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I like games as much as the next guy but that doesn't mean I was actually good at playing them. I was the guy who hyper focused on one game and through sheer brute force reached the point I was alright. If I had to get a gamer system, why couldn't it be like the one from The Gamer, not a collection of mini games that rewarded different prizes depending on how well I did. Especially when my new world seems to be an amalgamation of different Marvel sources, the MCU, the X-men, and sprinkled with bits and pieces of comics that I never really read. Not to mention the fact that in the past few years I ran across some people that were from other franchises, like a sign spinner named Fred that worked down the street. That doesn't mean it's the same dude from Big Hero 6, but the resemblance was uncanny. So I could not expect any of my meta knowledge to be accurate, not when Count Duku could swing in with the Tardis to recruit Bruce Banner to save the Multiverse from the Citadel of Ricks. Not likely, but you get my point.
But being in a death world and having random games decide my fate has made me a little pessimistic. When I first woke up in this world I panicked, I didn't wake up where I fell asleep and judging by the orchestra of car horns I was somewhere very different from my small town. And in my mad scramble I found some paperwork stacked right on the table next to my bed, after I had already been searching for half an hour. By looking through the paperwork I learned I lived above a junk shop in New York City that was left to me by my deadbeat dad. Unlike in my world, where my dad was a cool dude, this one drank and gambled his way into an early grave. Luckily I had a relative on my mother's side who helped me apply for a loan to pay off the loan sharks that had been circling the shop, like the not so friendly aquatic animal they are named after. So while I'm still in massive debt, at least it's to a bank instead of people who would beat me up to try and turn my pain into money.
That relative only stayed around long enough to help me out the hole my father left me in, before leaving for greener pastures. I didn't blame them, if I could just pack up my stuff and move away then I would, but now I have to pay the bank back and my only source of income is a junk shop. I am just glad they had enough good memories of my mother to help out her son. Not really a good starting point, but at least I have my gamer system. Hooray, he says sarcastically. Usually by the time the main character has been in a fictional world for a few years they have become some sort of all powerful being that kicks ass and has sex with a different waifu every night. Not me and my luck, no sirree. With my system the best prizes I won were slightly ahead of what Tony Stark or Reed Richards could put together in a night. A laser pistol from Star Wars, you know, the ones the clone troopers couldn't shoot straight with. Turns out there's a reason for that, mass produced laser guns have one heck of a recoil.
Man, was I glad that the world didn't work on dramatictium, the mythical energy that causes characters to make stupid choices in order to move the plot along. When I tried it out during one of my trips out of the city it almost dislocated my shoulder. But it was still good to know that their bad aim was due to a design flaw and not a lack of imagination. And to all the drama queens out there, I am not dissing Star Wars, I love that universe and its storyline (except the last couple of movies, stop beating the dead dog and let it rest in peace). But that was probably the coolest thing I got, the most useful however was a full heal from pokemon. When I won it I was so excited for about two seconds until I remembered that it was the full restore that could heal anything, but it was still cool. The rest of the things I won made it into my junk shop, some tech that was good for the time period and a truly absurd amount of super geniuses pushing progress forward, but nothing amazing.
I have a couple of non magical antiques, and really a bunch of random odds and ends. I had a couple of magical artifacts too but they were things like a ball that always bounced to the same height and the clothes color changer from the first episode of Fairy Tail. So I didn't put those in the shop but I stored them in my dad's old room after I cleaned out (chucked) all his stuff. The one random thing I kept was the singing fish. I always thought they were so interesting when I was a kid, able to entertain me for hours somehow but as an adult it was more annoying. I took out the batteries but still kept it inside the entrance for sentimental value. Now I should stop complaining so much and start my game of the day, but I guess I should explain first. Every day I have one chance to play a game and I get a prize depending on how well I did. The games can be anything, from a holographic representation of ski ball to a highly immersive spaceship fleet battle simulation.
