The morning had started out like any other. When he opened his eyes his ears were met with the usual sounds of the early morning. Loud drunken laughter, gunshots and what he later determined was someone getting their ass beat drifted through his slightly cracked window. These were the usual sounds of the morning and thus received no more than a fraction of his attention.
One issue that did attract his attention was the thought that today also represented the first he would spend at his new school boarding school, Lord Michael’s Academy for the Gifted. He still had no idea what he’d done to receive a scholarship to such, what his mom told him, was a prestigious school.
Frowning, he thought. Not only will a new fish in a rich ass pond. I’ll be a freshman and once again at the bottom of the social hierarchy.
Dre might not have been a genius but he was just smart enough that all the cool people hated his guts. The only time they benign to speak to him was when they needed help with their school work. He was sure he’d suffer the same fate at his new school.
He smiled bitterly and thought. Well another year another school, but some things never change.
*Surprise Dre. Okay, let me stop right here. I can’t believe your mom actually named you that. Sorry, anyway guess what something has changed.*
Before he could think he said. ”Not that it’s any of your business but my mom named me Deondre, but everybody just calls me Dre. Wait what the fuck?” Dre jumped out of bed, head swinging to and fro as he searched frantically for the source of the mystery voice.
*You’re wasting your time. Why don’t you check this out instead?*
A virtual window, just like you would see in any role-playing game, appeared in front of him.
*Let me cut off your inevitable questions. No, you are not dreaming. No, you have not gone crazy.*
Well if he wasn’t crazy than what the hell was going on? Well, in the back of his mind he already knew the answer.
He went to his small window and looked outside. His eyes were greeted by the usual scenes of hood life. That meant he hasn’t been transported into a game. It meant that somehow a role-playing’s game mechanics had been superimposed over his life somehow.
Dre had very little experience playing RPGs. Whatever time wasn’t spent watching porn was completely devoted to playing fighting games online. In fact, he spent so much time playing online that he was ranked in the top ten worldwide on the one game he played the most, Street Fighter 5.
The window still drifted in front of him. Since he had nothing to lose by doing what he’d planned on doing anyway he hit the ACCEPT button and watched the window close in response.
Dre headed to the bathroom and when he looked in the mirror he saw another virtual window floating just above his head.
Deondre Powers
Lvl 3: Student
Class: Hacker
*Yeah that’s not going to work for me.*
There was that voice again. Suddenly he felt his entire body throb so strongly that he got dizzy and had to hold onto the sink to keep from falling. Thankfully the sensation didn’t last long.
Ding!
He looked out the window and couldn’t believe what he saw. ”That’s crazy. There’s no way that can be right.” Dre might not be as into MMORPGs as some of his friends but even he knew that this reward amounted to a game breaker.
*Not your concern. You’ve got things to do and you don’t have the time to follow the usual conventions of slowly powering up.*
”What things?”
No answer. Dre hadn’t really expected one. If his life was now following the normal conventions of your average RPG then he’d need to find his own answers.
Let’s try this instead. ”Who the hell are you?” He asked.
*Would you believe me if I told you I was your fairy Godmother.*
”No.” He replied flatly.
*I didn’t think so.*
He waited several seconds hoping the voice would elaborate, she didn’t. Giving up instead, he asked. ”Why don’t I have time to slowly level up?”
No answer. No surprise. Well if he had any doubts they were gone now. He now knew for certain that somehow his life had just become one of his least favorite types of game an MMORPG.
Well fuck. He thought bitterly.
He didn’t like RPGs but he knew the basics. There had to be a character sheet somewhere. As soon as the thought crossed his mind a window appeared behind him. He saw its reflection in the mirror so he turned around to read it properly.
After a quick survey of his stat sheet, he notices that he doesn’t currently possess any active skills but he does possess two passive ones, Gamer’s Body and Gamer’s Spirit. As his eyes hovered over the Passive Skills heading the action produced a drop down that gave him a more in-depth description of what those skills actually did.
Gamer’s Body: This is a highly adaptive skill. It is a direct representation of both your physical life force and how you subconsciously perceive yourself. The higher your level in this skill the stronger your physical skills become and the more stat points you receive as rewards for completing tasks.
