There I was completely wasted, out of work and down,
All inside it's so frustrating as I drift from town to town,
Feel as though nobody cares if I live or die,
So I might as well begin to put some action in my life
— Excerpt from "Breaking The Law" by Judas Priest
The moment Martin bought the [Stand] skill: "Urgh!" Martin was brought down to his knees straight away.
*Ding!*
[Stand Awakening: 9%]
Despite his enhanced physique, the heat coursing through his veins was enough to test his resolve not to pass out.
*Ding!*
[Stand Awakening: 64%]
A couple of minutes later, Martin was recovering from his harrowing experience of unlocking his [Stand]. He imagined his experience similar to having a bath in a superheated sauna, his body steaming from the heat. Fortunately, his enhanced healing has saved him from dying from such an ordeal.
*Ding!*
[Stand Awakening: 100%]
*Ding!*
[Congratulations, Player! You have awakened an innate skill: Stand:[Judas Priest] (E) Lv.1]
*Ding!*
[Stand: [Judas Priest] (E) Lv.1 - Hybrid/Active
Description: [Stand]s are a type of personal entity of one's life and spiritual energy whose abilities are given visual form. A [Stand] can also represent the manifestation of an individual's innate "fighting spirit" and embodies, to an extent, the individual's psyche.
[Judas Priest] is a Phenomenon-type [Stand] therefore, it doesn't actually possess a physical form: Instead, it's bound to its user's body. [Judas Priest] has the power to cause a 'glitch' in the real world, which allows the Martin Harvie to perform short-lived faults common in video games and operative systems that affect technology.
The magnitude and efficiency of [Judas Priest] are connected to the mastery of the skill. This skill has a duration of 20 seconds, a cooldown time of 30 seconds, and can be improved by increasing the rank of the skill. Consumes stamina and mental energy upon activation.]
He only had one thing to say after seeing this skill. "What.The.Heck? What's up with this broken skill!? Did this thing really come from me?". The one thing he had a complaint to was that this skill would have been downright OP if it didn't have a cooldown. He doesn't know why it was named after the heavy metal band 'Judas Priest' from his world though.
After resting for one hour, he opened his stats check if something changed after the awakening.
[STATUS:
Name: Martin Harvie
Race: Human
Level: 0.77
STR: 9.5
CON: 16.8
DEX: 11.5
INT: 8.4
WIS: 14.5 (+3.5)
PER: 16.5 (+4)
KARMA: 810
SKILLS:
- Evil Eye [False] (E) Lv.16 - Innate/Passive
- Instinct (E) Lv.13 - Innate/Passive
- Stand: [Judas Priest] (E) Lv.1 - Hybrid/Active
- Brawling (E) Lv.6 - Acquired/Passive
- Marksmanship (E) Lv.3 - Acquired/Passive
- Mental Corruption (E) Lv.23 - Acquired/Passive
- Battle Continuation (E) Lv.1 - Acquired/Passive]
Martin saw that WIS and PER have increased by a wide margin as the direct result of [Stand] awakening.
After his rest, he was now ready to try the skill.
*Go~go~go~go~go*
When he felt the activation of the skill, he tried to do a 'wall glitch' common in FPS games. He tried going through the white wall but he was suddenly repulsed away by a resistive force.
'I guess it wouldn't be that easy..' Martin thought as he shook his head. After the failed attempt, he had a basic understanding of [Judas Priest]. As the description says, it allows Martin to replicate game glitches in reality which lasts for 20 seconds, which he thought was honestly a really neat skill to have.
After every 30 seconds, he tried a couple more of 'glitch' tricks and the only things he confirmed right now are, 1. 'Lagging' which delays a specific action until he cancels it and immediately, the previous action speeds up in relation to the time it took to lag. Just like when a game character lags and the connection catches up. 2. What he called 'no-clip' mode which makes him pass through things. 3. Glitching his face which he thought did not work until he realized that there are no mirrors which he then became surprised at a suddenly appearing body-length white framed mirror in the room.
It seems willing or requesting basic things in this space does not cost anything as long as it's just basic living necessities. This also means that he could decorate this room in any way he likes, which he did for 30 minutes while practicing [Judas Priest] and coming up with what looks like a common modern apartment with modern furnishings. The only things missing are appliances and some plants, which were not included in 'basic living necessities'.
For the next three days, he just trained a little bit of shadow fighting which basically meant imagining a fight which Martin honestly thought it made look like a clown until he heard the sound of notification.
*Ding!*
[Brawling (E) has increased to Lv.7!]
Knowing that it works, he continued such endeavor while training [Judas Priest] into the mix and acquiring a new skill which he has instinctively grasped in the process.
*Ding!*
[Congratulations, Player! You have acquired skill: Footwork (E) Lv.1]
[Footwork (E) Lv.1 - Acquired/Passive
Description: A basic understanding of skill that involves keeping balance, closing or furthering the distance, controlling spatial positioning, and/or creating additional momentum for strikes.]
