly promoted rook out of the way of his father's Silver, but got his revenge a couple turns later when his father made a move that left his bishop in a vulnerable position. In the end, however, Tae Min's castle had fallen first to a series of Lance and rook attacks that decimated his Mino castle's defenses.

Both father and son shook hands to a match well played, with a promise for a rematch in the indefinite future. As the loser, Tae Min took to carefully putting away the pieces while his father retired to his room. Once Tae Min had finished putting all of the pieces away, he stood up and cracked his back with a satisfying ripple of pops.

"Let's see... I have some class work that I probably need to do. Or, I could also take another walk today to look at people," he thought aloud. Tae Min paused, then snorted lightly. "Is that even a question?" He walked swiftly over to the study door and pushed it open. He took a few strides and turned a corner to the doorway, where he pulled on a pair of shoes.

"Mina, I'm taking a walk," he announced, then left.

Day 3​

Tae Min had gotten through three pages of Oryx and Crake when the quest had appeared before him. "'Others Like Me,'" he read outloud. Somehow the prospect of an actual task excited him, like a child getting a new toy. He hit 'Y', then slipped a book mark into his barely touched novel, before getting up and heading outside.

"Now, where should I look? Tae Min murmured as he stepped onto the pavement. He hadn't seen anyone with the gamer title in his last two days of wandering around, but he wondered if that was simply something on his own luck. He rubbed his chin. Assuming that I'm looking for people around my own age, the school island would generally be my best bet. However, since it's a weekend...

"The entertainment district is is, then," he concluded.

From the residential district, Tae Min took a short train ride to the entertainment district. By far, this sect of Neo Tokyo was one of his favorites due to its seemingly endless rows of specialty stores and shops. He walked about, relatively aimlessly, scanning the tops of people's heads as he went.

Maybe I should have chosen a less busy time to look, I can hardly read through all these titles. I could've already met a gamer yesterday or the day before and just missed them, too, especially since I got distracted by that one street performer for a whole hour. Oh, wait-

Tae Min had looked up abruptly over the crowd to catch the slightest glimpse of what he had been looking for. He pushed forward, saying excuse me's and pardon me's as he went until he finally reached the vicinity of the person he'd been following - a female with striking red hair, who seemed to be a couple centimeters taller than himself.

"Excuse me, you're a gamer, right?" Tae Min asked politely.

-------
((Translations:
*Do-ryeon-nim = young master, specific to males
**Sseong-sang-nim = teacher, equivalent to sensei))

 

[★Under The Stars★]

---

Hira slowly opened his eyes as he heard his alarm going off. He groaned as he covered his head and ears in his sheets. "Please God, just give me a few more minutes." The alarm continued to blare and he eventually gave in to the extremely loud blaring. He sat up groggily and noticed a small window in front of him with a few things written on it, but he just clicked the 'X' on it. He had probably been playing games a bit too much recently. After he finished clearing what seemed to be a window in front of him, he got up from his bed. He strategically placed his alarm away from his bed so he couldn't just go back to sleep if he turned his alarm off. He turned off the alarm and rubbed his eyes. "Fine. Guess I'll just have to live without a few more minutes of sleep." He yawned and stretched his arms upwards, feeling the pull of his voluntary upward force on the upper half of his body. He walked into his bathroom and turned on the shower. He waited for the water to heat up as he was feeling more and more awake.

He jumped in the shower and sang to himself a little bit. It helped things go by quite a bit quicker when you had a song in your heart and a skip in your step. He finished with his shower and started brushing his teeth. He stared at himself in the foggy mirror and noticed that he had some slight bags under his eyes. He continued to brush his teeth as he then noticed something very odd in the mirror. There was something hanging above his head, but he couldn't tell what it was because of the fog. He looked above himself and saw nothing. He spat into the sink and washed the spit down the sink, then rubbed the fog from the mirror. He immediately noticed the title above his head. "Okay, I've definitely been playing too much recently."

As he exited his bathroom, he changed into his clothing for work and headed out for the construction yard. The yard wasn't too far away, so he decided he was just going to walk, rather than taking his old car. This time around, they were building a beautiful house for some old, rich woman. She had some very specific needs for the house, so they had to be extra careful with delivering the materials and such. She was never on-site to see any of the construction, so most of his co-workers thought that as long as the finished product was what she wanted, then there wouldn't be any problems.

On his way to the site, he didn't see many people. Probably because it was decently early in the morning and most people were probably just traveling by car. However, he suddenly saw a jogger pass from behind him. She said good morning to him as she passed and he commented out of habit, but as he looked at the woman, his eyes widened. There was another person with information over their head. Their name and their level. Oh man.

Hira was not stupid, so he knew that this was definitely not just a coincidence anymore. He could blame it on grogginess when he checked this morning, but now he was fully awake and wasn't even thinking about gaming when he saw that woman. He shook his head and told himself that it might go away if he didn't think about it. The construction site was coming up on his right though, so he tried not to be affected by the strange phenomena.

As he turned the corner to enter the construction site, he was going to greet everyone, but stopped. All of them had levels and names above their heads. The foreman watching over the operation even had a title. Hira didn't seem to see anyone else losing their mind over this, so he assumed that they either couldn't see what was happening or they had already sorted out their feelings about the situation. This was stressing him out a little bit that he seemed to be the only one having a problem with this.

But he just tried to get to work and do all he could that day. He needed to distract himself and doing his job of carrying boxes was the perfect distraction.

His work went by smoothly and when he was done with work, all of his buddies wanted to game for a bit. He actually thought it was a little funny to go and game when his life kind of seemed like a video game right now. But he didn't share that with his buddies and just went and games with them for a few hours. As he played, he was off. He kept missing his skill shots and he couldn't focus enough to get his character to move into position at the right times. His friends got a little mad at him, but they didn't seem completely shocked by the fact that he was playing badly. It seemed they picked up that he was having an off day today.

When he finished gaming with his friends, he went home and he tried to figure out what this strange phenomena did to him. Did he suddenly gain some sort of strange sight? I mean, that was obvious, but he wondered what else this power might bring him. Since he just played games, the aspects of a game were fresh in his mind. Health, Mana, Abilities, Inventory, and about a million other things.

