Nothingness enveloped me. Eternal blackness, stretching, far beyond what a feeble human mind could ever comprehend, was surrounding any and all of my senses, in a total embrace of pure, unadulterated blankness.
It felt… comforting. Welcoming. Relaxing.
How much time passed, with me being yet not being, was impossible to tell. Seconds, hours, days, months, years, decades, centuries… The void that surrounded me couldn't have been more uncaring of trivial concepts such as time and, with me being equally non-existent, I did not care either.
My being kept on being nothing, one with the void.
However, amidst the darkness, a thought cut through the null, finally confirming my own existence and being in this reality.
"Where am I?"
With a loud, thunderous sound, a giant beam of light zeroed in on myself, swiftly destroying the blanket of black that covered me and AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-
"Holy fuck!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, feebly trying to both cover my eyes, ears and nostrils with only two hands—Turn it off! Turn it off!
I was now existing and I hated it instantly. The sensory overload after a potential millenia of nothingness was the worst, most painful thing I had ever experienced.
The slam of senses didn't stop there. Blinded and confused, I tripped on my own feet and fell onto the cold, hard floor, making me feel pain and a coldness so horribly real compared to the void from five seconds ago.
I wanted to go back.
For all that is holy in this world, just give me the sweet nothingness!—I thought— I want to float around doing sweet FA without this horrible, disgusting pain! Please!
In complete disregard to my pleas and prayers, something cleared its throat in front of me, apparently not amused by my agony.
"If you could settle down, please?"
Slowly, still dazed by my torturous senses, I stopped trying to cover my eyes with my foot and slowly looked upwards from my laying position.
There, standing in long, white robes with flowing, blonde hair, was a person who looked very androgynous. Their face had a serene, angelical smile that instantly calmed me down a bit, simply by how genuine it was.
"Thank you," they said, sounding so sincerely grateful that I felt unworthy. "Now, I know you are confused, pained and in suffering, but the faster I do this the faster we can get you settled."
I blinked, my vision still feeling the invasion of the massive projector-sized burns in my retinas.
"I regret to inform you," the being said, a tinge of real sorrow in their voice. "That you have died."
...Oh.
"Do not worry, everything will be fine," they quickly added, probably fearing I'd start screaming like a child shitting themselves again. "Just know that, now that you are fully awake and conscious of your existence, I will proceed with the judgement."
That sounded ominous.
"Judgement?" I asked.
"Yes. We will judge you based on the actions you took while living. This will determine where you will spend the rest of your existence."
That… didn't sound good. At all.
Now that the very comfy and nice blanket of nothing was ripped from me with zero mercy, my sense of self was back where it belonged, and with it, came all of my memories.
Turns out I wasn't exactly a saint.
The memories of mugging people, stealing food and clothing, maybe some shankings, and most importantly the innumerable frauds I committed while living weren't really shaping up to be a ticket to heaven, but come on, what else was I supposed to do!?
I was born into extreme, stupidly miserable poverty, and after I got kicked out of my home by dear old Dad, I basically had to fend for myself for twelve exhausting years to subsist, doing whatever I had to for a piece of stale bread to make its way to my plate.
Considering I was standing in a void of nothing with a beam of light on me, in front of an angel, I could say with confidence that I completely fucked up in that regard.
"Uh, is there an option to not do that?" I asked, in hopes of avoiding an eternity of hellfire, pitchforks and terrible Nightcore.
The angel, still keeping their serene, beautiful smile, raised an eyebrow.
"Sure," they said, kind of suspicious. "But know that avoiding judgement will land you in purgatory, a land where you will never find solace."
"That's okay, I'm dandy with it."
Perfect, hellfire avoided. Eternity of mediocrity, let's go!
The angel looked at me with a hint of disappointment, staining their beautiful face.
"As you wish, then," they said, taking a large, brown book from a sort of pocket in their robes, thick, and tightly bound. "Regardless of your choice, however, I still will need to give a cursory glance at your life, just to be safe."
Crap.
"But you just said-"
"There are always exceptions," they said, a frown further massacring their beauty. "If your actions were horrid enough in life, then no amount of begging will make you avoid your fate."
With no time for me to protest further, they opened the book and quickly flipped through the pages, searching.
"Oh, here it is," they said, apparently finding my unimpressive life after a few seconds. "So, just to be sure, your name is Daniel García, correct?"
Despite my lifetime of lies and slander, even I could tell that it wasn't the best idea to get coy now.
"Yup, that's me."
They continued reading, speaking with a matter-of-fact tone of voice.
"Male, born in Chile under extreme poverty, died at age 20 by a beatdown, responsible for minor crimes and fraud, frequent user of alcohol and tobacco and frequent troublemaker at whatever homeless shelter he stayed at."
They hesitated for a moment before saying the next item.
"Had no loved ones whatsoever."
With each item said, I got more nervous. Hopefully Hell wasn't too lax on its entrance requirements.
The angel looked up from its reading and gave me a pitying look.
"I know this… file doesn't exactly do justice to your entire life, but this is as far as I can go without properly judging you. If you allowed me, I could delve deeper into your psyche and truly know if you deserve salvation. Without your approval, these actions are all I can see."
I didn't even think before answering.
"I'm good."
It wasn't a lie. My life had been pretty shit, and, now that an eternity of complete nothing (or endless torture) was being offered to me, I didn't really have many reasons to risk it further.
"As you wish," they said, a sad smile on their face.
It was the first time anyone looked at me like that.
The angel, from whatever pockets their ethereal robe had, pulled out a piece of parchment, pristine white and without creases, alongside a golden quill with a brilliant, bright feather.
"In the name of the Lord," they said, solemnly. "I sentence you to an eternity wandering in purgatory, where you may someday find your own form of solace, wherever it may be."
As the angel lowered the pen to the paper, I closed my eyes and waited for my fate to begin with apprehension. Nothing to do now except face the music.
And so I waited.
…
…
And waited.
…
…
It's taking a while to arrive, huh.
…
Okay, what the fuck.
Slowly and a bit irritated, I opened an eye to see if the angel suffered a heart attack or something.
Instead, I only saw a face of complete disgust marring their divine features as they read the paper on hand. The juxtaposition of beauty and sheer disgust and hate on their face was enough to make me feel everything in this world was wrong.
"Is everything OK?" I asked, wondering if I fucked up somehow.
They stopped looking at the offending paper like it puked on their carpet and directed that gaze at me.
"I can't fucking believe one of you fuckers got through to here," they said in beautiful and divine scorn.
"What?" I asked, more than a little worried. Was this angel racist or something?
"Just- UGH!"
They childishly threw the parchment and quill into the great nowhere with a yell, never to be seen again. Their face was twisted in total anger.
"You pieces of shit don't deserve any of this, you assholes did nothing to earn anything and basically get a free pass for EVERYTHING! Damn you and your fucking bullshit!"
They proceeded to slam the hefty book of lives into the black ground like it was trash, only to then stomp on it furiously with their bare feet.
...I couldn't even have a normal afterlife, huh?
"So… will I go to purgatory or something?" I asked after the angel gave a proper beating to the book.
They looked at me, pissed off beyond belief.
"Oh, I fucking wish. No, instead, please," they said with fake gentleness, dripping with venom as they moved aside and gestured. "Step over here and we'll get you motherfucking settled."
Completely out of place with the whole "black void, single ray of light" environment, a completely ordinary wooden door materialised behind the angel, almost mocking, in how it was ruining my afterlife.
"The… you want me to-"
"STEP THROUGH THE DOOR, YES!" They yelled "Get the hell away from my sight! I have shit to do!"
I blinked, then followed their angry order, slowly and awkwardly walking towards the door. Every step was marked by a seemingly endless echo, and, as I moved past the angel, I could clearly hear them whisper something among the lines of "fucking scum".
I had no idea what I did wrong here, but I wasn't tempting my luck further. I pushed open the door and stepped through.
And saw, in all of its glory, Heaven.
I blurted out the first thought that came to mind.
"Oh shit, this is an office."
Heaven, oh so glorious, oh so holy, took the form of a bureaucratic hellhole that would make any and all bankers to ever exist cream their pants in unison.
Endless stairs, endless bookshelves filled to the brim with folders upon folders of whoever-knows-what, endless desks manned by angels, all similar to the one who greeted/insulted me earlier.
If anyone were to ask me to give them a basic layout of the place, just from sight alone, I'd be completely incapable of getting a single syllable out of my mouth. It was complete chaos. Complete, orderly and perfectly efficient chaos.
I hated it greatly.
It took someone loudly clearing their throat to break me from gazing at this nightmare. Looking upwards, I saw a tall angel, just as holy and blonde as the previous one, peering down at me. Only major difference aside from height was the bulging, furious muscles on their entire body and the MIB-style sunglasses they sported.
"Follow me," they said, very beautifully yet roughly.
Still processing this beefcake angel, I just nodded dumbly.
=============================
After a good ten minutes of following the, at that point, uncomfortably ripped angel through endless corridors, waiting rooms, and offices, we finally seemed to arrive at our destination. A twelve-meter tall, metallic door. On it, with perfectly printed Times New Roman text, a large piece of paper was taped there, stating:
YHWH
Jesus, that must be one big-ass tape dispenser.
Beefcake Angel approached the frankly stupid titanic door and knocked on it twice.
Silence.
…
LET THEM IN.
The sheer power behind those three words was enough to make me kneel in reverence, regret living, and change my life's goal to serving whatever the hell lay in waiting behind that door for a moment too long.
I… feel like something bad is gonna happen if I enter.
Looking around to see if there was any way to avoid my fate, I was only met with the impassive, cold, angelical stare of Beefcake Angel.
...Right. No escape.
