Prologue Arc

Set up and Get Up

You know I've always thought I was a pretty open minded person. I mean sure I was a bit of a shut in (as much one can be when they are a culinary student), played way to many video games and online board games, and had a stupid as hell saving people thing where I simply couldn't walk away from someone in need if my life depended on it.

Which…was kinda ironic considering it was what got me killed.

Yep you heard me. I died.

It is also occurring to me that I'm starting to sound like some kind of shonan protagonist or something. Fml.

It had really just been your typical day really. I had been out with a few friends (even if I was a shut in that didn't mean I didn't have friends ya jerks) when it happened. One of my friends had asked us to stop by a random department store while we were out, and being the nice, if not annoying, friends we were; we agreed. It had all been going well and we had just been about to check out…up until a random guy who was obviously committing his first real crime held up the cashier and in turn us…with a fucking sword.

I mean who did that in this day and age?!

Now being the understanding people we were when asked for our wallets and such we obviously handed…them…oh who the hell am I kidding?! Upon seeing what the amateur thief had chosen as his weapon of choice, my friends and I couldn't help but be amused. This was obviously not appreciated; however, as the thief not moments later attempted to stab one of my friends with said sword, a katana now that I think back on it. And wouldn't ya guess it, being the good friend I was, I took the blow meant for them like a pro!

And then proceeded to bleed out with a sword stabbed through my heart.

Slam, blam case closed right?!

Well considering that I'm now just kinda floating here in a world of pure white as far as the eye can see, I'm gonna say NO.

[Greetings -Warren Fall- You have been chosen to be reincarnated as the newest person to be gifted the ability 'The Gamer'.]

Oh and there was also that.

[Well hello to you too!]

[Anyways Tutorial I of 'The Gamer' is about to begin. Begin Tutorial I YES/NO]

Blinking away the surprise that sprung up with the 'hello' comment, I took a quick look around the infinite amount of white around me. I then turned back to the glowing pop up before me with a deadpan. 'Not like there's anything else better to do,' I thought tiredly before tapping YES.

[Great! Welcome newest Gamer to your Tutorial I stage! Now let's begin. Please say or think 'Menu'.]

Wow this is seriously happening. "Menu, Stats." Hey I've read fanfiction before; I know how this whole shtick goes.

[Well aren't we smart!]

[Name: Warren Fall] [Title: The Gamer]

[Race: Human (You never know!)] [Gender: Male] [Age: 16]

[Sacred Gear: None (Though there is always the possibility!)]

[Level: 1 (Exp: 0/100)]

[HP: 110/110] [MP: 0/ 0]

[STR: 1]

[VIT: 1]

[AGI: 1]

[INT: 1]

[WIS: 1]

[LUCK: 1]

[Unused Skill Points: 20]

[Money: 0]

[Affinities:]

{NONE}

There was even a life size picture of me in all my, plain ass, glory. I was a sharp faced guy, had straight black hair tied into a small tuff in the back with a few bangs along the front, and dark blue eyes. You know just your average guy all things considered-

Holy shit the Sacred Gear tag is just now hitting me! I'm gonna be reborn into Highschool DxD!?

[That's not gonna be a problem is it? After doing some searching we found that it had all your basic wants really. It has action, romance, drama, and comedy in spades! Plus it also has tons of hot girls your age-

OK THAT'S ENOUGH OF THAT! No, nope, nadda we do not have to continue that line of thought! Ahem Highschool DxD won't be a problem at all.

[Hmph I had a good rhythm going too! Well anyways, now that you've seen your stats let's talk serious here. You've got the choice to remain fully human, or you can become a new "species", as it were.]

Well dang that sounds pretty interesting, let's see what we got to work with.

[Species List:]

[Human]

[Devil]

[Fallen]

[Angel]

[Yokai]

[Vampire]

[Grim Reaper]

[Werewolf]

Hmm these are some interesting choices…although-

[Yep we thought it'd be interesting to give you some choices. Honestly the viewers at home are kinda voting for the Grim Reaper path or even the Werewolf path just to show off what they can-]

[Would you like to choose the opinion- Human-? Be aware this choice cannot be changed until given a later opinion.] [YES/ NO]

[Wait what are you-?!]

'Yes' I thought without a moment of hesitation before even finishing reading the text box.

[…you…why…ok the viewers at home are rightfully confused as am I, and I'm not supposed to be a truly sentient thing!]

I scratched my head in thought as I stared down at the text box before deciding to just straight with...them?

"Well honestly later on I could easily be changed if I so wanted to thanks to the Evil Piece or even Brave Saint systems," I said with a nonchalant shrug," though honestly I kinda don't wanna be changed. I mean I was human my last life, and I'd like to continue being human in this one. Sure I know if push comes to shove, it may still happen. Until that time; however, I'm gonna stay human to prove that I can stand up to the opponents in our path without being anything other than human." I finished with my head drooped simply thinking of the fights to come.