At first, he thought maybe trying to reach into the corners of his vision might cause something to happen, but to no avail. Nothing happened when he did any kind of physical action. So he definitely did not accidentally turn into a video game magical girl. Next, he tried to think about each of the aspects. He thought about them for a few seconds and tried to concentrate on conjuring something or having something happen, but nothing happened. Finally, exasperated, he accidentally said something that became the key. "Ugh. Why does this have to be so hard? Why can't I just open my Inventory or someth-" As he muttered the word Inventory, a window popped up in front of him, displaying a screen with 15 slots. Each was empty for the time being and he wondered how he could get things into his inventory. He still had his tool belt on from work and he took it off of him, but nothing happened. Maybe the key was vocalizing it again? "Tool Belt. Inventory." The Inventory window closed when he said this. That couldn't be it. He opened the inventory window again and then decided maybe physical action was needed now. He took the tool belt off of him with the hammer, drill, and drill bits still in/on it. As he inserted the tool belt into the menu, the items suddenly appeared as items in the slots that were once empty. The items that were on the belt were also separated from from the belt itself. So it looked like it did work like a regular inventory, only being able to fit individual items until you could increase inventory size by finding another bag or by increasing the 'Carry Size', which was also indicated on the Inventory screen.

Carry Size was the link between finding the Status screen for Hira. After vocalizing a few words that were synonyms with Status, he finally said the correct word to get that screen to open. As he opened this screen, he noticed all of the different stats you could increase. He was interested to see that many of his stats were above 5, which made him wonder what the average number for each stat might've been. His highest stat was 12 and it seemed his intelligence was his best quality. He also noticed his Health and Mana and that also made him wonder what the average amount might've been for a level 1.

After this, he went to sleep.

He woke up the next morning and was decently surprised to see the title, level, and name above himself again. But it seemed this power was going to be sticking around.

He headed to work and things were going very smoothly, until he decided to go help another worker with carrying something heavy that needed two people. By a twist of fate, Hira heard something crack behind him. He looked behind himself and noticed that there was a stack of heavy objects that were about to fall on him. His first instinct was to run, but he looked at his coworker, who was frozen in place. Hira pushed him out of the way and tried to get away from the falling objects, but sadly was crushed by a few heavy ones. He let out a cry of pain as the boxes fell on him. He noticed a red bar in the corner of his vision plummet, 1/3 of it being taken from him. Hira waited a few moments before his coworkers lifted the boxes off of him. He was afraid to look at the condition he was in because he never liked seeing his own blood. However, when he looked down, there was nothing there. Not a scratch, not a drop of blood. His coworkers were a little confused when they saw him get up after just a moment, not completely disabled after the incident. Hira needed to tell them that this wasn't as big of an accident as they thought. He needed to reassure them that he wasn't nearly as hurt as they might've thought he was. "Oh. Uh, hey guys. I guess I was just in a place where the boxes didn't land directly on me. That cry of pain was, uh... Well... Let's just say I was really scared?" He laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Don't worry about me. I'll clean this stuff up and we can finish the work for the day."

The foreman seemed to be eyeing him suspiciously, but he dodged having to talk to him. He went back to his work and the day continued as normal.

He went to play games with his friends again, but today, he was on fire. He was incredibly focused and never broke concentration. He was always in the right place, even before someone needed him there. He was intuitively reading the movements of his friends with incredible accuracy, to the point that it almost seemed like clairvoyance. His friends were impressed by the complete turnaround of his playing from yesterday.

After he finished playing with them, he decided that he was going to try and discover even more about the power that allowed him to stop bleeding and to stop cuts and bruises. That night, he discovered the 'Skills' window, which allowed him access into his Talents, his Active skills (which he was sad he had none of), and passive skills (which he was also sad he had none of, except for the powers that came with 'The Gamer'). While looking inside this window though, he noticed that the Focus skill had referenced something called a 'Score'. When he found this, he opened up the Scores window as well and was interested to know what kinds of implications these different scores might have.

After he did all of this research, he realized that he would probably not find anything else. So, he went back to sleep once more.

When he woke up the next day, there was a new window he hadn't seen before. This time, it seemed to be a quest. He read it over a little bit and noticed that this quest implied he was not the only one with this power. Unfortunately, he would be working for the first part of the morning, but he only had to work a shorter shift because his foreman wanted him to work a little less because of the incident yesterday. He went into work with his tool belt on his hip and right after he was done, he said goodbye to his friends and then headed to the Entertainment District. That would be where he'd see the most people and if he was going to find someone, that'd be the best place to start looking.

He headed there by the train from the residential district and smiled his whole way there. He was going to meet people who were probably having the same dilemmas he was having! He was so giddy that he couldn't contain himself. He was even creeping a few people on the train out. He noticed this and then got a little upset, but he was mostly happy... Probably.​

 

[Weracious]

Kira doesn't actually get far before someone approaches her from behind, asking if she is a gamer. No, she's not a gamer, but she turns around with a smile regardless. As long as they don't try to sell her something, she has no reason not to treat them with respect.

Reading the blue letters over the boy's head, she notices that he has the same tag as she does. His name seems foreign as well, but she's not going to start judging people based on their names.

Is he as clueless as she is about what's going on, or is he in on this entire thing? If he's clueless, there might be a lot more gamers around than she's seen, or this is a weirdly lucky coincidence. Kira doesn't consider herself lucky by any means, so she has to assume it's the former.

She's likely meandered too long now, just staring at the letters above his head. If she doesn't do something, she'll seem awkward or worse. She's too charming to come off as awkward!

"Yes, I am indeed," Kira says, tipping her hat at him with a sly grin. "I guess we've both found each other now, so we've accomplished our silly quests!"

Please, let this be it, and let me go home.

"The name's Kira." She extends her right hand at him, waiting for him to shake it. "Have you been seeing letters all weekend as well? You know, I'd just like some reassurance that I'm not going crazy. Well, I guess we could be going crazy together."

