Carving A Path [Taimanin x Gamer]

[The_Smiling_Priest]

[Welcome Gamer]

What? You're shitting me?

We're doing this are we? I'm gonna be a Gamer? Hohoh, Ight, well then let's get a move on shall we?

[Ah good, I'm glad the Gamer is familiar with the system. Would the Gamer like to progress to Character Creation?]

Yep! That'd be swell my dear.

[Understood Gamer. Before we do however, introductions are in order. My name {ERROR: Authorisation Ticket Expired}]

I think something went wrong there game… just gonna go out on a limb and say that's not quite right.

[Ignore that. I fucked with some settings before picking you up… I'll fix it when you start.]

Okay… also there's a Gacha system? Right… gonna need to speak into Luck for those juicy Crits and Gacha Rolls.

[For planning ahead, you have gained +1 Intelligence]

Oh we are going to get along swimmingly. Right, let's get to character creation.

Okay… let's see… spent my last life as a guy, don't know which world i'm going to so why not mix it up a little and go as a girl this time. I'm sure the Gacha can give me something to swap back should the need arise.

Right, let's see~ Hey game, why can I only choose presets?

[What? Oh. Fuck. Erm… yeah my bad. Let me just… see if I can't fix that.]

[Yeah no i can't fix that. Well, I can let you change the colours around a bit. Just nothing else since I'm not entirely familiar with the code behind the CC menu. I can fix it later but there are more pressing issues… like your levelling system that i'm working on tilting in your favour. Considering where you're going… and that I can't change.]

Oh. Cool, right yeah… I can work with this. Let's see what we're dealing with and I'll make my decisions from there.

Looking through the menu there weren't that many, but they all had. Something about them Options 1~4 were different variations on a Saber Face, with the variation mainly being in boob size, Option 5~7 were Rin faces with again, the difference being boob size. However, option 8 was what caught my eye: M16 from Girls Frontline. Literally just M16 from Girls Frontline, well… her pre SF version with the brown hair. Hitting the ''Confirm'' button with all the force of a drunken yorkshire man after a 5 week bender the moment before his liver gave out. I smiled and waited for the system to speak up again.

[Oh, you're done. Good, erm, by the way, about the character creation menu. Might I mention that there are items in the {SHOP} that facilitate the ability to re-use this menu with full functionality later on.]

I didn't know that, thank you kindly for the heads up.

Okay, yeah i think i'm done. I look pretty cool and I can make this work.

[Now, normaly you'd get to choose your starting class. But due to my… right, I'm just gonna say it. I fucked up and now you get your starting class at random. Sorry if it's trash and you're welcome if it's good.]

Ah, it's fine my dear System. We'll see what I roll.

=============================================================================================

Name: Morgana Crowe
Age: 19
R/G: Human Female.
Equipped Titles: The Gamer[Locked], Taimanin Trainee, Asagi's Favoured.
Tier: Trainee Tiamanin.
Allegiances: N/A.

Class: Sun-Singer.
Level: 5
HP: 150/150
MP: 50/50
SP: 100/100

Attributes:-
Vigour: 10 | Mind: 10 | Endurance: 10
Strength: 10 | Dexterity: 10 | Intelligence: 11
Wisdom: 10 | Charisma: 10 | Luck: 10

=============================================================================================

Oh… that's… Game… am I going to a Taimanin world?

[Yup. Why do you think I'm doing everything I can to screw the odds in your favour?]

WHY?!?!!? Whose cereal did I piss and shit in? I've just chosen to be a girl in a fucking Hentai world… one with so many HORRIFIC Bad Ends that make my skin crawl… Go Back To The Character Creation Menu!! I Don't Wanna Be A Chick In This World. Especially One Where I Can Be Brainwashed With A Glance And Turned Into Some Schmucks Cock Hungry Slut Within The Blink Of An Eye!!

[OI!! No Take Backsies on the CC Menu! You've Made Your Bed Now Lie In It. Look, I'll level with ya' Gamer's Mind is OP As Fuck. You'll be fine, I don't know who you pissed off before all this, but I do know one thing. All and I mean ALL of your Bad Ends, end up with you either going through Ego-Death via torture - I.E your very sence of self and the idea of 'You' as a person is utterly annihilated with no hopes of coming back from the brink - being straight up maimed and killed or being brainwashed and tortured into joining the side you oppose the most as an elite soldier and then slaughtering everyone you previously loved and cared for as an emotionless murder machine.]

