Chapter 479 - My SI Stash #79 - Accidental Gamer Hero by Knowing Autumn (Naruto)

-Decent read but the whole system against the MC shtick tends to get overdone and just annoying/

Synopsis: I accidentally saved the world and was granted three wishes when I died. Easy - first wish to reincarnate in the Naruto universe and second is to reincarnate with 'The Gamer' ability. Third wish? I'll save it for later. SI/OC

Rated: M

Words: 95K

Posted on: fanfiction.net/s/13762017/1/Accidental-Gamer-Hero (Knowing Autumn)

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/originals 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

YOU HAVE DIED.

GAME OVER.

Calculating score…

Jeremy opened his eyes, flickering all around him before landing on the floating blue screen in front of him.

"…Huh? Game over? What game? Where am I? What score?"

He looked down on his body, only to see that he was as n.a.k.e.d as the day he was born. But more importantly, he was not standing on the floor. Actually, he was not standing on anything at all. Jeremy realized that he was floating in the middle of an endless sea of green. The colour reminded him of the garden in front of his childhood home – a humble 28 room mansion, one of many owned by his family.

He belonged to the world-renowned Rothschild family, one of the wealthiest families in the world, and his own networth was already in the billions the day he was born.

"Right, this is a dream, of course. I remember watching that doc.u.mentary they had made about me on Netflix. Some inaccuracies here and there but I suppose it would not be possible for them to get the full una.d.u.l.terated truth after all. I must have fallen asleep halfway through it. Watching a doc.u.mentary about yourself might be the most boring thing to do in the world after all."

Jeremy turned his attention back on to the screen, which had a curious white loading wheel on it.

"Boring movie, boring dream I suppose. This is what they would call lucid dreaming isn't it? When you realize that you are in a dream and thus have control over it?"

He looked down at his willy hanging free, musing to himself, "Well some clothes would be nice. Underwear at the very least."

Jeremy was woken from his thoughts by an audible 'ding' sound that seemed to reverberate throughout the entire void, and found that the blue screen in front of him now contained more text than before.

Calculation complete!

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Overall Karmic Impact: Unparalleled Positive!

"Calculation complete? Heh, are they calculating my life score? Unparalleled positive sounds exaggerated though."

Jeremy continued reading the text.

Score Breakdown

Individuals helped (indirectly): 8.694 billion

Congratulations! You have helped the greatest number of people in the history of humanity! Granted 100 Wishes!

Individuals helped (directly): 138,711

Lives saved (directly): 0

Lives saved (indirectly): 3.424 million

Legacy: Hero [Mythic]

Congratulations! You have achieved a mythical heroic legacy! You have cemented your place in the history books as a legendary hero! Granted 100 Wishes!

Subtotal Score: SSS+++ [Leaderboard rank: 1]

Congratulations! You have achieved the highest score in the history of humanity! Granted 100 Wishes!

Altruism multiplier: 0.01x

Your score and rewards have been multiplied by 0.01x!

Final Score: S+

Congratulations! You have achieved a Final Score of [S+]! You were a great person when you were alive!

Tallying Wishes…

You have earned 3 Wishes! Please state your wish!

"8 billion!? When the hell did I help 8 billion people?" Jeremy shouted in shock. "Wait, indirectly… is this thing saying I helped over 8 billion people indirectly? Right, it did say I helped over 100 thousand people directly, but what's the difference? And more importantly, how did this thing get 8 billion from?"

Jeremy frowned, deep in thought. "8 billion… that is as many people as the entire world's population put together." He thought back to his past actions, "Ah, I got it! I was the one who pushed for and funded the research that invented the terraforming thingamajig. If I remember correctly, it was called… the EDEN project."

It was a tiny think-tank that had approached him, what, 8 years ago? Their head researcher claimed to have an idea that could potentially solve to the rapidly worsening climate change, a solution that could save the world, but needed some funding to begin the research process. The science behind their theories at the time was almost nonsensical, bordering on science fiction, thus Jeremy had been dubious, not to mention slightly inebriated at the same time.

But he had to meet his annual charitable donations quota for tax deductions, and so he wrote a check for 3 million dollars right then and there. The poor guy had collapsed in relief, stating that this had been his last attempt at finding a sponsor for his research as the research team had already been denied across hundreds of other organisations and individuals. The other members were already receiving lucrative job offers and that day was his final deadline to find some semblance of funding to continue their research.

Jeremy could not fault the other investors, as the man's claims had been so ludicrous only someone with literal billions of disposable wealth and a willingness to throw away millions down the drain would have done what he did. But thankfully he did as just a year after the team made a major breakthrough that marvelled the scientific community – a machine that could systematically drain greenhouse gases from the atmosphere at a global scale while converting the collected gases into energy.

It was an unprecedented achievement that was only made possible through their very first investor – Jeremy Rothschild. The man in question, admittedly having completely forgotten about the research team, grabbed that opportunity by its neck, as have been taught by his parents who were taught by their parents before them, and milked that recognition for all it was worth. The Rothschild family also capitalized on Jeremy's initial investment and consequent launch to fame to fully fund the next steps for manufacturing the machine, intent on branding themselves as the family who found genius where it had been neglected and made possible the salvation of humanity.