She speaks with a lot of confidence, assuming his situation is the same as hers, even though she has little proof of it other than the fact that he asked if she was a gamer as well. It's something though. She can just turn around and leave if she's wrong. It's unlikely they'll meet again, and it won't be the first time she's embarrassed herself. Last time was like ten minutes ago at the karaoke bar.

 

[Skyswimsky]

Day 1

It finally happened! I was always aware of being special, but now, I was literally Chosen. It... simply happened. At first I wasn't even too aware until later in the morning, but with all those weird pop-ups I quickly understood that something was... up. At first I assumed it was the work of my father, alas, after more consideration it simply didn't make sense.

Now, my day has been rather usual and normal. Just with the addition of this... power? The Gamer? Seems to fit. Sadly, I wasted most of my time at school. After that, however...

It was then that I asked myself 'Is this a Curse'? I had already been annoyed by the fact I was being categorized as a 'Level 1' just as the Vermin around me but the sole fact I seem to have gotten... 'worse'? A degradation of skill, so to say. Maybe that explains why I cut my finger this morning. And while it was an exciting experience to feel death so close this noon thanks to a beginner mistake I made I very much prefer living... I got to be more careful about that.

It was then that I 'seriously' started to treat it more like a 'Game'. I may not be as interested in Games - not stimulating enough - as other people my age, but thanks to my father's work I knew enough about it to figure out that I had a bunch of status screens, including a rather useful inventory. I just hope there are other ways than voice activation... . Seeing my Talents however also explained why I was suddenly so terrible at things I have been doing for a while. And why I am Level 1.

I can only hope that, despite the degradation, this 'Power' will ultimately be of help. Otherwise, it truly is a Curse. And I obviously do not deserve such treatment.

Tomorrow is no school, perfect to try this out more. Maybe even ask Father about it - he knows everything. Now, however, I feel unbelievable tired. Did that worsen too?

Day 2
Today had been... fruitful. Though there are still a lot of things I do not understand. For one, I managed to 'unlock' a new Skill - and Talent? - alas I found no way of actually using it. Thinking about it now however, maybe I should try voice activation for that. But once again I feel way too tired. Oh dear... I hope it doesn't activate with a voice command.

Anyways, it also seems like there isn't 'Talent' for everything. Otherwise I would have gotten something silly like 'Coin Flip' by now. I suppose... that is good. Otherwise I'd be starting crawling like a baby again? Though there IS a movement Talent. Note: Try attaining a 'Stealth Talent' for the sake of my future.

As every Saturday, I had lunch with father as usual. Seeing how he was Level 13 however I decided against actually asking him. I felt it might be... unwise? Maybe Father really did something to me. Silly Silly Silly. Father is the best person in the world.

I can't wait for when he got new Ice Cream for me to Swallow. I already have some things in mind in combination with this 'Power'. Instead we just spend some time watching a movie.

The rest of the day was actually spend on training. If I want to do 'this' I have to get back into shape. If I play my cards right... with this curse blessing... the things I could achieve. I'd make Father proud too.

I did order myself a new knife though, followed by a second one to match. They should be here on Sunday. I didn't even think about using two knifes at once before. It is such an obvious thing but... well, it doesn't hurt as long as there is no 'single-handed' talent.

Tomorrow I should try to catch some lone animal. Nobody will miss an animal. No?

Day 3

Find others who bear the class, 'The Gamer'.

Devastated. That was how Aiko Ito felt right now. Having accepted this quest early in the morning without putting too much thought into it at first she was now, simply, devastated. This implied there were others like her. Other's that had been Chosen. Other's just as unique. No, it wasn't unique anymore. It was not special anymore. No, Aiko was now simply 'one of many'.

The perfect glass cage she had build herself the past two days was shattered. Just like that. Aiko screamed. Her father was, luckily, already at work. Or at least... she wanted to scream. Letting out her aggression. Her frustration. But... instead... yes, she was pissed, but somehow strangely calm. In fact, Aiko caught herself already thinking about what to do about this.

Clearly, the most logical step would be to follow through this quest. After all, it did give her rewards and sharing information wasn't that bad either. In the end, this situation wasn't much different. She was a 'human', just like anyone else, now simply 'better'. Sure, others were 'better humans' as well but that didn't mean they were better than her - with the exception of her father.

In the end, this wasn't too bad. If that truly was the case it would also confirm that Aiko was, in fact, not just completely insane. Thus, the girl went about her morning as usual: Starting with making herself fresh and eating some fancy breakfast.

Or at least it was supposed to be fancy, but instead tasted like crap. The worst she had ever done. If she wanted to train anything first it clearly should be Cooking instead. In fact, considering how horrible it tasted, Aiko did the whole ordeal over again.

Not soon after that Ai's package arrived. Two, new, fancy knifes.

Max Damage: 12
Damage Mod: 3 + STR

While she hadn't been able to see any stats while buying it online she did spend around 2 hours comparing a lot of 'Weapons' yesterday. Weirdly enough, as soon as Aiko held them in her hands she was able to perceive those statistics. And thankfully, they were better than what she already owned.

With that also taken care of it was finally time to move on. Trying out this AIM skill could wait. Instead, Aiko used the Internet to find something just to quickly give up after. 'The Gamer' was way too general and anything with 'Special Power' or 'Ability' and whatsoever gave her just more crap.

Instead, the white-hair tried to recall the past two days. The people around her. Titles. Above everybody. Sadly, however, she hadn't paid too much attention to those at all. Then, another thought came to her. A conclusion. It was a silly thought in the end, but better than nothing.

As if those Peons in her School could...

'Anyone know what "The Gamer" is?'

...Well. So much for that. By now, the rich girl would already be too late. Still, getting this done sooner rather than later was for the better. Deciding not to reply to the thread. With her next destination clear, she put the two weapons into the inventory and finally left the Penthouse... .

---

"...There should be some form of staff there still."

It was undeniable easy to find those two. Like two fires in the middle of the night. 'The Gamer' tag was showing over their heads as they were sitting there, enjoying ice cream. One of them, the boy, was level two. Annoying. Regardless, seeing how her Quest was not fulfilled yet Aiko moved closer.