[The only way your getting fucked, both litteraly and figuratively, is if you seek it out or are dumb enough to get into situations where it's unavoidable - That class ''Sun-Singer'' has 'Solar Fire' as it's primary element and heres a free hint: Tentacle monsters and most demons/monsters are weak to anything with the consept of 'Heavenly' and whats more central to most if not all mythologies than the sun? - so as long as you play your cards right and are careful… you'll be fine. Probably traumatised because your friends end up getting their own bad ends but that's avoidable.]

Oh fuck. Right okay then. I'm level 5, do I get any skills or perks or anything?

[Yes! You do… also you've got 2 ''Skill/Perk Points'' to roll for starting bonuses - had to sacrifice some of the complexity in the levelling system so you're stuck with the Dark Souls system - By the way, the bonuses, they could be good, they could be bad. Either way, they are guaranteed to be beneficial in some general and significant way. I've managed to tweak the drawbacks to not be as devastating as they would be for some of the more… potent bonuses that are available and i've managed to wrangle into the drop pool. Thank me later if you get something good.]

Alright cool, The From Software levelling system 's fine, was kind of expecting it to be honest. Welp, roll them all if you would.

{Perk Gained: Gamer's Soul - You are a Gamer down to your very soul, along with [Gamer's Mind] and [Gamer's Body] you are truly unbreakable. This perk enables the Gamer to turn off their emotions and detach themself from reality in an instant, nullifying pain and other influential effects as a byproduct, It also forces the gamer to see the world around them as nothing more than a Game. As a passive bonus any and all effects that attack or manipulate/alter the soul are rendered useless when used against you.}

{Perk Gained: Fortune's Favour - The very concept of Luck favours you in every interaction where it can make a difference, casino games and games of chance are always in your favour. This perk is considered by many to be the little sister to the [Plot Armour] perk and as such, you may find luck bringing misfortune your way more than not to guide you into a better scenario that you can tilt to your favour, but beware, it won't do all the work for you.}

Right well. With that over. Let's get going shall we?

[Ah one last thing. Should you experience a Bad End with no continuation - getting killed / experiencing Ego death - You'll be moved onto the next game. So death doesn't have any extreme consequences… but it's not a good idea to just die and skip to the next one. After all, the difficulty of the next world gets boosted so you'll want to be levelled up and prepared for it.]

Ah, that makes more sence. Well.. good to know i don't have to be utterly terrified of dying permanently. Anyway… let's get this show on the road then shall we?

=============================================================================================

Name: Morgana Crowe
Age: 19
R/G: Human Female.
Equipped Titles: The Gamer[Locked], Taimanin Trainee, Asagi's Favoured.
Tier: Trainee Tiamanin.
Allegiances: N/A.

Class: Sun-Singer.
Level: 5
HP: 150/150
MP: 50/50
SP: 100/100

Attributes:-
Vigour: 10 | Mind: 10 | Endurance: 10
Strength: 10 | Dexterity: 10 | Intelligence: 11
Wisdom: 10 | Charisma: 10 | Luck: 10

Perks:-
Gamer's Body | Gamer's Mind | Gamer's Soul | Fortune's Favour.

Skills:-
Radiance - Recovery + Agility [?] | Solar Firebolt Grenades [?] | Scorch(Melee) [?] | Well of Restoration [?] | Balanced Glide [?] | Taimanin Training(Advanced).

=============================================================================================

Looking over my stat sheet I let out a long sigh before hitting the confirm button that appeared to it's lower left.

 

[The_Smiling_Priest]

I snapped awake in what my mind told me was my dorm room. A small room with two beds, an ensuite, two wardrobes, a pair of desks on either side of the room and a large fluffy pink rug in the middle atop the wooden floor. The walls were pretty much lined with posters and timetables along with many maps of the world.

{Quest Added: Late To Class! | Objective: Get To Class On Time | Reward: 1 attribute point | Time Limit: 10 Minutes}

I swiped the quest box away, ignoring it. Being a full on Taimanin was a good way to quickly get a bad end on a training mission or something, so my plan was to go rogue and basically become an extra gun for hire or something similar. I'm a fucked up hentai world so my moral compass was very quickly being dismantled, having a itchy trigger finger and a loose set of morals is gonna serve me much better than being a morally sound person will.