The theoretical machine was subsequently engineered, and prototypes produced, after just 5 years the effects of global warming had been reversed to a sustainable level and the end of the world was prevented.

While the Rothschild family and the research team garnered widespread recognition for their efforts, it was by Jeremy's meticulous design, with the aid of his PR team of course, that awarded him the most credit for the invention. Through liberal usage of his family's massive network of media connections, the world began associating Jeremy's name and face to the EDEN machine that diverted the course of humanity's future.

Fortunately enough, the head researcher who damn near single-handedly invented the whole thing was not at all interested in the fame and fortune behind his creation. He had also corroborated the narrative Jeremy and his team had spun for the global audience, that without Jeremy the whole project would not have been possible. Which was technically the truth, as without that initial 3 million dollars Jeremy had nonchalantly and dismissively gave, the team would have disbanded, and the idea buried.

"Right, the EDEN project would not have been possible without my funding, thus I indirectly helped 8 billion people. And the ones I helped directly were all the other random charitable donations I made throughout my life or maybe even the people I employed. And the lives I saved indirectly must have been through all the millions of dollars in donations to the charities that were helping the vulnerable or impoverished around the world. Leaderboard rank 1 makes sense I suppose, if it deemed that I had indirectly helped billions of people."

"Hah! Legacy hero mythic? My name has got to be going down in history as the man who saved the world right? But wait, what is with that altruism multiplier? Hmm… my best guess would be that this calculation takes into account whether I had altruistic intentions when helping or saving people."

"Ah shit, the reason behind my funding wasn't to help people at all, it was for tax reduction purposes so that I could pay less money to the state. And any subsequent money invested was also just to monopolize the fame and goodwill associated with such a project."

"Ugh, a 0.01 multiplier means that my subtotal was divided by a hundred, right? That's why I got an S+ instead of SSS+++, and what's with the three pluses, just looks and sounds ridiculous. Well, my intentions may have been impure, but the significance and impact of my actions are undeniable, that must be why I still got a really good score at the end. That head researcher guy is probably going to earn a shit-ton more points than me because his motivations were not as corrupt as mine."

Jeremy appraised his scorecard appreciatively. He was self-aware enough to know the results were not wrong and he had never been in denial that he was an intrinsically 'good' person. His motivations were selfish, but so was everyone else's. No one could truthfully claim to have absolutely zero selfishness when doing any good deed, be it virtue signalling when sharing social justice tweets or helping the homeless so you could get into heaven, or even simply for the sake of the happiness or fulfilment one would feel from doing a good deed. No good deed was intrinsically selfless. That is probably why there was a multiplier which deducted points based on how 'good' your intentions were when helping or saving anyone.

"So… what now? What's up with those wishes- "

At that word, the blue screen in front of him changed again, this time leaving only a single line.

You have 3 Wishes left! Please state your wish!

"Huh? What am I supposed to do with that? I would really appreciate just a little more clarification."

You wish for a little more explanation for the wishes. Confirm?

"Whoa- wait, does that count as a wish?"

You wish for an answer to your question: does that count as a wish. Confirm?

"Now you're just making fun of me."

Jeremy paused in thought.

This was probably one of those genies wishes, right? And it said in the beginning that I died? Well, I have got to hand it to my brain, it really came up with a weird ass dream. Well I have watched enough isekai anime to know what my first wish was going to be.

"I wish to be reincarnated in another world with my memories." It was not like my previous life held any more meaning for me. I had already accomplished all that one could achieve: fame, fortune, women, saving the world; what else could a man ask for? And since this is a dream anyways, might as well ask for something more fantastical than reincarnating back into plain old Earth.

You wish to be reincarnated into another world with current memory. Confirm?

"Confirm."

You have chosen to be reincarnated into another world. Checking Karmic merits for option limitations…

"Karmic merit is probably referring to the overall karmic impact. Does that mean based on that my options for what world to reincarnate in will be limited?

Result: Unparalleled Positive karmic impact – option limits: limitless

Please select your world.

Limitless? Holy shit, so unlike those isekai animes where the protagonist is randomly chucked into some generic fantasy world, there was no limit to what kind of world I could go into! The smartest and most meta choice would probably be…

"A world that lets me go into any other world I want." Something like that would give me an endless number of anime or comic book worlds to explore right?

Parameters unspecified! Please select your world.

"Parameters unspecified? Doesn't limitless mean that there shouldn't be any parameters? Ugh could you at least specify what options do I have or what kind of requests would be within your parameters?"

You wish for an explanation for reincarnation world selection. Confirm?

"Oh come on! Be reasonable! Great, now it's going to ask if I wish for it to be reasonable…"

…Request acknowledged. Please restate your question.

"That actually worked? Damn, I should have tried that sooner. Could you explain how selecting a world works?"

Your selection of a world to reincarnate must be one that exists. You can choose an existing world to be reincarnated in.

Jeremy threw his hands up in frustration. "That sucks! If I can only choose a world that exists, doesn't that mean my only choice is the one I came from? One that actually exists?"

"Wait, define exists. What do you mean by an existing world?"

The system cannot create the idea of the world from scratch. It can only generate from an existing universe that has already been created by humanity.

