NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 3: Life’s Gamer
Ben had stayed on a hospital bed for a month. Other activities were going around for a stroll occasionally and going through physical tests. Checking what his current endurance was as well as other aspects. He wasn't bored despite having his freedom restricted.
There was something he found after closing his eyes.
In a dark yet lucid dream, his own 'avatar' hovered.
Looking at a translucent screen like a game pop-up.
He couldn't understand what he was seeing at first.
At the top left corner was the word 'Menu'.
Underneath it was a list of options that seemed similar to the games he was familiar with. This screen would appear only when he was asleep, and did not seem accessible any other time. He tried to familiarise himself with it in the month of leisure.
[Menu:
—New Game+
—Continue
—Load
—Settings
—Quit]
From what he could tell, 'the game of life' had become a video game. There was even an option to quit in case he just wanted to die. He didn't know why his regression in time was followed by this game-like changes... but he decided to roll with it.
No reason to reject what seemed useful on hand.
Ben clicked on 'Settings'.
[Settings:
—Character Settings (Locked)
—Graphic Settings
—Sound Settings
—Controller Settings
—Online Settings (Locked)
—Cooperative Settings
—Downloadable Content(!)]
Other than the unavailable 'Character Settings', Ben had been fiddling with the first three while he was undergoing physical tests. Finding that it was possible to alter his vision and hearing... No, it was like his eyes and ears no longer functioned normally.
The world was being 'seen' by his soul.
Unless they were behind a wall, everyone in his vision was easy to see. He could even add 'subtitles' so there would never be an instance of not being able to understand someone through their accents or language. Making him feel like he was in a game.
It took willpower to avoid falling into madness.
He'd lived this entire month looking at the first option of the 'Menu' in his mind. Feeling his heart tremble. His hands couldn't stay still. He didn't want to know, but the benefits of if his assumption was correct was enormous. Could he possibly ignore it?
"Mom... Dad..." They'd just about accepted him.
He didn't want to lose what he'd gained, but a ghost had been haunting him ever since regressing from the future. A presence lurked behind him, but he didn't dare to turn his head. The shadowy silhouette standing behind him put its hand on Ben's shoulder.
"Are you going to survive alone again? If you lose this time, could you handle seeing them die for the second time?" The male voice with a familiar scarred hand whispered into his ear. It was like a devil. The feeling of temptation along with rational evaluation.
Was it worth taking the risk right now?
Despite having a month solely to himself, Ben could not help feeling 'weak'. His skills were not carried over to this regression, and a month was too short to regain his powers. It'd taken ten years for him to learn one technique, and another five to master it.
How much could he progress in a simple month?
He had been shackled by his lack of any background in the supernatural world. No teacher or mentor. It was only through research was he able to create a simple battle technique from scratch... but even that was of low quality. Not having much potential.
He focused on the words written on the Menu.
[Option: New Game+
Description: You have the privilege of restarting the game with your skills intact. This will reset all bodily stats, enhancements, and equipment. You can choose to forgo any undesirable skill. Note: Content that is downloaded will exist in all game patches.]
Another screen appeared as if to assist his choice.
Ben took a deep breath. He didn't know exactly why the once empty 'Downloadable Content' now had a red marker beside it... but this was a chance. Anyone who knew anything about modern gaming knew that despite it costing money, 'DLC' could get you ahead.
Though that was dependant on the type of game.
After throwing away his hesitations, Ben chose to pick the Downloadable Content first. He didn't want to do a New Game+ so easily. There things he had to consider before making that ultimate choice of throwing away the time he'd spent with his family.
Ben's pretty face hardened.
He clicked on the option, and found that there was no amazing shift or influence on this dreamworld of his. Just like how the Menu changed when clicking on the settings, a gimmicky transition happened as if to entertain him. Digital celebrations on the window.
Balloons, confetti, and a sound of trumpets.
[Congratulations! You're entitled to free content!]
[The outer god, Loki, has appointed you as his first and only apostle. You have been touched by divinity that is the enemy of causality. Please note that the benefits you have been given must remain a secret from others. Exposure will terminate all benefits.]
From what he could tell, it was this 'Outer God' who was responsible for these abilities. Why did he only show himself now? Where was he a month ago when he'd first came to this hospital? The only thing Ben could do was complain in his heart of the unfairness.
Moreover, he couldn't reveal this power to anyone?
It made some sense. Regression could not be easy.
Still... Was this 'Loki' also the one who changed him?
Turning him into a girl?
Maybe it was done just to mess with him. He didn't know why this unknown 'god' of the supernatural world favoured him. Unable to remember any time he had a chance to come in contact with his myth or related interactions. There was no connection here.
[You can receive one 'Random Box (Awakening)'.]