"Hello." She started in a friendly, albeit slightly distant cold, voice. If she could see their tags, they could do it too. "My name is Ito Aiko." Useless customs that were made even more redundant by the fact they could read each other's names. "Excuse me for being late." And just like that, Aiko invited herself. Though, this was more like a 'The Gamer' meeting in the first place. So, really, she wasn't unwelcome, was she?

"May I sit down?" Though, by now, she might have already been too late.

 

[Dragonslayer Ornstein]

DAWN OF THE FIRST DAY
Kaz got up and out of his bed, he stretched and cracked his neck a few times yawning as he did so. He started his morning routine of working out, keeping his body limber and going through a few forms of his favored martial art. As he did so he sees something above his head in the mirror and turns quickly looking up...and not seeing anything. He continues going through his routine and looks back at the standing mirror and squints and sees letters and numbers above his head and walks forward looking at it. This is my name, Kazuo Majima, level 1 exp 00....The Gamer... the hell that means? Kaz shook his head and went into his bathroom and showered and groomed himself, touching the smooth lines of his cheeks and chin he smiled and nodded and grabbed his suit at first and looked at the bag and smiled, this new one was flashier than he was used to wearing but his father said that he should look the part now, but he's not going to do anything with anyone today and decides to simply wear some black jeans, a white tanktop and his red leather jacket.

Kaz hastily eats some breakfast and leaves, heading to a local gym and working on his martial ability more with some opponents, singular training was good for form training and footwork, but without a way to put it to actual practice you will fail when push comes to shove.And while Kaz was more of a straight up brawler, with some fine tuning needed, he was making strides in learning the ins and outs of the more fluid parts of Muai Thai. He enters the gym, waving to a few of his clan members, and changing into the clothes he brought with him, leaving his tank top on, he walks back out donning some gloves and headgear and walks out hopping into the ring and doing a few stretches getting limbered up. His opponent get's in the ring now and he smiles and waves to Kaz. He nods and get's ready for their bout. The other fighter was quicker than him but he wasn't nearly as damaging, his hits almost felt like pin pricks. And his movements were too by the book, easily noticeable, and easily exploited, as Kaz grabs the man's leg and proceeds to beat him down. Afterwards Kaz stood in the showers of the gym for awhile, breathing heavily, that bout wore him out more than he thought, it going three more round afterward the guy figured he shouldn't just go by the book, that really messed Kaz up cause the guy seemed like some rule following fighter. He sighs and leaves the showers drying off and getting dressed again. He walks out waving to the people as he left, they were good people.

Heading home his mind went back to this Gamer thing above his head and he couldn't wrap his mind around it, like what in all the hells is this shit He continued home and entered his small house, he closes the blinds and walks into an open room within. He grabs his dagger and starts going through the motions, now with this he really can't have a partner so he just goes through the steps his father and other Family members have shown him. After a while, he decides he's going to sleep on this Gamer thing and maybe check out if anyone online may know something.

DAWN OF THE SECOND DAY

Kaz does pretty much the same thing as the day before for his morning routine. Instead of doing a full workout however he goes to his workout room and almost lazily uses his punching bag. His mind on what was above his head. A message popping up about finding more like him... he scratches his head and smirks shaking it now So more people like me huh...neat, guess I'll go ahead and accept this thing. Might as well probably the only way to get some damn answers anyway. Clicking Y he get's dressed in his suit this time and walks out of his house. He fixes his cuffs and continues down the street a ways before stopping off at the Family Headquarters, he enters and bows to his father, and the rest of his fellow Family members. Speaking with them Kaz states he's jsut here to play cards with a few of the others, his father nods and says something about errands to run, Kaz notices the level above hsi father's head is fifteen, he wonders if his father is also a Gamer but the man does not react to the words above Kaz's head nor says anything about it, so Kaz shrugs and sits down for a few games of cards. He checks his phone off and on during the first batch of games not really caring about the game as he checks online for anything about this happening, finding nothing but youtube videos about streamers, and let's players he shrugs and decides to get serious about a real game. He showed nothing during the game which made him want to crow in victory, it was rare, he had decent luck but this, he was able to beat them handily this time around gaining 15k outta the game.

He get's up and nods to the others "While it was fun taking your money guys, I've got to head home now, I...have some errands to run tomorrow." He leaves and looks around at the dimming sun and checks his watch, he decides that heading home is still his best option and heads back. Nothing in life is ever easy, this garbage above my head, and above everyone elses is starting to drive me crazy. Names, levels, it's like I'm in some damn shitting video game. Like the ones my mom took to play in arcades. He smiled at that, his mom always did like to coddle him, even now that he was an adult. He noticed he was already at his house, and chuckled time flies when you are thinking of the bullshit added to your life. He enters and takes his suit off, hanging it back up and get's dressed in some basketball shorts and a tank top and goes back to working on his punching bag. He felt good after getting some aggression out, so what now though, might be a good idea to head out and check for people, the entertainment district or shopping district would be the best bet's. Drying off after a shower he notices his EXP went up to 13, the hell was all he could think as he continues drying off and laying down for bed. Welp time to really start this quest then tomorrow.

DAWN OF THE THIRD DAY
Kaz get's up and there's a bit of a fervor to his morning routine, he decided to skip his morning workout and got dressed after a quick shower, getting into his suit and eating a decent meal he decides to keep his dagger concealed under his shirt and jacket walking out of his house he decides to take a cab to the Entertainment district, there he decided to walk around and search for more like him, it really didn't take long, a boy and a girl both had the same tag as him, and he decided that, despite appearances, he should go over and talk to them. "So you two huh? I mean I got the message giving the quest, but it was hard thinking it was anything but a hallucination or something." He looks over the both of them, wondering what it is that made them a Gamer too. He nods to them and bows slightly 'Kazuo Majima, I work in...Real Estate, as a consultant. You may call me Majima though." Kaz looks to the both of them and looks around thinking about a good place to go for them to sit and talk. For now he decided to wait to hear introductions as he feels he may have accidentally tread over something already being discussed.

 

[Sairoh]

Tae Min clapped his hands together as the red haired woman confirmed his inquiry. The edges of his golden brown eyes crinkled softly as he smiled back winsomely. Ah, this is fortunate, being able to find another gamer so soon. Funny how it took less than an hour after having searched for two whole evenings, he thought to himself.

