Chapter 83 - My SI Stash #83 - Perfect Method by Consolidate Means (DCU Justice League)

-Fairly new fic, not a SI but a student in Gotham who gets The Gamer system.

*Author precisely said at the end that there'd be no party mode and no spilling secrets, probably the only Gamer fic that follows the thief path? Check it out!

*Honestly, the whole shadow skill thing is giving me Solo Leveling vibes (a very cool manwha) I'm hoping for some "SUBARASHII" moments~

(☝︎ ՞ਊ ՞)☝︎

Sypnosis: When a young man living in Gotham, is given the powers of the Gamer, he will claw his way out of the miserable life that was given to him. If he has to steal a thing or two to achieve the perfect peaceful life he wants, well then it must be fate that he is shaping up to be a great thief. OC main character.

Rated: T

Words: 12K

Posted on: fanfiction.net/s/13468450/1/Perfect-Method

(Consolidate Means)

PS: If you're not able to copy/paste the link, you have everything in here to find it, by simply searching the author and the story title. It sucks that you can't copy links on mobile (*´ー｀*)

-I'll be putting the chapter ones of all the fanfics mentioned, to give you guys a sample if you wan't more please do go to the website and support the author! (And maybe even convince them to start uploading chapters in here as well!)

Chapter 1

Routine had a way of making even the weirdest and uncomfortable things seem normal, one could get used to many things if they happened frequently enough. The human mind was adaptive, it was likely its most powerful aspect. Which is why Damien was no longer perturbed to wake up to the loud rumble coming from his ceiling anymore, the excessive noise would start around 6 AM without fail every day. It had gotten to the point where he could trust it to be his alarm clock for waking up for school, it was certainly louder than his old cellphone.

The upstair neighbors would start their daily lives with loud s.e.x, their bedframe dragging itself across their floor was the thing that Damien had been uncomfortable hearing when he and his mom had moved in a few years back. Now it was just a thing that happened, just like the sun would rise in the morning. He was just glad that their voices didn't carry through the thin walls.

His daily routine was far more normal after that: brushing his teeth, placing frozen waffles in the toaster for his breakfast, a quick shower, and putting on his clothes for school. Not bothering to say goodbye to his mother, who would not wake up for another few hours, he walked out of the two-bedroom apartment.

Damien White was remarkably unremarkable, he had nothing about him that was special, and he had nothing about him that was weird. He was just a teen of average height and built, his black hair had a sharp contrast with his white skin, and he wore blue jeans with a marron long-sleeve shirt. His looks were neither bad nor good, a perfect example of normal.

Making sure to avoid eye-contact with the local crackheads, who laid lazily on the hallway, he began to make his way down the old apartment complex. Reaching the lobby, he passed by the mailboxes which were mainly filled with overdue bills and eviction notices. It was comforting for him to think that it wasn't only him who was in financial trouble. It was a cynical thought, but misery loves company, it was a rule of the world; certainly, nothing he could do about it.

Damien might have looked normal, but within he held an iron will, it manifested in his dedication to his studies. He studied hard every day in order to achieve his status of number one in terms of GPA, even beating out freaks of nature like Barbara Gordon who was a natural prodigy.

It wasn't like Damien liked spending his free time in the library, but it was done to escape poverty. He needed a good-paying job if he wanted to move to greener pastures, money would certainly not fall on his lap if he waited around for it. He did not wish to end up like his deadbeat father who abandoned his mother when he got her pregnant, not be like his mother who was only on the road to death.

She worked a minimum wage job that earned enough to pay for some food and her a little to support her drug addiction. He didn't blame her though, she did not have any choice at this point. She was stuck in the cycle of poverty and it was not something that she could break out of easily. She could be a good little worker ant and do as the rich always said and saved her money, eventually, she would have enough to make a move and so on. It was easy for the wealthy to lecture the poor, thinking that they knew what was best. They scoffed at the useless things that the dregs of society would buy. Saying: If you don't have enough money to put toward your retirement funds, then why are you buying a flat-screen TV?

They failed to connect with the common person who lived in downtown Gotham: TVs, gaming consoles, concert tickets, drugs, p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.es, and everything else that was a waste of money was something special to the sc.u.m of the city. It was something that for just a little moment would take them away from their problems, away from the hardsh.i.p.s that came with this life.