"This is just confusing, what other existing universe are there? And what do you mean by 'created by humanity'- OH, HOLD UP! Existing universe created by humanity does not literally mean created by humans. It just has to be something that came from the imagination of people! So existing universes is referring to the fictional worlds that have been created through the imagination of their creators, right?"

Correct.

"Alright, I get it now. So let me clarify my question, and I am emphasizing that this is a question, not a wish. Could it be possible to reincarnate in the Marvel universe for instance?" Those Marvel movies were something I thoroughly enjoyed when I was younger.

Processing… Yes, it is possible to reincarnate in over 1,000 different realities in the Marvel Multiverse.

"Oh hell YES! I probably can't choose an amalgamation of different fictional universes like the one I first asked for, the parameters as this thing says, would be too unspecified. Then the limitless options probably means that I have an there aren't any limitations on which world I could choose due to my unparalleled positive karma, while for someone with lower karmic merits can perhaps choose only one of those 1,000 different realities."

Now was the hard part, choosing which world to go to. Harry Potter? Not bad but a little bit boring. Marvel worlds were out, I barely remember any of the plotlines of those movies or comic books, I would be totally clueless. Besides, those worlds had godlike cosmic entities that were just too unpredictable. My choice would have to be a world that is both exciting, fun and somewhere I am knowledgeable about. If there was one such fictional story that I have watched multiple times over, its plotlines I was very familiar with and characters I would recognize – it would have to be Naruto! I was a huge fan of the anime, especially since I functionally grew up with it. I didn't have time nor interest to watch the Boruto sequel, but I was confident in my knowledge of the Naruto universe.

"I wish to reincarnate into the Naruto universe."

'Naruto' Universe selected. Verifying…

Select timeline.

The selections were not displayed on the screen, but it somehow appeared in my mind. I knew what choices were available intuitively. The time periods I could be born in ranged from the inception of chakra itself, the establishment of the elemental nations, the warring clans' period, all the way to Boruto's timeline. But there was only one that actually interested me, which would of course be the canon timeline.

Timeline selected. Verifying…

Select origins.

Again, the choices automatically appeared in my mind. The options were diverse, I could choose to be born in any country, in any particular village, and even any specific clan. If I was going to rely on my memory of the canonical meta knowledge and thus use them to my maximum benefit, it had to be Konohagakure in the Land of Fire. As for which clan, the most overpowered ones could only be the Uchiha, Senju or Uzumaki clan, since those were the only two bloodlines that stemmed from the Rikudo Sennin, the legendary primogenitor of shinobi.

While the Senju clan held the mokuton bloodline, it was also clear from the anime that not all Senjuclan members awakened the kekkei genkai. Whereas the Uzumaki clan possessed abilities that was arguably the least useful amongst the three. The most cheat-like ability would definitely go to the Uchiha clan's Sharingan eyes. Just the base form allowed one to copy jutsu, incredible dynamic vision and predictive capabilities. Not to mention all the subsequent evolutions – the Mangekyou, Eternal Mangekyou and even the possibility to somehow awaken the Rinne-Sharingan in the future. Without a doubt, this was the best of the three choices.

However, Jeremy was hesitant to be born in the Uchiha clan, given his foreknowledge of the Uchiha clan massacre. Additionally, it would be way more difficult to hide his gamer abilities from an entire clan with his parents or any siblings around him 24/7. Jeremy assumed a contemplative smile, in his 'previous' life, he lived a life of exorbitant lavishness, without wants nor needs. Perhaps, this time he could try roughing it out with a tougher childhood?

You have selected: Naruto Universe; 'Rookie 9' time period; Land of Fire; Konohagakure; Uchiha Ancestry; Orphan. Confirmed?

Looking through it once more, Jeremy nodded. This was the best possible choice. "Confirm."

Wish granted. You have 2 wishes left. Please state your wish.

Jeremy grinned; the next two wishes was obviously going to be the 'cheat' he would bring along with him to the Naruto universe. He had to make sure the wish had to be as cheat-like as possible. Jeremy searched through his memories, trying to think of something from an anime or manga that would serve that very purpose.

A few years back there were this anime that was extremely popular, and they had very similar concepts. It was called The Gamer and it featured a protagonist that somehow or another acquired 'gamer' like abilities that allowed him to become stronger with an RPG-like interface. That was a 'cheat' that had limitless possibilities. More specifically, however, he had his eyes on the Gamer's Body and Gamer's Mind ability. One would recover all injuries and status effects after a night's sleep and the other ensured he would be able to face the potential dangers he was going to face calmly and logically.

Afterall, he didn't want to be permanently disabled or shit his pants when placed in life threatening scenarios, even if this was all just a dream.

"I wish to be reincarnated with the abilities of The Gamer."

You wish to be reincarnated with the abilities of Han-Jeehan, The Gamer. Confirm?

"Confirm."

Verifying… Error. Modifying… Completed.

The Gamer abilities have been re-balanced for suitability of host and selected world.

Certain inherent traits based on previous selections have now been quantified.

Due to The Gamer system interference, potential abilities and powers previously limited based on selected origins have now been made available and can now be accessed.

"Re-balanced? Can I get a list of the changes made to what I know of the Gamer system?"