The gargantuan door slowly opened, just a bit, barely even leaving the door frame. That was a whole lot more than enough to get me through, my feet feeling like lead.
Once I was through, the door roughly closed, and I was left to gaze at the being in front of me.
And, at that moment, whatever I did in life didn't matter, wherever I had come from, whatever culture, country, galaxy, it didn't matter at all. What I witnessed, was, without a doubt, GOD.
...He looked pretty disappointing, to be honest.
Sure, he sported the traditional godly look—long white hair, long thick beard, bulging beefcake muscles for some reason—but the whole effect was kind of dulled by the plain, boring grey suit he wore, a pair of frameless circular glasses, and, most notorious of all, the nightmarish eyebags he proudly sported.
God became just the tiniest bit more disappointing with every second I witnessed him.
If the titanic door wasn't enough to clue anyone in, he was giant, comparable to the size of a five story building. He was sitting on his comically large executive chair, writing down who-knew-what on comically large documents, that were resting atop of his equally comically large office desk. Maybe it was the size, but the furniture seemed to be top-notch.
Didn't mean God was any less miserable for it.
God—or YHWH, going by the paper on the door—raised his gaze from the literal mountains of paperwork on his desk, down to my pitiable self, and simply sighed.
The sigh was enough to send a strong wind my way, almost making me fly straight into a wall.
After some moments of contemplative silence, YHWH finally spoke.
SO…
That single word, that single syllable, contained within it infinite power, incomprehensible to the likes of me.
IT'S THAT TIME OF THE FUCKING YEAR AGAIN.
…Huh?
THERE HAVE BEEN MANY MOMENTS I REGRET MY DECISIONS, YOU KNOW?
I felt something inherently wrong with everything my ears were catching. I really shouldn't be here.
SURE, I COULD HAVE HANDLED THAT LUCIFER SITUATION BETTER.
AND SURE, I COULD'VE DONE A BETTER JOB MAKING SURE YOU HUMANS DIDN'T MURDER EACH OTHER DEAD EVERY SINGLE DAY.
I CAN ADMIT THIS
I AM NOT A BEING WITHOUT MISTAKES.
YHWH rubbed his eyes, seemingly annoyed and sleepy.
BUT LET IT BE KNOWN, THAT WHAT I REGRET MOST IS ALLOWING THIS STUPID, INANE, USELESS PROJECT GO THROUGH R&D, AND GIVE IT FUNDING.
Despite the many questions bouncing around in my head, I simply kept shut. I may have been a complete scumbag and piece of shit in life, but now that I was face to face with Big D himself, it seems I had, all of a sudden, turned into a good, god-fearing man. Who knew?
YHWH stopped rubbing his eyes, and directed his full, focused gaze at me.
I'm going to fucking die.
LET US JUST… GET THIS OVER WITH.
Then, out of thin air, a thin, simple magazine appeared in front of me, floating ominously. From here, I could see the title, written in what appeared to be conceptually incomprehensible language.
Thankfully, my mind seemingly processed it fast enough. I could now perfectly tell the title (now written in flawless English) read: "The Incursor Program: Exploring the Endless Multiverse In Favour of Human Development!"
"Huh?" I muttered, despite myself. This was, after all, a terrible title—What the hell was this?
SUBJECT N°734
YOU HAVE BEEN RANDOMLY SELECTED AMONGST ALL DYING SOULS BETWEEN THE AGE RANGE OF 17 TO 24 TO PERFORM A… VERY IMPORTANT RESEARCH.
Just saying those words seemed to be enough to make YHWH want to vomit.
Inevitably, I had to ask.
—What… uh, kind of research, exactly?
OH, VERY, VERY IMPORTANT RESEARCH.
SEE, THERE WAS THIS GENIUS IDEA FROM A MAN WHO HAS ALREADY BEEN FIRED AND EXILED FROM THESE OFFICES FOR ETERNITY.
HE WANTED TO EXAMINE HUMAN BEHAVIOUR IN EXTREME, IRREPLICABLE CIRCUMSTANCES, COMPLETELY OUT OF WHAT IS PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE ON THE REALM OF THE LIVING YOU CALL EARTH.
AMAZING—SOME JACKASS SAID, WHO HAS ALSO BEEN FIRED FOR ETERNITY—HOW DO YOU PLAN ON DOING THAT?
AND, PROBABLY WITH A SHIT-EATING GRIN ON HIS DISGUSTING, PATHETIC, AND NOW, JOBLESS FACE, HE SAID:
I'M GOING TO SEND HUMANS TO OTHER WORLDS!
YHWH, again, rubbed his eyes in annoyance. His face portrayed infinite, disgusting contempt against this random employee.
I processed this slew of information, trying to keep my head from exploding from how many words this deity just spewed.
"So," I finally say. "I'm going to be sent to another world?"
YHWH scoffed.
WHY YES.
THAT YOU ARE.
HOW EXTREMELY FUCKING LUCKY FOR YOU.
Despite myself and whatever sense of self-preservation I may have had, I frowned. An omnipotent God he may have been, I still had some shreds of pride to try and protect.
"Hey, I was okay going to purgatory or whatever. I didn't exactly ask for this, you know?"
God remained unmoved, rolling his grey, sleepless eyes.
YES, PLEASE LAMENT YOURSELF FOR THE TERRIBLE FATE OF NOT ROTTING IN PURGATORY.
OH, WOE IS ME.
I WILL EXPERIENCE POWER I DO NOT DESERVE, EXPERIENCES I DO NOT DESERVE, AND COMMIT ANY NUMBER OF SINS WITHOUT ANY SORT OF RETRIBUTION WHATSOEVER FOR THE SIMPLE FACT I WON A STUPID LOTTERY.
TRULY, A TERRIBLE FATE.
I was less charmed with this asshole by the second.
For the sake of my sanity, I decided to simply grab the damn magazine, which was still floating in front of me, and peruse it. Hopefully that way I could stop this aeons old entity from picking on me.
The first page read as such:
Congratulations! You are now dead!
Don't worry! This is a natural step in every human's life, and it happens to everyone!
However, as you've probably already been informed, this isn't a normal situation for you specifically! You may be silently wondering why everyone in what's supposed to be Heaven is now despising you, cursing you, and most of all, why our omnipotent king, YHWH, is picking on you!
I silently glance up at YHWH, who's muttering some curses against the asshole who probably wrote this.
Don't worry about him! He's not gonna do anything truly harmful to you, just be a little mean! Now, this is the important part!
Thanks to random chance, you have been selected as our next test subject for the Incursor Program! And, as our King YHWH has probably unwillingly briefed you, you will be sent to a completely new reality, based on popular media from your world!
Despite myself, I begrudgingly agreed with YHWH for a bit. This did seem like a terrible idea.
In the following pages, you will find all of the worlds you can access, and what kind of powers and enhancements you can get with it.
Yes, powers!
The purpose of this program is to see human behaviour when in a situation so out of the ordinary it simply becomes impossible to replicate on Earth. So, you will be granted a bunch of stuff of your choice, based on a number of "credits" we'll give you.
Choose wisely! Once you're sent to another world, you can't take your choices back!
And remember, once you're finished with a world (with whatever that may entail), your journey won't end, you'll simply jump into another one!
An endless journey awaits! Welcome to the perfect afterlife!
…
Slowly, I looked back up to YHWH, who's still muttering.
"It's actually astonishing how fucking sketchy this seems," I admitted to the deity.
He looked back at me with total exasperation in his eyes.
RIGHT!?
THIS FUCKING THING HAS CREATED SO MANY TINY GENOCIDAL, POWER-HUNGRY, RAPIST, IMMATURE ASSHOLES THAT KEEP HOPPING FROM DIMENSION TO DIMENSION DESTROYING EVERYTHING ON THEIR PATH THAT IT'S A MIRACLE WE HAVEN'T FLOODED THE ENTIRE EARTH JUST TO STOP THIS INFLUX OF SHIT GETTING HERE.
I winced.
"Really? That bad?"
YHWH gritted his teeth.
THAT BAD.
EVERY MISERABLE FUCK WHO GOES THROUGH THIS THING EITHER BECOMES THE MOST DESPICABLE BEING POSSIBLE, A DEBAUCHERY-OBSSESED ASSHOLE WITH NOTHING BUT MATING ON THEIR MINDS, OR THEY SIMPLY DIE HORRIBLY BY BEING COMPLETE IDIOTS.
For the first time, YHWH chuckled.
THOSE ARE THE BEST ONES.
"Oh."
I glanced down at the paper.
Well, this wasn't the hell I was expecting once I died, and it certainly wasn't the purgatory the angel promised me. Sure, apparently the risk of death was real, and I could possibly become a tiny little edgelord once I got too much power.
However…
I wasn't a good person. Sure, I wasn't a terrible one, and my violations to human rights went more towards the side of murder and general shittyness than the more fucked up ones that are unforgivable by anyone with any sort of empathy, but still, I was willing to do bad shit to get through while I lived.
So, if you present me, of all people, the possibility to get enough power to destroy worlds? Oh boy, oh Lord almighty, is that a very tempting offer.
I could already see it: more money than I would ever need in three lifetimes. Endless feasts, all for me to enjoy, with the most delicious food in any realm. Spitting laser beams out of my eyes to any asshole who tried to stop me from stealing something I wanted. A luxurious mansion with a giant pool for me to idle away in for the rest of my days…
It was too easy to picture myself, sunglasses on, a piña colada on one hand, a gorgeous redheaded model on the other, and some servants cooling me off with those weird-ass giant leafs I saw on a movie once.
Yes… YES! THE PERFECT LIFE WAS SIMPLY WAITING FOR ME! RIPE FOR ME TO TAKE IT! AFTER SO MANY YEARS OF STUPID POVERTY, I HAD IT! RIGHT HERE!