Because really the fights to come…they were gonna be hard. Oh and this whole "opponents in our path" thing is just something I know is gonna happen. Either because of my future abilities coming out, or I see/know someone is about to get hurt. Hell even if I don't get involved with Rias's whole arranged marriage debacle; I know that I wouldn't be able to stop myself from getting involved in the Holy Sword Arc no matter how much I tried.

Dear lord (that I seriously question is truly dead), I hate my saving people thing!

[Well then…I don't think anyone was expecting that.]

[Eh you've made your decision, so you're the one who is gonna have to live with it. Still you have received some rewards for choosing the Human path. ]

[We'll get to those in a moment; however, so for now let's continue with the Tutorial! Please say or think Menu.]

'Menu.'

[[Menu]]

[Status]

[Inventory]

[Skills]

[Quest]

[Mailbox]

[LOCKED]

[LOCKED]

[LOCKED]

[BGM]

[Help/Information]

Huh there was actually some locked stuff. That's a little surprising.

[Yeah those are gonna come later, one through levels, the other through doing a certain event, and the last through gaining a certain item. Now go to your Inventory Tab please.]

Nodding for no reason whatsoever, I clicked the tab and was slightly surprised by what I found.

[[Inventory]]

[Starter Pack (Human)]

[Sacred Gear Randomizer (Gamer Version)]

[So these are to help ya start off, and the Sacred Gear Randomizer is the special item you're getting thanks to choosing the Human path.]

Well that certainly helps! Though I can't help but wonder what "Gamer Version" means. Figuring I would find out soon enough, I went about clicking the Starter Pack first to see what I'd get.

[Ding!]

[For opening Starter Pack (Human) you have received:]

[25,000 Yen]

[10 Unused Stat Points]

[Passive Skill: Small Magic Core]

[Your House]

Giving a low whistle I couldn't help but be impressed with the starting set. The stat points would definitely help, the Magic Core was kinda self-explanatory, and I wasn't even gonna question the meaning behind "Your House".

[Great! Now that you've got your Starter Pack, how about we open up the Randomizer? Even I don't know what you're gonna get!]

Alright then, should be fun!

[You have selected Sacred Gear Randomizer (Gamer Version). Would you like to open this? YES/NO]

Clicking the YES I was met with a spinning roulette wheel stylized with dozens of different symbols. A couple symbols being things I could guess their meaning behind like the couple sword symbols I saw, a couple obviously revolving around the elements, and the rare few that had an 'L'. The meaning behind those ones rather obvious, but also very nerve inducing considering the possibilities.

The spinning cycle took about a solid minute to complete before finally landing on…is that a little ghost? Wait no its like barelyyy set along the line between the ghost (?) and an 'L'.

[Congratulations you have received the Sacred Gear, Trinity Tuner!]

Trinity Tuner? I have never heard of that Sacred Gear before…though I suppose since the Randomizer was a "Gamer Version" its perhaps a new Sacred Gear.

[Congratulations on getting a Sacred Gear! Now that you're equipped, have chosen to remain human for some weird reason, and have a basic understanding of how to use your new found abilities I think this is a good place to stop the tutorial!]

Wait that's it!? What the-

BEEP BEEP BEEP!

-hell!...Why is there a clock going off next to my ear.

Turning to the side I was met with, wouldn't ya guessed it, a clock beeping- BEEP BEEP BEEP- away on my bed side table…

Up until I remembered that I didn't have a bed side table to put a clock on. Shooting up from the bed, to only then realize that this was most definitely not my bed, I quickly surveyed my surroundings and found myself in a modestly sized master bedroom with a private bathroom, walk in closet, and large dark oak desk included.

[Notification! A message has been left in your mailbox!]

Jerking back from the glowing screen that appeared in my face, I stared wide eyed for a moment before remembering how exactly a screen was now appearing in front of me. I remembered the fact that I died and…and…

Nothing. I…I didn't really feel anything I should be feeling. Sure there was anger, sadness, and a whole bunch of mind numbing guilt over leaving my friends behind…

But at the same time I wasn't feeling any of that. I could still feel the emotions right under the surface of course, but they just couldn't seem to overcome the utter calm I was feeling and come pouring out and make me a blubbering mess like usual-

Wait a moment.

'Menu, Skills.'

Quickly scanning through the skills I had, I breathed a resigned, and dare I say very content, breathe as I stared at the skill known as 'Gamer Mind'.

[Gamer Mind (Passive) (Lv: MAX): Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows for permanent, peaceful state of mind. Immunity to psychological status effects or attacks.]

Of course I would have one of the two staple skills of 'The Gamer' ability. It was honestly a necessity for most "Gamers" since most ended up in not so nice places.

Thankfully my version of 'Gamer Mind' didn't seem to completely shut down all other emotions, and instead just kinda put them on the back burner. So both curse and blessing all wrapped up into one slightly insane package, cool cool.

Shaking off the negative thoughts, I figured since I was here I might as well go about seeing the other skills I currently-

PING!