You wish for a list of changes made to the Gamer System. Confirm?

"Oh come on. Be reasonable."

You wish for a list of changes made to the Gamer System. Confirm?

"Tsk. Worth a shot. Fine, forget it then. I ain't wasting a wish on that." Jeremy frowned, thinking of a way to maximize the benefits of his last wish.

He turned to the screen, "Is it possible for me to hold on to the wish for now and use it later when I really need to or when I have thought of how to use it?"

Yes. Patching…

You can now use the Wish whenever you want to through the Gamer System interface.

Rewards have been distributed. Proceeding to character creation.

At this, the screen that had previously been the size of half his height enlarged to roughly 2.5 times its previous size. Within the screen now showed a life-size model of what could be described as a typical Uchiha teenager – with black hair, dark eyes and pale skin, compared to his own healthy tan. Next to the figure was two left and right buttons, titled Preset appearance.

Jeremy deadpanned, cringing slightly at the generic RPG character creation menu that had appeared before him. "I guess it kind of makes sense I can't customize my appearance since I am going to be born to actual real parents, Uchiha or otherwise. It would be pretty wild for an Uchiha to have weird ass pink hair; people might think I was a bastard Haruno child."

Before scrolling through the preset options, however, he first found a prompt at the very top that asked for a name.

Jeremy Rothschild of course. Sorry, bad joke. If he was going to be living in the Naruto world, he had to have a similarly Japanese sounding name to fit in after all. Hmm… taking inspiration from another of his favorites animes he knew what was going to be his name: "First name Shinji, last name Ikari. Confirm."

The first preset option had a very common appearance, a kind of forgettable face that would usually be deemed as 'Villager G', skipping right through A to F. Given the choice to choose what he was going to look like once he grew up, he at least had to get a more attractive appearance. Jeremy began flipping through the preset options.

"Too fat, too skinny, nose is too big, this one has a butt-chin, oh nice face but the eyes are too small, uh what's with that weird forehead?"

As he swiped through the options, he stopped at preset option #69. "Haha, nice. Oooh, Ikemen! But he looks too similar to Sasuke, and I wouldn't want anyone to correctly guess I had Uchiha blood until I decide when it is time, so pass." A few more swipes and Jeremy found the perfect avatar. A handsome, but not too handsome face that looked different enough from Sasuke or Itachi. The preset option looked more like Kiba with paler skin, charcoal black hair, sharper nose and cheekbones, and obviously sans the distinctive red fang markings on his cheeks.

Alright, next up, lineage?

Father: [Uchiha]

Mother: [Blank]

A drop-down list of options was available. Which only revealed one background: Civilian. No Senju option for the possibility of mokuton bloodline or any other choice really. Seeing no other alternative, he could only select the Civilian background and with that he ended character creation.

Character created. Confirm?

This time, a physical button was present with a Yes/No option. Holding back a sigh, Jeremy pressed on Yes.

Character confirmed. Processing…

Jeremy gave an excited grin before frowning. That was really fun, but too bad this was all just a dream and he was going to wake up soon. But it was still entertaining while it lasted and he just had to compliment his brain for imagining such a fun little scenario.

Reincarnating user in 10 seconds. This time, please remember true altruism comes from a place of selflessness and not just the deed itself. And most importantly – have fun!

Without a warning, the sea of green around him swirled into a kaleidoscope of colours, before being subsumed into an all-encompassing blackness that first swallowed the blue screen in front of him and then quickly consuming his body. It went from the brightness of a green that reminded him of the one place he had always been the most comfortable at to an instant darkness that swallowed his surprised yell.

*The following section and future chapters will be in first person POV*

I woke up from my bed, yawning slightly and giving my torso a light stretch. Oh man that was a really weird dream I just had. And strangely enough I can remember everything that just happened. Don't people usually forget most or at least some of their dreams when they wake up? Must have been different for lucid dreams I suppose.

You have slept in a bed. HP & CP has been fully restored.

I chuckled; my overactive imagination must have still been hallucinating my dreams. I swiped a hand through the translucent blue screen and saw it faded away. See? My brain that had just woken up was just playing a trick on me. Good morning brain, please function properly. I have an interview with Vogue later that I can't mess up.

I opened my eyes blearily still adjusting to the light, only to find myself not in my penthouse New York apartment, but in a dusty, bland old room. I was not on my thousand thread count luxurious bed, but on an even dustier and older blanket than the surrounding architecture if that was possible. The room I was in had dirty walls, and childish doodles drawn in crayon or some other material covered a good third of the peeling wallpaper, and a distinct smell of what I perceived to be poverty emanated from the surrounding furniture – which consisted of little ramshackle beds, chairs and tables shelves and in a corner of the room a box of what seemed to be broken toys or other items in various states of disrepair.

My first and immediate thought was that I had been kidnapped. Which almost impressed me as I had seemingly been abducted from my home, a fortified bunker designed as a posh, upscale apartment , which was guarded by a platoon of very professional and very lethal bodyguards, all without being woken up.

My second thought, however, was cut short as I looked down and found that my decidedly a.d.u.l.t, 34-year-old body had been replaced by the body of a bloody toddler. My hands were tiny, with grubby little fingers that looked softer than marshmallows. I almost screamed in shock before catching myself and realizing that the kidnappers who turned me into a child could possibly hear me – that very line of thought was absurd yet there could be no other explanation.

