AN: Ah, fuck it. I can't focus on anything else. I'm gonna start a new fic. Y'all better appreciate this! This here is the first ever fic involving The Gamer. For those who've never read it, it's a Manhwa (Korean web-comic) that can be found on most major manga sites. Check it out, for it is kickass.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Gamer.

"Speech"
Text/[System Message]
Thoughts
Inner Being to Outer Being
Bijuu/Jinchuuriki form/Boss
Jutsu/Skill/Command

Prologue: A Job For The Game Master

Normally, those who set eyes on Han Jee-Han would never think there was anything out of the ordinary concerning him. He was of average height, with dark brown hair and brown eyes that glinted with a crafty intelligence. His face, though not overly attractive, was not ugly either, and had an overall honest look to it. He wore a pair of worn blue jeans and a black short-sleeved shirt with a pocket on the front.

To an outsider, that's all he would appear to be. An ordinary young man who had graduated five years ago from high school. Indeed, that much was true. However, those who knew him with any familiarity would say that that was only one side of him. Outside of his school life, he was a member of what certain people called 'the Abyss.' A person who was born with a special power, a 'Natural Ability User' born from the will of Gaia.

Han Jee-Han was the possessor of one of the most dangerous abilities in the world: The Gamer. A power which allowed its user to interact with the world around him as if it were a video game. More specifically an RPG, complete with Skills, Level Ups, Drops and Dungeons.

In the five years since his power had awakened, Jee-Han had grown from an ordinary high school student to a formidable powerhouse, and then even further, surpassing every obstacle that the Abyss threw his way. Finally, his ability reached a level that even he hadn't expected.

All of his acquaintances agreed that, upon learning this fact, the young man's gloating had been both long and insufferable.

Of course, despite effectively possessing godlike power, Jee-Han's ability was still subject to the law of Gaia. Meaning, any attempt to affect the world majorly would be met with a fatal spate of misfortune. At least, he assumed so, as he had no wish to test this theory.

Another problem facing him was neither new nor small. It was one of his own making, a conundrum that he had struggled with ever since learning of his capabilities.

He no longer had any real challenges. Oh sure, there were many times when hunters and assassins from the Abyss had tried to do him in, but by now he could dispatch them easily. There just wasn't enough excitement for him any more. No surprises. Damn his ridiculously high INT and WIS! I need something to throw me for a loop. I don't care what.

Little did he realize, as he lay on his bed thinking this, that something strange would happen to him very soon indeed. Stranger than usual, at least.

*Shoop*

Jee-Han opened his eyes at the sound. A blue rectangle had appeared, floating in front of him at eye level: a system message. Such things were the norm with his power, so he was not all that surprised to see it. What was written on it, however, gave him pause.

[You have received a Private Message.]

[Do you wish to view the message? Accept (Y) Decline(N)]

"A message?" he asked himself. Then the implication hit him. The only way someone could send him a message via his ability was if they were partied up with him. At that moment, however, Jee-Han was 'alone.' So who could be communicating with him? Frowning, he reached up and jabbed at Accept.

Instantly another rectangle appeared.

Good day to you, Han-nim. You are probably wondering who I am, how I'm doing this and why I'm contacting you. The how is unimportant and I shall get to the why in a moment. My name is Storia Daisho, and I have an offer for you, The Gamer. If you wish to meet me, you need only use your [Change Server] Command to reach me. Fear not; regardless of whether or not you accept my offer, I shall ensure that you are returned to your own world at the appropriate time. What do you say?

Jee-Han stared at the message for a long moment, trying to process it. An offer? This guy sent me a message with my own ability...to make me an offer? And he knows about 'Change Server' as well? Back during the days when he'd experimented with his power, he had come across a series of commands that in an MMO made sense, but in real life gave him a foreboding feeling. Things like Change Server, Change Character, and Log Off. What on earth could those things do to a guy in the real world? So thinking, he had never used those commands. And yet... He thought about the message again. This Storia Daisho person seemed to not only know about his power, but also that Jee-Han even had those commands.