Not that he would partake in those things mind you, he simply understood why people choose to waste their money in such a way. He rather study to get good grades, go to college with a grant, and spend the rest of his days rising up the corporate ladder as a salaryman.

So lost in his thoughts that he failed to realize that he had already boarded the subway and was nearing his stop, that was good, the subway was easily the worst part of his daily routine. The amount of weirdos that would gather around the place was astonishing and he had already received his fair share of muggings to feel no desire to give any money to beggars who bummed around the place.

As he focused on his surroundings, he spotted a weird paper lingering in the air, looking at a different direction he was surprised when the paper moved with his eyesight. Testing the motion of his head again, he realized that the paper was centered in his vision, it would move to wherever he looked.

I really need more sleep.

Reaching out to grab the paper he noticed something peculiar, it was immovable. He could touch it but moving it was like trying to push against a wall, it did not budge in any way.

What in the world? It feels weird.

True to his thoughts, the texture of the paper was inexplicable to describe. It felt like it was there, but not really. Like it was a trick of the mind. Seeing that he could not move it he decided to read the stupid thing.

Welcome Gamer!

Ok.

The 'Ok' part seemed to be almost like a button, risking looking like a weirdo in a train full of them he reached out and pressed his index finger on Ok. The screen immediately changed into a similar screen with more text than the last, at this point Damien had already realized that this thing was definitely not a weird sheet of paper floating in the wind as he initially thought.

Congratulations on becoming The Gamer!

We wish you success in future endeavors, the System will now support you in all aspects of your life as The Gamer.

Ok. / View Tutorial.

Damien looked at the screen with no small amount of confusion, the subway arrived at his stop and he was forced to run out in order not to miss first period. Like the previous screen Damien opted to simply press Ok once more, it was definitely weird, but more than likely it was the weird that would get him a one-way ticket to the Arkham Insane Asylum.

After pressing the Ok button the screen was dismissed and Damien felt relieved that the object of his concern disappeared without a trace, he didn't need something weird in his life now.

The Gamer?

The thought stuck to his head for a single lingering moment before it was squashed by the more pressing matter of getting to class.

Damien stood in front of his classroom door, it stood a monument to his failure. He had arrived late, and as proof, the door was locked. His chances of quietly sneaking into the class were dashed away, he would have to knock and wait for the teacher to unlock the door. A spectacle to be sure.

Damien had no friends, while he was the smartest student in his grade, he never spoke to anyone without being spoken to first, he was the quiet weird kid that spent all his time with his nose on a book. He wasn't weird exactly, but his social awkwardness was like blood in the water to the sharks that lived in the school. He was, by all means, the social outcast of the school. Not that it bothered him much, it got lonely at lunch, but it was not something he pondered on much.

Taking a deep breath he knocked on the door and hear the class go quiet. Footsteps slowly made their way to the door and Damien waited as his stomach dropped, it was his first time being late to class in all his life. The consequences of his tardiness were already piling on his mind.

Damien had never been in trouble and his disposition to authority made him fear punishment, it had been like that for him all his life. He wasn't a coward, but he certainly wasn't the kind of guy to mouth off to the teacher if he got in trouble.

Something peculiar happened however, the anxiety he had been feeling was quickly suppressed into non-existence. It simply vanished. His mind was completely calm, his thoughts flowed fluidly.

"Mr. White, tardy? That's a first, seeing as how it's your first time late to my class I'll let it slide, take your seat." His teacher Mr. Gonzales explained with a monotone voice that expressed how little he cared.

Damien replied with a quiet 'Thank you' and walked on over to his seat, he could feel the class staring him down, normally such attention would have made his cheeks and ears red, but he felt strangely at ease.

As the teacher began to speak about the lesson, class once again forgot about the late teen and returned to the usual small chatter of teens talking about anything but school.

Damien's thoughts drifted back to the thing he had experienced in the subway, What even is the gamer anyway? Like a video game? Although he used to play video games as a kid, his current financial situation did not allow for much recreational funds. He had not played in years.

Does it mean like games like FPS with guns or RPGs with statuses?

At the last thought, a new window popped up in front of Damien, a much bigger one than the one he had seen previously, this one was filled with information that Damien was not sure what to do with.

Gamer Status:

Select an item to view additional information.