I looked around desperately before spotting a body-length mirror on the opposite wall that spotted two long cracks and a large fragment missing from the bottom corner. Rushing to it, I observed the visage before me.

My formerly dirty blonde hair had been replaced by charcoal black locks. The eyes that stared back at me was an unfamiliar black, instead of the usual hazel brown. My sun-kissed tan had faded into an almost unhealthy paleness. And most crucially, I was in the body of a 7-year-old child.

Seeing the face, my face, I was immediately reminded of the character I had created in my dreams. Yes, my dream. It was all just a dream… right? I pinched my cheeks, and felt the distinctive light sting from my now child-like fingers. Ouch. This couldn't be happening.

I gasped, if this was somehow real, then last night's dream… I had to test it out.

"Status."

A translucent blue screen appeared out of thin air.

Name: Shinji Ikari

Age: 7

Level: 1

Next Level: 0/100

HP: 100/100

CP: 350/350

STR: 1

VIT: 1

DEX: 3

INT: 6

CHA: 3

Points – 0

Ryo – 0

"F.u.c.k."

"Shinji, language!" A matronly voice came from the room door. I turned to the direction of the voice and saw a middle-aged woman frowning at me. I tilted my head in confusion for a second before a surge of memories flashed through my mind. Kuroda Rie, the head caretaker of the Konoha orphanage. She was a kindly mother-figure for the 30 or so other orphans along with several other part-time workers or volunteers.

The most shocking part of her entrance, however, was the floating words above her head.

Kuroda Rie Lv 14

"S-sorry, Rie-baasan." I hesitantly replied, unsure of whether she would be able to notice that I was not acting like I used to.

"Come on, you woke up late. Go get your morning chores done quickly or the other kids won't leave any breakfast for you."

Quest Alert!

Morning Chores:

Complete your chores within 20 minutes!

Make your bed (0/1)

Water the garden (0/1)

Wipe down room windows (0/10)

Dust room surfaces (0/1)

Rewards:

+30 Exp

REP slightly increased with Rie

REP slightly increased with Konoha Orphanage

Failure:

REP slightly decreased with Kuroda Rie

REP slightly decreased with Konoha Orphanage

No breakfast

Accept? (Y/N)

"…I'm going to have to get used to this." I muttered under my breath while reading through the latest quest notification and absentmindedly accepting the quest.

Rie clapped her hands to get my attention, "What are you spacing out for, get a move on."

I gulped and began making my way to my bed, looking down at it in confusion. How do I make a bed?

.

.

.

Quest [Morning Chores] failed!

Time's up!

Make your bed (1/1)

Water the garden (0/1)

Wipe down room windows (7/10)

Dust room surfaces (1/1)

Failure:

REP slightly decreased with Kuroda Rie

REP slightly decreased with Konoha Orphanage

No breakfast.

Note: Did you really just fail your very first quest?

Congratulations! You have just failed your very first quest. You have earned title [Incompetent]!

I cursed in my head at the quest failure notification, my hand still wiping down one of the goddamn windows. Why did the first quest have to be chores, damnit! I have literally never once in my life ever made a bed or watered a garden for crying out loud! I had servants to make my bed, housekeepers to clean windows and gardeners to tend to the garden. I wasted 5 minutes alone just trying to figure out how I was supposed to wipe down the windows. Turns out, just using a dry rag didn't cut it. I figured that out after wiping repeatedly only for the quest window to remain unchanged.

I had to seek out Rie and ask her how to clean the windows properly which prompted a strange look from her as she chastised me for not remembering something that I have been doing everyday for the past year. Rie pointed out I had to first wet the cloth before wiping down the windows, which worked immediately as I saw the updated quest window.

I did receive a stat point during the course of the quest, however. When I decided to look for Rie for some guidance I received a notification message that stated:

For thinking things through logically and making a rational decision, +1 INT.

That wasn't bad at all, but I still failed the quest though. Grumbling to myself, I called out my status window to check out the newly added title. Really? Incompetent? How could I be expected to automatically learn how to do chores when I have never done anything remotely alike for my whole life?

Incompetent: -20% for all EXP gained.

WHAT THE FU- That's way too harsh just for failing one quest right? Is it permanent?

I continued my internal protests as I now lost all motivation to clean the stupid windows infront of me.

How do I get rid of that title? Goddamnit system, can you provide some help here?

Wait, could it possibly be…

"Help."

Nothing happened.

"Menu. Settings. Options." I rapidly fired through a few more prompts but no dice.

"Grr… Skills."

Skills

[Gamer's Body] LVL: MAX

Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game.

After sleeping in a bed, HP and MP is fully restored and status effects are cured.

No physical injuries will be taken from attacks, only pain for a few seconds and loss of HP.

[Gamer's Mind] LVL: MAX

Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through

Allows peaceful state of mind

Immunity to mental disorders

The gamer's body and gamer's mind skill worked as I expected it to.

"How about Inventory."

The classic translucent blue screen appeared again, this time containing a grid like structure containing 5x5 squares. Nothing was in it except three items within.