Then Tae Min remembered that he was supposed to actually speak.

"Ah, pardon," he said abruptly. He clasped the woman's waiting hand with a firm handshake before replying, "It's nice to meet you, Kira. My name is Lee Tae Min," he greeted amicably. The moment he let go of her hand, his instinctually clasped his fingers together in front of his navel.

"I have been seeing letters. Tacky, colored font, sitting about here, right?" Tae Min pointed vaguely above the crown of his head. He chuckled faintly, dropping his hand, "Going crazy could certainly be a cause of seeing random text. What will be next? A blue moon? Flying dill pickles?"

Tae Min knew that he was beginning to ramble a bit, particularly since his attention on his speech was waning. He was, however, cut short (perhaps, fortunately) by a voice: "So you two huh? I mean I got the message giving the quest, but it was hard thinking it was anything but a hallucination or something."

Tae Min turned to see the source of the voice - a dark haired male, dressed rather smartly in a dark suit. The speaker nodded and bowed slightly before introducing himself,'Kazuo Majima, I work in...Real Estate, as a consultant. You may call me Majima though."

Tae Min gave a respectful nod and a smile that mirrored the one he gave Kira previously. "That makes three of us then," this time he remembered to speak. "My name is Lee Tae Min, it's nice to meet you, consultant Maijima," he said with an outstretched hand.

I wonder how many people there are left to find on this quest. I don't recall there being a specific number in the details, Tae Min thought quietly as he spoke. Or perhaps more curiously, what exactly happens when we do find everyone?

 

[ERode]

Soren Manuel.

The Gamer

…

Level Two.

As the two of them established eye contact, Rin realized that he was one whole level higher than herself, and just the slightest bit of irritation rose from that. The foreigner with the mechanical hand was one of the more 'famous' individuals within Gekkoukan, his reputation as a puppy-kicking smartass making him a popular target amongst first years to swap horror stories with. What was that ranking again? Placing...third on the list of 'Least Desirable Senpai'?

Well, his hatred towards animals was something she could ignore, as long as he knew something she didn't.

Following him inside the air conditioned parlor, Rin walked up beside him, staring at the glass display full of different ice cream flavors.

"Level 2?"

"Yup." Soren answered, "Doing tasks gains you experience, which then levels you up, just like in a video game." Taking a step forward as the line moved, he continued, "Though I must say, I never expected a sports type like you to be a Gamer."

Tilting his head, Soren eyed Rin up and down. Small athletic type, is she really a Gamer? Doesn't look the type to pick up a controller or mouse and put in any time. He stared at the Tag above her head, there was no mistaking it. A closet geek?

Ah, EXP. That was the other thing she gained every time her 'Katana Use' increased, wasn't it? As the bespectacled senior's eyes roamed her body, Rin instinctively corrected her own posture, facing him directly and straightening her back, keeping legs shoulder-width apart. Nodding at his comments, she said, flatly, "It's just a title for the participants of this experiment, isn't it?"

"Unless you have actual facts on the origins of this visual affliction."

"I signed up for no experiment, nor have I participated in anything with you as of late, So I'm at a loss to its origin." He shrugged before taking the final steps to grab order his icecream. He turned to gesture at Rin, raising a single finger, "Give me a minute."

"Two scoops, Mint Chocolate Chip, in a bowl, not a cone." A simplistic smile ran across his face as he watched them do their job, taking a warmed scoop and sliding it across the icecream forming a compact ball, then another.

Jumping back into the conversation, Soren held the bowl in his left hand and spooned with his right whenever he didn't have words coming out of his mouth. "But, I assume that one of the other Gamers will be able to tell us where this came from, or at least give clues to it." Taking a large spoonful of icecream into his mouth,

"Shimo, perhaps?" Rin watched as he stood in front of the cashier, eating. "We should sit."

Taking a seat, Soren pointed with his spoon, "At the very least." He then picked up some icecream and lift it, before setting it back into the bowl, "If three of us have this and are from the school, it could be that something from Gekkukon caused it?"

Rude. She gingerly swatted the spoon out of her face, but the point he made was strong at least. Or, if nothing else, it was better than imagining that they had to search through the entirety of Neo Tokyo's population in order to find all the Gamers and...trigger what? "Something in the water?" she asked dryly, "Though 'Shimo' might not have it. He wants us to forget, meaning that he believes we're aware, but do not have it."

A pause. "Perhaps he's a teacher with a student account?"

That wasn't uncommon after all. The student forums, despite officially being 'student-only', would clearly have some teachers with fake accounts patrolling within, to ensure that cyberbullying wasn't occurring.

Looking at his spoon, then back to Rin, Soren wiped down his spoon before using it again. "Perhaps this has happened before?" He put that idea out there before taking another big spoonful.

She arched an eyebrow. "And whatever happened was bad enough that they're now trying to hide it?"

"Or the opposite, too good." Gesturing to his level with his spoon, "I've gone up a level already, and used my points to raise my intelligence even higher. If someone abused this, they could raise their physical strength, luck, speed. So many things that could make their school look really good for a year."

"Do you feel smarter though?" Rin leaned forward. "What proof do you have that this 'point adding' actually affects your abilities?"

She tapped her finger against the table.

"And how would improving your luck even do anything?"

The tapping stopped.

"And if this was too good, why isn't this something widespread? Society as a whole would benefit from everyone being able to quickly improve their personal abilities."

Her gaze turned a shade graver.

"There's a price for this unexpected 'gift', I'm sure. You don't grow stronger without tearing your muscle fibers, and you don't grow smarter without burning away hours."

Soren shrugged with his spoon sticking out of his mouth, taking it out he started answering point for point. "I'll focus on my Intelligence and get back to you on it, if you pick a stat and do likewise. As for luck, it could impact anything that could be seen as a 'Gamble'" He made air quotes to further drive the point. "So trying to invite people to your school, or getting scholarships, funding, actual gambling." He shrugged, he saw that it had potential, but not enough to vest more points into it.

Leaning in closer, Soren spoke in an equally serious tone, "If everyone is special no one is."