As the saying goes, if you have lemons, make some fucking lemonade.
And this was one big-ass lemon tree.
Excited beyond belief, I turned the page to select the world I'd be arriving in, would probably effortlessly conquer in about a month, and perhaps, if I felt merciful, would let it exist as a sort of… amusement park, yes. An amusement park, all for me.
My hopes kind of died the second I read the contents of the page.
"What… What the hell is a RWBY?"
It was all a bunch of nonsense. Skyrim, said one, with a picture of some snowy mountain. My Hero Academia, said another, with a picture of a… school? Huh? This one just said HighsDxD, as if that meant something, with yet another picture of a school, this one looking ultra-luxurious.
Confused, I looked up at YHWH.
"Uh, what are these words I'm seeing here?" I asked, a tiny bit nervous.
YHWH glanced at me, with an eyebrow raised.
POPULAR MEDIA FROM EARTH.
ESPECIALLY POPULAR WITHIN YOUR PARTICULAR AGE-GROUP, MIGHT I ADD.
"But… I don't know these things."
God shrugged.
DON'T CARE.
Shit, I should've known that living on the streets and having little to no contact to shit people my age did on a regular basis was gonna bite me in the ass.
S-Still! There still were more names! Surely, I must at least recognize something from this stupid long list!
So, I kept reading. Diablo, Nasuverse, Fallout, Worm, uh, Highschool of the Dead? Just what the hell were these things!?
After some more hopeless reading, I finally stumbled upon something I recognized.
Dragon Ball
Yes! I knew that! Who in their right mind didn't know Dragon Ball! Goku, Vegeta, Krillin, and whoever the fuck else, everyone knew them! Take that, magazine, you couldn't fool me for long!
My misplaced sense of victory against the inanimate object didn't last long however, as I remembered one important thing.
Goku's there.
Oh, hell no. I was not fucking with that.
Back to perusing the endless names it was.
Touhou, Bleach, Attack on Titan, Berserk, Shin Megami Tensei (what the fuck does that mean), Neon Genesis Evangelion (I knew that one! I also knew it ended horribly!), One Piece, Naruto (Also knew that one!), Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, Pokemon (That one too!), Kuroinu, Legend of Zelda, Marvel, DC, and…
…and that was it.
…
"Oi, God, I don't know any of these places. If I go to any of these I'll get slaughtered."
Again, he simply shrugged.
YOU KNOW, THIS WHOLE THING IS RIGGED TO GIVE YOU THE ADVANTAGE BY KNOWING WHAT HAPPENS IN SAID WORLD.
FIRST TIME I'VE EVER SEEN THIS SAD, SAD SHOW HAPPEN BEFORE MY EYES.
"Come on! You can't expect everyone who came before me to know all of these pieces of media, right?"
IT'S NOT ALWAYS THE SAME LIST, IT ADAPTS DEPENDING ON THE GENERATION WE'VE TAKEN THE SOUL FROM.
BESIDES, EVERYONE AT LEAST KNOWS ONE OF THOSE WORLDS GOOD ENOUGH TO GET BY FOR A WHILE.
AGAIN, THIS IS REALLY SAD.
"Right. So, uh, if I don't know any of these, does it matter which one I choose?"
Sure, I knew a few of them, but my knowledge of those places was so lacklustre it really didn't matter in the long run.
YHWH didn't even bother shrugging.
SOME ARE MORE DEADLY THAN OTHERS
I'M NOT TELLING YOU WHICH IS WHICH.
…Fuck it.
Deciding that I just didn't care anymore, I simply closed my eyes, moved my finger about for a bit, then pressed on the page.
I opened my eyes to see which one I picked.
Neon Genesis Evange-
Oh look, it seems I got it slightly wrong. Silly, clumsy me. I, in fact, was looking to go to, uh… HighSchool DxD?
Yeah… yeah, HighSchool DxD, that was what I chose. Very confidently, in fact.
Apparently, I thought about it hard enough to actually make the name I chose to glow.
YHWH chuckled to himself.
DUMB FUCK.
I heavily resisted the urge to change the world I chose. I was not gonna look through those stupid names again.
Finally, I turned the page to the next section.
Now that you have chosen your starting world, you can choose your starting powers/enhancements!
Depending on how "dangerous" the world you choose is, the more credits you will have to buy the things you need!
Please, look at each option carefully!
Right, the good part! Now, NOW, my reckoning begins
I look at how much currency I have, helpfully displayed on the top right corner of the upgrades page.
Y$W$ 1500
…Huh? The fuck kind of currency was that? How would you even say that?
For the sake of my sanity, I decided to simply call them credits and go on with the shopping.
There were many, many perks and powers available for purchase. So many it was actually kind of disorienting. I read on regardless:
///// THE Y$W$ EMPORIUM /////
///// EXCHANGE YOUR Y$W$ FOR PERKS,POWERS, AND MORE! /////
///// SINCE THIS IS THE STARTING BUYING PHASE, CREDITS THAT ARE LEFT OVER WILL BE LOST. /////
///// PLEASE SPEND THEM WISELY. /////
([X] = LOCKED)
Fun Fact - Y$W$ 50 // Looking at a building, huh? Did you know that three years ago, twenty homeless men masturbated there? Provides random trivia at random times. Can't be controlled.
Emotional Beeper - Y$W$ 50 // Like a landmine expert with a metal detector that works whenever it wants to. Provides emotional insight at random when chatting with someone. Can't be controlled.
Critical Hit - Y$W$ 50 // Make a slap tear someone's head off. Very, infinitesimally small chance of making a hit deal 100 times its own damage. Can't be controlled.
Lucky Fellow - Y$W$ 50 // What a normal day. Wait, is that 10 dollars? Neat! Occassionally blesses you with minor good fortune. Can't be controlled.
Perfect Grip - Y$W$ 100 // Want to grab something? Perhaps something slippery, aggressive, and/or murderous? Your grip is now completely flawless. Never let anything go again.
Sturdy Stance - Y$W$ 100 // Don't be a pushover! Stand your ground! Makes you more resilient against pushback. You shall not move from here.
1 Michelin Star - Y$W$ 100 // Mmm, fantastic! Make delicious food. Charm people, get to their heart through their stomach.
Extra-Health - Y$W$ 350 // Feel a bit out of blood? Well, carrying around some extra should do for now, maybe. Makes you less likely to die so easily. Can be bought up to five times.
Extra-Stamina - Y$W$ 350 // Get tired easily? Well, this isn't a permanent solution, but for now it'll do. Gives you more stamina to work with. Can be bought up to five times.
Melee Adept- Y$W$ 400 // Instantly become a seasoned melee fighter. Good enough to beat any normal warrior with ease. Punch your way through life.
Shooting Adept- Y$W$ 400 // Instantly become a seasoned ranged fighter. Good enough to win against any normal shooter with ease. Make a gun in your hand a strong argument.
Body Optimization - Y$W$ 400 // Optimizes your body. Erase extra kilos, add necessary muscles. Turn any body into a working machine.
Eyes Everywhere - Y$W$ 500 // Never be surprised again! Your vision now has awareness of everything happening within a certain radius. Having eyes on your back is an understatement.
Shadow Walker - Y$W$ 500 // They see a shadow? You see a door. Connects any and all shadows within a certain radius and allows you to travel through them at will. Mi casa es tu casa.
Morpheus' Embrace - Y$W$ 500 // Shhh. It's alright, don't question the stranger that just entered your home, just take a nap. Induces a deep sleep on a single target by touching them.
Powerful Stank - Y$W$ 500 // Can activate a cloud of toxic fumes that will follow you at will. Get everyone sick and/or dead with your disgusting odour!
Dandy Step - Y$W$ 500 // Flawless steps. Soundless, elegant, and effective. Gives everything you do a certain style not seen anywhere else. Deliver the greatest kicks.
Fate's Guiding Hand - Y$W$ 500 // Don't know where the plot is? Don't worry! Fate's guiding hand will ensure you stumble upon it one way... or another. Guarantees eventual encounter with plot relevant characters after a set period of time. Can't control how the meeting happens.
Roman Cancel - Y$W$ 500 // Overextended with a punch and about to get punished? Just Roman Cancel it. Allows you to cancel actions you performed, returning you to a neutral state.
The Sixth Sense - Y$W$ 500 // Something… something's wrong. Provides a sort of "feel" at certain moments. Avoid dangerous situations, choose the right options, trust in your jeevies. Can't be controlled.
Sharpest Shooter - Y$W$ 1000 // Allows you to shoot with absolutely perfect accuracy within a certain radius. Headshot every threat, win every piss-contest, kill someone with a coin.
Mightiest Puncher - Y$W$ 1000 // Allows you to hit with mighty and absolute precision up close. Make your punch hit anything, perfectly rip off a nail, perform the touch of death.
[X] Godly Physique - Y$W$ 1500 // You now possess a perfect, godly, natural physique that cannot be achieved by any normal means. Make your beauty and strength skyrocket!
Mental Shutdown - Y$W$ 1500 // Turn off the lights of anyone mentally weaker than you by a certain margin. Does not kill, merely "shutdown" their brains for a while. Lights out.
[X] Thick Skin - Y$W$ 2500 // Why don't I feel anything, you say? I was born with thick skin. Makes any and all mundane weapons completely useless against your skin. Break swords, stop bullets, tank missiles.
[X] Mentally Beefed - Y$W$ 2500 // Do you even think, bro? Beefs your brain up and makes any and all mental attacks useless against your brain muscles. Make any psychic shit themselves by existing.
