AN:English isn't my first language, yadda yadda.
Something, something, enjoy my amateur writing. Bye.
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Y'know… I entertained the idea of how I would realistically react when Isekai'd. And I mean, a realistic reaction.
Would I take it in stride and formulate a quick plan to ensure I wouldn't sleep without a roof over my head? Probably not, I suck at planning ahead. But maybe if my transmigration to the other world would be sudden enough, maybe I would've experienced a shell shock strong enough to suppress most of my emotions and allowed me to focus on necessary tasks before I break down.
Or maybe I would just break down 2 seconds after being Isekai'd.
Who knows?
It all depends on what mental space I was in before being Isekai'd. A depressed version of myself would react completely differently to a happy and fulfilled version of myself.
And also, what about 'mental stabilizer' abilities? The ones that either suppress your emotions completely, or (preferably) just prevent loss of control from an intense emotional reaction? If I get transmigrated with abilities and one of them is a skill that prevents any emotional outbreaks / mind breaks, that's definitely something that would influence how I would react to the situation.
But as much as I speculated about this, mostly after reading a new SI fanfiction, I would never in my wildest dream think that my first action right after being Isekai'd to be…sitting on a bench and playing on my Nintendo Switch.
But then again, my Isekai ability literally revolves around me completing games, so…
[GAME TO SURVIVE!]- YO! I heard you want some "cheat abilities" for your Isekai experience! Well…sure! Why not? Here is the deal, I'll give you your…is that a Nintendo Switch? You play on this junk? Ugh. Fine, imma upgrade it to a Nintendo Switch 2 and make it magic to make it better. But anyway, here's the deal. You chose one of the games on your console, chose the challenge I added, and complete the game in order to gain a reward! Cool right?
[Gamer's Focus]- Often when in stressful situations, like being on 1hp and no heals while fighting a boss, Gamers tap into a state of hyper focus and use it to achieve victory against overwhelming odds. Or in simpler words, they "lock in". You will now experience this more often, but In real life.
[Summon & Banish Switch 2]- You can summon your Switch from anywhere, and always in perfect condition. And you can also banish it into the void when you don't want to play with it any more.
[Inventory]- A pocket dimension where you can keep all your stuff.
I exhaled loudly and squirmed a little, the bench I was sitting was uncomfortable, but it had to do. It was either this or the floor, so I'll suffer on the bench. This is a medieval-ish world, people probably throw away their buckets of shit and piss out the window and on the street, there is no way I'm gonna sit on the ground.
<
Wha- danmachi has plumbing?
<
For real..?
Man, it's been a while since I've read the manga, I don't remember anything like that at all. But then again, modern bathrooms in a fantasy world would probably be a minor detail I wouldn't remember at all, so-
I shook my head, attention snapping back to the game. In the corner of the screen there was a timer, ticking down and constantly reminding me how much time I had left to complete the "challenge".
10 minutes remaining, I can do this.
I switch my current grass crest shield, into the caduceus round shield, then switch my Uchigatana for the Bandit Knife and enter the boss arena.
<
There are different types of shields in the game, and each type has different timing on the parry. I switched the shield because the one I was using…well, I don't know if the parry timing is different but I know for a fact that the one I equipped just now has the one I need, so why risk it?
<
I can level only Dex, and as a Thief my base Str stat is 9. The Uchigatana takes 14 Str to use one handedly, and I don't want to risk failing a riposte after a parry because the animation to switch into a two-handed grip took to long. I'll finish it with the +5 bandit dagger, ten minutes is plenty of time to parry Gwyn to death.
Pling Pling Plong.
Hello Gwyn, old friend.
I approached the boss.
Gwyn's AI decided to run at me before using its lunging attack.
I parried it.
Gwyn's health went down.
Man, this is the easiest part of the whole game, it's kinda sad. But I guess it's kinda lore accurate? The strongest God, hollowed to the point where he is the only boss you are able to parry. A pathetic display, but makes sense when you consider how long Gwyn had to burn as kindling before the chosen undead showed up.
Drink estus flask after parry, which triggers the Boss's AI to use another parryable attack. Parry, attack. Drink estus again. Parry again.
Repeat until the health bar disappears.
And boom, Gwyn is dead.
[Dex only challenge!]- Beat Dark Souls by investing only into Dex. {COMPLETED}
[Reward]- {3 Items of your choosing from your playthrough}, {Player's character physical stats transferred to the player.}
[Penalty]- {10 days ban from playing any videogame.}
I smiled- no grinned, as I saw the pop-up. My eyes flickering down to the console still in my hands, the game going back to the title screen instead of starting a new game+. Weird, but whatever, who cares?
<> Thankfully, the voice of what I can only assume to be the ROB who Isekai'd me, didn't sound annoyed or angry. Simply curious. <
"Well, 3 things." I said as I banished my Switch, and got up from the bench. I stretched and felt the muscles of my legs and ass thanking me for it.
The night air felt warm, making me believe that it must be summertime here.
"First, most of the people who say that Dex builds are trash, are neanderthal players whos plan of action is to run at the boss and hope their Strength build will provide enough DPS to kill the boss before the boss kills them." Not that I'm not one of those neanderthals too, mostly defaulting to play strength builds a majority of the time I start a new game. But I do play other builds too from time to time, so I learned how to play them well too.
"Second, I know the game too well. I know where the items best for the Dex build were, and how to obtain them. I played all Soulsborne games multiple times, but the first dark souls? I practically memorized this game, it's the soulsborne I know the most." I wasn't exaggerating, I could take a 10 year long break from the game and still remember everything. The map, items, enemies, quest's, and bosses are permanently stuck in my brain. It's a knowledge that is cemented firmly in my mind palace.