"So not only do you think that this 'stat increasing' can affect your own body," Rin said, skepticism clear, "It can affect reality itself? Improve one's chances of getting favourable results in a chance-centered scenario?"

She leaned back, crossing her arms.

"Sounds hard to believe. But on the point of everyone being special and thus, no one being special…"

She cocked her head to the side, wondering if someone who had a mechanical hand and went against popular opinion had a different viewpoint.

"...does that matter?"

"If you are special, there is always a perk." Soren tapped his mechanical hand. "Being special means you can get away with things normally you couldn't, or do things others cannot."

"But in consideration to society as a whole, if everyone can improve themselves quickly, wouldn't technology, if nothing else, progress at an accelerated rate? There's only so much that one person with a unique ability can do, and really."

Rin rested her chin on her hand.

"None of that answers why we randomly received such a beneficial ability, when the two of us are already outstanding. As a matter of fact, since the manifestation of this 'Gamer', I'm certain I've become weaker."

Soren cocked a brow, How could this make one weaker? He found nothing but benefits from it thus far, "How so?"

"I spent ten years on kendo," Rin said, clenching a fist, "And I spent seven years building up my stamina. Now I'm making beginner mistakes that I haven't made and running out of breath during sessions that have become my daily routine."

Her blue eyes narrowed, frustration simmering beneath.

"Even now this exhaustion lingers, in the form of a 'Fatigue' debuff."

So there are some potential setbacks that it can cause one to have? Interesting. Soren stroked his smooth chin with his artificial hand. Such an interesting thing, and the more he thought about it, the more questions he had.

"Well, let's try heading to the school to see if we can dig anything up on Shimo then. There should be some form of staff there still." Soren suggested after taking the last mouthful of minty icecream.

"Hello." She started in a friendly, albeit slightly distant cold, voice. If she could see their tags, they could do it too. "My name is Ito Aiko." Useless customs that were made even more redundant by the fact they could read each other's names. "Excuse me for being late." And just like that, Aiko invited herself. Though, this was more like a 'The Gamer' meeting in the first place. So, really, she wasn't unwelcome, was she?

"May I sit down?" Though, by now, she might have already been too late.

"No," Rin said, giving the latecomer a single glance. Another student. The theory was correct, so far. "We're leaving."

If nothing else, they had 'direction', and she wasn't going to waste more time summarizing past discussions with someone who didn't even announce her intentions to arrive in the thread.

 

[Renose]

Neo Tokyo is quite the busy city. There is always something going on, and being someplace without any people is usually an uncommon occurrence. Whether its a street performance in the Entertainment District, known as Neo Akiba by some people, by some idol group; the every day foot traffic of people going to their jobs in all the districts, or the occasional cars that move through the streets. There is always someone in some place at some time. Perhaps you could find a deserted alleyway, but by no means are the streets known for being empty.

Silence.

This is what the group of Gekkoukan students is greeted with the moment they step out from Mr. Frost's walls. Not a single person as far as the eye can see. No birds either. All of the electronic street signs and building lights have been shut off. Even the windows of buildings that they could easily see into before have all gone dark, so no buildings can be seen into.

Even the sky itself seems still.

A sound comes from above them. The source disappears before it can be seen, but even before they can look towards the source, however; large rattling sounds come from in front of them. About 15 yards in front of them there is a pair of eldritch swirls of pale grey mist that seem to be 'glitching' with static. Bones seem to be coming up from the ground in these swirls of mist, forming quickly into a shape. A familiar one actually.

??? Reanimations
Skeleton Lv 5

Or two, to be exact. Human skeletons, each staring at the three of them with their empty eye sockets. In their hands are clubs made of bone, each club looking as if several arms and legs have all been tied together to form some sort of jagged, crude, misshapen club. They still look like they can do some pretty grisly damage though.

They both open their mouths, letting out an eerie screech mixed with the sound of rattling bones. These screeches seem to make chills run up the spines of the Gamers. The chill of death and the fear that comes along with it.

But that fear... seems to be quashed instantly. Before it can even begin to settle in, something within them just makes it vanish in a flash. The skeletons, seeing as their screech didn't work, begin to move forward now, moving rather quickly despite being bones as they move 8 yards forward, putting them seven yards in front of the Gamers.

Regardless of whatever they tried to do, the group now had two very unfriendly looking Level 5 Skeletons to deal with. Their text was red, much unlike the normal blue text of the other people they saw throughout the past two days.


​

 

[Renose]

The entertainment district. Always bustling. People call it Neo Akiba, due to being Tokyo's own version of Akihabara. The real Akihabara is bigger of course, but Neko Akiba can still get just as lively. Especially with the mega mall Septembres being the main point of interest in the district. If anyone wants to find something, its hard not to find it at Septembres.

But perhaps the three converging in Neo Akiba did have something done to them. The letters and windows seem like mere flights of fancy compared to this next hallucination. Every single person, car, and animal throughout the streets seems to have just disappeared as the three were talking. It wasn't a slow disappearance either. It was sudden. Instant. Without warning. Whatever one wants to call it, the world went silent before any of them knew it.

Even the lights on the usually bright signs or the things playing on the large billboards or building signs have all gone dark. Buildings that could clearly be seen inside of before have also gone dark. Its as if the very world around them has been consumed by silence.

Suddenly, on each side of the Gamers two strange humanoid shapes appear. They appear to only be about four feet tall, with long ears, green skin, and ugly faces. In each of their hands they hold a chipped, rusty dagger. Their clothes have many patches and alot of shoddy stitching holding them together. They aren't wearing any shoes or armor either.

Young Goblin Lv 4

These creatures that are only five yards away on each side of them don't look very friendly. If anything, with how their eyes are gazing at the Gamers, they look absolutely bloodthirsty.

Thankfully... if this is a situation where the Gamers would normally panic, something is preventing that. A... force within keeping them calm enough to rationally process the situation.

Flight or Fight. Those are the two choices these Gamers have. And the only one who is technically armed is the 'Realtor'.​

 

[Skyswimsky]

"No, we're leaving."

Rejection.

Did I do something wrong?
Are my clothes dirty?
Do I smell bad?
Was I too blunt?