[By realizing what was causing your mental stability and overcoming it in a short amount of time +1 WIS and +1 VIT!]

-had…well damn that's kinda nice. Anyways onwards to the skills!

[[Passive Skills]]

[Gamer Mind (Passive) (Lv: MAX): Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows peaceful state of mind. Immunity to psychological status effect.]

[Gamer Body (Passive) (Lv: MAX): Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game. (User receives no physical damage from attacks only pain for a few seconds and a loss of HP). After sleep in a bed user restores HP, MP and all status effects.]

[Observation (Passive) (Lv: 1): One of the most basic skills of The Gamer, this skill gives the user basic information about anyone or anything it is used on.]

[Small Magic Core (Passive) (Lv: MAX): A basic skill all magic users need in order to cast any form of spell, enchantment, or seal. If INT becomes high enough perhaps this skill will evolve!]

{+10 INT and +10 WIS.}

[Sacred Gear: Trinity Tuner (Passive/Active) (Lv 1): Also known as Plane of Boundless Souls, Trinity Tuner is a Longinus potential Sacred Gear that has the ability to combine lost souls and spirits (otherwise known as Phantasms) to either the owner's power or weapons. (Think of it as Personas from the Persona series)]

[[Active Skills]]

[NONE]

Holy Shit!

Okay firstly, Longinus potential Sacred Gear! That is definitely something serious to note, and then of course is the fact that I pretty much gonna be using Personas! I love the Persona/ Megami Tensei franchise! Though…if I'm reading this right then I'm gonna have to get "lost souls" somehow.

…maybe ID created mobs can drop stuff like that for me to use?

[By thinking logically about a newly acquired skill and how it may work as a "Gamer Version", +1 WIS has been added!]

Niceeee looks like asking convoluted questions is gonna help me a lot more than I thought!

All of that aside it'd probably be a good idea to check my Mailbox.

[You have one new message!]

[Hello -Warren Fall- as to help with your assimilation into your new role as 'The Gamer' several things have already been taken care of for you. For one, you have already been registered for Kuoh Academy's spring semester as a second year student which will begin in two weeks' time. Secondly, you have been gifted the ability to read and write the Japanese language. Finally, all your daily bills have been paid off indefinitely, a folder containing all the information you need to know about your new life is on the desk, and a booklet containing 'your house's' new features is down stairs.]

[By reading this message you have completed Tutorial I! Have a cookie!...Oh and here are the rest of your rewards.]

[Rewards: 1 Gamer Cookie, 100 EXP, New Skill: ID Create: Empty, ID Create: Battle Tutorial, and ID Escape.]

[Congratulations you have reached Level 2!]

Nice! I was really hoping I'd get ID Create. That's not only gonna make life a lot easier, bit it will also allow me to check if my idea about my Sacred Gear is right or not.

[A New Quest is Available!]

[Tutorial II: IDs, Battles, and Bosses!]

[A new tutorial is now available to help you understand the battle system and ID system!]

[Reward: 500 EXP, 10,000 Yen, Uncommon Item Randomizer, ID Create: Battle Zone]

Oh this is probably to help teach me to use ID: Create. I guess the tutorial could help, even if I did have a basic idea of how this is gonna go…actually hold on a moment. 'Menu, Stats'

[Name: Warren Fall] [Title: The Gamer]

[Race: Human] [Gender: Male] [Age: 16]

[Sacred Gear: Trinity Tuner (Lv 1)]

[Level: 2 (Exp: 0/300)]

[HP: 130/ 130] [MP: 220/ 220]

[STR: 2]

[VIT: 3]

[AGI: 2]

[INT: 2] (PS: +10)

[WIS: 4] (PS: +10)

[LUCK: 2]

[Unused Skill Points: 35]

[Money: 25,000]

PS? I guess that's referring to…Passive Skill? Considering I gained Small Magic Core that'd make a bit of sense I guess. But still, I need to fix this right now because that is a lot of Unused Skill Points…wait a minute? I started with 20 to work with, gained another 10 from my Pack opening, so where did that other five come from?

[Upon leveling up 1 point is added to all stats as well as 5 Unused Stat Points gained. Oh and for actually figuring you needed to question such a thing +1 INT!]

Oh that makes much more sense then. Though now that I give it some thought, I probably shouldn't use all my current points at once. I don't exactly want to seem more interesting than needed to early on after all.

[HP: 200/ 200][MP: 230/ 230]

[STR: 5] (+3)

[VIT: 10] (+7)

[AGI: 5] (+3)

[INT: 3] (SMC: +10)

[WIS: 4] (SMC: +10)

[LUCK: 5] (+3)

[Unused Skill Points: 19][Money: 25,000]

Alright I probably could have used a few more than that, but honestly I'd rather have the extra for a rainy day.

[Happy to see you're ready for the next step! Now firstly, you'll probably want to put on some more appropriate clothing.]