Name: Damien White

Title: The Gamer
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Level (D): 9
Debuff: Mental Corruption X100

HP: 40
SP: 35
MP: 0
Magic: E0
STR: D25
DEF: D15
AGI: D10
INT: D85
WIS: D55
CHAR: B
LCK: B
Points: 0
Money: $15

Damien stared at the screen for a new minutes, taking in all the information it gave. Way past the point he could discard this as a hallucination, he began to wonder what all the letters and numbers meant.

Are the letters supposed to denote my ability and the number is for more accuracy? They all are D, expect for his CHAR and LCK. His magic too.

Deciding that the best way to learn more was to simply press on each item.

Title: Awarded by special actions, can grant stat bonuses and special skills.

Level: Represents the current overall rating of your status, a higher level means higher overall ability, each level will naturally increase your attributes. Levels can be earned through the System. (Level is Denoted by a Letter Rank)

HP: Represents the maximum amount of health you possess. Should this drop to 0, you will die.

SP: Represents the maximum amount of stamina you possess. Should this drop to 0, you will faint.

MP: Represents the maximum amount of magic that can be performed. Should this drop to 0, you will be unable to perform magic.

Magic: Represents the quality of magic you may produce.

STR: Represents the amount of strength you possess.

DEF: Represents the amount of defense you possess.

AGI: Represents the amount of agility, dexterity, reflexes, and speed you possess.

INT: Represents the amount of intelligence you possess.

WIS: Represents the amount of wisdom you possess.

CHAR: Represents the amount of charisma you possess. Value cannot be changed through normal means.

LCK: Represents the amount of luck you possess. Value cannot be changed through normal means.

Points: Earned through leveling up, can be allocated to stats.

Once again, Damien found himself at a huge loss. It was a lot of information to take in, all his ability could be quantified on a single page so easily? It was a reality check to be sure, but it only brought out more questions than what it managed to answer. The Title section mentioned skills, did he have some sort of menu-

A thought was all it took for a new screen to pop up in front of the old one, this one more simple than the last.

Menu:

Status

Skills/Blessings

Inventory

Quest

Relations

Damien was beginning to regret not opting in for the tutorial. He checked his inventory and found it empty, along with his quest tab. He decided to check the Skill section next. This one again was filled with information.

Blessings:

- Gamer's Body, your body is like that of a game. Damage received will decrease your HP rather than damage your body. Sleep will restore HP & remove status effects.

- Gamer's Mind, your mind perceives reality as though it were a game. Allows your mind to be calm despite the situation you may find yourself in, you are immune to all mental statuses and attacks.

- Gamer's Anathema, you will live life as though it were a game. Allows for Paracasual abilities.

- Gamer's Right, set of inalienable tools for the gamer. Gamer can use Inventory and Observe. (Note that entities than exceed The Gamer's level by at least a value of 1 will have information hidden).

Skills: A/N

Aside from that, there was nothing else on the screen. It was surreal, he almost thought that he may have been drugged if not for the fact that it was so vivid. He began to wonder how something like this came to be, everyone knew of the Metagene, but those things tended to be way more physical even if they also had weird abilities, but this was vastly different. This had intelligence behind it, this was even referred to as a System in several of the things he had read so far, the mere fact that it contained text clearly pointed to the fact that something had written it. But for what end? And why did he have it?

The more he thought about it the less it made sense, there was something eerie about the whole thing. The whole Mental Corruption times 100 wasn't giving him much confidence either, had the Gamer's Mind negated the effects? Or...?

There was only one thing he could do now, and that was trying out his new ability. How would he go about receiving a quest, would it come to him? There were too many questions in his head so the only thing he thought about doing was using observe on his classroom. There were plenty of subjects to try it on, he hoped it would be something unnoticeable or there would be a lot of explaining to do.

Looking at his teacher, who still was writing on the board, he thought about how he would go about using his ability before he simply decided to do what felt natural, Observe, the thought brought up a box on top of Mr. Gonzales to appear.

Name: Gustavo Gonzales
Title: High School Teacher
Age: 46
Level (D): 14
Description: ?
Relationship: Liked

It seemed that because his teacher's level was higher than his, he was unable to read his description, he wondered what kind of information that would give. He began to observe some of the other boys around the class to learn more but was saddened to learn he held the lowest level amongst the boys. It wasn't surprising given how little he worked out, but it still stung slightly. Seeing that he was getting nowhere with the boys, he set his eyes on the girls and started to learn more.