He didn't even know if the guy could be trusted. He'd never heard the name Storia Daisho in his life, but should he really play it safe this time? His high INT was telling him 'yes,' but his WIS said 'maybe.'

"Argh!" he growled, running a hand through his dark hair, "What the hell. I'll apologize to the others later if it doesn't work! [Change Server!]"

The world around him blinked out, leaving him standing (or was it lying?) in complete blackness. "Oh shit."

However, even as he started to panic, another system message appeared. [Connecting to Server Hub.]

And just like that his heart rate slowed down again and he sighed. "Geez," he grumbled to himself, "Why am I still doing stupid shit like this? Also, where am I?" As he looked around, he realized that the surroundings were nowhere near as featureless as he'd first thought. He was standing in a spacious corridor, dimly lit and lined with bookshelves. A library? Absently, he looked up to see what was illuminating the room and gasped. "What the-?"

While the height of the bookshelves was not too unusual (reaching about ten to eleven feet), what lay beyond them filled Jee-Han with shock. Instead of a ceiling, the top of the library opened out onto a stretch of…something. It was dark mostly, but he could faintly make out indistinct colors. Beyond that, however, was an abyss that stretched on forever, infinitely distant, while at the same time pressing down on him with almost malicious closeness. Faintly, Jee-Han wondered if staring at it for so long was a smart thing.

"My apologies for keeping you waiting," said a voice, making him jump. Looking around, he saw a man walking serenely down the aisle toward him.

In many RPGs, there was almost always a 'Wizard-type' or 'Mage-type' character. The NPCs of that archetype usually resembled the famous Gandalf of old; gray hair, beard and robes, often with a staff of some sort. This man, Jee-Han thought privately, fit that description almost perfectly. He wore loose robes of a soft gray material, his hair was gray, and behind black-framed glasses, a pair of gray eyes pierced the young man shrewdly. A silver cane trailed jauntily from his hand. In fact, the only thing he was missing was a beard. But he did not need it, as the air around him was supercharged with an aura of mysticism. As he approached, Jee-Han automatically glanced over his head. As was normal for his ability, the old man's name appeared above him.

[The Narrator]
Lv. ? Storia Daisho

Once more Jee-Han found himself gripped by confusion.

In certain video games, a character's level could become obscured if their level was greatly removed from the player's own. Jee-Han had experienced such a phenomenon before, with his own mother, his friend's grandfather, and the Korean Branch Manager of the Abyss Auction. In all their cases however, even though their levels were obscured to him, he could still estimate it by the number of question marks their level had. Even his mother's level had been in the double digits.

So why did this man have only one?

The man in question (Storia?) smiled secretively. "Seeing something interesting, Han-nim?"

"Ah," Jee-Han shook himself out of his stupor, "S-sorry. It's just that all this is pretty out of the ordinary."

"That is as I intended it," Storia said, nodding firmly, "You doubtlessly know my name already, so we shall dispense with the introductions. Thank you for coming to hear me out."

The black-haired man shrugged, slightly uncomfortably. "Yeah, well…you did say you had an offer for me, and I didn't really have any reason to refuse."

"Nevertheless, I'd feared your caution might rule over your curiosity," said the gray man calmly, "However, that is beside the point. I do indeed have an offer for you, Han-nim. An opportunity for, among other things, a paying job."

That caught the college student's attention in an instant. A job had been one of the few things that, for all his power, was still beyond his grasp. "And what would this job involve?"

Storia grinned at the question. Jee-Han gulped, as the expression revealed a wide mouth full of sharp teeth. "You are aware of the Gaia Theory in your world, correct?"

He nodded.

"Well, tell me," Storia's eyes flashed a piercing silver, "Have you ever heard of…the Multiverse Theory?"

The Gamer's Mind Skill suddenly triggered, dispelling the younger man's nervousness. "The Multiverse Theory," he murmured, "That's the one where there are an infinite number of worlds, each one created by a choice, right?"

"More or less," conceded the gray man, "However, that is not the whole truth. You see, it is not only choices that create the world. It is ideas. For instance, worlds where all those games you enjoy are real. My job as the Narrator is to record the stories of the worlds."