[You may receive one 'Random Dice (Stat Up)'.]
[You may receive one 'Awakening (Miracle)'.]
[You may receive one 'Skill Book— Mana Sense'.]
[You may receive one 'Skill Book— Mana Control'.]
A total of five free downloads available from this shop. He looked around and saw that there were also many 'Skill Books' here available... but didn't know what currency they ran on. There was an icon and description he saw at the corner of the store page.
[Divine Points: 0]
['Skill Book— Material Crafting (Basic)': 100 points.]
['Skill Book— Body Refinement (Basic)': 100 points.]
['Skill Book— Mental Fortitude': 1,000 points.]
['Skill Book— Dragon Heart': 1,000,000 points.]
['Skill Book— Phoenix Flames': 1,567,990 points.]
There was such a long list ranging from skills he'd seen in the supernatural world... and techniques that were the heart of specific factions. He didn't know how to obtain a 'Divine Point', but it seemed like this store was basically cheating. It had way too much.
[Congratulations on opening the 'Point Store'!]
[You have been gifted the 'Novice Seeker' set.]
[You shall be allowed the choice of choosing a Skill.]
[You shall be given a basic 'Starter Weapon'.]
[Please enter the game to see the choice list.]
Again, Ben felt like he was being given too much by this game-like interface. There was even a gift for opening the Point Store for the first time? If he had known about that earlier, he wouldn't have hesitated so much. Now it felt like he ruined his life's progress.
As for those free content before this...
One random boxes and dice. Very fitting for a playful god that's known for trickery. He didn't even know what he'd get from these. Only that his future would likely be decided by the benefits gained. It was a very risky gamble for others, but only benefits to him.
He already had nothing to begin with.
Moreover...
"These are the Skill Books?" After clicking on the option and downloading the two of them, he was surprised that they really appeared. Two abilities he had never been able to learn in his past life. Both of them were the most sought after 'basic techniques'.
One didn't necessarily have both skills on the other side. Some had great Mana Sense, but had to work around not having great control. Others had innate magical power and control, but they had limits on what they could achieve. Relying on their abilities.
And what gave them these powers were 'Awakening'.
Finally, Ben had the nerve to turn his head to see the new ghost that haunted his mind. He saw himself standing silently. 'Ben Frasko' was there, watching him in his prime, but also the most vulnerable. A man that had risked his life to barely Awaken.
What was Ben's ability?
What others could call an 'Innate Gift'?
He didn't have one particular great power. It was actually embarrassing. His own Gift was 'Silver Container'. It allowed him to take in purifying energy from silverware and other items. Allowing his body to be the perfect tool to exorcise Apparitions.
The only problem was that it applied only to him.
As someone who didn't know how to use Mana, he had been fighting Apparitions bare-handed. Having to use his fingers and nails. His feet. Anything body part that could be a medium for purifying energy. It eventually turned out this ability had a drawback.
Metal poisoning happened if used way too often.
"So stupid..." Ben thought about his past.
Wasn't it obvious that digesting so much purifying energy from metals would poison him? Gifts of all types did not have the luxury that purified Mana did about being 'able to be interpreted'. He learned later that all Gifts had a major rule applied to their usage.
This was called an 'Attribute'.
Half a decade of research allowed him to find out the rules regarding his own Attribute. It took time for him to comprehend the logic, but seeing his own powers in action allowed him to understand what it meant. As well as what he should have avoided.
Ben thought about his mistake. His usage...
A power attributed to Metal.
Silver Container could absorb purifying energy from metallic objects... but this wasn't all. Metal Gifts only affected metal specifically. If so, then where in his body was the 'purifying energy' taken from his home silverware and holy objects contained within him?
The answer was the 'iron' all humans possessed.
With greater usage of his ability over time, he had mutated the iron within his liver. Giving him what could only be described as blood cancer or metal poisoning over time. He'd turned the source of what allowed oxygen to be carried around the body into a weapon. Ruining it. His muscles started to slowly deteriorate with time, and so did his overall health.
He found it ridiculous once. 'Metal' was widely believed to be an exterior attribute. He'd seen many apply their Gifts outwardly onto weapons, but had never seen a case like his. Where a mere biological function was considered the same as mined ore.
Making him realise how loosely abilities worked.
Fire Gifts only altered the flames being used.
Blood Gifts only manipulated blood.
The former being more variable than the latter.
Did he want to 'Awaken' again to experience that?
"I should reconsider my options." Ben thought to himself while looking at his past. The technique he created based off his Innate Gift wasn't that great anyway. Comparatively, the 'Mana Sense' and 'Mana Control' Skill Books had unlimited potential for him.
