Tutorial 1.4

Greg fell face-forward, his body hitting the ground in a heap of pale skin and lanky limbs.

"...ow."

As he lay there, lying face-first in the untrimmed grass of his backyard, Greg began to ruminate over everything he had learned over the last three hours.

First, he could earn stat points through actual training. He had learned that after punching a tree who knew how many times in row trying to create some sort of super punching skill. It maybe also have been a way to work out his anger after seeing those crap-tastic Stat Modifiers.

Just maybe.

Either way, he was willing to grind to kickstart his path to greatness. Any true gamer would, of course.

Anyway, after about three hours of strenuous effort, all he had to show for it was twenty-five lost health points, seven levels on [Blunt Force Resistance] and 1 brand-spanking new VIT point.

Secondly, each new VIT point made his HP go up by 10 and his Will go up by 3. Greg could only imagine the same thing applied for his MP. So, either INT or WIS controlled that, most likely.

Thirdly, just because actual pain went away really quick, it didn't mean he couldn't get tired. Apparently, one of his stats, Will, measured his level of tiredness or something. Right now, that was sitting at a big fat zero.

It took almost ten minutes for his Will to regenerate all the way back to full, which sucked so hard. For Greg, that basically meant ten minutes of sitting around and waiting until his entire body didn't feel like crap.

Last but certainly not least, skills were super-duper hard to make.

Like, harder than the first boss of Ninja Gaiden hard.

Greg lifted his head and let out another small moan, pausing at the end to announce, "[Skills.]"

Skills

Gamer's Body (Passive) Lv. MAX

Allows you to live life as if were a game.

Sleeping restores HP, MP, Will and removes most negative status effects.

Gamer's Mind (Passive) Lv. MAX

Grants immunity to mental status effects, emotional trauma and severely damaging emotional states.

Observe Lv 1 (XP: 50%)

A skill to find out basic information relating to the chosen object.

Cost: 1 MP

Power Sprint Lv 1 (XP: 20%)

Need to get away or get to someplace slightly faster than just regular running? Use this skill.

Cost: 1 Will every ten seconds.

"Who designed this RPG system?" Greg moaned, still face-down in grass. "It couldn't be me because my subconscious cannot be this much of a butthole!"

Scratch that. This was harder than a level of Demon's Souls.

Why, you ask? Why did Greg think that making a skill was so impossibly frustrating?

It was because after three hours of effort, - three long, painful hours - Greg had managed to managed to make two new skills. The [Observe] skill and the [Power Sprint] skill, both created in the first few minutes.

Apparently, looking at a bug and wondering what it's species was enough for this stupid system to fart out a skill. Running away in fright when that same bug tried to hop onto his face was worth a skill, too, for some odd reason.

However, working his butt off for a couple hours was not skill-worthy!

Greg groaned again, his voice gaining more energy as the drain on his muscles began to lessen. Greg let out a relieved sigh, his recovery a sign that at least one of his stats was recovering. "[Will]."

Willpower: 15/33

"Three minutes down here and we're still at 15. What is that, like 5 points a minute? That's some crap regen," Greg muttered. "The frick is willpower, anyway? Ughhh," Greg spat out blades of grass from his mouth as he lifted his head, pushing himself off from the ground in a meager display of a pushup. "What kind of system is this?"

He had tried to make telekinesis. For ten long, embarrassing minutes, Greg had held a hand to his head like Professor X while his other limb made gestures at a tiny rock. All for nothing.

He had tried to use energy blasts. Nada.

Super-speed. Nope.

Even a skill to do something as simple as jump higher hadn't worked, leaving him doing jumping jacks for a good twenty minutes like an idiot.

None of them worked, despite what he tried and it was getting on his fricking nerves. Why would his powers make him an RPG character if there was no way for him to actually achieve unlimited power?

Pulling himself to his feet, Greg focused his eyes on the tree he had spent the last hour pummeling. This isn't fair.

Stepping closer to it, he brought his fists up again. This is not fair. Why won't this work? What do I have to do?

His face began to redden as Greg worked himself into a mood, angry thoughts bouncing around his head. "Why won't you work?"

Running forward, Greg threw a wild swing, slamming his fist into the thick tree with all his might. To his surprise, his fist glowed yellow as it struck the tree like a hammer. His eyes grew wider as slivers of bark basically exploded from the point of impact, flying back into his face as nothing more than wood chips.

New Skill Gained!

Angry Straight Lv 1 (XP: 0%)

Hit like an amateur light-weight using your anger in place of actual, physical muscle.

Damage: 24

Cost: 4 Will Quest Success!

Gained 600 xp

Level Up! You are now Level 3.

You gained 2 stat points.

Greg gaped at his unhurt fist, before turning back to face the tree. Blue eyes went back and forth between the damaged tree and his hand several times before the blond boy threw both of his hands in the air, letting out a frustrated scream as he did so. "What!? How!?"

When no floating box appeared to explain this phenomenon to Greg, the teenager let out another frustrated groan. "Why did it work this time? This system sucks!"

Then, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose. When he opened them, he sent a frown at his fist. "At least I got one combat skill, right?" After a moment, Greg nodded slightly, happy that he had gotten at least one thing right. "Although, I don't really want to risk getting up close to bad guys that much."

Quest Qreated!

First Blood

Details: Defeat 1 criminal.

Time Limit: 24 Hours.

Success: 1,500 xp

Failure: None

Bonus Objective: Defeat 2 criminals.

"What the heck?" Greg's blue eyes widened as he took a step back in pure shock. "I'm only level 3. I can't fight criminals yet." Greg let out a groan, his hands clutching his hair in frustration. "It's like this system hates me or something!"

After coming to an important realization, your WIS has increased by 1.

"...oh, haha."

Spoiler: STATUS Greg Lucas Veder Age: 15 (and three-quarters!) Level 3 Experience 100/1800 Health 100/100 Mana 60/60 Willpower 36/36 STR 2 SPD 3 VIT 3 INT 6 WIS 5(-80%) CHA 1 (+9) (-90%) Stat Points: 4 Traits

Nerd-Geek Hybrid: Your obsession with video gaming, computers, fantasy/sci-fi literature and 80’s/90’s pop culture has left you in the rare middle of two circles; the obsessive fandom-loving geek and the intelligent, knowledge seeking nerd. Sadly, your hobbies have left you with an aversion to physical exertion. (50% bonus to INT gains, -50% penalty to STR, SPD & VIT gains.)

Ambiguous Disorder: Ever since you were a little kid, you’ve always been a little bit off. Impulsive, obsessive, socially obtuse and emotionally needy, you’re a bit of a weirdo. It was easily written off as normal behavior when you were younger but now you’re fifteen. Yet, you still come off as someone over five years younger. Maybe Mom should have had you tested like Dad said? (-80% reduction to overall WIS, 90% reduction to overall CHA.)

Casanova Bloodline: As a Veder man, you have a great smile, natural charm and a confident approach to life that draws the ladies in like a moth to a flame. Your great cheekbones don’t hurt either. It’s how your dad got your mom to go out with him while dating at least three other girls and sleeping with two others, at least that’s what he always told you - even when you didn’t ask - all the time. (+9 CHA)