Notes: I've decided to expand Gamer (Chapter 3 of my one shot collection) into a proper fic. I'll be using Gamer as an outline, but there are things I want to change and elaborate. I'm trying to work on "showing, not telling" and dialogue in my writing, so this fic will be a learning experience for me. Finally, this is a fusion with a Korean webcomic called The Gamer, but you won't need to be familiar with that to understand this story.

Chapter 1

Jack lingered in the doorway and tried to gather the courage to confront his mother. All day he'd been distracting himself with homework and chores, and there was nothing left to do. He had run out of reasons for putting this conversation off. Jack took a breath and stepped into the den.

"Hey, Mom? Can I talk to you?"

June switched off the TV and shifted on the couch to face him, "Of course. Is something wrong?"

"Not really, it's just—I have questions, and I think you have answers." Jack's eyes slid to the text hovering over his mother's head. LV ? June Darby

"Oh?"

Jack sat down next to her and stared at his hands while he tried to find the words he needed, "The past few weeks have been really strange for me. It's like something out of a cartoon, or comic book. I don't know for sure that you're involved, but you're strong, stronger than anyone else in this town. There are probably other explanations for that but…"

June looked shocked for a moment before her face fell, "Oh, I was really hoping to go forever without needing to have this conversation with you."

"You mean—?"

"First, I need you to tell me exactly how things have been strange for you lately. I need to make sure that we're on the same page."

"Okay, this is really weird to say, but… it's like I'm a video game character? When I look at people I see their level and name floating above their head. That's how I knew something was strange with you; I can't see your level. I get quests every time the teachers assign homework or you give me a chore. I get experience when I work out or study. I even leveled up the other day and got stat points for it. I tried moving some of the heavier pieces of furniture before and after I put all those points into strength, and I could tell the difference. I get skills that level up when I do certain things, like Cooking when I make dinner. Oh, and I kind of accidentally destroyed one of your old books? It turns out I can also use instructional books as skill books. I got the Sewing skill from one of your books, but that destroyed the book, so… Sorry?"

June blinked at him. "That's fine. I don't really use them anymore. I'd been meaning to donate them. Is that all you can do?"

"Yea—no, wait. I also have an inventory screen. Inventory." Jack picked up a couch cushion and shoved it at the screen that appeared. (Well, it appeared to him, all his mother would see was the cushion disappearing into thin air.) He waited a moment before pulling it back out ant returning it to the sofa.

"Wow, that's a lot of abilities to start out with. Alright, I'm going to explain this to you the way it was explained to me when I first became involved in all this. Are you familiar with the Gaia theory?"

"You mean like the planet itself being alive?"

"Yes, well, it might be true. A lot of people with abilities like us accept it as true anyway. There are other names for it, if you prefer. Providence, natural law, principle, origin… god…"

"What, really?" God existed? His mother had never been particularly religious, so this was especially shocking.

June shrugged, "I don't know that for certain, but the fact is supernatural abilities exist. Telekinesis, teleportation, flight, pyrokinesis, they're all real. Some people were born with these abilities. They are known as Natural Ability Users. It's like they were chosen by the planet. Usually, but not always, their ability has some significance to the person. You got a video game power because that's how you spend all your free time."

"What about you?"

A dark look passed over her face, "I almost died in a fire when I was young, so-" She held out her hand and called a small flame into her palm. After a few seconds, she clenched her fist and extinguished the fire. "I probably don't need to tell you this, but you need to be careful about using your powers in front of others."

"I can guess—government goons, experimentation, death."

His mother smiled briefly and shook her head, "The government would be the least of our worries. The planet doesn't like being exposed. People who are too blatant with their powers tend to experience bad luck. The more obvious they are, the more likely that misfortune is to kill them. Fortunately, one skill all Ability Users have in common is the power to summon Illusion Barriers. Illusion Barriers are protected spaces where we can use our abilities freely without impacting the world around us. Here, I'll show you."

June stood up and extended her hand. Jack grabbed her hand and watched as she lifted her other hand and—suddenly, the world was silent. "Whoa, what did you do?"

"I opened an Illusion Barrier. You and I are the only living things here." His mother turned to the couch that they had been sitting on and unleashed a blast of fire.

"Mom! What the hell?"

"Language, Jack." June kicked over the coffee table before raising her hand a second time. There was a strange distortion around her hand, almost like shattering glass, and instantly the sounds of electricity humming through the house and insects outside returned. The sofa and table were in pristine condition.

"See, nothing I did in the Barrier affected our house. Now you try making one. Just hold up your hand, gather energy, and concentrate on creating an Illusion Barrier."

Jack held up his hand, closed his eyes, and focused. Eventually, that eerie silence returned and Jack opened his eyes to see that a trio of pop ups had appeared.

A skill has been created through a special act.

[ID Create] is created. It lets you make an Instant Dungeon, which is a type of Illusion Barrier.

[ID Create (Active) LV 1 EXP : 0.0% ] A skill to make an Instant Dungeon. You can make stronger ones by increasing your skill level.

"Good, now concentrate on leaving the Barrier."

Jack did so and soon they were back in the real world and another three windows telling him about ID Escape showed up.

"Hey, Mom? Are there different types of Illusion Barriers?"

"Yes, there are types with monsters for training; some people are able to harvest from those. There are also types that will provide boosts to allies and depower enemies. There are even time dilation Barriers. Why?"

"My power is calling them Instant Dungeons, and apparently I can make different types when I level the skill up."

"Jack." His mother waited until he was looking at her to continue. "You can do whatever you want with empty Barriers, but until I say otherwise, do not make any monster dungeons without bringing me along, understand?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Good. Now, there's one other reason for you to be careful to keep your powers secret, and that reason is other Ability Users. Let me show you something." She got up and walked over to their desktop. Jack walked over to stand beside her while she typed in a web address. "The term Ability Users use for this world of supernatural abilities and creatures that we hide from the normal world is the Abyss. This is the Abyss Auction. It's like Amazon for people like us. Look at the tabs."

They sold all sorts of things, weapons, information— "Slaves?!"

"Yes, the Abyss is lawless. It's easy for people in the Abyss to avoid the attention of law enforcement. Might makes right there. There's no central power that can say something like, 'no slavery' and enforce that. If someone tried to take control like that, the major powers would band together to take that person down. Anyway, this is why I moved to Jasper and stopped using my powers. So something like this wouldn't happen to me."

"I see. I'll be careful."

Notes: Now that we've gotten most of the exposition out of the way, next chapter should cover the events of Darkness Rising. Maybe more, we'll see. Thank you for reading.