Name: Alice Palm
Title: High School Student
Age: 16
Level (D): 8
Description: Alice Palm is a High school student who likes to spend time texting her boyfriend, dreams of long vacations on the beach, and getting rich by marrying into money.
Relationship: Disliked

Finally, he encountered a person with a lower level than him, the information he was given was not much, but it was more than what he knew of her prior. He looked down at his pencil and used Observe.

A slightly used wooden pencil.

About what he expected, he continued to observe his classmates until he was satisfied with the results. It was when he was done with the whole class that a new pop up appeared in front of him, this one slightly different, it read:

Quest!: Know your limits.
Use Observe on a target whose level greatly exceeds yours.

Rewards: 50 XP

Failure: None

Accept?

Despite the question mark, Damien took note that there was no option to decline, would this be the case for all quests or just some? Seeing no harm in accepting he pressed his finger on the button and saw the Quest placed on its appropriate tab in the menu. No matter how many times Damien used his Observe on others, some football players had levels in the 20s, but it failed to fulfill the quest. There was no exact number by how much higher the level had to be so Damien had no reference to know how much he needed to see. It was then that he spotted the girl of everyone's dreams. Barbara Gordon, the redhead beauty. She was unapproachable due to the fact that her father was the Commissioner of Gotham, getting on his bad side was not on many people's best interest. Therefore, despite her immense popularity she was only ever seen with her closest of friends. He decided to take a look at her information.

Name: Barbara Gordon
Title: ?
Age: 16
Level (?): ?
Description: ?
Relationship: Neutral

This caught Damien off guard, he had seen dozens of people with Observe, but this was the first time he had been unable to see a person's level. Was she really that strong? Word around the street was that she had been trained by the Commissioner had taught her how to use a gun, and she received self-defense lessons. It could explain her abnormal level, after all, he did not know at which point a level would become unknown.

As he began to ponder the new knowledge he had acquired a small ding alerted him that a new screen had popped up once again, this one was a congratulatory one that awarded him 50 XP after he pressed Ok on it. It seemed that it had been enough to fulfill the quest requirement.

On top of his status he noticed a blue bar that was almost full slowly begin to move as the XP was gained, it seemed to be his level bar. The 50 XP was just enough to level up.

Lvl up!
Select to View Gamer Status.

First level up will be commemorated with a skill.
Please select one.

1. Shadow Walker - Shadows are your friend, they will protect you from unwanted attention. Chance to be invisible to perception within shadows, chance will decrease with enemy's level (Will begin the Rogue Path).

2. Create Minion, allows user to summon small dirt golems that can cause minor damage (Will begin the Mage Path).

3. Blessed Gains, enables the user to gain 10% more XP from each quest completed (Will begin the Adventurer Path).

Damien stared at the screen with incredulous eyes, this was already more than what he wanted to mess with. He instead closed the window and chose to figure out what exactly was going on at a later time, preferably when he was not on school grounds and would seem like a weirdo touching the air.

Damien spent the rest of his day simply observing everything he could see, items, people, and even places. His Observation ability would work on absolutely everything. Somethings were exactly what you expected, but other things provided information that was considered 'important'. Things like date of creation and maker could be found on more custom items.

The school day had come to a close and instead of heading to the library as usual, Damien headed back home, the sooner he got home the more time he would have to explore this phenomenon. The way home was normally spent with his head down, it was normal to not make eye contact with strangers in Downtown Gotham. One never knew when they would encounter a crazy that would like your guts spilled in a dark alley.

But today, Damien held his head up and his eyes were dragged across everything and everyone. He seemed like a country-pumpkin that had never been to the big city with all the gawking he was doing. He soon began to notice a pattern with people's levels. They were all D and in the range of 10-35. He had spotted the irregular obvious thug that was bigger than his peers that reached into the 40s, but aside from that no one else had '?' levels like Barbara Gordon had.

Now that I think about it, Barbara's level wasn't the only thing that was '?' so was her Letter Rank, does that mean that I couldn't see her level because she had a higher letter than my own?

Ding!