Hand-me-down shirt [E]

Hand-me-down shorts [E]

Worn sandals [E]

Out of curiosity I slipped off the sandals and saw the [E] symbol beside the item disappear. That probably stood for equipped. This system is really not explaining anything at all. I was going to have to figure it all out on my own.

It has been a week since my arrival in to the Naru-verse, and it was a week spent exploring my new found abilities. I managed to gather more information about the gamer system through extensive trial and error. Firstly, I received an explanation on the stats and their effects on me.

HP stood for hit points, obviously, and determined how much damage I could sustain before it hits 0 – and I was not keen on finding out what would happen after that.

CP quantified the amount of Chakra I had at my disposal.

STR was just what it sounded like. It mainly determined my physical strength and damage I could dish out.

DEX corresponded to dexterity, influencing my overall speed and nimbleness and finesse.

VIT increased my HP and overall stamina and at higher levels could reduce damage received.

INT stood for intelligence and it increased my learning speed, memory, CP and even chakra recovery.

CHA was my quantified charisma, a really odd stat which the system only explained as affecting social interactions and other's perceptions of me.

REP, I assumed to represent reputation. However, there had been no way to view the total amount of REP points I had with anyone nor was there any quantifiable measurement of how much REP was gained from the quests. The only real indication of how much REP I lost or gained was through the descriptive adjectives attached to the messages that I have observed to range from 'slightly' to 'significantly'.

The REP points could be gained or lost from quests or even my daily actions and words. When I had complimented Rie on her new haircut I gained a slight REP increase but when I accidentally broke a window during one of my evening chores, my REP decreased significantly. She had given me the cold shoulder for the rest of the day but thankfully I managed to grind back REP points by taking the initiative to help the other kids with their chores.

Speaking of the other kids, there were quite 30 or so of them staying in the orphanage. The youngest was only 2 years old while I along with another girl was the oldest. It turned out that Konoha's public education not only provided free education for orphans, but also lodgings and allowances for when we entered the shinobi academy. Thus, there were no other children aged 8 or above still living in the orphanage as that was the age they started the shinobi academy.

The other child my age was a plain looking girl that I realized had a major puppy crush on me, or rather the Shinji Ikari that had resided in my body before my arrival. Unsurprising as the body I was inhabiting now was a super cute 7 year old, plus I was the only other one her age after all. She was kinda clingy but I had to go along with it to maintain my façade as a 7 year old boy playing with a same-aged girl. Every innocuous gesture or praise I gave granted me significant REP boosts with her. It was educational at least as I could experiment with some of the gamer system mechanics.

I realized that no one other than me could see the system notifications such as the status screen or inventory screen. Thus if I placed something within my inventory, it would look as it the object was disappearing in mid-air. I would have thought that was going to be difficult to explain to the girl when she first witnessed a branch disappearing into my inventory, but I easily convinced her that she was mistaken, and the branch was obviously right there on the floor (after I discretely removed it from my inventory). She believed me instantly and had no further questions about the subject, which was probably the result of the presumably huge REP score I had with her.

Next, I also received quite a few quests which helped me figure out how quests were generated in the first place. It was a strange combination that vaguely took into account what I needed to do and what I wanted to do.

For example, every day I had at least two guaranteed quests generated – my morning chores quest and evening chores quest. Both provided 20 EXP and slight EXP increases. Thankfully after my disastrous first quest, I quickly learned from my mistakes and began completing the quests with no issue.

But quests were also generated based on things that I wanted to do but was also necessary. For example, I had received the second quest following the first Morning Chores, when I began wondering how big was the orphanage that came long with the necessity to orient myself to my new environment.

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Quest Alert!

Explore the Orphanage:

Investigate the Konoha orphanage!

Go through every room in the estate and discover their purpose (0/12)

?

?

Rewards:

+50 EXP

?

?

Failure:

New Title

REP slightly decreased with Kuroda Rie

REP slightly decreased with Konoha Orphanage

I had immediately grimaced at the quest failure consequences. I already had the Incompetent title, what would I receive if I failed another one?

Thankfully, walking around was not as difficult as making a bed for me at least; not to mention most rooms had signs that communicated their purpose. However, the question mark had gotten me thinking. The quest rewards had a similar question mark, which I could only deduce represented a hidden objective and corresponding hidden reward. The implication being that the quest was not as simple as it appeared. Thus, I carefully investigated every nook and cranny of the building.

Oh and I also received another +1 INT after that deduction.

At the end of the exploration I had discovered a hidden stash of cigarettes, some p.o.r.no mags, a blunt kunai and some blunt shuriken, a tattered academy issue guide on Body Conditioning, various sweets and candy littered behind crawlspaces, and even some money. The biggest challenge I faced was actually Rie's office. Not because it was locked or anything like that, but because upon entering and searching through the shelves, I had found that it was exceedingly inconspicuous. I suspected something had to be hidden in a place as important as the head caretaker's office, but not I had not been able to find anything. But when I opened the drawers of Rie's desk, and looked underneath it, I discovered the unmistakable mechanism of a false bottom secret compartment. I had quite a few of those manufactured for myself in my previous life, so I was familiar with how it worked. Pushing against down on the further end of the drawer, the front end tilted upwards, allowing me to lift the false bottom to reveal the contents of Rie's secret compartment.