{Items Added: Thistle-and-Yew(Scout Rifle) | Swan-Song(Dagger) | Modified Taimanin Uniform | Taimanin Radio | Personal Phone | 3000 Credits}

Opening my inventory I glanced over what I had just gained, Thistle-and-Yew was a simple semi-auto rifle geared towards mid to close range combat but modified to be capable of long range shooting as well, a simple rifle with no bangs or whistles. Swan-Song was a nice looking yet simple dagger that had clearly seen what my mind told me was demon blood, so I'd count it as reliable in a pinch.
The modified Taimanin suit was basically a full body suit that left no skin showing and was armoured with almost vantablack plates in the more important areas… nowhere near as revealing as the other suits out there so I'd wear it without complaint.

The radio was, as it said, a standard issue Taimanin radio handed out to all qualified recruits for communication purposes. Same with the phone, a standard smartphone of this technologically advanced world. The 3K credits were basically the universal currency.

Coming out of my inventory and going over to the options menu i scrolled around in there for a few minutes, turning on and off a few options like Motion Blur and a few other effects like Virginett and Film Grain because fuck you i hate it when games do that. I want to be able to see what i'm playing damn it!! This Ain't No Death Stranding! Another thing I turned on was both Subtitle settings - General and Important Dialogue - and even the map setting which popped up as a small square in the top left of my screen.

Walking over to the wardrobe in the dorm room, I picked out what used to be Morgana Crowe's civilian attire, a dark orange hoodie with some jeans and boots. Thankfully I could equip both these and my Taimanin uniform due to the game having something akin to Terraria's vanity slots.

With all that done, I shoved my personal effects into my inventory and left a note for whoever comes to check on me "Veni, vidi, vici" the simple latin phrase should keep them stalled for at least a few more minutes while I escape from the academy.

{Quest Added: Carve My Own Path(Part 1) | Objective: Find something else to do other than join the Taimanin ranks | Reward: 10 attribute points | Time Limit: N/A}

That quest gave me a chuckle. Time to carve my own path and follow my wrath… I walked out of the academy with a purpose, keeping my stride calm yet hurried. I acted like what I was doing was nothing unusual, I waved at a few of the other students who called out to me, waving as you would to an acquaintance that you see every day.

The school grounds were… large, definitely eastern with primarily japanese architecture with some korean and even some chinese influences thrown in. Taking a shortcut across the track and field area, I dipped into the forest and picked up the pace. The memories of this body had told me there was a small grove that had a nice, if slightly overgrown, path straight to a small town where I could get a bus to a larger town and then a train to tokyo. From there… well, it would be simple to find a place to take a hunting mission. There was quite a market for freelance killers, despite what the academy might want you to think, the general public is more informed than you'd think, because as a wise man once said "'cause at the end of the day, long as there's two people left on the planet, someone is gonna want someone dead."

There would always be a need for hired killers, especially in a world like this. Thistle-and-Yew is pretty good at long range, especially for a simple scout-rifle type weapon. The walk to the local town was… around 16 minutes, granted I did pick up the pace and that's a Taimanin pace, so superhuman speed… for those doing the maths… the Towns just under 10 km away.

That's right fuckers… I can run at 10 metres a second. And that's not a running speed, that's a regular jogging speed. I know from Morgana's memories, I'm not the fastest in my class. Hell, I'm the third slowest. Fucking action-hentai superpowers… utter bullshit.

The bus ride afterwards was… quiet, quaint even. Part of me, half way through the journey, wondered if it would have been faster to just stick to the wilderness and just run. Then my phone pinged and upon checking it, discovered 5 missed calls, 2 text chains, one from my friend: Hirikomi Musashi and one from Asagi-Sensei.

With some major hesitation on my part, I opened the texts from Hirikomi.

Hiri: Crow, where are you?

Hiri: Crow? Asagi-sensei's getting worried.

Hiri: You're not in the dorm or old attic where are you?

Hiri: Crow, are you okay? Answer Me. please. You're really starting to worry me.