System:
Gamer is only able to accurately see a person's level if they are within or lower than your own Letter Rank.

There was that System again, it seemed to run this whole Gamer thing, Damien came to the conclusion that the System was keeping a constant eye on him and on his thoughts. That aside that meant that Barbara Gordon had a higher Letter Rank than himself, at the very least it was C. He had thought nothing of it when he had first seen it, but after seeing countless people with levels that barely reached the 40s he was sure, Barbara Gordon was freakishly strong compared to everyday people. A metagene?

Wherever her strength came from, Damien knew that her level was hidden as a sort of helping hand from the System, it served as a warning that he would be unable to beat an enemy with '?' as their level. His thoughts swirled his head as he headed inside his old apartment complex, hobos littered the sidewalk in front of the place. A sorry sight.

As he sat down and read his options once again in the safety of his apartment he couldn't help but notice that each skill came with a 'Path' what that entailed he wasn't sure, he had a pretty good idea what it meant but there was no way to know until he accepted it.

Shadow Walker seemed to be the most useful on of the three, he could understand from his knowledge of video games that an XP boost would be really helpful when levels required a lot of XP to proceed. However that was more along the lines of an effect that will cause benefit in the distant future, he was feeling impatient and wanted to see what this was all about now.

Lastly, Create Minion, it seemed somewhat useful, but there was no information on what the golems could do, perhaps they were unable to attack at all. Either way, he had no magic to use so maybe it might end up being completely useless.

Considering all his choices, Damien selected Shadow Walker.

Quest!: Path of the Rogue
Steal anything!

Rewards: 600 XP, Starter Rogue Set.

Failure: System Rejection.

Accept?

Once again a quest had appeared and he was not allowed to refuse. The XP was probably good, he had no reference for his judgment after all. What really caught his eye was the Starter Rogue Set, What does that mean? And System Rejection? That definitely didn't sound good.

And the quest simply said to steal something, that would be harder to pull off that what he was willing to do. Stealing in Gotham happened all the time, but more than half the time the capes would swoop in and stop the thief and when they didn't then maybe the cops would, or even other criminals. It was inviting trouble, and unless you were equipt to handle it, you were best off keeping to yourself.

The quest said steal anything, so maybe he didn't even need to go out. After all his mother left her money for drugs under her bed. It wasn't much, only a few hundred dollars. Enough to pay a month's worth of rent, or get her high a couple of times. He knew which his mother preferred.

Damien felt a bit bad about stealing from his mother, but he would only take a dollar and return it after the quest was complete. He hoped that the System would recognize this as stealing. He lifted his mother's mattress slightly and pulled out one of the crumbled up bills. The quest did not complete. He wondered to himself if he would have to go steal from a store before a thought struck him. He walked out of the room.

Ding!
Quest Step Complete!: Path of the Rogue
Steal anything!

Rewards: 600 XP, Starter Rogue Set.

Ok.

Damien noted the usage of the word 'step' and pressed Ok. True to his observations a new screen popped up.

Quest Updated!: Path of the Rogue
Steal $1,000 in any form.

Rewards: 1,000 XP, System's Blessing, Rogue Basic Skill Set.

Failure: System Rejection.

Accept?

The value of the things he had to steal had gone up in the next step, it made sense. Games only ever got harder not easier. Plus a blessing, he had noticed that Skills and Blessings had different categories after all.

Still stealing so much money, it would certainly not be as easy as the first step. He had no idea how he would even go about it or if he even wanted to. These things were piling on to his mind once again, but he was completely at ease. It would not be strange for a person to feel overwhelmed and have a nervous breakdown from such an intrusion on reality, but Damien only knew tranquility. The Gamer's Mind, this was the cause of this, a blessing. Having no other choice to accept it, Damien selected 'Accept'. The dismissal of the screen only brought a new screen in its place.

Lvl up!
Lvl up!
Lvl up!

Select to view Gamer status.

Starter Rogue Set added to Inventory.

His rewards had come, the levels were nice. It was an interesting feeling, it was barely noticeable when he went from level 9 to 10, but three levels at once was a major difference. He felt himself grow slightly stronger, it was small but it was undeniable progress.