'Huh?' Looking down I saw that I was only currently wearing a pair of sweat pants as pajamas. I also seemed to have regained the muscle I had lost these past couple years as a shut in. I now sported a little muscle along my arms and legs and the beginnings of what looked to be a six pack.

A slightly disturbing addition; however, was the puncture scar right where the sword that originally killed me would have pierced my heart.

Shaking off the worrying memories (and allowing Gamer Mind to do its thing), I sent a quick look through the walk in closet which wielded clothing both my size and my particular style. So after a quick look at what was available, I grabbed a pair of grey jeans, a white tee shirt, a black sleeveless hoodie, a pair of belts where one went through my pant loops while the other hung crooked, and a pair of dark grey sneakers.

Looking at the full length mirror set up along the back, I also discovered that I had retained my black hair and my old style, but my eyes had changed from their previous dark blue into a startling gold color that was in no way normal…they were warm however, much warmer than my previous, somewhat dull, eye color was.

Deciding I might as well look through my new house, I also went exploring a little, and what I discovered was what could only be described as my dream house.

After looking out the window, I found that I had been given a two story, suburban house located in a decent neighborhood. The top floor contained a good four bedrooms; the master bedroom housing a personal bathroom while the hallway contained a hub bath for multiple people to use. The downstairs area was where things got very interesting. The main living room contained a couple leather couches which were really comfy, numerous recliners, and looked to be connected to the kitchen via a set of swing doors and a long open window. The center piece of the living room was what I could only call a "Wall of Gamer". An entire wall to wall entertainment center was set up along the wall farthest from kitchen entrance; the entertainment center housing well over thirty different gaming systems of different makes and models and a huge ass flat screen that was perfect for gaming. I sent a good ten minutes just staring at the "Wall of Gamer" before I eagerly went through all the games provided and practically salivated at the games found.

The kitchen was the second area of immense interest, and if the living room was a gamer's dreamland then the kitchen was a chef's paradise. It housed two top of the line ovens, two different stove sets each containing ten eyes each, two dishwashers with a plethora of dishes and utensils for future use, at least four different microwaves and toasters located at varying positions along the walls and counter tops, a walk in cabinet well over twice the size of my new closet, a walk in freezer the same size, and finally a central island that I found with a push of the button could transform into unfolded hibachi grill. I once again went about practically salivating at the dream kitchen I now had, and I had to drag myself away in order not to start cooking at that very moment.

The final area of interest was surprisingly enough the basement. Why you may ask? Well considering it was a man cave of epic proportions what do you think?! I mean seriously; it had two pool tables ready and waiting to be used, recliners of various makes and models that all looked comfy as fuck, and finally...a bar. A fully stocked bar that from just a quick look contained rare and valuable bottles of alcohol that I had only dreamed of even tasting. I think it should go without saying that I almost made a lake with how much saliva was escaping my unhinged jaw.

Finally done with my looking around, I went about finding the booklet mentioned before. Upon finding it on one of the living room couches and reading through it, I came to realize just what exactly my new home was. To put it bluntly my new house was the equivalent of a magic bomb shelter. It could survive a full powered attack from a Saten Class devil supposedly, and it could keep out anyone trying to teleport into it with extreme prejudice. It also had the ability to silence and lock any room in the house for privacy...make of that what you will.

[Well now that you've finished gawking over your dream home what's say we get to fighting some things!? All you've gotta say is ID Create: Battle Tutorial, and the system will take care of the rest. Oh also try and make a cool pose for when you do it!]

It took all I had to not deadpan at the system for that last bit before just sighing and deciding "screw it". That said I went about raising my hand up and pretended to grip the air above my hand like I was trying to break something.

"ID Create: Battle Tutorial!"

With the skill vocalized the world around me proceeded to literally crack and fall apart like glass and be replaced with a red moon lit city. My current location seeming to be a random suburb lined with an assortment of everyday houses. They were more foreboding; however, as each was lined with dark gray and black colored brick instead of the usual white. The fact that they were all illuminated by the creepy ass red moon didn't really help either.

[Now before we actually get you into the fighting, we should probably see about getting you a weapon.]

[Please Pick 2 (will be random of each type)]

[Sword]

[Axe]

[Knuckles]

[Pole Arm]

[Handgun]

[Rifle]

[Shotgun]

"Sword and Handgun."

In a burst of white light, I soon found myself with a sword in one hand and a pistol in the other. The sword appeared to be styled after a cutlass with a basic hand guard while the pistol appeared to be a six shooter with a white handle.

[Channeling Cutlass (Uncommon): An enhanced cutlass forged with magic conductive metals. By channeling Mana into the blade you can power up attacks.]

{(Boost Cost: 5 MP a second.) (Damage: 15-30(Channel: 30-40))}

[Channeling Revolver (Uncommon): An enhanced revolver forged with magic conductive metals. By channeling Mana into the gun you can reload the gun.]

{(Reload Cost: 10 MP) (Damage: 10-20)}

[Great! Now that your equipped let's start the first wave!]