That rude little... Ai closed her eyes for a second. If her quest had been fulfilled, right here, right now. She could have been done with them. At least the girl was clearly not intend on cooperating while the boy remained silent.

A second of thinking. "Where are we going, then?" Aiko simply asked as she followed the two outside. "I have gotten this... power... on fr-" The white-hair stopped mid-sentence. Something was wrong.

Suddenly, everything, save a sudden buzz, went silent. The background sounds of buzzing people. The singing birds nature lovers paid attention to. All gone. Not just that. 'Society' itself died down around them. The neon-colored advertisements headhunting for customers went blank. And the most weird thing of all, the parlor they just exited was, upon turning around, not... accessible? May have been the most proper term.

Aiko felt a hunch of excitement. Something was about to happen. No, something already happened.

They were greeted by two humanoid... skeletons? The girl did play enough games to realize what that meant. Though their combined 'level ten' versus The Gamers combined 'level four' was... a disadvantage? She had seen some level fives more commonly than her father, who was still a 13 oddity. Like the security guard of the building she lived in: an American named Johnson.

So... those Skeletons were like police officers? Well, that wasn't too bad but there was the fact of actually being weaker than she used to be. Maybe running away would have been the saver bet? Then again, this seemed exciting. The white-hair had planned to find some animal to kill anyways and now... she had never killed a dead human before. Clearly, this was bound to be interesting.

"Inventory."

Finally, Aiko broke the silence before she pulled out two rather fancy looking, yet light, combat knifes. Closing the inventory with a quick gesture she shot a glance at the other two. As much as she hated to admit it... she wasn't suicidal, and doing this alone, as a level 1, against what were apparently Level fives was... suicidal?

"If you don't have anything to fight. I'd be willing to let you borrow one of those two." It wasn't shortly after that asking that question however, that the Skeletons gave off a terrifying scream, getting closer. "Tzch. Make it quick." Aiko was used to no mercy. Thus, she didn't expect any either.

 

[ERode]

With a click, the door to the ice cream parlor closed, and the vastness of silence, something she wasn't accustomed to even in her own home, consumed her.

There was no one on the streets. No birds. No lights. Nothing but a dead city. Rin walked around, taking wide, erratic steps. Not augmented reality then. She would have bumped into an invisible 'someone' if this was just a visual affliction. The more time spent in this utterly silent world, the more convinced she became of the possibility that this was something supernatural. Something removed from the world of logic that she was born into.

Blue eyes scanned the gray skies, as she took a deep breath. There was a haunting beauty, Rin realized, to an abandoned metropolis. She glanced over towards Aiko, whose red eyes held excitement instead of reverence, and in that moment, the kendo girl decided.

She knew something was coming.

A burst of static. The swirling of mist. The rattling of dry bones.

The sudden appearance of two skeletal monstrosities, bearing clubs made from femurs and a violent savagery that could not be replicated by any sane actor. She understood instinctively that, even past numerical values such as levels or objective values such as their weapons, those monsters were dangerous. The type to rush headlong into certain death, for they had already died. The type that would tenaciously chase their own death. The type that could not be reasoned with.

But she swallowed her fear, taking a step forward instead of a step backwards.

Aiko had brought two knives, summoned from the space itself. Combat knives, as if she had been prepared. As if she was looking forward to a fight to the death. Was there no escape from this silent space until they killed those monsters? Was escape not an option? A weapon. She needed a proper weapon, not something that couldn't even be used as a wakizashi.

Grabbing Aiko's wrist and turning towards Soren, Rin said, "We need to move."


"Got a plan?"


"Alleyway, one at a time."

She pulled the knife-happy idiot along, leading her acquaintances into a small space between the ice cream parlor and a clothing store. Forced to go single file due to how cramped the area was, Rin grabbed a rusty pipe propped against the wall, testing the weight with a few swings before turning once more. She stood three yards within the alleyway, two hands wrapped around the rusty pipe, Aiko behind her.

There were two attack options if the skeletons followed. A downward stroke or a thrust.

Only two options.

Rin's grip tightened, feeling the rust on the pipe.

She'll be prepared for both.

 

[Weracious]

Another 'Gamer' arrives on the scene before long, and suddenly there's three of them. Just like that, as if Neo Tokyo is suddenly filled with them, even though she hasn't seen anyone else other than her for the entire weekend. He introduces himself, but Kira can't help feeling as if there's something off about him. Maybe he's a little too intimidating for her preference, but she's not going to admit that to herself.

"Greetings Majima." Kira smiles, adopting a more serious approach to deal with him. He looks older than the boy. "My name is Kira, and that's what pretty much everyone calls me. I'm a drummer/singer in a band called QYS3. Might be a bit hard to pronounce." She taps a finger on the band logo on her hat.

Shaking Lee's hand, she returns the firm handshake. The strange gesture he does after they've shook hands makes her wonder about him though, but she doesn't show any hint at her thoughts outwardly. She's too used to dealing with strangers to show any possible negative reactions.

"Ah, I hope nothing will be next," Kira says, chuckling at his joke. "I would very much like this to be over and done with. I have a life to live without it being interrupted by… whatever this is supposed to be."

She remembers that she forgot to offer a handshake to Majima when Lee does it, but she figures she can just save herself by doing it as soon as they're finished introducing themselves to each other.

However, she doesn't get a chance to do so before events goes from weird to weirder. When everyone around them disappears, Kira knows. She knows someone had spiked her drink at some point, and this was a weird drug induced coma. It certainly would explain all of this. She just hopes one of her friends rescues her before she suffers, but considering how it feels like it's been two days since this started… she shouldn't get her hopes up.

Kira refuses to take the goblin's seriously, because they've no business being in her dream. She should be dreaming about rock n' roll, punk concerts, or women. Those three are the only things which are allowed to invade her dreams.

"Drop your weapons…" Kira sighs, as if she doesn't care about how bloodthirsty they are in the slightest. If anything, it sounds like she's tired of dealing with them before they've had a chance to present themselves with their daggers. "This never ends well for mooks like you. You shouldn't be picking fights with people like us, especially when we outnumber you." She figures they're not likely to listen to reason right away, so she continues, recalling the drama classes she took when she was younger. "Don't throw your lives away because you couldn't let go off your hatred. Think of your futures! You can live long and fulfilling lives!"