Hiri: It's been nearly half an hour. Where are you? Are you hurt? This isn't like you Crow.

Hiri: Was it something I did? If so, I'm sorry and I'll make it up to you.

My fist clenched and a part of me really wanted to text her back, to tell her that I'm okay. I didn't. As far as I was concerned Morgana Crowe was dead and gone. I, The Gamer, was all that was left in her place. With a swift hand, I clicked open the back of the phone and detached the battery before storing both the phone and battery in my inventory separately.

I needed a name to add a bit more distance between myself and Morgana… glancing at the faded reflection in the busses window. I came to a decision: The namesake of my face and body was good enough for me. My name is M16A1.

Should add some mystique when I'm taking jobs in the city. Plus if I can find a place to get a makeover or get something from the Gacha to access the CC Menu, I'll make myself into SF-M16… or should I save that for if I ever end up working for Nomad or some other shady company/secret organisation? Dunno, we'll see where this goes. The white hair and cool coat should help make me look that much more ''Alter'' or ''Evil'' if you want to put it that way.

Yeah, I can see it now. Asagi-sensei's on a mission and then Bam! The goon she's tasked to protect gets sniped, she chases the sniper down only to discover it's me! White hair, cool coat and the whole "glory to griffon" thing M16 does during Singularity. Although if I do end up working for Nomad/Edwin Black, it'll probably be something more along the lines of "Lord Black sends his regards Asagi-sama" before I make my escape into the night and city life, untraceable and undetectable.

Just thinking about it makes me a little giddy inside.

{Quest Complete: Carve My Own Path(Part 1) | Objective: Find something else to do other than join the Taimanin ranks | Reward: 10 attribute points | Time Limit: N/A}

With a small smile I popped those 10 points into Vigor… no sence in having low health after all. After I get Vigor to at least 40, maybe even 50 I'll start specialising in an actual build… or I'll just get Luck higher. Can't hurt.

{Quest Added: Carve My Own Path(Part 2) | Objective: Gain Notoriety as a contract killer in tokyo and draw the attention of Edwin Black for potential recruitment | Reward: +50 reputation with Nomad Organisation, +25 Rep with Edwin Black | Time Limit: N/A}

You know what. Yeah… Yeah this is the path I wanna walk. Fuck it, let's see what happens.

 

[The_Smiling_Priest]

Tokyo was, to keep it brief, an interesting place, one that held a strange mix of traditional japanese architecture that i was pretty sure was only relegated to a few parts of Tokyo in my time, the overall aesthetic was cyberpunk with a healthy dose of Neo-Militarum thrown into the mix for good measure.

Getting my first job was easier than expected, granted it was MOST definitely a trap for amateurs, but I figured that it was better than nothing and besides. Itchy trigger finger, if something smells off, i'll start blasting before i even think about asking questions.

As i approached the meeting place, an enclosed area/plaza between a bunch of apartments and even a few stores away from the main road and completely devoid of life if my preliminary scouting work was to be believed - it was - i took to the rooftops and spotted them awaiting in the shadows, nooks and crannies. Orcs, thankfully nothing like their 40K counterparts as I don't think i'd win against one of those… even with my Taimanin powers.

There was… 1…2…3…15 in total. Each of them is low level, reaching a total of level 25 between them, giving them each an average level of 1. or 2 if you want to be generous and round up. Didn't entirely matter right now, a plan began to form in my mind… well, not really a plan, more like a guide that i'd inevitably stray from. No Plan Survives First Contact.

First, the closest group of Orcs was the largest, totaling at 7 of them. I'd drop a solar grenade from above them and shoot them like fish in a barrel, when things escalated I'd move on to the next group all the while melting the railings and stairs that lead to the roof with solar fire to ensure that they can't just climb up to me. That should buy me enough time to thin their numbers substantially.

With that in mind, I took a deep breath, switched on [Gamer's Soul] to avoid any panic or anything like that and dropped an orb of solar fire down onto the orcs below.

They did not scream, so much as they squealed, odd but I rolled with it. Sighting down the iron's of Thistle-and-Yew, I popped three of them in the head, my grenade having taken out 4 of them. With that group eliminated, I dashed over the roof and to the fire escape, expending a fair amount of power to melt the metal and render it inoperable.