For some reason, Jee-Han didn't feel too surprised. "So other, completely different worlds besides mine exist, is what you're saying," he mused, "Interesting." He looked at the other man. "And? What exactly do you want from me?"

Storia nodded as if satisfied. "What I want is for you to...help me make stories, so to speak. Your power would cause quite a stir in a great many worlds, you know."

"But, won't Gaia strike me down...?"

"Not so," he replied, shaking his head, "Most of these worlds are full of supernatural happenings on their own. Your involvement will not draw Gaia's wrath. There will be some danger besides that, of course, but I am certain you will be able to handle it. Although, even if you cannot...I will personally ensure that your life will not be lost. In addition, I will pay quite handsomely for each story. The reward need not be monetary either; I am not one to boast excessively, but I am a magic-user of considerable power. Should you desire to learn a certain Skill or even ask a favor of me, I will gladly do my utmost to provide. My...organization is most accommodating to those allied with us."

Jee-Han remained silent. Truth be told, he was sorely tempted by the offer; Storia had a way with words to be sure. "If I ever wanted to quit, or there was a 'story' I didn't want to do, what would happen?"

"You may leave our service at any time," Storia assured him, seemingly unbothered by the question, "As for qualms with stories...well, at worst I hope we could at least negotiate conditions. Some things simply must be done."

"...I see. Well, that's certainly a relief," sighed the black-haired young man. "Alright then, how about I take a look at one story first, and then decide where to go from there?"

Storia smiled widely and proclaimed, "Excellent! Let us begin. Now, I must warn you, each story will take up a considerable amount of time. Not to worry, though, you won't die of old age, and no time will pass in your own world. I will ensure that."

Jee-Han sweatdropped at the man's eagerness and nodded. "Y-yeah, you mentioned that before...so, what's this first story?"

The silver-haired mage smiled again, mischievously.

Chapter 1: Happy Birthday, Gamer

Uzumaki Naruto was not, at eleven years old, a timid child. On the contrary, anybody who knew him would (grudgingly) admit that the blond boy never backed down from a challenge. Granted, since he was still young, he had relatively few 'challenges' (aside from being rather poor and having little to no respect among his peers) but the principle was there. For as long as he could remember, Naruto had always had to endure the nearly universal expressions of distrust, disgust, and even disdain (as well as words that did not start with D) that the villagers gave him.

Despite all that Naruto swore that, one day, he would rise up to the highest level of Shinobi, the Hokage, and finally earn the respect and awe of everyone around him.

Of course, that was much easier said than done. Despite having been allowed to start at the Shinobi Academy two years early, Naruto found himself at a loss. Try as he might, he just couldn't keep up with the teacher's lectures, and his grades quickly fell to the bottom. He could have blamed it on the theory stuff being boring, but even the practical lessons were difficult. He could barely get his shuriken and kunai to hit the tree properly, let alone the target. Asking the teacher for help after class didn't help any either, as they always said that they had no time (which he highly doubted).

All of this, mixed with his poor chakra control, meant that he failed the Genin Exam miserably, twice. Now he was forced to take the final year for a third time, this time surrounded by children who were actually his age. However, even there his attempts to make friends were less than successful. A couple of them were at least cordial to him, but that was all. Worst of all however was Uchiha Sasuke, the so-called Rookie of the Year. From the first time they'd sparred together in Taijutsu, Naruto had disliked the brooding, apathetic boy. Part of it was because of the air he projected around him, an aura that said 'this is a waste of time,' despite excelling at every subject that the blond kept flunking. The fact that every girl in class fawned on him, shrilly expressing their encouragements (with nary a response from the Uchiha) only irritated him all the more. Fortunately he was not the only one, as a majority of the other boys disliked the boy too, though more for the latter reason than the former.

So no, despite his never-give-up attitude, Uzumaki Naruto could not truthfully say that his school life was very productive.

However, all of that changed on the morning of his twelfth birthday.

*Shoop*

[By Sleeping, all of your HP and MP have been restored.]
[All Status Effects have been dispelled.]