Timeout! - Y$W$ 2500 // STOP!!! Stop time for a set period of time. Cannot interact with reality while this happens. Gives you all the time you need to come up with a plan while surrounded by loaded guns ready to fire.
1 MORE! - Y$W$ 4000 // Saves you from death once. Makes you reappear in your homebase. Can be bought multiple times.
The Regenerator - Y$W$ 5000 // Lost an arm? What are you talking about, it's right there! Capable of growing back any parts from your body once lost. Essential life insurance.
UNRELIABLE NARRATOR - Y$W$ 10000 // Everything going terrible? Well, maybe it didn't quite happen like that. Allows you to rewrite yourself out of a bad spot. Instantly used when bought.
THE WORLD - Y$W$ 15000 // The real time stop for big boys with even bigger pockets. Allows you to do as you please for a set period of time. Trivialise anything you encounter.
D E A T H L E S S - Y$W$ 20000 // Never fear from death ever again. Death is now your bitch and you're its master.
O M N I S C I E N C E - Y$W$ 1000000 // Grants omniscience. Know everything.
O M N I P R E S E N C E - Y$W$ 1000000 // Grants omnipresence. Be everything.
O M N I P O T E N C E - Y$W$ 1000000 // Grants omnipotence. Do everything.
Y H W H - Y$W$ 10000000000 // Invoke YHWH for a single favour.
///// THIS IS THE STARTING EMPORIUM /////
///// NEW, UNLISTED SKILLS AND POWERS MAY BE UNLOCKED WHILE YOU PROGRESS YOUR JOURNEY. CHECK REGULARLY /////
...That's… a despairful amount of shit I couldn't afford.
I looked back up at YHWH, who I apparently can ask a favour from if I gather a gazillion credits.
—Why are these ultra-expensive items listed if there's no way for me to buy them?
After a few seconds of silence, I realised he just completely ignored me. Fucker.
I looked back at the wide selection of perks, and frowned.
Just… what the hell do I take?
I just had 1500 credits for this, and most of the truly good stuff was, if not more expensive than that, then at least half of it. If I chose wrong, I'd die real, real fast if wherever I'm going was as dangerous as YHWH implied.
I thought about it. Then some more, then a bit more.
…
I made my mind up, eventually. Glowing, the perks I chose shone in the page, or rather, the two.
Sharpest Shooter, Eyes Everywhere.
My reasoning was quite simple.
If I saw a threat in an unknown place that could cause severe bodily harm to my person, would I have wanted to get close to it?
Obviously not, therefore, I would instead just shoot the problem until it stops being one. And since I'd need to spot the threat before shooting it dead, Eyes Everywhere would spot all potential headshot targets.
Sure, I could've bought more perks. Sure, I could've chosen a ton of little perks to have at my disposal with their useful utilities. And sure, I could've chosen a bit better.
Know what I thought of all that?
BULLSHIT.
There was potential mortal danger at every single corner out in whatever the fuck DxD was, and if it was dangerous enough to give me enough points for an instant-headshot skill, I was not fucking around here.
Besides, a ton of tiny little usefully quirky chance-based perks sounded BORING. I wanted fucking guts and glory and I wasn't getting by playing it like a moron.
Those little perks? They were traps, traps designed to make me choose wrongly and shittily so I could die faster. Traps for boring people. And I wasn't gonna be fucking boring dammit.
With my choice done, I turned over to the next page.
Great! Now that you have chosen your perks, it's time for your traits.
All traits have positives and negatives to them. You're free to pick as many as you want.
However, once you choose your traits, you can't get rid of them unless a certain special event occurs.
So be careful!
///// TRAITS //////
[Flagellant Pugilist]
• All of your punches and kicks receive a colossal damage bonus. Slap a dragon to death.
• Cannot use any kind of weapon. Using one gives it a gargantuan damage penalty. Also one of your limbs explodes. Literally.
[Sickening Hoplophilia]
• All of your shots receive a colossal damage bonus. Shoot down a zeppelin with a glock.
• Cannot attack with anything except ranged weapons. Otherwise gives the attack a gargantuan damage penalty. One of your limbs explodes, too.
[Bloody Mess]
• YES! BLOODY BITS! Make anything violent, BRUTAL in your presence. Paper cuts tear open ribcages.
• OH NO! BLOODY BITS! Zero control over the explicit violence in your presence.
[Dragon Heritage]
• Replace your heart with that of a dragon's. Slowly become a mighty and powerful being with destructive magics at its beck and call. Become practically untouchable.
• Gain the temper and pride of a dragon. Struggle and fail to rein in your uncontrollable temper in critical moments, making the stupidest decisions possible. Die karmically.
[Darksign]
• Get the darksign on your body and become an undead. Any "death" ends with you well and jolly in the nearest bonfire. Become immortal.
• Run the high risk of becoming a hollow every time you "die". Slowly become insane as the "deaths" start piling up and your psyche stops taking it.
[Sheldon Paradox]
• You become one of the most intelligent beings to ever exist. Make Einstein shit his pants.
• You become one of the most useless beings to ever exist. Forcibly impair yourself to be as unattractive, unreliable and incapable as possible. Otherwise, your brain explodes.
[The Headcrab Shuffle]
• Turn into a powerful and discrete body possessing parasyte, able to take over any body and make full use of its capabilities. Jump from host to host and become the apex predator.
• Your parasyte body is extremely weak without a host. Get crushed like a cockroach.
[True Glass Cannon]
• All of your attacks gain a gargantuan damage multiplier enough to kill anything with one hit. The true destroyer of worlds.
• Sustaining any sort of damage means complete death. Get killed by a feather.
[Traitless Loser]
• Ah! Sweet, safe nothing!
• Locks you out of special skill trees and enhancements. Makes you a certified bore.
///// THESE ARE THE STARTING TRAITS /////
///// NEW, UNLISTED TRAITS MAY BE UNLOCKED WHILE YOU PROGRESS YOUR JOURNEY. /////
///// YOU CAN ONLY TAKE NEW TRAITS AFTER A CERTAIN EVENT HAPPENS /////
…
I…
Without saying or thinking anything, the paper shone brightly on [Traitless Loser], somehow already knowing I wouldn't risk my neck on these insane, stupid traits.
Though to be fair, [Darksign] looked a bit tempting, though the whole insanity part and hollow-stuff was a good enough deterrent to not doom myself.
I was then reminded of YHWH's laugh at my choice for a world. And how potentially deadly these worlds could be. And my own words that I wasn't going to be a boring asshole.
…
Again, without prompt, the [Darksign] trait shone, replacing the glow on my previous choice. That was as good as life insurance would get, potential insanity be damned.
Sighing, I turned the page, ready for whatever dumber shit was awaiting for me.
Good! Now that you're done with all of those enhancements, you just need to choose what your starting equipment will be!
Again, you will be provided with Y$W$ according to your world's danger level. If any Y$W$ are left after purchasing a set, you can keep the rest for yourself.
You can only purchase one set, so choose carefully!
Frowning, I eyed my amount of available credits.
Y$W$ 1000
I really just wanted to get over this whole thing and move on.
///// STARTING EQUIPMENT /////
[Absolutely Nothing]- Y$W$ 0: Includes… nothing! Keep all of those Y$W$ to yourself!
[Just Enough] - Y$W$ 500: Includes…
• 1 Backpack
• 1 Survival Knife
• 100 Dollars (or equivalent if dollars don't exist)
• Ideal for the starting Incursor!
[Ready Camper] - Y$W$ 1000: Includes…
• Everything in the Just Enough set.
• 3 Week's Worth of Food
• 1 Tent
• 3 Medkit
• Extra Insurance!
[Ready-for-Battle] - Y$W$ 1000: Includes…
• Everything in Just Enough set.
• 1 Large Blunt Melee Weapon of your choice.
• 1 Brass Knuckles
• 1 Large Backpack
• The melee Starter Pack.
[Packin' Heat] - Y$W$ 1000: Includes…
• Everything in Just Enough set.
• 1 Handgun of your choice
• 50 Bullets (corresponding to handgun's calibre)
• 1 Large Backpack.
• The ranged Starter Pack
[Proud Home-Owner] - Y$W$ 1500: Includes…
• 1 4-Bedroom House.
• All required legal documents for citizenship.
• All documents stating your ownership of the house.
• Enter the new-life with a home and an I.D.
• Become a taxpayer.
[Apprentice Wizard] - Y$W$ 2000: Includes…
• 1 copy of Magic 101 for Dummies.
• 1 Grimoire with an Elemental Spell.
• 1 Grimoire with a Physical Spell
• 1 Grimoire with an Utility Spell
• All the necessary circuits for your body to perform magic.
• Unlocks the [Wizard] skill trees.
• Abandon guns and sticks, embrace the arcane!
• (yes, we did paywall magic in this late stage of the character creator)
• (hope your build's suited for this lololol)
• (PD: skipping these "magic starter packs" over locks magic until LVL. 10.)
[Apprentice Warlock] - Y$W$ 2000: Includes…
• 1 copy of Demon Pacts 101 for Dummies.
• 1 Demon Pact (contents of which are subject to change)
• 1 Grimoire with a Curse Spell.
• 1 Grimoire with an Utility Spell.
• All the necessary circuits for your body to perform magic.
• Unlocks the [Warlock] skill trees.
• Enter the new life alongside a pact with a demon!
• Sacrifice the innocent!
End of realistically affordable Equipment by Incursor. Check again at a later date when more credits are available.
Staring at this page filled with equipment packages, I frowned as I realised they locked the magic behind such a paywall. Damn them, I wanted to spit fire at my enemies.
Not having much of a choice considering my perks, I choose the [Packin' Heat] option, and as for the gun I want…
…
Well, I always thought the Colt M1911 was pretty cool. Looked and felt heavy.