Gamer’s Spirit: This is a highly adaptive skill. It is a direct representation of both your magical potency and your ability to acquire new skills. This skill also allows the user to potentially acquire new skills by performing specific actions. The higher your level in this skill the more likely you are to gain new skills, the stronger your magical skills will become, and the lower your overall MP cost will be to use skills. You will also receive more skill points for completing tasks.
Then he saw another term he wasn’t familiar with. His eyes hovered over Power Tier.
Power Tier: This is the numerical value of the sum total of your HP, MP and all your physical stats combined.
Interesting. He thought as he finally began the process of getting ready for the day. After his shower, he looked into the bathroom mirror and found it strange to see the physical representation of the numerical values he saw on his stat sheet. It may have been a little dry but the numbers didn’t lie. He was a fast smart guy from the hood who watched way too much porn for his own good. There was nothing about him that stood out. Which was why at eighteen he was still a virgin.
*Which is a shame really considering that huge chunk of meat you’ve got wasting away down there.*
”Fuck!” Dre nearly jumped out his towel. ”Could you at least give me a warning or something before you start talking?”
*Nope. What fun would that be?*
He ignored the obvious rhetorical finished drying off and went to his closet to finish getting dressed. It was, of course, a mess. Unless his mother reminded him he never did laundry on a regular basis so now he would have to play one of his least favorite games, which pare of boxers smelled the least like balls.
Well, that’ll come in handy. Now I just need to figure out how to cast it. But as soon as he finished that thought he realized how wrong he was. Instinctually he knew that all he needs to do in order to cast the skill was to think about it.
He picked up a pair of clean boxers a thought about casting Observe on them.
Boxers: This pair of boxers has not been washed in two weeks and offers no statistical bonuses.
”Well, that was both cool and depressing at the same time.” As he prepared to throw the boxers away they disappeared. A mental image of his inventory popped into his head. He had 24 item slots total and currently, 23 of them were open. His missing boxers were currently in that 24th slot. A simple thought and he was wearing her boxers and the slot was empty again.
He touched various articles of clothing and watched as they disappeared into his inventory and then reappear with a mere thought. After repeating this several times he finally got bored he got dressed in his new academy uniform. All he needed to do now was grab something to eat and his first quest will be complete.
Properly dressed Dre headed downstairs and into the kitchen where he saw his mom putting the finishing touches on what usually passed for sustenance this their home.
”Leftovers again huh mom?” He asked resigned regardless of the answer.
”Sorry Dre, ”she replied. ”I’m expecting a call from my ass of a boss any minute now. I just don’t have time and I’m not even ready for work yet.”
Surprised Dre realized for the first time that his mother wasn’t dressed yet, which was very odd. Usually, she was up, buffed and painted, her words not his, well before dawn. Curious, he cast Observe on her.
Interesting. Mostly basic information. I wonder why mom’s so sad this morning. And even better my mom’s a fuckin Milf.
*Please, don’t act like you didn’t know that already. I’ve looked into the trash bin you call a mind and there are way more images of your mother there than there should be. Oh, before you go blurting out something stupid we can speak to each other telepathically. That actually how I’ve been talking to you this entire time.*
Great not only are you in my head you can read my thoughts too. This just keeps getting better and better.
*Don’t whine at least you got powers out of the deal. Oh, and you might want to at least pretend that you’re paying attention to what your mothers saying.*
Shit. He’d forgotten she was even there. As he focused on her words again he realized he hadn’t missed anything important. She was still complaining about how much of a sick pervert her boss was and how she’d love to stick her foot or any other handy item up his ass.
Since he didn’t have anything to add to her tirade he grabbed a couple of cardboard waffles, some way too crispy beacon, a glass of milk and took a seat opposite his venting mother.
Dre started eating and since he didn’t need his mouth to talk he used his mind instead. All right whoever you are how about some answers? I don’t want to sound ungrateful, I mean thanks for the cool powers but one thing I’ve learned in life nothing’s free. What’s this gonna cost me?