Naruto's bright blue eyes snapped open and he stared uncomprehendingly at the blue rectangles floating above him at eye level. No sooner had he read the words upon them than they disappeared with a flicker. "Hey!" he said reflexively, but they did not come back. "Must've still been dreaming," he mumbled to himself, sitting up. Oddly enough, he didn't still feel tired, as was usual for him when he woke up. Glancing at his alarm clock, he grinned. "Alright! I actually woke up on time! Now I won't be late." So saying, he pushed himself out of bed and went about his apartment, preparing for the day. Unlike most days, the blond boy wasn't in a complete panic, scrambling to get everything done at the last second. The fact that his birthday made it all the better. It was only until he stepped outside his apartment building and onto the street did his good mood come to a standstill.

The villagers of Konohagakure were all milling about the dirt roads, minding their own business. This was nothing unusual. What was unusual, however, were the words. Naruto stared at the blue text, each of which told of some sort of title, a number and what seemed to be the person's name, floating over everyone's head. "What the hell?" he asked himself quietly. Then he shook himself and took off towards the Academy, where hopefully things would be more normal.

…Well, not too normal; it was really boring at school.

However, arriving at the Academy did little to help Naruto's opinion on his mental state.

*Shoop* [You have arrived at the Konoha Academy Zone. As a Konoha Academy Student, you are granted benefits by being in this Zone. Mastery Rate increased by 10%. EXP +25%.]

All Naruto could manage was a flat, "What." He stood just inside the doors of the building, staring blankly at the blue rectangle that had suddenly appeared. "Mastery Rate? EXP? What the hell is going on?!" As the rectangle vanished once again, Naruto ran for the classroom. Maybe Iruka-sensei would know what was going on.

As Naruto dashed to the door and opened the door, he called, "Hey, Iruka-sensei!" But even as the tanned, scar-nosed man turned to look at him, the blond's stomach sank. Floating above the teacher's head was another of those weird signs.

[Academy Instructor]
Lv. 25 Umino Iruka

If Iruka-sensei doesn't notice those things, he probably can't help me, Naruto thought to himself. So instead of asking him for advice, he only grinned and rubbed the back of his neck. "Eh…I'm not late today!" he said brightly.

Blinking, Iruka looked up at the clock and gained a pleasantly surprised expression. "So you are. Good work, Naruto. Just try to make that into a habit, okay? A good Shinobi is punctual, after all."

*Shoop* [You arrived at class on time. +10.1% EXP]

"Gah!" Naruto jumped back from the sudden appearance of the message. When Iruka only looked at him funny, it only confirmed Naruto's suspicion. Only he could see the rectangular…things. More perturbed than before, today Naruto went to sit somewhat towards the back.

Lessons that day were even more of a bother to the boy than usual, as the phenomenon of the mysterious name tags persisted. Even all of his fellow students carried them over their heads, along with a number. Said numbers were universally in the double-digits, however, unlike Iruka. Most of them were listed as Lv. 10 to 13, though there were a few 14s and 15s scattered among the students. A sudden hunch made Naruto look upward: sure enough, there was a marker above his own head.

[The Gamer]
Lv. 10 Uzumaki Naruto

"Ugh!" He winced as he realized that his level was the lowest there. While Naruto had no idea what a 'Gamer' was, some small part of him was glad to see that the phenomenon was at least affecting himself as well. It was just that only he could see it. He grimaced when he saw Sasuke, though.

[Uchiha Clansman]
Lv. 15 Uchiha Sasuke

"Bah," he muttered under his breath, "Of course his is the highest here!"

Under normal circumstances, anyone sitting next to him would have probably just dismissed his words as bitter grapes, given that his attitude towards Sasuke was already well-known. However, that day Naruto had ended up accidentally sitting next to a unique student. By unique, of course, I mean that she was the only one who actually cared what he thought. Without meaning to, her voice escaped her mouth. "Um..."

Naruto blinked as a soft, high voice spoke out next to him. He looked around, realizing belatedly that he wasn't sitting in his usual place, and saw who he was sitting next to. It was a girl, with a short hair that a dark enough blue that it might almost be confused for black, and a small, pale round face. However, what stood out the most to him were her eyes. They were strikingly pale, almost completely white with a faint tint of lavender, and seemed to lack a pupil. If it weren't for the fact that she was looking directly at him, a look of slight concern on her face, he would have thought that she was blind. His eyes flicked over her head.