Unlike the unpredictability of Gifts, he'd seen how even lesser Mana Users were considered fledgling magi. Sharpening and improving his Mana Sense would also allow him to control more magical energy with mastery. There were no downsides in this path.
This made him raise an eyebrow at the Random Box.
What was the difference between these two?
[Special Item: Random Box (Awakening)
Description: Randomly bestows an Innate Gift to the player. Awakening will be active permanently. This cannot be removed on New Game+. The player can potentially attain any superpower that exists in the world. This will not affect your first Innate Gift.]
[Note: Must be used before having an Awakening.]
He'd heard about this. There were those who used the common inheritance technique 'Bestowal' to give their offspring their superpowers. This could be used as many times as they liked between those sharing the same blood. The only restriction being timing.
Because his parents were normal, he never had the chance to experience having two Innate Gifts. The only problem he could think of was what 'type' of Innate Gift would appear. After all, there were many abilities that couldn't be hidden after awakening.
Mutations such as lizard skin, gills, and pointy ears were not uncommon in the supernatural world. He had seen horrifying people that looked like they came out of Lovecraft's sick imagination, and cases like his where the use of it would destroy the user.
He remembered having turned himself into a glow-in-the-dark person after using his Metal Gift too much. It only made him hesitant to try it. Although he would've been more than happy in his youth, the responsibility placed on his shoulders was not light.
He could not rely on unstable powers right now.
What should he do if these were invalid choices?
"I have to cultivate myself." Once again, he looked at the New Game+ option. It was already completely obvious that he'd be sent back in time. If the god that favoured him was an enemy to 'causality', then what this game-like power gave him was understandable.
"Will you be okay?" A voice rang in his ear again.
The dark silhouette of his past looked worried.
"Aren't I moving forward?" Ben asked the ghost.
"You're not 'moving forward'. You're throwing away your future and turning back. Will you trap yourself in this 'loop' forever?" As if completely aware of Ben's thoughts, the ghost criticised his decision. The stare on that scarred face made him look away.
Unable to answer that question.
There were many things about this game-like power that he did not understand. How does one 'Save' their progress? Did he have to continue starting from the moment he awoke in the past? What would happen if he continued to live in this easy manner?
...Maybe he'd forget about his desires one day.
Being twisted by the ease of simply 'going back'.
Undoing every good and bad decision ever made.
Starting from scratch again.
The silhouette was given no answer. Ben couldn't bring himself to speak a lie to himself. His hands were sweating while reaching towards the New Game+ button. Ignoring the voice that he threw to the back of his mind. Convincing his tired heart:
"It must be done." Ben bit his lip.
The button was pressed, and he was whisked away to another place. The dark world turned white, and a replica of his body appeared before him. He was still wearing the school uniform that didn't fit him a month ago. His body still appearing like a woman.
His hair still blonde.
Next to that body was a different menu screen.
[Characteristics:
—Positive Trait: Creative Applier
—Negative Trait: Scatterbrained Learner
—Learned Skills: Street Mixed Martial Arts (Expert), Material Crafting (Crude), Exorcism (Crude)
—Innate Skills: None
—Innate Gifts: None]
[Statistics:
—Strength Tier= F (Human)
—Agility Tier= F (Human)
—Speed Tier= F (Human)
—Defence Tier= F (Human)
—Magic Tier= Rankless (Unawakened)]
It was his first time seeing his traits. It felt like he was being called out with that 'Scatterbrained Learner' Negative Trait. He always had good memory but a bad attention span. The more he tried to focus, the less he was able to learn in one sitting.
He basically just relied on memorisation of stuff.
At school, that was a good trait. The school's way of doing exams usually focused heavily on memorising what was taught. Understanding stemming from remembering what they said the answer was. He was still a good 'learner' despite having really bad focus.
However, the supernatural world was unforgiving.
If he didn't 'understand' Apparitions beyond what he'd learned about them, then he'd die quickly to their many variations and forms. This was the same with learning skills. You could not become an expert in a technique you had really bad understanding of.
It was why his Material Crafting and Exorcism was still 'crude'. He mainly just threw what he had on hand together with glue and tape. Exorcising the evil spirits with silverware and crosses. Stealing what those in the supernatural world called 'Holy Water'.
Only to directly throw it at Apparitions with a cup.
He sighed, then brought out the two Skill Books he was gifted by his benefactor. Not knowing how to use them properly. Since it seemed like focusing his vision on something caused reactions, he looked at the Skill Book until an option popped out of it.
[Would you like to learn 'Mana Sense'? Y/N]
He clicked on Yes.
[Would you like to learn 'Mana Control'? Y/N]
After pressing Yes again, he looked at his skills.