After the grind of his three-day training:
*Ding!*
[Brawling (E) has increased to Lv.34]
[Stand:[Judas Priest] (E) has increased to Lv.27]
[Footwork (E) has increased to Lv.20]
Seeing such progress, suddenly, "Is this grace period or what?" Martin exclaimed in surprise. What he doesn't know was that Players are given a period of increased growth in the tutorial until the Player reached Level 1. The rank of the skill is also a reason for such growth as essentially, the Rank E of a skill is called the 'Novice' rank. Consequently, the ranking of the skills in order from lowest to highest are E = Novice, D = Intermediate, C = Advanced, B = Expert, A = Master, S = Grand Master, EX = Transcendent.
When skills are being sold in System Shop, it was ranked by the rarity as an item which is indicated by the color of its text and letter. Consequently, the rarity of the items in order from lowest to highest are E = Normal (black on white), D = Rare (black on light blue), C = Super Rare (black on high blue), B = Epic (white on purple), A = Legendary (white on dark gold), S = Phantasmal (red on gold), EX = Transcendent (bright gold on red).
There is also 'N/A (white on black)' which is a special rank for items without specified rarity and price. These items are seldom seen on the System Shop so one could say Martin is fortunate to get such a [stand] ability at such a price in such a random way.
…
Six days.
That was how many days have passed after awakening my [Stand] ability. I follow a schedule of eating, training, eating, and then sleep until I wake up again the next day over and over which made for such a boring but fruitful life. Despite that, I continued living such a life these days that I gained levels in Brawling and ranking it up to Brawling (D) Lv.8 which seemed to have stream-lined the knowledge in fighting in my mind, making the body movements more instinctual, alongside it is Footwork (D) Lv.6 which naturally followed while using it along with Brawling that also made moving and spacing more natural and efficient.
The most gains I had though was in Stand:[Judas Priest] (D) Lv.2 with its glaring white on black text. Leveling it up had made using the ability more efficient and ranking it up led to rather interesting changes. Using the ability seems faster and smoother and most importantly, the duration increased to 40 seconds while the cooldown had gone down to 20 seconds.
After it's rank up, leveling up became such a grind that I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to increase its level anymore until I tried an idea that failed before. I activated [Judas Priest] again while moving faster in a way that would make me collide on the wall if I did not move immediately.
And, voila!
I was able to move back at the same speed in a different direction, ignoring such bullshit like Law of Motion without it negatively affecting me. Law of Motion is my bitch now and I'm happy about it. Too bad, teleportation is still a no go.
This morning (according to my biological clock), I woke up to a message from the system while I was having a typical breakfast fare of milk and cereal.
*Ding!*
[The Player will be sent to his next destination in 24 hours!]
What… Actually, I kind of already expected that. Honestly, my life here is already beginning to become boring at this point.
I guess missions are granted every seven days, not including the arrival and departure. I guess I'm excited. I got a lot of unused strength and I got a new skill which is totally awesome.
Training doesn't increase the stats anymore and in fact, I wasn't able to increase anything aside from my skills these days but well, I guess that's fine too. In my opinion, skill levels are more important than stats. The stats should be just a foundation for the skills and the skills will bring out the best in stats.
Woah… Is this the effect of INT or the WIS? I can't tell… The fact that I can't tell, does that mean I'm still an idiot? What the heck, I'm confused.
*Ding!*
Oops, what's that? A new mission?
[Congratulations Player! You've been granted a 'Main Quest' by the Nexus.]
[Main Quest: Initiation x Assassination
World: E-48584856
Term: 5 Years
Description: You have proven to be resilient by completing the first Main Quest. The second test will prove your resolve by completing a set of assignments appropriate to your level.
Background: In the year 1996, you've become a resident of Meteor City, the home of thieves and outcasts. You are to infiltrate the Phantom Troupe and eliminate three of its members but, before that, you must activate your 'Nen' and learn how to wield it.
Main Objective:
- Earn 8000 Karma before the mission ends (0/8000)
- Reward: 2000 Karma
- Activate and learn how to use 'Nen' (0/1)
- Reward: 1000 Karma
- Join the Phantom Troupe (0/1)
- Reward: 1000 Karma
- Assassinate three members of the Phantom Troupe (0/3)
- Reward: 'System Shop: 50% DC Voucher' x1
Bonus Objective:
- Enter and pass the Hunter Exam (0/1)
- Reward: 1000 Karma
- Use 'Hatsu' in MO4 (0/3)
- Reward: 4000 Karma per Target
- Complete MO4 without being caught.
- Reward: Skill Rank-Up Ticket x1
- Learn advanced forms of 'Nen' (0/7)
- Reward: Skill Rank-Up Ticket x1
- Assassinate Chrollo Lucifer (0/1)
- Reward: Unlock 'Gacha' System.
- Complete MO4 before Year 5.
- Reward: Random 'Observation' Skill.
Failure Conditions:
- Karma must never fall below 5000 before the quest ends.
- Complete at least 3 Main Objectives.
- Penalty: Death]
What.The.Hell??? Isn't this...
"HUNTER X HUNTER!?"
ooh he knows