Wait, what do you mean first-

[WAVE 1 – 3. START!]

-wave? Well that answers my questionnnnn- "What the hell is THAT!?"

I mean because seriously even with 'Gamer Mind' keeping me from freaking out that doesn't stop the baser fear I felt upon watching the mass of human flesh that could only be a non-living, not breathing zombiestumble its way towards me from where it appeared around a corner.

"Oh that is just…actually not all that bad," I said aloud after actually looking closely at the shambling figure. I mean don't get me wrong; the thing had clumps of flesh missing from various parts of its body, and I could almost see the flies around its form from where I was standing. It still had a bit of an almost cartoonish quality to it; however, that honestly made it not all that bad. I mean at least it didn't look as bad as some of the fucked up zombies made over the years for TV shows and video games.

Or maybe 'Gamer Mind' was just putting in some work. Probably both now that I think about it.

"Groooo." Oh right that things still an issu-HOLY ITS 5 FEET FROM ME!

"BANG BANG BANG!" Three shots instantly connected with the walking corpse, and with it the entirety of the zombies left shoulder and arm were blown off like wet paper.

[A new skill has been discovered!]

[Firearm Mastery (Passive) (Lv 1): You can shoot things sure, but if you're gonna naturally grow better best make it a viable skill right?]

{Lv = Extra Damage for Ranged Gun Damage.}

"Damnnn," I breathed out, rather impressed, while looking down at the slightly smoking gun in my hand. Looking back at the zombie, I was further surprised by the fact that it seemed to be sentient enough to show confusion over the fact that is was now missing a limb, and in turn not advancing towards me.

Actually now that I have a moment, 'Observe.'

[Zombie (Lv 3)]

[HP: 60/ 90] [MP: 0/ 0]

Only 30 damage? I mean yeah the revolver had a range of 10-20 damage, but what about my STR stat?

As soon as I finished the thought the world seemed to become grey scale, and the zombie in front of me froze in place.

[Right that's my bad. Let's go over your Stats really quick.]

[STR (Strength): Your STR Stat focuses on your overall strength for any physical activity. Your STR Stat will also influence all your "Physical" Active Skills as well as your overall damage with close range weapons.]

[VIT (Vitality): Your VIT Stat focuses on your overall health and is directly tied to your HP Stat. Your VIT Stat will determine the effectiveness of Status buffs and rebuffs to your person.]

[AGI (Agility): Your AGI Stat focuses on your overall speed and dexterity for all physical activity. Your AGI Stat will determine the speed/charge time at which all Active Skills can be used.]

[INT (Intelligence): Your INT Stat focuses on your overall personal intelligence and is directly tied to your MP Stat. Your INT Stat will influence all your "Special" Active Skills as well as your overall damage with magic based attacks.]

[WIS (Wisdom): Your WIS Stat focuses on your overall knowledge and proficiency in all Skills. Your WIS Stat will influence your rate of learning and understanding of information. (It will also be required in all crafting recipes!)]

[LUCK (Luck): Your LUCK Stat focuses on your overall luck for damage and status conditions. Your LUCK Stat will influence any and all crafting recipes for the percentage of damage gained in weapons, rare skills being gained in Phantasms, and many more.]

"Well that certainly would have been nice to know before," I grit out with a twitching brow. Especially since, if I was reading this right that meant that none of my stats would increase the damage behind ranged gun attacks!

[Hey Firearm Mastery will cover that ya jerk! But still as an apology for not showing this earlier here's +1 to all Stats!]

"Grooo," the zombie groaned out as time reset itself and seemed to have used its time out to get over the loss of a limb.

Quickly shoving my revolver into my hoodie's front pocket, I went about testing out my new cutlass. A few quick sword strikes later (without Channeling mind you), and the zombie groaned out, in what I could only imagine as pain, before it simply dissolved away into sparkles of light. The rewards left behind being only a measly 10 EXP and about 200 yen in change, so pretty meh rewards for a first kill.

[A new skill has been discovered!]

[Single Sword Mastery (Passive) (Lv 1): All roads to mastery start at the first step, or in this case with your first sword!]

{Lv = Extra Damage for Sword based Damage.}

[Oi don't get so high and mighty, like you just said it was your first kill on a rather weak enemy. Thankfully we've got some more Waves!]

[WAVE 2 – 3. START!]

Well that was fasttt hello zombies all around me.

Looking around quickly, I was met with about 9 more zombies. Mixed into the shambling horde; however, were what looked to be 3 rather basic looking skeleton mobs with purple robes being the only thing of genuine note.

'Observe.'

[Zombie (Lv 3)]

[HP: 90/ 90] [MP: 0/ 0]

[Skull Servant (Lv 4)]

[HP: 110/ 110] [MP: 40/ 40]

Wait the Skull Servants have MP? If I'm figuring this right then since they have the ability to use MP techniques doesn't that mean they can-FIREBALL!