It was another p.o.r.no mag.

I immediately returned the false bottom back in its proper place and made sure to make it seem untouched. The revelation that Rie was a closet pervert had been slightly disturbing but understandable as well. From what I could remember, she was someone who spent almost every waking hour of her days taking care of a few dozen children. Needing some a.d.u.l.t entertainment was not unreasonable.

I had also received another notification after successfully completing my second quest.

Quest [Explore the Orphanage] Completed!

Investigate the Konoha orphanage!

Go through every room in the estate and discover their purpose (12/12)

(Hidden) Find one secret stash (5/1)

(Hidden) Discover Rie's secret compartment ()

Rewards:

+50 EXP

+10 EXP per secret stash found

Skill [Observe]

Congratulations! You have completed your first quest! Bonus 100% EXP to quest reward!

Congratulations! You have completed all hidden objectives of a quest for the first time! You have earned Title [Competent]!

New Title [Competent] has been cancelled out by Title [Incompetent]

Title [Incompetent] has turned into Title [Slightly Incompetent]

You have levelled up!

Congratulations! You have levelled up for the first time! Double stat points gained!

I had immediately checked my status upon quest completion.

Name: Shinji Ikari

Age: 7

Level: 2

Next Level: 100/150

HP: 150/150

CP: 500/500

STR: 1

VIT: 1

DEX: 3

INT: 8

CHA: 3

Points – 10

Ryo – 150

Titles:

[Slightly Incompetent]: -10% for all EXP gained

The previous had now been replaced with a new one, and the effects were less harsh than before as well. The 'First time!' messages were amazing in its effects, but thinking back on the first title, they also penalized as much as it rewarded.

I realized every level up would grant me 5 stat points to distribute into my attributes, but now I had 10 stat points due to the first-time achievement. I decided to withhold stat point distribution until I really needed them.

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Other than the daily chore quests I received from the system, other quests were also created when someone of authority requested something of me or asked for a favor. However, not every request would be translated into a quest. Picking up a pen Rie dropped did not count as a quest, but when she had asked me to help out in the kitchen a quest was created. Through this system I was able to successfully complete around 3-5 quests a day, acc.u.mulating EXP to level up twice more. Some of them even gave money as a reward, which was automatically added to my inventory.

Additionally, I was also able to create some new skills and grind up the levels of existing ones. As expected, just like The Gamer anime, I was also able to create new skills through repeated actions. My current status and skills page looked like this.

Name: Shinji Ikari

Age: 7

Level: 5

Next Level: 300/750

HP: 550/550

CP: 900/900

STR: 7

VIT: 6

DEX: 9

INT: 13

CHA: 3

Points – 25

Ryo – 580

Skills

[Observe] (Active) LVL: 3

The ability to read information about the targeted object or person through observation.

Improved proficiency in the ability reveals more information.

[Basic Body Conditioning] (Passive) LVL: 3

Increases your body's strength, speed and endurance through training

+3% to physical damage

+3% to movement speed

-3% to physical damage taken

+3% to physical stat growth rate

[Shurikenjutsu] (Passive) LVL: 1

Increases accuracy of thrown shuriken and kunai by 10%

[Knife Fighting] (Passive) LVL: 1

Increases damage dealt with small, bladed weapons by 10%

[Beginner Taijutsu Mastery] (Passive) LVL: 1

+1% to physical damage

+1% to movement speed

[Meditation] (Active) LVL: 3

+20% to CP regeneration

+20% to HP regeneration

Skills like cleaning or dishwashing was, surprisingly, not created even through repeated actions. It seemed like created skills were almost exclusively related to combat.

The [Basic Body Conditioning] skill was created after reading the tattered academy guide on body conditioning, I had found on my exploration quest. It was basic information about how to properly exercise and strengthen our muscles through body-weight training; information that was a little common sense, but I was grateful for the skill regardless.

Similarly, the [Shurikenjutsu] and [Knife Fighting] were a result of me experimenting with the blunt kunai and shuriken I had found. After throwing the shuriken against a tree a few times, the skill was naturally created, and I could immediately feel a slight improvement in my accuracy. However, my aim was still atrocious. I had also practiced wielding a kunai, stabbing and slashing at the air.

[Beginning Taijutsu Mastery] was created when I threw a few traditional one-two combos at a tree, mixing up the attacks on the poor, immobile tree with kicks, hooks and some fundamental footwork I had learned over a decade ago in my previous life from the few lessons I had in kickboxing.

I had accidentally obtained the [Meditation] skill when I was deep in thought on the first night of my reincarnation. When I slowly began falling asleep and as the thoughts in my head cleared, I received a notification saying that I had created a new skill. Needless to say, I continued meditating every night in order to grind it up to a level where it will be useful for training.

[Observe] was an ability I had received from my orphanage exploration quest, and was something I would be eternally grateful for. It was able to show me information about any object or person that I concentrated on. For example, if I looked at a table and used my observation skill, I would be able to see something like…

[Wooden Table]

A table made of wood found in the Konoha Orphanage.