Got to say the second one was really cool and it was how I won the laser pistol. Not that I did well, I think the pistol was the lowest prize I could get. But it did make me wonder, if I had won that game, would I have gotten one of the spaceships instead? Anyway, the specific game I play also hints toward what types of prizes I get, the full heal I got was from a potion making game. It was easy to follow along with the recipe and reminded me of Harry Potter with all the stirs the potion inside the cauldron seemed to need. But I always liked to cook so it wasn't that hard. I made sure to lay down on my bed before I said the magic words, "Game Start." You don't even want to know how long it took me saying random things to get my cheat to show up. I learned the hard way not to be standing when you're unable to move from that position, sometimes for hours at a time. Muscle cramps are a real thing and as you grow older they get worse, so while I may be in a younger body now, 23 years old as to the 47 I was in my previous world, I was not risking it.
When I spoke those magic words a light blue screen popped up and on it were the dreaded words [Choose Your Game]. Under the first line there was a single button with the word [Start] and after hesitating for a second I pressed it. The text and button disappeared and a multicolored wheel appeared in their place, I watched as it spun faster and faster before finally slowing down. I was dizzy from watching the wheel and wanted to close my eyes but I knew I needed all the clues I could get as the games were not always self explanatory. In one game I appeared in an overgrown garden so I thought it was some sort of gardening game, nope it was a hide and hunt game. Got some paintballs from that one. The next words on the screen failed to get a reaction out of me as they were neither good nor bad, [Maze: Find Your Way Through and Stop to See the Sights]. Every time the wheel spun I would get the type of game and a little clue to help me along, this time it looked like a puzzle/collect game. I just hoped there weren't any monsters to fight this time.
As soon as the screen disappeared my vision darkened and I found myself in a stone corridor. Looks like I was lucky enough to get another fully immersive game, they were always more fun than the plain old holograms. Well, most of the time anyway. The floor below me was made of stones that looked worn with age, they were slightly uneven so I would have to pay attention if I had to run, I wouldn't want to trip. The walls looked like they were made out of the same material, only I couldn't see a single seam so they were probably one solid block. There was also some sparse greenery growing from the cracks between the stones and down from the top of the walls. Not a lot, just some weeds and moss on the floor, and some ivy on the walls, all and all it was very pretty. The sky was very much like my own, blue with a few clouds floating by, the only sounds I could hear were the rustling of the ivy leaves from a slight breeze. One of the perks of my system was that it took me to some very beautiful places, but I still had to be careful. Sometimes beauty can cover up immense danger.
The first time I died in one of these games was because I was so captivated by the scenery I didn't notice some sort of animal snuck up behind me. Definitely wasn't the last time I died but it was the most memorable, waking up in a cold sweat after being dismembered was not a pleasant feeling. Now that I was done looking around I started to walk in the only direction available, straight ahead. The games didn't let me bring in anything from the outside world so all I had on me was what the game gave me. Some comfortable clothes, which was always nice. I hated the start from zero and survive games, when it meant zero it meant ZERO. I checked the many pockets my outfit provided and held in a sigh, nothing at all which meant I had to complete this game with my bare hands. I kept waking till I reached the end of the corridor, there were some twists and turns but no frocks in the road before now. This time I could choose left or right, but first I should check if there were any clues about the path I should take.
So I spent the next couple minutes searching the ground and walls around the fork, I found a few cracks, some weeds and a couple of bugs. So nothing to help me choose, when in doubt always choose the right answer. I chuckled at my pun, don't judge when you don't have any close friends or family you have to find humor wherever you can. I started to walk down the right path, after another few minutes I arrived at another fork, this time there was a puzzle on the wall opposite from the path I just came down. It was one of the sliding puzzles where you can't lift any of the pieces but you have to get each piece in the correct order. Luckily I was good at those and had no trouble completing it in a few minutes. The last couple of pieces gave me a bit of trouble but when the last piece slotted into place the puzzle flashed a bright yellow and I had to resist the urge to close my eyes. When the light faded I had to blink a couple spots out of my eyes but the puzzle had disappeared and in its place was an arrow pointing to the left.