Diving to the side, I narrowly dodged a fireball the size of a beach ball hurtling towards me. I then had to quickly move again in order to avoid another two coming from the other Skull Servants. One of the fireballs skimming my arm as if flew past and dealing 18 damage in the process.

"Okay then you bags of bones die first," I hissed out as I shot at one of the skeletons a couple of times before diving through a couple of zombies in order to strike it down for good. Unfortunately I was then hit in the back hard enough to make me topple over, and had to swing wildly before I could pull myself away from the few zombies that had tried to corner me.

"Maybe not my smartest move," I said with a wince before Gamer Body kicked in and healed the bruises I was sure to have had otherwise.

[HP: 160/ 200] [MP: 220/ 230]

"Tch, gonna have to fight smarter I suppose," I muttered while eyeing the remaining zombies and fire throwing skeletons. Good thing too considering one of the skellies threw a fireball not a moment later. Feeling inspiration strike I pulled back my sword arm back and channeled magic down the blade.

"Video game logic don't fail me now!" I yelled out while swinging the blade into the incoming fireball. Unfortunately video game logic did in fact fail me as instead of hitting the fireball back at its user like I intended, it instead cut the fireball in half.

[A new skill has been discovered!]

[Power Slash (Active) (MP Cost: 10 MP): Channeling magic into your weapon is simple enough right? Well with Power Slash you're making your blade even sharper and deadlier]

{Damage= STR + lowest Damage range of weapon used}

New skill aside, I really wanna try and recreate that rebound attack.

Quickly taking down a few of the zombies nearby, gaining a level in Firearm and Single Sword Mastery in the process, I waited for one of the Skull Servants to launch another fireball. As soon as one did, I went about preparing to slash at the fireball once again.

The moment before my slash would connect; however, I sent a burst of mana through the blade to try and see if that would get me the results I wanted.

The answer would be a resounding yes.

[A new skill has been discovered!]

[Counter (Active) (MP Cost: Depends on attack countered): A very useful and powerful technique that allows the user to counter attacks thrown at them. This Skill does not require a weapon to be used!]

"Fuck yes! Now that is what I'm talking about!" I shouted gleefully as the fireball shot back toward the Skull Servant that originally sent it out. Heck the skelly seemed to even realize that what I did wasn't supposed to really happen, and thus freaked the fuck out.

"Now that I can deal with that," I said with a slight shift into my somewhat regular tone and stance," let's see about dealing with the rest of you undead fuckers."

What happened next could only really be called all out carnage as the Zombies seemed to realize that I was no longer just testing stuff out, and thus began a forward charge in a very zombie esc fashion. Revolver and cutlass worked in tandem to clear a path through the zombies to the remaining Skull Servant, and once there I took great satisfaction in using Counter at point blank range to kill off the final fire juggler. The long range mobs dealt with it was really only a matter of using Power Slash a couple of times and a few more reloads of my revolver to shoot off any limbs that tried to hit me and the horde was dealt with.

The overall haul for that particular wave being a solid 3,000 yen, 165 EXP, a few levels added to Firearm and Single Sword Mastery, and finally a few scrapes of cloth off of the Skull Servants.

[Magic Saturated Cloth (Common): A rather basic material that can be combined with more cloth in order to make magic enhanced clothing. Better affects being available with the introduction of added reagents or enchantments.]

All in all a much better haul than that first wave.

[Damnnn boy, you're doing a lot better than we thought you would! Hmm actually ya know what? How's bout for your final fight in the tutorial we add a boss into the mix?!]

[FINAL WAVE START!]

[Boss Stage Rearrangement Begin]

Before I could even go about questioning the last text box the ground beneath me began to shake hard enough to make me fall over, and the buildings around me began to literally slide away. The area's "rearrangement" continued for a solid thirty seconds, and upon ending the result was a good quarter-mile of open space with me in the epicenter.

Dusting myself off after having fallen over, I gazed around the open area wondering what on earth I was supposed to be fight-

"ROARRRR!"

Before that line of thought froze along with the rest of my body at the fucking dragon esc roar that seemed to rend the air apart around me. I then slowly went about glancing up, and then went wide eyed at the thing trying and failing to fly in a straight line towards me.

Purple like flesh (because I seriously doubt scales have the ability to rot) adorned a body easily the size of a double decker bus, with clumps of said flesh appearing to be either missing or rotted off, leaving red muscle visible for all to see. Large wings, with enough tears and holes that it had no right to fly at all, decorated its back while its tail appeared to just limply hang off its rear as if it were one hit away from simply falling off. Finally, filled with yellow colored gases which I was sure as hell wasn't smoke, was a distinctly dragon shaped head glaring down at me with yellow eyes that screamed malicious intent.

All of these things were observed in my eyes, but the true reason I become stuck in place was because I'm pretty sure I went into shock from the pure power seemingly emitting from the abomination flying overhead.

It was at the moment, I understood why the various factions feared dragons no matter their size or level of power.