[Characteristics:
—Positive Trait: Creative Applier
—Negative Trait: Scatterbrained Learner
—Learned Skills: Street Mixed Martial Arts (Expert), Material Crafting (Crude), Exorcism (Crude)
—Innate Skills: Mana Sense (Basic), Mana Control (Basic)
—Innate Gifts: None]
He looked at his Statistics again. Magic Tier was still listed as 'Rankless'. It probably meant that this was the listing for the amount of magic he could naturally hold in his body. Now... he'd probably have to find a way to make use of his Skill to sense Mana.
The road ahead was long...
The only thing he could rely on was the Random Dice he'd been holding. Maybe there was a chance he could increase his Magic Tier all in one go. That was if he was lucky. The dice didn't seem to let him choose what 'Stat' would be raised or by how much.
Still, he threw it out.
There was no harm in doing so.
Whatever the result may be, it didn't really matter.
He was used to starting out with nothing special.
The dice started to roll after being thrown out of his hand. Despite how hard he tried to convince himself that anything was fine, Ben focused on the changing colours as it was spinning. Time seemed to slow down with each time the dice would hit the floor.
What would the result be?
The dice had stopped...
A ruby red glow appeared. The number written on the dice was three. It wasn't the best result. Not even the highest number out of six. A disappointed look appeared on his face. Not knowing what the colour red meant or where this stat would be allocated.
[Strength Tier has risen to D (Enhanced Human).]
Ben raised his brows at this popup message.
He didn't seem to look any different, but he could feel his muscles had become... denser. There was no way to check just how strong he had become, but he found himself smiling at the result. Knowing well what it meant to overcome the Tier of being human.
It reminded him of Rina.
She too had strength beyond a normal person back then. He wondered who was stronger. Him, who had gained it without body modification, or her, who had been given more strength due to a magical drug. It was too bad there was no way to compare the two.
He was now ready, but...
[Please choose a Novice Skill.]
[Please choose a Starter Weapon.]
A row of low rank magical weapons appeared around him. There were bows, swords, halberds, and even a gun of all things. All of them made of the finest metal in terms of the mundane world. They were not exactly top weapons for the supernatural world.
...Did he have to choose?
[A weapon must be chosen before New Game+.]
"Damn." Ben really didn't want to suddenly appear in his school with a weapon. It'd get him arrested immediately. He had to choose something that was the smallest and least conspicuous... or maybe he could do something with the 'Novice Skill' benefit.
After scrolling down the list, he saw a good Skill.
[Novice choice:
1. 'Skill Book— Material Crafting (Basic)'
2. 'Skill Book— Weapon Synthesis (Basic)'
3. 'Skill Book— Item Storage (Basic)'
4. 'Skill Book— Body Reinforcement (Basic)'
5. 'Skill Book— Material Dismantling (Basic)']
Ben reached out towards the options. His finger hovered over 'Item Storage' momentarily, but had quickly dropped towards the last on the list. A smile etched on his face after gaining the technique he'd never been able to use despite trying hard to learn.
"Right... What should I use this one?" Although all these Starter Weapons were low in rarity, they were made of different materials and components. He was so familiar with them that he could easily identify what they were made of despite his low crafting skill.
Ben groped around before finding 'good materials'.
After choosing his weapon, he forgot about the stress he had. The only thing on his mind was how to have fun with this 'training loop' he put on himself. If it was possible for him to choose a starting weapon every loop, then wouldn't his crafting get better?
He hoped that would be the case.
Ben closed his eyes. The world started changing.
"Ben turned into a girl!" A familiar voice rang out next to him. Before he could even open his eyes, he put his hands in his school bag. His female English with glasses looked at him with shock again. When he opened his eyes, she'd already approached him.
Tug...!
She tried to drag him away, but it felt like she was grabbing onto a handle stuck to a wall. Ben didn't budge an inch despite putting her whole body into dragging him. Her shoes scraped across the ground and made those watching the scene gape at him.
"I'll go to the principal's office myself." Ben took his bag with him while giving the teacher a polite and friendly smile. One might have believed him if he had simply said that and followed. The only problem was a detail he had overlooked while getting up.
When he put a bit of pressure on the table, it broke.
Directly snapping in half.
Both he and the rest of the students in class looked at the scene in shock. He retracted his hand. Having a very embarrassed look on his feminine face while looking at the teacher. She stared at him with her cold face. Strict to the point of intimidating him.
...Then fainted.
It was the first few seconds after looping, but he had already struck fear into his own class. They looked at him like he was some incredible monster. His now female appearance being a beauty was the only thing that stopped them from running out screaming.
Ben sighed deeply and could only let things play out as he'd expected. He helped the teacher stand up.
Then guided HER to the principal's office himself.