There was also one black line on the inside of my forearm. Looks like I passed the first test, I understood the directions it gave me but I wonder what the tally is for. It could be a point system, like the more marks I get the better my score is at the end of the game or they could be used to trade for something in the game, or both. But for now I think I'll go in the direction of the arrow. I kinda wanted to go back and try to see if there was another puzzle on the other side of the fork but that would get confusing real quick. The next few turns were the same pattern: I would get to a fork and be presented with a puzzle, there was a sudoku, a code I had to break, and even one where I had to line up a bunch of dials. All of them were pretty easy but I noticed they were getting harder. I was lucky this wasn't timed so I could just brute force the dial one. It had multiple connected dials I had to turn so the numbers lined up just right, because they were so big I could just barely hear when they clicked into place.
Each time I completed a puzzle it would flash that bright light before giving me directions and another tally mark. When I made it down my latest corridor I saw my next challenge was a bit different. Instead of a puzzle set into the wall there was a dead end hallway perpendicular to my two choices. It looked like an obstacle course from Wipeout or one of the Ninja Warrior shows, they even had a pool of water for me to wash off the sweat I was surely going to accumulate. I wasn't super athletic so I could already tell I wouldn't make it to the end but I could at least make it through a few obstacles. Since I woke up in this death world I made sure to take my exercise more seriously, never know when I might need to run for my life. So I stepped up to the first obstacle and started to stretch, first my shoulders then my back and finally my legs. After a few minutes I was ready to start, and it looked like I was getting an easy one to start with, the tilted platforms. Whenever I saw them on TV I always thought, why are these even part of the course? They can't be that hard. Turns out they are more difficult than I thought.
I almost crashed and burned on the first jump, before I landed I didn't really appreciate flat ground. My feet slipped right out from under me and if I wasn't so tall I would have fallen right then, luckily I was able to latch onto the top of the platform and keep myself from falling into the water. Once I dragged myself up I got ready to jump to the next one, this time keeping in mind the lesson I just learned. It didn't help much, when I landed I tried to keep my feet under me but I had to reach for the edge when I failed to keep my feet under me. I was so happy there weren't any cameras that recorded my mistakes and laughing at my uncoordinated ass. While holding onto the ledge I was able to scramble up and prepare for my next jump, this time when I landed I was able to keep one foot from slipping. But I still needed to hold onto the edge to keep myself from falling in. I shook my head and looked ahead at the last few jumps I needed to make before I was done with this obstacle.
A few minutes later I was on flat ground once again, I made it and I didn't even need to catch myself on the last platform. I couldn't help but smile as I slowed my breathing, that was a lot harder than it looks on TV. I could also feel a sense of accomplishment from completing a completely physical obstacle instead of solving a puzzle. When I was finally able to catch my breath I stepped up to the next portion, but as I did I felt a change happen to my arm. When I looked down I discovered I had one mark that was half the size of the others. I pouted, come on that had to be worth a full tally, the entertainment value alone was worth more than that. I conveniently ignored the 9 more obstacles ahead of me. I shook off my disappointment and got my game face on, that lasted all of a second before I broke and a grin formed on my face. I could be serious when I needed to be but why bother when I'm basically doing an obstacle course with no consequences. I learned a long time ago that stressing out about my games actually makes it harder to do well in them. Who'd have thought of that, right?
The current advanced chapters are:
Millennium Ch1
Haven Ch1
Who is a Zoo? Ch1
God of Games Ch6
Breathe Ch1
Another Wayne Ch1
Salvation Ch1
Guide Ch1
Growth Ch1
I Wanted a Real Gamer System Ch6-8
Ark Ch2-5
A Real Gamer System Ch3-5
Tinker Ch1
Further Ch2
Puzzle Maker Ch3
A Thousand Words Ch1-2
Free Range Ch1