[Hyuuga's Heiress]
Lv. 14 Hyuuga Hinata

Okay, so that's her name, he thought. "What is it?" he asked.

Confusingly, she ducked her head, a light pink flush coloring her cheeks. "W-well...no, it's nothing...sorry," she mumbled.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her, but went back to staring vacantly at the front of the room. Now, however, he found himself glancing again at his seat-mate, who was looking slightly disappointed about something now. Weird.

Apart from that incident the rest of that day's lectures went uneventfully. It wasn't until they moved to the physical stuff that things got even weirder.

As usual, towards the end of the day Iruka and Mizuki took the students out behind the school building and instructed them to throw shuriken at targets, one at a time. At this point in their education, all students could hit at least one target. To his frustration, Naruto could only manage two out of five.

When it was her turn to throw, Hyuuga Hinata managed to hit three of the targets. However, they all bounced off the tree, rather than sticking like they normally would.

Iruka congratulated her kindly on getting so many targets, but recommended that she throw the stars harder next time. Hinata nodded without a word and walked back to the group, head low. Naruto didn't know what she looked so disappointed about. "At least you hit more than half of them," he muttered in her direction as she passed. He winced slightly as her head jerked up and she looked at him, apparently surprised. Then, to his surprise, she suddenly smiled. It was such a bright expression that it caught him flatfooted, but then she blushed, ducked her head and turned away. Even from behind, though, he could still see that the back of her neck was still rather pink.

To his great chagrin, Sasuke got all five (as always), which like clockwork got a squeal from all of his fangirls. He was somewhat surprised to see that Hinata did not seem all that interested in the Last Uchiha. Indeed, she winced slightly at the pitch of the squealing, but apart from that gave no reaction to the 'fantastic' feat. He tried to watch the dark-haired boy as he threw the shuriken. Begrudgingly, he had to admit that everything Sasuke did was pretty much spot on, from his stance to the way his wrist snapped as he threw each one. "Tch. Freakin' showoff," he muttered, cringing at the latest squeal.

*Ping!*

Naruto yelped and jumped backwards as another rectangle appeared in front of his face, but this time with a different sound effect.

[A skill has been created through a special action.]
*PING!*
[Through continuous observation, a Skill to find the target's information, 'Observe,' has been created.]

"What the hell." Again Naruto found himself staring at the apparition. A skill…to find the target's information? What? WHAT? WHAT'S GOING ON?!

"What's wrong with you, idiot?" spluttered Yamanaka Ino, whose foot he'd trodden on.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head apologetically. "Eh, sorry, Ino-san. Thought I saw a bee or something."

"Wimp!" she sniffed. However, she took a step or two back.

Dumb blonde, he thought hypocritically, ignoring the fact that he was blond too. The fact that she was a Sasuke fan-girl made it no more difficult to snark at her. Of course, she was one of the prettier girls in the class, so insulting her would be a bad move in the eyes of the other boys.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" Mizuki called. It was his turn.

Still totally bewildered by what had just happened (without anyone noticing, no less!), Naruto stepped up to the practice spot. Iruka handed him five shuriken and indicated a particular tree. It was somewhat distinctive, with four Xs carved in a vertical line along the trunk. "Alright Naruto, you know the drill. Just try to hit as many targets as you can. And don't try to show off and throw all of them at once, alright? I'll have to mark any misses, so you have to be careful."

Naruto sighed. For once, he decided that he just didn't feel like sticking it to the teacher. "Yeah, alright." Some birthday this was turning out to be.

Taking his position, Naruto held a shuriken in one hand. He carefully curled his arm, then with a snap, hurled it at the tree. To his very great surprise, the metal star struck the tree straight on. It was only at the edge of one of the Xs, but it was a hit on the first try! Naruto cheered to himself. It seemed that all his practice was paying off.

*Ping!*
[A skill has been created through a special action.]
[Through continuous use of thrown weapons, the skill for freely wielding projectiles, 'Thrown Weapon Mastery,' has been created.]