With the Orc's now gathering in the small plaza below and shouting for a fight and ''honour'' i looked them over, a few smaller ones, around 6 maybe even 7ft tall and a really large one that was a good 14 to maybe even 15 feet tall and built like a brick outhouse. I couldn't resist doing them dirty, especially after they called me out for not being honourable and all that.

And so with another pull of the trigger, fired once into the largest orc's skull. To my surprise he toppled back and fell on top of a few of his friends, squashing them dead underneath his rather sizable mass. The rest scattered to the wind after that, I managed to cripple a few who then got left behind, but even the ones who ran didn't get far, a bullet to the head was all that greeted them.

After checking that the surroundings were clear, I hopped down. Using [Glide] to make my descent more manageable. As I approached those still left alive and dragged them to a secluded corner that alley in a dead end after a nice right angle bend, I spoke to them "No Witnesses" and with that, i took my time to kill them one by one, all 4 of them were almost ritualistically killed and dismembered then burnt to a crisp.

My actions may sound like a deranged psychopath on an off day, but I believe my reasoning was sound. In this world Cloning, Cyborgs and coming back from death is a common thing. I was simply ensuring that this lot can't come back as a recurring character. It made sence to me.

With all the bodies burnt to ashes and subsequently scattered to the wind I made to leave. Only for my subtitles to pick up on something.

{Erica Blackmore: "Holy shit that was so cool~"}

I had to wrack my brains as to who the fuck Erica Blackmore was but I eventually settled on her being that human mercenary from RPGX.

Spinning around and yup, there she was, blonde hair, green eyes, wearing green and black with nought but a yellow top, a green jacket and black shorts and some fancy looking boots. To keep up my air of intimidation and cool factor - who am i kidding, i'm wearing an orange hoodie with floppy cat ears on the hood and some jeans, i'm about as intimidating as rotten casserole - I immediately shouldered my rifle and aimed for her head, finger resting on the trigger "Who are you?" I asked, keeping my eyes on her but darting around every now and again to check for any potential back up.

She didn't seem to have any which was… interesting. She's a freelance merc, you'd think she'd know to have some backup or something. "Hi! Name's Erica Blackmore, what's yours?" she asked, obviously not finding me intimidating in the slightest as she slung her SMG down to her side and flipped the safety on. I blinked and followed suit, lowering my rifle and flipping the safety on.

"M16A1. A pleasure" I said and held my hand out to her, with a thought I also turned off [Gamer's Soul], letting me get into character better. Immersion was key for RP. With a great big smile Erica took it and shook, her grip was… firm yet not challenging. "So~ why'd ya kill 'em?" she asked, leaning forwards a little and giving me a mischievous smile. I reciprocated the expression, although my smile was far less mischievous "well, it's simple really. It was a trap. Presumably meant to kill or capture any wanna be contract killer who didn't pick up on their not so subtle tells." I said and Erica nodded.

"Cool cool. I was gonna do the same thing… Are you a Taimanin?" she asked out of the blue and I recoiled slightly "Rouge. Or rather I was never officially one in the first place. I never graduated." she nodded along "wanna get something to eat?" I looked at her and blinked in confusion. This girl I barely even knew, who for all intents and purposes I'd just stolen 15 kills from, wanted to go get something to eat with me.

I again, wracked my mind for what I knew about her, if memory serves correctly she was a ''charming, caring lady with a good heart, but obsessed with money and a bit full of herself'' on the spot I decided that sure, I could. If anything she'd be someone who could pass on my contact details to any potential clients, gotta get my name out there somehow and Erica Blackmore was definitely a well known player in the merc scene if i remember correctly.

As we walked, getting a few odd looks from many civilians, I decided that I'd try and get some more useful info from her "Know anywhere I can buy good quality gear?" that got her attention and she perked up like some kind of puppy "Oh! There's this small store on the southside of Tokyo Kingdom, between 81st and 33rd, down a small alley, it's got this cool yellow sign. They do some good stuff, not all that cheap but it's definitely worth it. If you go, tell 'em Erica sent you and that Zach still hasn't finished my order." I nodded along and noticed something out of the corner of my eye, Yukikaze and Rinko.