"And third… 4 hours is way too long for a simple challenge like that when you consider reason two. If it had been 2 hours, then yeah, I would've need to focus intently on the game and do a near flawless run and not die to a single mandatory boss. But 4 hours? I had time to go grind some souls, collect some stuff, and even kill the Sanctuary Guardian from the DLC." As I said, I knew the game perfectly, 4 hours was plenty of time for me to calmly walk around the map to grind/collect some souls or grab items that probably wouldn't be useful but wanted anyway. "Or you could've made the beating the DLC mandatory too. I just entered the DLC because I wanted the souls from the first boss to get 1 more level, and I didn't even needed it to beat the game. 4 hours to kill Gwyn and Manus would've been hard."
With my reasoning explained, I went silent and continued exploring the city.
Lamps, there were lamps here.
So modern plumbing and bathrooms aren't the only 'modern' things here. Yeah, I think I remember…the monster stones from the dungeon are used like batteries to power up the modern aspects that the author put into the story.
Well, I ain't complaining, toilets and heating are great inventions, and I'm glad I won't be forced to part with them.
<> ROB finally spoke after some time passed.
"Will that affect the rewards I earned now, or…?" Pls, don't nerf. Pls don't nerf!
<
"So, how do we do this? Should I enter an alleyway so I wont collapse in the open when all the stats from Mili-" that's the name of the chosen undead I played. "-are transferred to me?"
<<"Mili's" physical abilities were already transferred to you when you completed the challenge.>>
ROB's words made me stop, a confused "huh?" escaping my mouth as I looked down at myself. I didn't know what I expected, nothing changed, I still wore my black T-shirt, jeans, and Nike rip offs I bought for 6$.
Mikes.
I didn't feel different either.
<
My eyes went wide.
Now that's a party trick! Damn, 67 Dex ain't nothing to scoff at, huh?
<
"Can you answer a question of mine first?" Because depending on the answer, I will change one of the items I had in mind.
<
"How does falna work exactly? What determines what skills or spells you gain from a god's blessing?" I remember that a god or goddess had to use their ichor, their blood, to engrave it on a person's back. How it stores a person's experience and materializes it into stats, but everything I remembered about it is vague.
But I remember a line from a fanfiction that I also don't remember that hinted at the fact that falna was a soul-based power.
And if it is… oh boy, I'm gonna get OP quick, even without my gaming related powers.
<
The only difference I can think of at the moment is that a person with falna doesn't mutate into a monster when they abandon their god/king.
<
That's- huh…that's way better than I expected. That's actually a very useful thing to have just for the "prevents any form of regression" part of its function. You mean to tell me that anyone who has it won't get worse or lose any combat experience that they acquired through it?
That's insane!
Oh, yeah, I'm definitely getting falna.
I'll look around and see if the big fishes are recruiting, and if not, I could probably easily join Miach, or Hestia.
Wait, Takemikazuchi is also an option! If memory serves right, he should be a god of war. Maybe I could join by proving I have some talent for battle? With my new dexterity it should be possible to do it, right?
Wait, I'm getting distracted…
"So, falna, the skills…they are all soul based. Right?"
<
"Give me the {Dark Hand}."
…
<
Nuh-uh. Sorry ROB, but you ain't taking this from me.
"But it's considered an item in the game, therefore, I can ask for it as my reward."
…
<
Knowledge just popped into my mind. Like suddenly remembering how to calculate advanced mathematics despite the fact that you passed all your math classes on the lowest acceptable grades possible.
I raised my hand, palm facing toward the sky, and I pulled at the knowledge, my knowledge, floating in my head. Following the instructions I watched as the skin of my left hand became pitch black, black to the point it looked like a black hole in the shape of a human hand. Not soon after that, bright red smoke began radiating from it and the spell was ready for usage.
I could either use it to create a distortion in space-time that would shield me from 80% of all damage, or reach into someone's soul and grab as much as I could before ripping it off and absorbing it into myself myself.
I ain't just gonna go and mutilate random adventures souls.
But if some random twat is gonna try to rob me, a newbie, inside the dungeon…well, they obviously deserve it, right? And I'd be doing the other newbies a favor too, while also gaining some soul juice for myself!
"The other two items I want are the +15 Uchigatana, and +4 Moonlight Greatsword" I said as I dismissed the spell and watched my hand return to normal.
I wanted the Uchigatana because it was the main weapon I used for the run, and my only +15 weapon. The bleed helped many times during the bosses, not gonna lie.
And the moonlight greatsword…well, I just wanted it because it was themoonlight greatsword. Tho, I'm kinda sad I didn't have the time to farm the dragon scales necessary to make it a +5 weapon, but oh well.
Can't wield it yet, but I'll probably be able to by completing another challenge from Dark Souls. Until that day arrives, it's a collectors item.
<
I nodded and turned my head to the tower in the distance, standing proudly in the middle of Orario, sealing the dungeon. Even with the city's street lamps, the light pollution was low, and I only managed to locate the tower because it still had a lot of lights shining in its many windows.
I kept looking at it for a while, then looked down while reaching toward my pocket and taking out my wallet.
ROB Isekai'd me with whatever was on me, and whatever I was holding during my transmigration. It allowed me to enjoy my last Snickers bar, since I doubt they make those here.
But would it have hurt him to conjure some money to at least rent a room at an inn for one day?
Because I doubt the money I have in my wallet has any value here.
<
I look back at the tower.
"Is the adventures guild near the dungeon?"
<
"Can you guide me?"
<
"Deal." Let's hope you can register as an adventurer without a familia.
Wait...
"Is the guild even open at night?"
<
Thank God. I didn't fancy waiting for sunrise in front of the entrance for them to open.
Welp...new job, here I come!