One of them chitters something at her in a language, which shouldn't even be called a language, before disappearing in a wispy blink of light. The second one growls, chittering loudly and angrily are her, while still holding onto its knife.

"I guess they don't understand Japanese," Kira whispers to the two other gamers, as neither goblin actually dropped their weapons. At least one of them decided to up and leave.

Another window pops up:

You managed to resolve a conflict utilizing words. +3 EXP.

Huh, all right, that's more like it...? It's not pointing out her flaws at the moment anyway, but it's not going away either.

 

[Renose]

Hira came to Neo Akiba by himself. Essentially, he was alone when he came here, but isn't truly alone. This is due to how busy the streets are. Perhaps though, in the next moment as he walks through the streets, he finds himself alone. Completely and utterly alone. There aren't even any birds in the sky or pictures on the neon signs. He was not too far from the station, and those are always immensely busy.

People often say "The day the stations go completely empty during the daytime is the day the world ends."

Then perhaps the world has ended. There isn't a single soul coming in or out of the station. Not a single soul on the streets. Not a single soul anywhere to be seen. Its as if the very world itself has been smothered with silence. Or perhaps this Gamer thing killed him. Who knows.

"So it isn't just those two Gekkoukan students."

A voice breaks the silence. A soul makes Hira not be completely alone.

Turning around, Hira would see a boy in a Gekkoukan uniform. His pale white hair is shoulder length, slightly covering the azure and purple hew of his eyes. His frame seems very small, but nonetheless he carries a cold gaze as he looks the older man over.

1st Blood
'The Gamer'
Rei Amagi Lv 9

"I'm going to tell you this now" says the boy, as he reaches into space, it shimmering as he pulls out what appears to be a real short sword. He points it at the man.

"Forget about The Gamer. Or else you'll die. This Game isn't worth risking your life for."​

 

[Dragonslayer Ornstein]

Kaz smiles at Kira and nods at her "Hey good job with that one, I'll be attacking this other one though." He says and pulls out his knife, and rushes forward stabbing the beast right in its chest, getting the knife deep into its child sized frame. A red 17 appears above the creatures chest when you bury your Knife, which is one more meant for combat, into the creature's chest. Its still alive, and lets out a screech of pain after getting stabbed,

Kaz rips the knife out fo the goblins chest and stares down at the creature "Big mistake little guy tuck your tail before I kill you."

 

[★Under The Stars★]

---

As Hira made his way into the Entertainment District, he wondered whether it was a good idea to come here. There were quite a few people and there were too many people for him to try and keep track of, much less read their names and titles, if they had one. Hira looked around the Entertainment District for a little while before something happened. He blinked and... All the people vanished.

Hira wore a look of confusion as he looked around the street, trying to spot anyone. This was strange. Too strange. It was eerily quiet and the colorful scenery that enveloped the Entertainment District disappeared somewhat. Pictures were gone and all he could see was what seemed to be an empty silhouette of the original place he was in. He wondered where he was and how he had even gotten taken here. He didn't feel any pain and he could clearly see his health was full, as well as his mana.

He suddenly heard a voice breaking through the empty air.

He turned around to greet the person, who seemed to be a student at Gekkoukan, the school he had graduated from just a couple of years ago. It seemed this person was more experienced with the power, considering they were a higher level and warning them about what kind of experience they might have with the power.

Hira smirked and threw his hands up in the air as he slowly walked toward the student. "A game's no fun if it isn't a challenge, is it not?" Hira laughed a little bit to himself. "Excuse my theatrics, I thought maybe I'd play it cool, but there's no way I can do that." His voice reached a slightly higher tone. "I'm afraid I can't forget about this power. I've grown accustomed to it in the short time I've had it." Hira looked down toward his tool belt for his hammer and drill. If it came to it, it seemed he may have to fight this student. They were obviously challenging him in some way. "Amagi Rei, do you not wish to have any competition in this game? I mean, you must've been waiting for some other players so you can be at the top of the leaderboard, someone who you could go brag to if it came to it. Doesn't it make things more exciting? Or... Maybe you're scared? I can't quite tell."

Hira was trying desperately hard to get a hold of what kind of emotion Rei Amagi was trying to display. There was obviously some caution that Rei wanted him to exercise, but he wondered if the warning held some exterior motive. This game seemed to be getting more interesting by the moment! Well, this game was his life now it seemed. Maybe this was just the thing he needed to spice things up a little. Rei's sword seemed threatening in the classic way, but he seemed to be hiding behind it. Another thing that seemed interesting about the boy was that he had the title '1st Blood' attached to him. Hira thought of a million different applications for this title, so it seemed that assumption might have to wait for some more information.

"I'll also thank you for the fair warning, but since this quest isn't done yet--and from what you've said--I can tell that there's more of us. I specialize in team fighting games and I can tell you that your chances of dying significantly decrease when you work together with others." Hira cleared his throat. "Excuse me. I like to run my mouth, but do you know where the other people you spoke of are? I'd like to finish this quest."[/color] Hira didn't particularly have the patience to battle after being threatened, even if he did think that Rei was hiding behind his sword. He was only making a slight attempt to be polite because this person might be dangerous. They owned a real sword and...

Well...

He had a hammer and a drill.​

 

[Renose]

Rei just listens to the man talk, watching him the entire time, especially when he sees the man reach for his Tool Belt. When the man is finally done talking, Rei doesn't move his sword. He keeps it pointed right at the man. Suddenly he moves. He merely takes a couple of steps, to close the distance that Hira already helped close. With an upward slash he takes his sword, slashing right across Hira's torso.

No blood flew, but it still felt like Hira would be slashed in half. Intense, immense white hot pain as he is dealt 24 Damage, putting him at only 6 HP left. His HP bar now appears, 80% empty, in the corner of his vision, flashing to alert that his HP was low.

"Is your real, living life really worth risking for the sake of a game that you know nothing about, a game where nothing will ever happen?" Rei is glaring up at the man now with those hetero-chromatic hues of his, awaiting a response.​