This time Naruto was not all that surprised. What did surprise him was that a third rectangle, this one colored red, appeared.

[Thrown Weapon Mastery (Passive) Lv. 1 EXP: 0.0%

Allows thrown weapons to be used freely
Increases attack damage with thrown weapons by 10%
Increases attack speed with thrown weapons by 10%]

Now, Naruto wasn't necessarily the smartest ninja around. Despite his penchant for elaborate pranks, he wasn't so good at things like math and percentages. However, he could at least get the gist of what this new 'Skill' was saying. So…the thing at the top says Lv. 1. Does that mean it can get higher 'Lv.s,' whatever those are? And if it does, does that mean I can get better with shuriken? Hm…this is still weird, but kinda cool. Suddenly aware that some of the other students were jeering at him (though he wasn't quite paying attention to what they were actually saying), Naruto started throwing again.

The second time, the star struck the upper left part of the topmost X. The third one hit dead center on the bottom-most one. With each throw, a smile began to grow on Naruto's face. I'm doing it. I'm actually getting them! Jubilantly, he tossed the last two shuriken in quick succession, hitting the second X from the bottom dead center, then the one above it.

*Ping!*

[Thrown Weapon Mastery has increased. Lv. 1 EXP: 5.6%
More weapons may be thrown accurately with more frequency.]

"Well done, Naruto!" Iruka congratulated happily, "You've been practicing since the last time, haven't you?"

Not having received praise very often from the scar-nosed teacher, Naruto grinned brightly. "Heheh, yep!" he said, and truthfully he had. If practicing could make him this good, he was definitely on to something. Maybe this isn't such a bad birthday after all!

He walked back to the group, hands behind his head and grinning widely at his classmates, all of whom were struck dumb. They all knew that the dead-last was...well, dead last, so seeing him throw weapons almost as well as the class prodigy was shocking.

Hinata opened her mouth as if to say something, struggled for a few seconds, then finally smiled at Naruto as he approached. Although he didn't really know what she was happy about, he smiled back, making her fidget slightly.

Once Ino had gone, Iruka gathered everyone together. "Alright you guys, since you all managed to do well with the throwing, we'll skip having to do it over again just for today. You can go home early; tomorrow we've got Taijutsu spars, so I hope you've been practicing!"

Some kids groaned at the prospect. Naruto was one of them; he was always on the receiving end of particularly humiliating fights. Granted he'd get the offender back later with a good prank, but his poor performance still stung his pride.

As the students all wandered away listlessly, Naruto walked with them. "Hnn…" he muttered to himself, "Maybe I can bum some Ramen off of Jiji." By 'Jiji,' he meant the old Sandaime Hokage and by 'some,' he meant 'several bowls at least.' Maybe while I eat I can figure out what's up with all of this weird stuff, he thought.

"U-um!"

A sudden, quiet exclamation made him stop and look around. It was Hyuuga Hinata again, standing just behind him with her arms behind her back. She was glancing off to the side, the pale skin of her face glowing faintly pink. "Yeah?" he asked, making her twitch, "What is it?"

"Uh…w-well," she mumbled, almost so quiet that he had strain his ears to hear, "It's just…um…" Suddenly, she pulled her arms out in front of her, ducked her head and held up a box. "H-here!"

Naruto jumped in surprise at the sudden movement. "Eh?" he asked cluelessly, "What's this?" Seeing her face blush even darker and that she'd started trembling slightly, he quickly took it. "Er, thanks," he said.

Hinata nodded minutely, still looking down and bright red. Then, before he could ask what it was for, she ran past him and disappeared around the corner of the school building.