With that simple thought, the page turned itself over.
You have completed the character creation process! The following is a summary of your "character". If you're unsure about something for your character, turn the page back and correct it NOW!
There, alongside a picture of myself, was my… character.
{Name}: Daniel García
{Level} : 01
{Alignment}: Chaotic Neutral
{Perk List}:
• Eyes Everywhere
• Sharpest Shooter
{Trait List}:
• Darksign
{Starting Equipment - Packin' Heat}:
• 1 Colt M1911
• 50 .45 Bullets
• 1 Survival Knife
• 100 Dollars
• 1 Large Backpack
This… worked. Probably. Hopefully.
What didn't work was my picture, obviously. Olive skin, haggard neck-length hair, tired eyes that lacked any sort of sleep, an unshaven mug, and a face that looked a bit too skinny to be healthy.
…I needed to get that Godly Physique skill pronto, I was not getting a red-headed harem looking like that.
Feeling sure of my character, I turned the page.
You are now an Incursor!
Please give the Guide back to our Lord and Father (or whoever's in charge that week) and enjoy your new life!
Happy Incursions!
Frowning, I closed the magazine and held it out towards the infinitely powerful being who created the universe.
"I'm done."
YHWH didn't even spare me a glance, he simply kept scribbling at his gigantic paperwork as the magazine floated from my hands.
He spoke.
MAY YOUR TRAVELS BE SAFE AND MAY YOUR MORALS BE RIGHT BLAH BLAH BLAH YADDA YADDA YADDA.
Gaze still stuck on his paperwork, he gathered his thumb and index finger, as if to snap.
OUT OF MY SIGHT.
And with the sound equivalent of a thousand hydrogen bombs going off, my world went white.
_________________________________________
The smell came first. A bad smell, of something rotting for far too long, or perhaps it was simply the smell of shit. Both were equally viable, for they were both a stab for my poor senses.
Then came the feeling I was sitting on some cold, wet and rough flooring, with my back propped up by an equally rough wall.
I knew it before opening my eyes, I was currently lying on some alleyway. A particularly wealthy one, considering I was apparently wearing clothes yet and hadn't been mugged.
Blearily, I managed to dredge my eyelids open.
Grave mistake.
"Oh FUCK!"
I closed my eyes in a panic, but it was too late. My vision kept being violated and I had no way to make it stop.
Eyes Everywhere had been activated and there was no off button.
I could see everything crystal clear. Every piece of trash besides me, left and right. Every piece of graffiti on the wall opposing me and the wall a few metres behind me, on another alleyway. I could see my own face and body.
All of this, at once. Always.
It was complete visual overstimulation.
"Aaagh- Make it stop! AAAAGH!"
Safe to say, my first minutes in DxD were less than dignified. It didn't help that I could perfectly witness how terrible I looked while rolling in place and trying to rip my own eyes off.
In fact, I saw how two teenage girls decked out in school uniforms caught a glimpse of me from the sidewalk ten metres to my left, and how they ran away with their faces twisted in complete fear.
Truly, a unique experience.
It took ten minutes for my brain to start making the tiniest sense of all the new info it was getting. It took twenty to stop jumping whenever a bug in the vicinity decided to make the slightest movement.
It took thirty for me to take a deep, deep breath, and relax.
I could see everything within a 12 metre radius around me. Every single little thing. Nothing escaped my notice.
Once the panic settled down, all that was left was exhilaration.
I saw everything.
A wide, ugly smirk spread across my face.
"This is fucking amazing."
Deciding to move, I slowly tried to get up, and though it was a bit trippy using my new visual feedback as support, I managed to stand on my own two feet.
"Heh… Hehehehe…."
It was weird, very weird, but I liked it. I could feel how, as I stood up, my own radius of sight slightly got higher as a result.
I liked seeing more.
There was no way I could get on a sidewalk like this, so I'd just walk to the opposing wall.
I took a single step.
My sight moved with me, and I could see more.
"This is so fucking cool."
Deciding to test my sight more, I waited for someone to walk on the sidewalk on my left. Eventually, my sight spotted a pretty lady wearing office clothing. With a skirt.
Jackpot.
I didn't even have to think about it, for I already knew. That lady was wearing matching, black underwear. Inside her purse were ten notes of 10000 something (the bills were in Chinese or whatever) and, inside her pockets, was her cellphone and car keys. Judging by the doctor's note in her handbag, she had an appointment at three, and she also had a single condom inside her wallet.
I blinked. My sight continued to be perfect.
"What the fuck were they thinking giving this shit to me?" I couldn't help but mumble.
This was way too good. I was sure that if I wanted I could see all of the guts and blood inside the office lady, but thankfully it seemed that I needed to consciously think to do so AND-
…
"Okay, I could've gone my entire life without seeing that. Let's never do that again."
My displeasure was comically clear on my face.
"Come on, Daniel, this is part of the process," I told myself, like a crazy person. "The redhead harem with the mansion is waiting for us, and it isn't building itself."
It was depressing how that comment actually made me a bit less displeased. It was clear I had issues.
Speaking of issues, I was forgetting something important.
"Shit, I have a perfect aim now, don't I?"
Sharpest Shooter should've already been in effect. The description said I could kill someone with a coin.
I knew there was a decent enough pebble close to my feet, so I reached out to it.
As I did, I idly noticed that I moved like a blind person, always staring at some random spot while doing anything. That was potentially useful info.
Armed with a pebble, I decided to throw it into a nearby lightbulb
WIth my now perfect sight, I spotted the lightbulb from one of the streetlights, now off since it's apparently morning.
Hmm, about… four metres? No, three metres and a half tall, and about four metres away from me.
Putting the pebble on top of my thumb, my hand ready to shoot it as if I were to flip a coin, I consciously thought of my target.
…
I shot it.
In a single second, as if it were a fucking bullet, the pebble gets propelled from my thumb and goes in a straight line into the lightbub, breaking it completely and making impact at the perfect centre of it.
…
"Oh yeah, I'm invincible now."
An ugly smirk ruins my already unperfect face. How can fucking ANYTHING stand the impact of my laser-precision pebble, let alone my fucking GUN!?
I blinked. Right, I came here with some equipment.
Thanks to Eyes Everywhere, I had already spotted the backpack lying inside the dumpster next to me, but I hadn't consciously thought of checking inside it. One quick look and yeah, it had a M1911 gun, six 7-round magazines with five stray bullets, a knife and a wallet with only a plastic debit card on it and a small note inside, scribbled with a blue pen, that said:
0734.
If that wasn't the password for the card then I wasn't homeless.
Quickly, I took the backpack from the dumpster and instinctively recoiled at the smell. Fucking hell, they couldn't have possibly left it in a worse place.
Smell aside, I single-mindedly went straight for the most interesting thing in the backpack.
WIth a self-satisfied grin, I took out a brand-new, shining and deadly M1911, feeling magnificent and heavy on my hands.
Despite how useless the gesture was now that I had Eyes Everywhere, I closed my eyes in complete satisfaction while feeling the weight of the gun.
"This… This is PLEASURE."
As I stood there, stewed in my own juices I felt… someone looking at me.
"T-That homeless guy has a gun!"
My grin dropped instantly.
Un-fucking-believable. Someone spotted me just outside the range of Eyes Everywhere, and was also behind me, so I didn't even get to watch him in the distance with my own two eyes.
Alright, so it seemed that this apparent omniscience had some little flaws. That was fine, I could deal with it.
I turned towards the voice who so rudely pointed me out.
A young man with a high-school uniform, who was looking at me all scared and panicked as I faced him with a big metal piece of death held in my hands.
To the surprise of absolutely nobody, I already had experience with turning away nosy nobodies.
I pointed the gun at him.
"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME OR I'll FUCKING SHOOT!"
Things like this are the reason I didn't want the angel to look at my life in depth.
The high-schooler screamed in terror and fled the scene promptly.
Despite myself, another self-satisfied grin marred my face. Oh yeah, that WAS the stuff. Lead was my Lord and I was but its humble deliverer.
Having dealt with that asshole, I quickly concealed the weapon in my trousers.
Although it was fun threatening random passersby and then mugging them until they were in nothing but their undies, I had more important stuff to do. I had just gotten transported into Highschool DxD, whatever that meant, and I needed to get a lay of the land.
Slowly and trying to get used to my new sort-of omniscient skill, I made my way out of the alleyway, and stumbling out of it was…
…
Shit, is this the kind of education I missed by being poor?
In front of me stood what could only be described as a goddamn mansion fit for a goddamn duke, and yet, like herds, numerous high-schoolers, middle-schoolers and grade-schoolers went into the damn thing… although it was quite noticeable the gender disparity heavily in favour of the women. There were really few men to count.
It seems that I had met the titular… DxD.
…Awful name for a school, I had to say.
Similarly awful were the hundreds of stares suddenly fixed on me.
"There! That's the guy with the gun!"
Oh, shit. The consequences of my actions.
Without much ceremony, I returned to the alleyway, deciding to check this whole Highschool DxD business at a later moment. For now, well, I felt quite hungry after dying and getting reincarnated, and those nifty hundred bucks were burning a hole in my pocket right about now.
_________________________________________
You know, despite all the ominous laughter from YHWH and all these over-powered skills I bought, this world was disgustingly normal.
I spent the entire day (literally) watching my back and making sure nobody was following or watching me funny… but nothing happened.
There WERE some differences to my previous world, the most obvious one being that I was apparently in Japan, and thus everything was written in Japanese… and yet they all spoke in perfect, native as-god-intended English. Maybe my reincarnation came with a free translator in my head? Who knew?