The thing that really had his interest was the set given to him. He called out his Inventory and spotted the previously empty slots had now seven slots filled. His inventory was supposed to hold up to 100 unique items that might be able to stack depending on the item. He tapped each of the items and they read:

Scarf of the Initiated Rogue (D): +5 INT, part of the Initiated Rogue set (1/7)
Grips of the Initiated Rogue (D): +5 STR, part of the Initiated Rogue set (1/7)
Vest of the Initiated Rogue (D): +5 DEF, part of the Initiated Rogue set (1/7)
Boots of the Initiated Rogue(D): +5 AGI, part of the Initiated Rogue set (1/7)
Cloak of the Initiated Rogue(D): +5 MP, part of the Initiated Rogue set (1/7)
Pendant of the Initiated Rogue (D): +5 WIS, part of the Initiated Rogue set (1/7)
Dagger of the Initiated Rogue (D): +5 STR, part of the Initiated Rogue set (1/7)

A new prompt appeared as he continued to survey the effects that the items had.

Equip Initiated Rogue set?

Yes / No

Finally having a choice in these prompts made Damien less stressed out, he could decide to deny the prompt. Not that he would, but the choice was a nice gesture. Selecting 'Yes' Damien felt a boost in power surge through him.

Full set bonus active:
+20 AGI
+15 INT
+10 STR
+5 MP

It was then that Damien saw his attire had changed, he now wore a dark leather vest that covered his whole torso minus the center where his brown undershirt could be seen, at the edge of the vest were silver buttons. His hands were now covered by brown long gloves that ran all the way slightly past his elbow where it met the sleeves of his vest. A black scarf covered most of his face except his eyes, he also wore black form-fitting pants that led to dark boots that ran up to his knees. around his waist were two brown belts that hanged loosely to each side, a few pouches in each belt. He noticed a cloak that was dark on the outside and silver on the inside, the cloak's hood covered his head well. Hanging down his neck was a small red stone in the form of a pendant.

Looking down to his left thigh he noticed a brown leather holster, in it a short silver blade with a black handle. It was very clearly sharp.

"Status."

Gamer Status:

Select an item to view additional information.

Name: Damien White
Title: The Gamer
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Level (D): 13
Debuff: Mental Corruption X100

HP: 48
SP: 43
MP: 8 (13)
Magic: E8
STR: D33 (D55)
DEF: D23 (D28)
AGI: D18 (D43)
INT: D93 (D+113)
WIS: D63 (D68)
CHAR: B
LCK: B
Points: 8
Money: $16

Ding!
INT was unable to progress to C rank due to current level Letter Rank, received "+" denotation to reflect this.

Studying the status a bit more, he realized that buffed attributes displayed the buffed value in "()" while the natural value remained the same. Judging by that final alert, it seemed INT was meant to evolve into a C rank but was unable to, likely due to his D rank for his level. His thoughts began to shift to the quest, he needed to steal a thousand dollars worth of stuff, the suit was very cool and literally doubled his strength but he couldn't simply walk into a store with it on and steal stuff. He could get shot, a cape could find out, police, and a million other things could happen. And sneaking in was just as difficult, he didn't know how to even begin sneaking into anywhere. No lockpicking skills, cool Mission Impossible gadgets or anything of the sort. So how?

It was then that an idea reached his brain, maybe he didn't even need to use the suit to steal $1,000, maybe he could simply walk in and out of the store with the merchandise. With this Inventory, he could simply drag expensive items into a slot and walk out with it, even if they suspected him of shoplifting they would not find the items in his possession. This could work...

Quickly heading out to the nearest big-box store to him, it was only a few blocks away. No need for a subway ride!

Heading out of his apartment he was once again hit with the smell of piss from the local hobos. Their pleas for some cash fell on deaf ears, Damien could barely take care of himself, and these people asking him for charity placed him in a sour mood.

Upon reaching the store Damien had a thought, which section was the easiest to steal from? Without a second thought he began to head down to the electronics section of the store, he remembers always passing by there and seeing exorbitant prices for those things. Stopping at the sign that read: 65" 4K Smart TV, he looked at the pallet filled with the things. He glanced at the price, $1,208.99. He would only need one. He placed his hand over the unbound item and thought Inventory.

The TV was completely gone, no trace of it remained. Looking down at his inventory he spotted the TV taking up a slot. He had it in his possession, but just like last time the quest did not complete.