"Huh?" Naruto articulated, staring after her, "What was that about?" Then he looked at the box. "What's this supposed to be?" He opened it, and gaped at what he saw inside: a pair of dark green goggles. "Wow, this is…cool!" he cried, pulling them out, "Kinda a weird thing to get, but these are nice! Wonder why she got them for me…"

He looked inside the box and spotted a card at the bottom. Written in tiny, very neat handwriting were the words:

Dear Naruto,
Happy Birthday. I'm sorry these aren't orange, but I hope you like them anyway.
Lo-
From,
Hyuuga Hinata

Naruto's eyes widened at the short message. "She…knew it was my birthday?" Barely anyone realized that October 10th was his birthday. They were usually too busy celebrating the defeat of the Kyūbi no Yoko. In fact, not a one of Naruto's classmates had ever wished him happy birthday. Not that he expected any different, but to see it written in that neat handwriting…Naruto actually felt a little touched. He decided that if he ever had to speak to Hinata again, he'd definitely have to thank her.

First, though, he'd have to see about getting some Ichiraku's!

…

A few hours later, Naruto was sitting at the counter of Ichiraku Ramen. He'd managed to convince Iruka-sensei to spot him for the meal, much to the teacher's dismay. The Hokage had failed to show up, but Naruto wasn't too broken up about it. He'd taken to wearing his new goggles on his forehead, where he would one day place his Hitai-ate.

"Oh my!" said a teenage girl behind the counter teasingly, "Aren't you looking badass today?" She was much taller than Naruto, with a slender, well-proportioned body and brown hair tied back by a kerchief. Over her head were the words [Assistant Ramen Chef] Lv. 5 Ichiraku Ayame.

While the blond already knew her name, having frequented the stand for many years, he was surprised to see that her number was in fact lower than his, despite her being much older than him. Imagine that…

"Where'd you get the accessory, Naruto?" asked a middle-aged man. While slightly portly, the man's face continually showed contentment and patience. Over his head it said [Ramen Chef] Lv. 16 Ichiraku Teuchi.

"Ah, well," Naruto rubbed the back of his head, grinning, "I just got these today as a birthday present."

Ayame tried not to sound too surprised. After all, hardly anyone ever gave her young friend gifts of any sort. "Really? Who?"

Naruto frowned slightly as he tried to remember. "Er, I think her name was…Hyuuga Hinata."

Iruka blinked at him. "Really? I've never seen you hang around with her before…"

"That's 'cause I haven't," the blond answered honestly, shrugging, "I mean, even today she only said one actual word to me. Any time I talked to her she just got all red and wouldn't speak. But she gave me these goggles and ran off before I could say anything."

"Aww," cooed Ayame, ruffling Naruto's hair, "Sounds like someone has a crush!"

Naruto flushed and sputtered, "W-wait, hand on a second, what're you talking about?! I don't even know her!"

Teuchi and Iruka only chuckled darkly as the boy quickly became flustered by the girl's teasing.

…

Finally, as the sun started setting, Naruto trudged down back to his apartment building, taking the familiar path to the right floor and room. Absently, he flicked on the light as he entered, crossing the small kitchen/living room area and reaching his bedroom door. "I'm home," he grunted to no one in particular.

"Welcome back."

The boy stopped, frozen. Surely, he'd only imagined that answering voice, right? But it wouldn't hurt to check, just in case. Slowly, ever so slowly, Naruto turned on the spot, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead as he saw the kitchen table. Seated at the far side of it from him sat a young man with black hair, wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans. His expression was passive, but there was a light inside his eyes; a light that conveyed cleverness and a sharp wit.

But what terrified Naruto the most, besides the fact that this person had apparently entered his apartment without the key, was the name over his head.

[Game Master]
Lv. ? ? ? Han Jee-Han

Even as the sweat multiplied on Naruto's whole body, the man smiled easily. "Good evening, Naruto-kun," he greeted lightly. An unusual accent tinged his words slightly, but he spoke clearly, "Sorry that it took so long to find you, but I couldn't find my way around town. You must have a lot of questions, like what all those things you've been seeing are."

At last, Naruto snapped out of his fear. "You…you know about them?" he asked, "No one else could see them, but those weird rectangles just kept popping up wherever I go. And I can see everyone's names just by looking at them! If you know what's wrong with me, tell me!"

Jee-Han didn't seem all that concerned. He nodded slowly, his sharp eyes examining Naruto calmly. Finally, he leaned back in his chair and stretched. "Well," he groaned, "Might as well sit down, 'cause this'll take a while." Once Naruto had done so, grudgingly, the older man began, "Okay, so, let's start from the beginning: all those things you saw are part of an 'ability' that you now have."