Aside from that, there was a… "difference", if you could call it that, though I'm not sure if this is some simple culture shock or if it truly is evidence that I'm inside another world.
Everyone kind of behaved… weird.
As in, cartoonishly weird.
Just today, as I was providing myself with some proper breakfast (at a fucking McDonalds of course) I spotted some of this weird behavior outside.
Like, people walking by and talking to each other… while their eyes are closed. They weren't blinking, they were actually talking to each other and emphasising their points while smiling and keeping their eyes firmly closed.
In that same fucking McDonalds, as I ate my burger (which felt like heaven after having been sustaining myself with a diet of disgusting leftovers for over a month before my death), I spotted a couple of friends chatting and eating…
And I swear to you, the way they fucking talked to each other and yelled and obnoxiously did a little Ooohh!'s and Huuuh!?'s drove me insane.
I was no stranger to obnoxious people talking to each other, but it felt like everyone around behaved cartoonishly outlandish.
Throughout the day, I kept observing this and more weird behaviours in everyone around me. It felt like I was surrounded by Looney Tunes.
But, aside from that, it was all normal. If YHWH thought this was hell, then I was in for a pretty sweet ride through easy street.
Eventually, despite my continuous search for something in this city, I found nothing of note except the school, at least in what ground I managed to cover today. By asking around to some random people (who looked at me funny when they saw my skin color + shitty clothes + generally looking like shit) I got the following info:
• Today is Thursday.
• The name of this city is Kuoh, located in Japan.
• This city is generally known to be quite peaceful and generally has no real problems with crime.
• One of the landmarks of this city is the school: Kuoh Academy.
• Kuoh Academy (the name of which makes "Highschool DxD" now make even less sense) is a prestigious academy that has both grade-school, middle-school, high-school and university divisions.
• They also used to be girls-only. It has quite a unique and luxurious look, but aside from that it seems to be an ultra-elite Academy for snobby rich kids.
• That's it.
Really, not much to work with.
Idly, I scratched my nose, followed by a drag from a cigarette.
It was night by now, and I was resting in some random park I found that was somewhat close to the school. I was no stranger to sleeping in parks, ruining the general aesthetic of an area and lowering the value of the property around me, so I had no issues with my sleeping arrangements. I even had a water fountain close to me, so free water!
Speaking of free, I winced as I remembered all the expenditures I made throughout the day. I'll admit, after an eternity without so much dough in my pocket, I may or may not have gone a little carried away.
Inwardly, I do a round-up of all my expenses:
•1 Big Mac set: 950 yen
• 20-pack of Marlboro cigarettes: 550 yen
• 1 lighter: 100 yen
• 5 500ml beer bottles: 1396 yen
• 1 Double Cheeseburger set (also at a McDonalds) : 950 yen
• Another 5 500ml beer bottles: 1396 yen
• Money spent on Arcades: 1000 yen
• 1 Teriyaki McBurger set: 770 yen
• TOTAL EXPENDED: 5852 yen
• AKA: 39 FUCKING BUCKS
I groaned. I was a fucking moron, I had a hundred bucks and lost 40 of them to bullshit. At this rate I'd have to fall back on muggings to keep myself alive and breathing.
"Fucking piece of shit prices and dollar conversion bullshit, I swear to God I-"
As I grumbled alone in the park with no one to hear me, I kept smoking and doing generally nothing of usefulness, content in my-
"OH MY, WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE?"
…Oh.
Turning around (because whoever the fuck spoke was just outside the 12 metre range) I spotted a… normal woman in a suit.
I frowned.
"Leave me the fuck alone!" I yelled as hoarsely as possible, gripping the gun in my trousers. Internally, I hoped I looked at least somewhat intimidating. I was wearing a black t-shirt, some trousers and sneakers, all of them dirty beyond the threshold of social acceptability. If someone approached a fucker like that in a park, in the middle of the night, then they should at least already be preparing themselves to get jumped.
The fact this woman had no such apprehensions was leaving me a bit concerned.
"Alooone~?" asked the woman in a… uncanny voice? It didn't feel right. "Wouldn't you prefer to keep me some company?"
My glare got harder. This bitch was crazy, if I went with her she'd fucking sedate me and sell my organs.
"Fuck off or I'll make you!"
I hastily looked around myself to see if there wasn't an approaching group of assholes getting ready to jump me, all of them outside EE's range.
"My, isn't that a rude way of speaking to a lady?"
"I swear to FUCK that I'll fucking KILL you! Get the FUCK away!"
I made sure to add all the slurring I could to my tone.
Instead of being scared shitless by me, she simply cackles at my display.
"Oh… I LOVE when they yap at me like that~ I just LOVE it!"
She started stepping closer, a condescending snobby smirk on her face.
Piece of shit, I actually DON'T want to just shoot anyone that steps into here, but the fact she's even getting closer to me in the first place is just… BAD.
And as she steps closer and closer and closer, a giant smile plastered on her face…
"Last FUCKING warning! Get the FUCK away!"
She inevitably gets into the range of Eyes Everywhere.
And what I see isn't right.
I froze cold.
"What the fuck are you?"
Her body was about to literally burst, her whole torso was wriggling, her legs were twitching uncontrollably as she walked towards me. If it hadn't been for EE, I wouldn't have spotted this whole bullshit under her clothes.
At my apparent recognition of her abomination status, her smile, already fully wide, somehow expands more, taking up more of her face. Her voice, before uncanny, now sounds like something that truly shouldn't be ever allowed to exist.
"Your worst nightmare ♥."
And everything from her neck down exploded in blood.
"Oh, HELL no!"
I could see in excruciating detail how every nook and cranny of her torso bursted out of her skin, revealing a dozen sets of arms and breasts (???) that were seemingly inside of her. From her legs a dozen more burst from them (including also a dozen vaginas which was somehow the most disgusting thing from this transformation), making her a sort of limbical nightmare that walks towards me as if she was a spider.
…VERY QUICKLY TOWARDS ME.
With a yelp, I step back and pull out my gun.
"Come on, dear~ Shoot me with your little toy~! Make me feel GOOD! SHOOT ME!!!"
Not one to disappoint, I quickly spot where her heart is supposed to be, buried inside a dozen pair of tits, and shoot my first shot in this world.
With pinpoint accuracy and an extremely loud BANG probably waking up the entire neighbourhood, the bullet flies straight where I want, landing with a meaty wet sound into one of her pair of tits.
…Only for the bullet failing to penetrate the writhing mass of flesh.
"Shit."
The fucking… demon simply laughs at my attempt, still heading towards me in nightmarish fashion.
"Yes ♥ Hurt me! Shoot ME! I will have my FUN with you before I tear you from limb to limb!"
With a glare, I shoot her twice as I run back, and while that normally would make any sort of accuracy go shit itself out a window, thanks to Sharpest Shooter I make every single shot hit its target.
Or well, it would hit it if it wasn't for the shield of mammaries she carries around.
"You hurt me so good, Darling ♥. I shall make you hurt just as much while I devour you."
Alright, her heart is out of question. One last attempt?
As I run, I suddenly turn a sharp right, trying to get a shot in from her back, where her giant mass of tits isn't as prevalent.
Now with a better angle, I don't even have to take aim, I simply raise the gun and shoot in the general direction.
BANG!
The shot, this time unimpeded by her tits, finally pierces through, going past her back and getting stuck in her lungs, leaving them bleeding.
It was concerning how most of her organs (aside from the ones inevitably turned nightmarish due to her transformation) are the same as a human's. She has one set of lungs, one heart, one brain, etcetera etcetera.
But, instead of her feeling any sort of pain, she simply stops chasing me for a second and moans in pleasure, using dozens of her arms to hold her blushing cheeks as she rolls her eyes to the back of her head and sticks her tongue out.
Eugh.
"OOOHHHH YESSS!!!! This is what I want ♥. This hurt is just what I needed to hit the spot! Ah~!"
Alright, so her vital organs were a no-go. Maybe shooting her heart would put her down, but considering the Tit-Barricade she had it was essentially impossible. Also, another thing of note.
The bullet just barely pierced the lung. That means that her meat was quite tougher than that of a normal human.
I continued running for my life as I processed all of this information. If the situation kept up like this, I would eventually get fucked. She'd eventually catch up and i'd rather shoot myself than let this bitch have her way with me.
Frowning, I decided to try out something.
Lungs were a no-go, sure. What about the eyes? They were always super-sensitive and even the slightest damage could leave you completely useless.
Also they were harder to pass-off as pleasurable pain. Maybe.
Three bullets left in the magazine, I continued running and, without looking back (because it made me look cool, mostly) I quickly shot twice.
BA-BANG!
In an instant, the bullets found their target perfectly, landing squarely in the iris of both eyes.
"Ah- AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"
Yes! That was actual pain! The monster stopped in its tracks and let out a huge roar of pain.
"My- You t- MY EYES! MY EYES! MYEYESMYEYESMYEYESMYEYE-"
Staring shell-shocked at the mass of flesh trying to claw at its own eyes with numerous, numerous hands, almost falling over as the almost spider-like dozens of legs struggle to maintain her own weight, I arrived at a conclusion.
This bitch was stupid
"Did- Did no one ever fucking shoot you in the eyes?"
The tension had seemed to break, at least for me. This fucking demon got shot in the eyes and was now completely focused on its own suffering.
My face twisted in bafflement, I waited until the right moment she left an opening as she clawed at her eyes, the dozen arms doing a great job of shielding her weak-spot.
"You- YOU WILL PAY! You have hurt THE GREAT KIASMA! I SHALL-!"
Inevitably, she left the tiniest opening available.
BANG!
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"
I stared somehow disappointed at the abomination.
"Did seriously no one ever shoot you? Like ever? Are guns just that controlled in Japan?"