Hell if it weren't for 'Gamer Mind' I'm pretty sure I would have continued to simply gape at the dragon flying toward me. As it was, with 'Gamer Mind' forcing me into an extremely false state of calm I was actually able to think coherently enough to think 'Observe'.

[Zombie Dragon Lv 10]

[HP: 600/600] [MP: 250/250]

"For fucks sake Gamer system!" I cursed aloud at the shear absurdity of what was being thrown at me. I was Level 2 for God's-er wait that's right he's not…available. Uhhh how about for Gabriel's sake? Yeah Gabriel seems like a pretty fair and nice Seraph that wouldn't mind being used for calling out bullshit because that right there! That is bullshit.

"ROARRR!" Dammit and here the rotting death lizard comes!

Diving to the side I was able to dodge the rather wild dive the Zombie Dragon tried to pull off before taking a couple quick shots at its side to figure out how much damage I could even deal this thing. The answer was about a clean 34 which okay while not bad; it was most defiantly not the best.

Before I could even react the zombie lizard dug its, surprisingly intact, claws in the concrete below, burned off pretty much its entire momentum in moments, and turned on a dime in order to breathe a cloud of gas into my face.

"Oh Gabriel that is rank!" I wheezed out as my lungs began to burn as if I were inhaling acid. The force behind the breath attack going as far as to send me skidding backwards a couple yards, and almost losing my weapons in the process.

[You have been Poisoned!]

[Status Aliment Unlocked!]

[Poison: Deals damage over time with different types dealing more damage over time.]

Damn! How much damage did all that just deal?!

[HP: 130/ 200] (Poisoned! -1 every second! Last Thirty Seconds!)

[MP: 135/ 230]

Unholy Shit! Did that one hit do 30 damage-GIANT HAND!?

Diving once again to the side in order to avoid the giant limb about to smash me into paste, I quickly went about putting some more distance between us. Turning back to the dragon, I quickly aimed with my revolver and-

"Did you really just get your arm stuck in the ground?!" I asked incredulously as the Zombie Dragon tried to pull its arm from the hole it made in the ground below. Of course who was I to let this golden opportunity leave me, and proceeded to lay into the thing with as many shots and slashes as I could manage.

I had to stop; however, when the overgrown gecko finally got its arm free. The look of murderous rage in its eyes only shinning brighter as it roared at and rushed me.

"Nope nope nope!" I cried out as I ran, and somehow outpaced, the dragon as it shambled after me. Pretty sure it did more damage to itself than I did when it ripped its arm out of the ground if it's this slow on land.

Hmm now that's an idea.

"Come on you overgrown vape smoker, I'm right here!" I shouted at the dragon as I stopped in my tactical retreat. The insult seemed to help (read make it pissed off) as the dragon attempted to once again smash me with its arm.

"Video game logic for the win," I whooped in glee as, once again, it got its arm stuck in the ground after I was forced to dodge the reckless blow. Rushing towards it I slashed into it as much as possible and channeled as many Power Slashes I could into my strikes.

"GROARRR!" The Zombie Dragon roared out as it finally got its arm free. It seemed to finally decide enough was enough; however, as it quickly spread its massive wings and proceeded to catch flight. The gale force winds it caused in its upward flight practically blowing me off my feet…

However distance wasn't really an issue now was it?

Quickly I went about laying into the beast as much as possible with my revolver while having to make the occasional dives out of the way in order to not get knocked off my feet. Eventually the thing finally seemed to understand that it needed to strike back, so it sucked in a huge gulp of air, and strained its rotting jaw wide open in order to launch a fireball twice my fucking size.

"Okay…fuck that." And with a huge heave and trying to focus as much as possible over the heat the fireball brought about at such close range, I swung at the fireball with all my might-

"Counter!"

-and slammed the fireball back at the rotting gecko at twice its original speed.

I could actually see the moment the poor excuse for a dragon realized it was fucked before it went up in a massive explosion.

"CRASH!" And then dropping out of the resulting smoke cloud with a massive crash, and raising even more dust and smoke in its wake.

Finally having a moment to breathe and let my adrenaline drop, I finally realized just how tired all of that had made me. Not in the traditional sense mind you, but more so in that I could feel how low my magic was, and the strain my body was under with my HP being so low-

[Congratulations you have reached Level 3!]

[Congratulations you have reached Level 4!]

-only for all that to disappear like it never bothered me as the level ups refilled my MP instantly and all my previously lost HP was restored. Thank you 'Gamer Body'!

[Now that's how you deal with a boss monster! No one ever said you had to use some bullshit shonan magic to end the opponent. Wit and Intelligence are all you need sometimes, especially for a Gamer.]

[For defeating an overwhelming enemy in an intelligent manner +2 INT and +2 WIS. Also it's recommend you go look through what loot it dropped.]

Heading the textbox's advice, I went over to the once crash site, and upon arriving found about 5,000 yen in cash, ya, and something…different.

"Okay what exactly am I looking at?" I voiced aloud as I stared at the floating…ball? I mean it kinda looked like what you would imagine a Will-o-wisp to look like, if a Will-o-wisp were black and dark purple in color. 'Observe.'