Were they looking for me? Probably. Taking my radio out of my inventory using the front pocket of my hoodie to disguise that I pulled it from nowhere, as we passed through a group of civies I put that Taimanin infiltration training to use and began doing my best to blend in with the brightly coloured people coming and going, and when we were at the bar and had gotten a booth, I turned the radio on and listened in on local frequencies as Erica ordered some burgers for us.

"Whatcha got there?" Erica asked and I glanced up from the radio as I fiddled with a dial to get it's volume to an appropriate level, mainly so I could use the subtitles to see what was going on. "Standard issue radio. Took it with me when I left. Never know when it's gonna be useful." I muttered and Erica nodded "Tell you what. You're looking to become a contractor right? I've got a few jobs that need doing but can't make time for. I'll put your name forward and get you into contact with the client. They should be simple enough, a few bullets here, some smashed in skulls there, bam! A bunch of credits in your pocket and my reputation intact and you get to start making your own!"

I looked Erica over, sure. It couldn't really hurt could it? I mean, it was either I take this or spend a good few months, if not years building up my reputation doing what to my mind amounted to radiant quests like in FO4. I'd rather fast track it and pay Erica back once I've gained my own standing. "Really? You'd do that? I mean, if you do. I'll pay you back, pass your name around once I've got my own contacts and jobs."

Erica smiled "wow. You're already thinking like one of us, a Merc I mean. A little bit naive, believing that nobody who is willing to pay for my services doesn't already know who I am. I am kinda a big deal. Oh and you'd owe me a favour, after all. I am doing you a big favour here" she said, tooting her own horn. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to the radio.

{Hirikomi: "This is Hirikomi, no sign of her around here. Come on Morgana… where are you?"}

Part of me felt bad about doing this to her, but I'm utterly convinced being a Taimanin would only lead to devastation. Plus I didn't WANT to RP as Morgana for the rest of my time here, my memories told me she was a somewhat stuffy tsundere bitch with a penchant for alcohol. I wanted to be Me, to take this face and body and change it into something I WANTED to be, and I've chosen to walk the path of a contract killer/mercenary with the vague hopes of working directly for Edwin Black as that should help eliminate a healthy majority of the Bad Ends.

Besides, I'm RPing… I'm allowed to work for the ''Bad Guys'' well, in this case ol' Edwin's group is most certainly the Bad Guys, no need to put quotes around them. That lot are genuinely down right EVIL. Not that I particularly cared so long as their evilness wasn't aimed at me.

And if the plan to avoid my bad ends doesn't work… Well. Blood For The Blood God. Skulls For The Skull Throne. A scorched earth policy should make taking me in/down far more costly than it's worth. Making the price of victory far, far, far more costly than it's worth is just simple logic. Honestly, my ideal method would be to hook up a nuke to a dead man's switch, but something tells me that ain't gonna happen, at least not for a long while.

Our food arrived and I was pulled from my musing, my stomach growling. I hadn't realised how hungry I was since I ended up eating the entire thing in a few bites. Fucking anime physics man, how does it even work? No idea and I'd just done it.

"Well, I need to get going. The Taimanin are grouping up and I'd rather be somewhere else, at least until the heat dies down. But, I'll take you up on that offer." I said, quickly jotting down my contact details and sliding them over on a napkin. Erica just smiled and nodded, "I'll pass it on." she said and i paid for the meal, only 15 credits for the two of us.

{+15 Rep gained with Ericka Blackmore}

As I stepped outside the diner, The radio crackled to life once more, dragging my attention to it. Shuffling to the side as to not be in anyone's way, I devoted my attention to it fully.

{Yukikaze: Why are we even looking for her? If she doesn't want to be found, we aren't going to find her. Morgana's one of the best infiltration specialists Gosha's seen since my mom.}

{Asagi: That's precisely why we're looking for her young Mizuki. If she ends up in the hands of Nomad or heavens forbid the demon world. Then nowhere would be safe from their influence. Besides, aren't you worried about your classmate?}

Yukikaze clicked her tongue, muttered something that the subtitles said was "as if" and I decided that was all I was getting out of the radio for now at least, and besides… I wanted to save it's battery, these blasted things were known for being shit when it came to battery life. Totally nothing to do with the sinking feeling of regret that bubbled whenever I heard them talk about Morgana.

Totally not that.