It wasn't even a wild idea to shoot her in the eyes, it was almost the gut reaction. Sure, it was likely to fail, but you'd be surprised by how many times shots like that are made. They aren't that uncommon.
As she suffered, I quickly ruffled through my backpack and got a couple of fresh magazines out. She might've ran at me in (literally) blind fury any moment.
I ejected the spent magazine from the gun, dropping it to the ground, and reloaded.
CHA-CHAK!
Perfect.
As she screamed, she opened her mouth completely wide, her tongue out and about as she suffered. Seeing an opportunity, I took a shot at the roof of the mouth.
BANG!
The shot perfectly pierced the roof, and went straight to the back of her brain… where all the important bits controlling the heart and lungs go.
I knew trying to be a doctor when younger would help me out, somehow. Shame that dream died horribly.
What would, on a person, be an instant-kill, left the demon screaming even more loudly.
"EEEEEAYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!"
How the fuck has the police not arrived.
Still, although the fucking thing was still alive and writhing… it shouldn't be for long. I pierced the Medulla Oblo-something, and without that thing, she can't survive for long. The heart she had inside DID work, and it did pump blood, so if that didn't work, she was fucked.
…She was taking her time dying, though. Still, I could see how her heart and lungs didn't work anymore. She was done for, but it seemed that she kept going through sheer… blood overflow? She had an obscene amount of blood, considering she had a gazillion arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet and vaginas.
"Y-YOoooouuUUUU!!!! HUMAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!"
Uh-oh, she was going out with a bang.
From her body she produced… oh shit, is that like a kamehameha she's forming all of her hands?
…Oh shit, she's about to throw a shit-ton of kamehamehas at me.
"DIEEEE!!!!!!!"
A purple, crackling and malignant giant ball of energy flew towards me at lightning speed, threatening to kill me instantly with a single touch.
Almost casually, I sidestepped it, the burst of energy blowing up in an explosion behind me.
Following that one, came dozens and dozens more.
With unnatural precision, I managed to move my head and body when needed to avoid the balls, feeling the hairs on my neck stand at the mere presence of the powerful attack.
Still, without much effort, I managed to survive her final onslaught.
…Well, it WAS unfair how E.E simply kind of predicted the trajectory of the things. I just moved instinctually and it… yeah, that was just it. Seeing those balls come at me was like watching a power-point, I had a view from every single angle possible of every single ball and all I had to do was move when necessary.
The abomination watched with despairful eyes at how her last attack failed miserably.
"N-Nooo…. a- a simple human with a gun…? A human with a gun killed me…? With a… with a g- gun….?"
With a despairful, horrible scream, the abomination clutched at her head with all of her arms, her legs failing her as she fell to the ground and fucking died finally, with a hearty and meaty THUD of her head against the pavement marking her end.
…
"...Is it really dead though?"
I mean, her heart had definitely stopped. There was no blood flow and all of her organs had stopped completely. She also had done the thing dead people do, of pissing and shitting themselves the second they're out of air.
Eyes Everywhere told me that, sure, but I could also tell because there was a disgusting fucking pool of piss and shit slowly forming around her crotch.
Guess those extra vaginas and asses weren't just for show.
…Ugh, fucking disgusting.
Honestly, at this point I kind of wanted to just go to a different park and sleep there.. But who knew if there'd be another one of her kind waiting to pounce on me. If they were as stupid as she was, then I'd be able to kill them too, but I really wanted to save the ammo.
…Is she actually dead though?
Slowly, I got closer to her and pulled out my gun, pointing at her disfigured head, where a sea of blood was starting to form around it from her bleeding eyes and mouth. At this point I had shot so many times it didn't matter if I made a ruckus anymore.
BA-BANG!
There, two whole bullets through her skull, right into her brain again. This time fucking up her motor-skills. If she got up again, she'd be unable to even fucking move.
Taking stock of my surroundings, I noticed that we moved about… three blocks from the park.
…If I slept in an alleyway close to the park, I'd be fine. Maybe. These fucking things didn't seem to be the type to go in groups, considering they had a bit of a personality, so there shouldn't be more of these atrocities to torment me.
…Also, it was at this point that the weight of everything that just happened fell on me.
I killed a fucking demon.
"Oh fuck."
There was a demon just… walking around a fucking park. It wasn't even that late! It was like 11 PM, that's baby shit!
"Oh fuck fuck."
Is THIS why YHWH was laughing at me for choosing this High-School DxD world? Because I there are demons just walking around killing fuckers?
"Oh fuck fuck fuck."
What the FUCK does a high-school have to do with any of this!? Are all high-schoolers demons!? DID I KILL A HIGH-SCHOOLER!?
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fu-"
My rambling is interrupted by a sound I'm all too familiar with.
A police's siren.
I looked down at the mess I made, a pool of blood, shit and piss and who-knew what else slowly forming by my feet. Disgusted, I lifted one of them and saw how the blood and substances stuck to the sole of my shoe.
Yeah, I was not sticking around for this bullshit.
Turning around, I started running towards the nearest alleyway, quickly-
Wait, hold on. I saw something. Stop.
As I moved, Eyes Everywhere spotted something weird…
It was a bat.
Sure, bats go out at night. Don't know why it'd stick around after a whole lot of shooting and screaming though. That's weird, right?
Weirder was the fact that it was LOOKING at me. Like, it was perched on top of a lightpost (which bats don't fucking do, they hang upside down) and it was staring straight at me (which bats ALSO don't fucking do, since they're blind) while taking in this whole scene that screams unholiness.
Also, the bat's insides were wrong, it looked as if someone had taken a wild guess on how organs were generally placed and ran with it.
IT ALSO LOOKED LIKE- LIKE A FUCKING CARTOON.
This fucking thing wasn't a bat.
Making sure I don't let the "bat" know I spotted it, I softly grip the gun in my hand and neatly and niftily tilt it so I have a perfect line to its head.
BANG!
The bat's head explodes… and its entire body suddenly warps out of existence. Not a single drop of blood was shed.
…I'm looking for a different alleyway to sleep tonight.
Now without any nosey fuckers ogling at me, I turned tail and ran from the scene.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kuoh Town, Japan.
At Kuoh Academy, 11:35 PM.
Inside the ORC's clubroom.
Rias Gremory sat at her desk with concern marrowing her (almost objectively) pretty face, having just lost connection with her familiar after that… that young homeless man shot her with a handgun.
The same homeless man that, with the same gun, just took down a stray devil as if it was nothing.
She rubbed her eyes again. Having to surveil Kuoh every night was starting to get to her.
"Well, we can at least say that it's fortunate that we told Koneko to refrain from joining the fight, no? Otherwise I fear our new friend might've shot her without much questioning."
Her Queen wasn't exactly making things easier, but she guessed she wouldn't be in that position if she did.
"Akeno, I just had to lay witness to what I thought would be another unfortunate disappearance that we couldn't prevent, only for it to become a… an execution."
She giggled.
"Isn't that a good thing? You could say he did us a favour by killing that stray for us, and in such a horrible way, too."
Rias sighed. She didn't exactly appreciate her friend's proclivities when discussing a dead person.
"There are many problems here: first of all, there shouldn't have been a stray there. Didn't we check just yesterday all of the devils that went stray? That-" She almost said girl, "monster couldn't have gotten to that state without killing at least a dozen humans. She must've been terrorising another town, at least."
Akeno hummed, tilting her head.
"Her human disguise was quite effective under a normal human's gaze, so maybe she got to Kuoh by normal transport? Train, plane, maybe even by foot… If she came here via teleportation we would've known immediately."
Rias nodded at her theory.
"That seems likely, although having a stray devil disguise themselves amongst humans is pretty unheard of. That human form she had was pretty convincing."
"Fu~ I'm honestly surprised our new guest outed her out so quickly."
Her face instantly soured.
"Don't remind me. Aside from a stray devil sneaking into our territory, now we have a…"
She frowned. What the hell was he?
"...a devil hunter?"
"He seemed pretty surprised by her attack, though," added Akeno.
"So not a devil hunter, just a… a very lucky homeless man with a gun."
"With supernatural reflexes."
"...with supernatural reflexes."
This was stupid.
Akeno remained in silence for a moment, before smiling gently and, just almost, in pity.
"Do I have to mention the fact he shot both of her eyes while running?"
"No Akeno, you do no-"
"And without looking-"
"A very lucky homeless man with a gun with supernatural reflexes and the accuracy of a GOD."
She could feel her head ache painfully at the last word, but she couldn't really care at the moment. Whatever the hell just got into her town was completely absurd and she hated having so little control over it.
Rias sighed again, rubbing her eyes in the hopes something would make any sense.
"Hopefully inspecting the thing's corpse after Koneko brings it here will give us some answers."
Because of course they had reached the point where they had to perform autopsies. That never was necessary because strays got killed with magic but this… this was just a gun.
"So, we are going to make a profile of him, yes?"
"Of course we are, Akeno. I'm not letting a… a homeless gunman with ultra-reflexes and accuracy run around unchecked. So far he doesn't seem to be bad but… well, all we have from him is the footage, and it isn't much."
"...Footage that he cut by shooting your famil-"
"That he cut shooting my familiar, yes. She's going to be very upset once she regenerates, Akeno, thank you for reminding me."
Her Queen remained in silence for a moment, probably letting Rias have a minute without her prodding (though she truly enjoyed making her angry and pushing her buttons) as she pouted on her desk, resting her cheek on her fist.
…Then it came to her.
"Ah," she let out, almost despite herself.
Rias side-eyed her.
"What," she said, sounding thoroughly fed up.