[Rare Dragon Phantasm (DARK): This DARK Element, dragon Phantasm is not yet complete. In order to use this Phantasm you must use Trinity Tuner in order to awaken the specific Phantasm it contains]

[What you see before you is an incomplete Phantasm which you can use to discover new Phantasms. The type of enemy this Phantasm is dropped by will determine what kind of Phantasm it will become.]
[The Tab –Sacred Gear- is now available!]

[The Sub Tab –Phantasms- is now available!]

As soon as I was done read the final words, the incomplete Phantasm flew forward and seemingly into my chest. Blinking away my surprise over the addition, I shrugged it off in order to continue reading the rest of the pop ups.

[You have completed Tutorial II: IDs, Battles, and Bosses!]

[Reward: 500 EXP, 10,000 Yen, Uncommon Item Randomizer, ID Create: Battle Zone]

[The skill, ID Create: Battle Tutorial, has evolved into the new skill, ID Create: Battle Zone.]

[Congratulations you have reached Level 5!]

Well with that done, I took a quick glance around in order to make sure I didn't miss anything. Not seeing anything that would constitute as important I went about raising my hand into the air and spoke," ID Escape!"

With those words said the world proceeded to shatter and fall apart before my eyes like pieces of glass. When the transition was said and done, I found myself back in my living room right where I had started with a quick look at the nearest wall confirming that only an hour had passed.

Now let's see. I woke up this morning to find myself having been reborn as 'The Gamer', this event also leading me to being 'reborn' into the world of Highschool DxD with a Sacred Gear, fought a horde of zombies and fire throwing skeletons, and topped it all off by having a tennis match with a zombie dragon.

With all that said and done there was really only one course of action I could take after all of this. A course of action I was honestly surprised I hadn't done before now…

"I need an effing drink."

STATS:

[Name: Warren Fall] [Title: The Gamer]

[Race: Human][Gender: Male] [Age: 16]

[Sacred Gear: Trinity Tuner (Lv 1)]

[Level: 5 (Exp: 50/ 800)]

[HP: 240/ 240][MP: 290/ 290]

[STR: 9]

[VIT: 14]

[AGI: 9]

[INT: 9] (PS: 10)

[WIS: 10] (PS: 10)

[LUCK: 9]

[Unused Skill Points: 34] [Money: 33,200]

[Affinities:]

{NONE}

SKILLS:

[[Passive Skills]]

[Gamer Mind (Passive) (Lv MAX): Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows peaceful state of mind. Immunity to psychological status effect.]

[Gamer Body (Passive) (Lv MAX): Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game. (He receives no physical damage from attacks only pain for a few seconds and a loss of HP). After sleep in a bed he restores HP, MP and all status effects.]

[Observation (Passive) (Lv 4): One of the most basic skills of The Gamer, this skill gives the user basic information about anyone or anything it is used on.]

[Small Magic Core (Passive) (Lv MAX): A basic skill all magic users need in order to cast any form of spell, enchantment, or seal. If overall MP becomes high enough perhaps this skill will evolve!]

{+10 INT and +10 WIS.}

[Firearm Mastery (Passive) (Lv 5): You can shoot things sure, but if you're gonna naturally grow better best make it a viable skill right?]

{Lv = Extra Damage for Ranged Gun Damage.}

[Single Sword Mastery (Passive) (Lv 4): All roads to mastery start at the first step, or in this case with your first sword!]

{Lv = Extra Damage for Sword based Damage.}

[[Active Skills]]

[ID Create/ Escape (Active): Used to create instant dungeons. Stronger instant dungeons can be created upon higher levels.]

Currently Available ID List:

ID Create: Empty

ID Create: Battle Zone

[Power Slash (Active) (MP Cost: 10 MP): Channeling magic into your weapon is simply enough right? Well with Power Slash you're making your blade even sharper and deadlier]

{Damage= STR + lowest Damage range of weapon used}

[Counter (Active) (MP Cost: Depends on attack countered): A very useful and powerful technique that allows the user to counter attacks thrown at them. This Skill does not require a weapon to be used!]

[[Unique Skills]]

[Sacred Gear: Trinity Tuner (Lv 1): Also known as Plane of Boundless Souls, Trinity Tuner is a Longinus potential Sacred Gear that has the ability to combine lost souls and spirits (otherwise known as Phantasms) to either the owner's power or weapons.]

PHATASMS:

NONE

ITEMS:

[Channeling Cutlass (Uncommon): An enhanced cutlass forged with magic conductive metals. By channeling Mana into the blade you can power up attacks.]

{(Boost Cost: 3 MP a second.) (Damage: 15-30 (Boosted: 20-40))}

[Channeling Revolver (Uncommon): An enhanced revolver forged with magic conductive metals. By channeling Mana into the gun you can reload the gun.]

{(Reload Cost: 5 MP) (Damage: 10-20)}