And as the [Observe] skill levelled up further, I was able to see more information, especially on people or weapons. When I observed the blunt kunai in my inventory I saw this:

[Training Kunai – Grade: Common]

A roughly made kunai made of scrap iron, blunted for training purposes.

Durability: 14/15

Damage: F

Rather than a numerical damage value, the damage the weapon was inherently capable of was given a letter grade to measure its lethality. I would have to assume the lowest grade was F as the blunt kunai could not even hurt a fly.

Different levels of [Observe] showed me different amounts of information about a person. At level 1, all I could see was their name, level and some information. At level 2, it showed me their max HP count and added on to the information available. At level 3, I was able to see their max and current HP and CP as well as additional information about the target.

Observing the caretaker-baasan with the level 3 [Observe] showed me her status:

Name: Kuroda Rie Lv 14

HP: 1200/1200

CP: 300/300

Rie is the head caretaker of Konoha Orphanage. She cares deeply for the children under her care and tries her best to make sure they are taken care of and sheltered from the dangers outside the orphanage walls. While she can be stern at times to the children, she ultimately has their best interests at heart.

She thinks that Shinji is a cute but curious child who sometimes acts strangely.

The other orphan children mostly had levels of 1 and 2, with the only other 7-year-old girl being at 3. I had grumbled how unfair it was I started at level 1, but I was rapidly catching up, so it was fine. For now I was still unable to see the stat count of people with my level 3 [Observe], but hopefully it would be possible at higher levels.

I was able to increase stats such as STR and VIT through the body conditioning exercises and, DEX from my practice with the shuriken and kunai, and my INT from reading the few books the orphanage had and making a few intelligent and logical decisions through rational thought. The books gave me some desperately needed general knowledge about the world and its history too.

There were also some quests created when I was sneakily training my newly acquired skills. They mainly related to accomplish some sort of achievement corresponding to the skills that I had been practicing in. However, I only managed to successfully complete 1 out of the 3 quests generated.

Quest [Amateur Shurikenjutsu] Failed!

Achieve more than 50% accuracy out of a 100 shuriken thrown from 15m away (X)

Hit 10 'bullseye' (1/10)

Rewards:

+100 EXP

+1 LVL to Shurikenjutsu

Failure:

None

Quest [Create Your Own Fighting Style] Failed!

Create your own fighting style out of your past martial arts experience (X)

Rewards:

+100 EXP

+1 LVL to Beginner Taijutsu Mastery

+1 LVL to created fighting style

Failure:

None

Quest [Hit the Gym] Completed!

Get Basic Body Conditioning to level 2 by the end of the day (√)

Rewards:

+100 EXP

+1 LVL to Basic Body Conditioning

Failure:

None

I hesitate to call the quests unreasonable but yes, they definitely were very unreasonable. I only barely managed to increase my body conditioning level through sheer grit and determination before receiving the level up notification and collapsing in agony.

Additionally, the [Slightly Incompetent] title had been removed a few days after I got it, after I managed to complete 10 quests in a row successfully. Thank kami for that as the 10% reduced experience was really taking a toll.

I also found out that I would be entering the Shinobi Academy in roughly a month's time, and a week before that I would have to start moving out of the orphanage and into the student dormitory the village had prepared for the orphan academy students.

We did not have to pay for utilities, rent and academy fees, and would even be receiving 20,000 ryo a month as an allowance. It was a sizable sum that roughly translated to perhaps 2,000 dollars. We had to use the funds provided to buy our own groceries as well any other daily necessities including clothes or training materials.

I had taken the past week to slowly orient myself to my new environment: gathering information, picking up the common sense of this world as well as acquiring some general knowledge of the village. I had only ventured out of the orphanage a couple times the last few days, primarily for the purposes of checking out the surrounding area. The 'original' Shinji Ikari similarly did not have very much experiences with the world outside of the orphanage as the children were sheltered protectively by the head caretaker, Rie. Only the oldest, like myself and that other girl were permitted to travel outside the orphanage gates without supervision but with some limitations as to how far we were allowed to go and a curfew to boot.

My initial hesitancy to dive right into training with chakra was also contributed by my concern that we might be watched by Danzo's ROOT agents, and if I showed any exceptional talent I might be taken and forcibly recruited into the organisation. However, as I started practicing the taijutsu and shurikenjutsu, I realized my talent was paltry as compared to some of the real geniuses.

Furthermore, basic chakra exercises were not as restricted as I had thought. When I explored the outskirts of the orphanage, I witnessed more than one child younger than me, presumably clan members, who were training in the leaf concentration exercise.

Thus, after the week-long delay, I was finally going to start training in the chakra control exercises. I have a month to get myself up to scratch before my first day of the shinobi academy!

Quest Alert!

Preparations:

Train yourself before entering the Shinobi Academy!

Increase your level up to 8

Increase your Shurikenjutsu up to LVL 3

Increase your Basic Body Conditioning up to LVL 5

Increase your Beginner Taijutsu Mastery to LVL 3

Learn the Leaf Concentration Exercise

Increase your Leaf Concentration Exercise to LVL 3

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Rewards:

New Title

+2 to all stats

+1 LVL to all skills

?

?

Failure:

New Title

REP decreased with 'Rookie 9'

REP decreased with Shinobi Academy

Accept? (Y/N)