"It's just that this morning we had a commotion outside the school. A student reported to Sona that a…"
She cleared her throat to deliver the next line.
"That a homeless man with a gun in his hand threatened him with it."
Rias stared at her blankly, before finally sighing and resting her head on her desk.
"So our new guest is not only capable of handily defeating a stray devil by himself with only a gun despite being 100% human… but he's also the type of man to threaten a high-schooler with said gun."
Silence filled the room, Rias remaining in a staring contest with the desk.
Akeno gave her friend a meaningful look.
"...So you're recruiting him."
Her answer was instant.
"I am, yes. If he's this good as a human, then I want him in my peerage right now."
Akeno giggled.
"Glad we're on the same page. Do you want someone to approach him tomorrow?"
Rias shook her hand dismissively, her head firmly stuck on the desk.
"I want someone watching him first. Once we get a good enough read on what he might want we approach with an offer. I'll do it myself, even."
She truly was desperate to have such an outstanding piece.
"My, my, should we still keep watch on Hyoudou Issei, then?"
Rias frowned at her Queen's question. She knew she only did them to annoy her.
"Of course. We have confirmed he has a Sacred Gear, it'd be foolish to let him go simply because a more promising prospect has shown itself."
The words might sound mean, but she truly meant them. She'd take anyone willing to join her peerage. Even if they had… behavioural problems.
…She'd risk it first with the homeless gunman. Then she'd proceed with the perverted boy.
She sighed. Rias hoped that he at least was easier to deal with than what the footage showed. She knew prejudice could be blinding, so she decided to approach the situation in a non-judgemental, open way.
Yes… this may just work for her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I woke up, only to find myself in a void.
…Oi, don't tell me I died again.
As if to answer, suddenly and out of nowhere, a desktop setup (computer tower, mouse with a mousepad, keyboard) appeared in front of me, complete with an office chair in front.
Okay, sure. Whatever.
Gingerly, I sat down on the chair and looked at the screen.
GREETINGS INCURSOR.
TODAY'S INCURSION HAS ENDED.
INCURSION SUMMARY:
MONEY= $100 ⇒ $61
BULLETS = 50x 0.45 Bullets ⇒40x0.45Bullet
EXP COUNT:
1000 [XP] required for LVL.2
Stylish Shooting [No Looking + Running + Lethal] - 500xp
Close Dodges [20 Demonic Spheres] - 200xp
Survived the first day - 100xp
Killed Stray Devil [Kiasma] - 1000xp
=
1800 [XP] TOTAL
CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE
REACHED LEVEL 2
SINCE THIS IS YOUR FIRST LEVEL UP, PLEASE SELECT A SKILL TREE TO DEVELOP. ONCE CHOSEN, YOU CAN SWITCH AFTER EVERY 5 LEVELS.
THESE SKILL TREES WERE DEVELOPED TAKING INTO ACCOUNT YOUR INITIAL BUILD.
YOU HAVE BEEN RATED AS A [Gunman] INCURSOR.
[The Perfectionist.]
Every shot counts. Did it miss? Of course not, look at it ricochet straight into your skull. Did it ricochet AND miss? Look how the bullet makes some screws loose and drops the entire building on that guy's head.
The Perfectionist is a gunman who knows by their soul how each and every one of their bullets will achieve its grand purpose. From killing a guy to carefully and precisely doing a heart transplant, The Perfectionist will never, ever miss a shot from his gun, and more important yet: they will look absolutely perfect while doing so.
The Perfectionist's [Starting Skills] :
• [Perfect Shot]: You perform a [Perfect Shot] every time you shoot something and it lands achieving a purpose, be it damaging someone, weakening a structure, making a distraction, etc.
• [Perfect Stacks]: You gain a [Perfect Stack] every time you land a [Perfect Shot]. For every stack you have, you gain 10% more damage. You lose all your stacks upon missing a shot, getting damaged enough to stumble, or once a hostile encounter ends.
• [Stylish Twirling]: You're now able to perfectly twirl your gun and do tricks with it. Performing [Stylish Twirling] during an encounter will grant you [Perfect Stacks] every 5 seconds you twirl the gun. The only way to stop [Stylish Twirling] without losing stacks is by either shooting the gun or holstering it.
• [???]: LEVEL UP [The Perfectionist]'S SKILL TREE TO LEARN MORE SKILLS.
[The Destroyer.]
Finesse? For pussies. Your goal? Destruction. Your means? Any gun in the vicinity.
The Destroyer is a gunman who's only objective is the destruction of whatever stands in their way. Covering every possible ground with bullets is, most often, the solution to their problems. The Destroyer knows that as long as the enemy is left standing, simply shooting in its general direction will get rid of it.
The Destroyer's [Starting Skills] :
• [Forced Automation]: Upon activation, it forcibly turns an otherwise manual or semi-automatic weapon into an automatic one for the duration of the skill. The transformation also charges the weapon with 5 to 20 more bullets in the magazine, depending on the weapon.
• [Rain of Fire]: Upon activation, it grants every bullet shot during its duration a [Fire] effect. The bullets also have a 10% chance of causing a small explosion on impact.
• [To the Fullest]: Upon activation, turns every bullet casing and empty magazine into an explosive that explodes on contact with the enemy.
• [???]: LEVEL UP [The Destroyer]'S SKILL TREE TO LEARN MORE SKILLS.
[The Stylish]:
Sliding and shooting. Spinning and shooting. Jumping and shooting. Backflipping and shooting. Time moves slowly as you dodge each and every attack and fill the room with lead, a gun in each hand promising a disgustingly stylish death to all.
The Stylish is a gunman who doesn't mind getting up close and personal. Characterised by its acrobatics, they easily and stylishly dodge each and every attack and projectile coming their way, answering in turn with lead and death. The Stylish makes the battleground their stage, and they always steal the show.
The Stylish's [Starting Skills]:
• [Gun Acrobatics]: Performing acrobatics while shooting a gun grants you a 30% damage bonus and an exponential increase to all physical stats (Ex: Jump distance, running speed, manoeuvrability, flexibility, etc.)
• [Style Meter]: For every attack you perform or dodge, or any [Stylish] actions you make, you gain varied amounts of [Style]. Increase the [Style Meter] from [D] to [SSS] to receive incremental amounts of bonuses to both DMG and your Physique, to a max of 200% for both. You lose points upon receiving damage, doing too much of the same thing or once a hostile encounter ends.
• [Bullet Time]: Upon activation, slows everything down to a crawl for its duration, including yourself, so you can perfectly dodge and shoot anything coming your way.
• [???]: LEVEL UP [The Stylish]'S SKILL TREE TO LEARN MORE SKILLS.
[The Precise]:
You are a simple person. You need something dead; you shoot it in the head. One shot, one kill. Nothing pleases you more than watching a guy's head explode while chilling on top of a building.
The Precise doesn't play around, all they want is an efficient and quick kill. No wasted bullets, no fucking about. They know power is best served in quick, short bursts, and that saving that power makes it so more can meet their maker. The Precise loves a kill that can be made as far away as possible. None can stop what they can't reach.
The Precise's [Starting Skills]:
• [One Shot, One Kill]: Upon activation, it condenses a full magazine into a single [One Shot] bullet which has a 150% Bonus DMG (the boost takes into account other skills in action). If it kills, it instantly loads another
[One Shot] bullet into the chamber for
free.Otherwise enters cooldown.
• [Unreachable Shooter]: Grants 30% Bonus DMG when shooting vital spots. It increases by 10% for every 10 metres of distance between shooter and target. [Max: 50 metres.]
• [Trigger Discipline]: All bullets have 70% Bonus DMG if there's at least 10 seconds between every shot. The first bullet shot in any encounter has this bonus.
• [???]: LEVEL UP [The Precise]'S SKILL TREE TO LEARN MORE SKILLS.
CHOOSE YOUR INITIAL SKILL TREE
This… was a lot.
I stared dumbfounded at the large selection of skills. I just need to choose one of these…?
…
After some time thinking, I end up clicking the skill tree [The Perfectionist].
I had my reasons.
First: considering my recent fight against that demon, I think a skill tree focusing on ricochet and trick-shots was something more my style. [The Destroyer] felt like a skill tree I'd enjoy if I had infinite bullets (which I didn't) and [The Stylish], although interesting, felt like a willing suicide considering my physical specs were kind of shit at the moment.
And that left [The Precise]...
In another life, I definitely would've picked that one. It was quite straightforward, had a lot of stupid DMG Bonus for essentially doing nothing, and it kept me at a safe and nice distance.
…But it also required me to wait 10 seconds between each shot to do it full power, not to mention the distance bonuses.
Taking into account the encounter with the demon, keeping such distances when being attacked would be next to impossible, and considering that Sharpest Shooter, the reason I'm alive currently, has a radius of about 13 metres…
It just didn't seem smart to be fucking around with it. [The Perfectionist] demanded, well, perfection for it to work. But as long as I didn't get hit, I should be able to accumulate stacks upon stacks of damage and eventually kill one of those demons.
…I also wanted to twirl my gun around.
Confident in my choice, I pressed [CONFIRM].
The computer displayed my "Character Sheet".
Name: Daniel García, [the Perfectionist.]
Level : Level 2 [Perfectionist] Gunman.
XP: 1800
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Skill List:
• [Perfect Shots]
• [Perfect Stacks]
• [Stylish Twirl]
Perk List:
• Eyes Everywhere
• Sharpest Shooter
Trait List:
• Darksign
…Yup, that's me. I still look awful in that photo.
The computer displayed a new block of text.
CHARACTER CHANGES HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED.
DAY-END SUMMARY DREAM CLOSING…
…
…
…
DREAM CLOSED.
SWEET DREAMS, INCURSOR!
And my world went black.