When he stole his mother's dollar, he had to leave her room before the quest was completed. The same thing applied here, he had to leave the scene of the crime before the system recognized the item as stolen. So he headed to the cashier and grabbed a chocolate bar to pay for, just to look a little less suspicious.

He smiled and waved at the young cashier and walked out of the store with over a thousand dollars worth of merchandise.

"This is way easier than what I thought it would be," he muttered to himself.

Ding!
Quest Step Complete!: Path of the Rogue
Steal $1,000 in any form.

Rewards: 1,000 XP, System's Blessing, Rogue Basic Skill Set.

Ok.

Lvl up!
Lvl up!
Lvl up!

Select to view Gamer status.

Damien ignored the 'Lvl up!' messages and instead went straight for the Skills/Blessings section, he was really interested in the System's Blessing.

Blessings:

- Gamer's Body, your body is like that of a game. Damage received will decrease your HP rather than damage your body. Sleep will restore HP & remove status effects.

- Gamer's Mind, your mind perceives reality as though it were a game. Allows your mind to be calm despite the situation you may find yourself in, you are immune to all mental statuses and attacks.

- Gamer's Anathema, you will live life as though it were a game. Allows for Paracasual abilities.

- Gamer's Right, set of inalienable tools for the Gamer. Gamer can use Inventory and Observe. (Note that entities than exceed The Gamer's level by at least a value of 1 will have information hidden).

- System's Blessing, awards the Gamer minor Mystery Boxes on predetermined Levels, awards major Mystery Box for progressing a Letter Rank.

Skills:

- Shadow Walker: Shadows are your friend, they will protect you from unwanted attention. Chance to be invisible to perception within shadows, chance will decrease with enemy's level (1 SP/min).

- Stealth Strike: You take your enemy by surprise with an attack they never see coming. Hit target with 300% more damage, if target is unware of your presence deal an extra 200% (10 SP per usage).

- Shadow Step: You feel at ease in the night, flow through the shadows as though they were your home. 25% boost to AGI in the dark, your footsteps create no noise at night (5 SP/min).

- Rogue Dodge: A deceptive dodge that will take you out of your enemy's sight. Allows user to dodge out of an attack with 500% AGI boost, makes user turn to a purple mist as the dodge is performed, you are invulnerable for 1 second (10 SP per usage).

- Rogue's key: No lock can keep you away from what you want. Allows user to pick a lock that is at least one level below them (5 SP per usage).

- Rogue's acrobatics: Move like a true acrobat in the night. Allows user to move their body in such a way to effectively transverse their environment (Passive).

- Assassinate: No armor can stand against you, this is a true hit. Deals 200% True damage, ignore all armor and resistances (100 SP per usage).

Damien stood wide-eyed at the new skills he had received, it all sounded so incredible. Before he could spend more time looking over the new skills he had acquired a new pop up appeared.

Quest Updated!: Path of the Rogue
Steal $1,000,000 in any form without being caught.
Deadline: 1 month

Rewards: 1,000,000 XP, +10,000 Infamy, Cloak of Secrets (A).

Failure: System Rejection.

Accept?

1,000,000!?

Despite being a very smart kid he had taken this long to realize that he was trapped. He no choice but to accept the quests given by the system, before he could accept them and not worry about them but now... a deadline had been imposed out of nowhere. Failing the quest was still on the table, but quite frankly it didn't take a genius to figure out that 'System Rejection' did not sound pleasant at all.

His only hope now was that if he completed this step it would stop, three quest steps seem like basic game design so he could only hope that such a future came to pass.

Night was falling on Gotham City and so he hurried his step and headed back home, he had a whole month to plan and figure out how he would go about this.

AN: Happy New Year's everyone! I had some free time and I always wanted to write a gamer story so I decided what the heck and whipped something up. Not very happy with this chapter, I noticed that as a gamer fic, a lot of the chapter ends up being the system talking to the gamer, from next chapter on I'll find ways to minimize that clutter (Hopefully). A couple of things I wanted to get out of the way, obviously Damien is an OC, took me about all of five minutes to come up with him since he is supposed to be the epitome of normal. This DC Universe is an AU made from several different sources. I always hated the party system and the MC telling everyone about the gamer power so there will be none of that in my fic. Other than that, I think that's everything. Thanks for reading this far!