"R-really?" Naruto's eyes widened. "What is it? And how'd I get it?"

"Kekeke," the man snickered, "You sure ask a lot of questions. But that's understandable. You've seen your name-tag, right? That ability is why you're now called 'The Gamer,' whatever you were before. We'll get to what the ability does in a little bit, but…as for how you got it…well, I gave it to you."

…

AN: And done. That whole thing went amazingly well. I'm surprised at how quickly the last half of the chapter got done. But anyway, here it is: the first chapter of CoG: Create New Character.

Summary time!

1. A quick description of Jee-Han and his situation. Please note that the manhwa is still ongoing, and still in the early stages at that. This fic's Jee-Han is from what might happen after the end of the series.
2. It has been shown in canon that Jee-Han worries about what he should do with his future, power or no.
3. So, of course, he is approached by none other than Storia Daisho himself. If you see any more Gamer crossovers from me, it'll be because of the 'arrangement' that they made here in this fic.
4. While The Gamer can see people's level, class and name, the former two may become obscured if the difference between the two people is too great. Storia is so unknown that his level is shown with only one question mark, which is impossible. Normally, Jee-Han would be able to see any one-digit level.
5. Naruto's 12th Birthday starts with a System Message blaring in his face. He is understandably confused.
6. Remember that they don't have video games in Naruto-verse, let alone RPGs. As such, Naruto has no idea why people are walking around with their names over their heads.
7. NaruHina fluff, because I can't help myself. Nothing much comes of it, besides Naruto learning that Hinata exists and what her name is. Right now he just thinks she's a bit odd.
8. Shuriken practice. Sasuke owns as usual. Bleh.
9. Naruto accidentally creates one of the most useful skills a Gamer can have: Observe. Sadly, he doesn't know how to use Skills yet, seeing as he doesn't know what video games are.
10. Then he manages to create a passive skill for throwing weapons. This kinda speaks for itself. And yes, it is that easy. That's what the ability does.
11. Hinata works up the nerve to give Naruto a birthday present, which is his goggles. Suggestions for stats/abilities on the goggles would be nice.
12. Brief Ramen scene in which Ayame teases Naruto.
13. In The Gamer, there is a significant level difference between ordinary people and Ability Users. The standard High School Student is about lv. 2 or 3. Even Jee-Han started out at lv. 3. However, the Naruto-verse is mostly populated by people who are trained from a very young age to become ninjas. As such, 12 year old Naruto starts out as a lv. 6, as do many other Academy Students, while older people like Ayame (lv. 5) and Teuchi (lv. 16) are much lower.
14. Naruto returns home only to find that Jee-Han has broken into his house.
15. Yes, the amount of question marks do make a difference. Jee-Han's level is in the triple digits. Seeing as there are still many things up in the air in The Gamer canon, it is unlikely that I will ever reveal what it is.
16. The explanations begin.
17. I actually went back and made an edit. Jee-Han's motivation for going along with this is no longer his lack of a job; instead, he's just really bored and wants something interesting out of his life now that he's the Game Master.
18. Second edit: all of the Academy students (plus Iruka) now have higher levels.

So. If you have any questions after all that, be sure to ask in a review or PM. I will do my best to answer. Even if you don't have a question, though, I would greatly appreciate it if you were to leave a review anyway.

As a gift, here are Naruto's current stats, as seen by Jee-Han. Note that not everything will be shown here.

Name: Uzumaki Naruto
Class: The Gamer
Gender: Male
Job: Final Year Academy Student
Title: Yondaime's Legacy
Level: 10
Next Level: 21.6%
Age: 12
Birth date: 10/10/? ?
Attribute: Wind, Demonic
HP: 900
MP: 1500
STR: 20
VIT: 31
DEX: 16
INT: 6
WIS: 10
LUK: 18
Status: [TBR]
Background: [TBR]
Current Emotions: Trepidation, Resolve, Loneliness

Anyway, hope you enjoyed that little snippet. See you next time.

North South out.