PING!

“Uhhhh, whaz’zat?” I grumble to myself, the ping noise stirring me from my Heavenly sleep. Yawning widely I cracked my eyes to look around. Sunlight was filtering in through the sky blue curtains from my window across the room.

“Morning already? Damn, that was one really weird dream last night.” I stretched my arms wide and high, getting a few satisfying pops from my back for my efforts. Looking around, I was a bit confused. My room looked... different.

My old dresser (which had been made from that cheap, bargain-bin-tote plastic) was now made of wood. It was simple, though it seemed like it was done in an old style. It looked like it was oak, though the room was lit poorly, and it had a dark finish, so it was hard to tell. It had also moved from the right side of my room to the left.

The closet was still next to the door, but on the right side instead of the left. The open-out shutter doors hadn’t changed much, but then again, I couldn’t see inside. The popcorn ceiling (which had also been a flat green before) was now untextured, and painted to look like a slightly cloudy noon sky— complete with the sun.

A new writing desk sat in the left corner of the room, closest to the door, with a simple wooden chair pushed neatly into the leg-space beneath. A small oil lamp sat on the closest corner of the desk, though it was unlit at the moment, and a short pile of books were neatly stacked in the opposite corner, against the wall.

Shaking my head and rubbing my eyes trying to make sure nothing was affecting my vision, I blinked hard before a translucent screen, floating in front of my face, caught my attention.

You have slept in your bed.

All status effects cleared. HP and MP fully restored.

“Blink… Did I mix NyQuil and fireball again? Blink Blink…” My brain was trying to work, but all the employees said; “Fuck it, we can’t work like this no more!” and abandoned ship. I slowly reached a shaking hand toward the screen as last night's “dream” replayed in my head.

The moment my hand came into my field of vision, I felt my heart stop. The hand in front of me had three fingers and a thumb— and I clearly remember having four fingers. Also, my hand was covered in brown fur. I looked back and forth between the screen and my hand.

“It wasn’t a dream.” As I said this I clamped down on my rising panic, and started putting it all together. After a few moments of organizing my thoughts, and deep breathing, I laid everything out.

“Okay, I died— still sucks— and was reincarnated into this life, with RPG like powers. I’m no longer human, and from what I can see without a mirror, I’ve become what I made from the character creation screen.

“This is just weird.” I thought staring at my new, three fingered and fur covered hands.

“Never thought I’d miss my pinkie finger so much and why am I not freaking out about basically being reincarnated into a furries wet dream here?” I thought outloud. It is my biggest concern; why am I not freaking out? I should be losing my mind at the moment. The only reason I can think of is it has something to do with these new abilities of mine.”

PING!

Due to your problem solving, your INT goes up by 1

Okay— that was unexpected. I guess doing certain things level up certain stats? I never played a lot of RPG’s (in my past life I guess), so I don’t have a lot of knowledge to go on.

“Damn— I could use a guide right now.” I mumbled out loud.

PING!

“What now?” I looked up to see another screen. I felt a smile start to form on my face as I read the title.

Would you like to access ‘The Gamer’s Guide’?

Y/N

What kind of question is that? I pressed yes, and the screen changed.

Congratulations!

You have unlocked the Gamer’s guide! To open the guide, say ‘Guide’.

“Guide.” Seemed a bit tedious but I can’t complain too much. A new screen popped up in place of the old one.

Welcome to the guide. Please select a topic from below to view.

Introductions [!]
Stat points and Stats
Raising Stats
Levels
Quests
Flaws
Skills
Reputation

There were more categories, but I ignored them for the first one. I wasn’t much of a gamer before, but even I knew what a glowing “!” stood for— it was a quest objective. I squirmed around on my bed to get comfortable, and pressed the ‘Introduction’ tab.

Greetings, Chosen Gamer of this world!

If you are seeing this, then Gaia has chosen you to wield this power.

“Who the hell is Gaia? Sounds like a weird fruit.” I said before I continued reading. The next line answered my question… sort of.

If you don’t know who or what Gaia is, Then read up about it in a Library. More specifically, read about the ‘Gaia Theory’. That isn’t really that important right now though. The most important fact for you to know is that you have been given an ability known as ‘The Gamer’.

“Must I really do homework again? I thought I was passed that when I died,” I groaned, slightly annoyed. I continued reading;

‘The Gamer’ is a powerful ability, given only to those deemed worthy by Gaia. Across multiple parallel universes, realities, and worlds, only a small portion of beings are deemed worthy of having this power. Consider yourself among the honored few.

“Tsk. yeah yeah, box-power is strong— get on with this already.” I heard another PING sound, but ignored it as i kept reading.

Okay, obligatory impressive speech is over. Now, we dive into the meat of the matter. ‘The Gamer’ has the ability to turn repeated actions into skills. It doesn’t matter what you do; Fire lasers, swing swords, fly, vomit acid or whatever else. Anything can be turned into skills, even something as simple and mundane as washing the dishes.

“Well… That’s extremely weird but also extremely awesome.” I smirk slightly. The song ‘Higitus Figitus” pops into my head and I smile.

Almost all aspects of ‘The Gamer’ are invoked verbally, as you probably figured out. You have at your disposal several pages with information that you can invoke simply by saying the name of the page.

First, the ‘Status’ page. This displays several things, such as: your Stats and Perks, your current level, your HP and MP, as well as your flaws, Special Status, Inventory and currently equipped gear.

Next, is the ‘Skill’ page. This displays: all the skills you have learned, their current level, a small description of what they do, and their effects.

The ‘Perks’ page shows you your current Perks and their effects

The ‘Flaws’ page shows you all of the current flaws that you have, as well as their effects— negative or otherwise.

The ’Quests’ page shows all the current Quests you are undergoing, as well as the ones you have already completed.

Finally, the ‘Reputation’ page shows you your standing with various beings, groups, clans, cities or nations.

I sighed as I rubbed the bridge of my nose. This was a lot of information to take in and I still had some to go. I wonder if I can make quests for myself? Time to test it out.

“I will discover the answer to Life, the universe and everything.” I say out loud.

PING!

Quest Alert!

In very Deep Thought

Objective: Discover the meaning of Life, the Universe and Everything

Quest Reward: ???

I’m slightly confused as to why the reward is a bunch of question marks but just roll with it.

“The answer to Life, the Universe and Everything is 42.” There is no way that this is real.

PING!

Quest Alert! - Complete

In very Deep Thought

Objective: Discover the meaning of Life, the Universe and Everything

Quest Reward: Hitchhiker’s guide to the multiverse— A towel.

I feel my eyes bug out of my head as I read the window. HOLY SHIT!! My jaw dropped in shock as my brain tried to process what had just happened. Quickly I dismissed the window and after taking a few deep breaths to calm down I continued reading.

There is one final thing to inform you of, Gamer. Every single being who has received this power has had one of three reactions: Some choose to try and ignore the power and continue on with their lives like they had before they were granted it. That never turns out well… Ever.

Some become a force for Good or Evil using their power. The majority of beings granted this power take this route, although not many survive taking the ‘Evil’ route for some reason.

The final route some choose to go down is that of the original and first wielder of this power; Survival.

Regardless of which path you choose to walk, life as you know it is gone, never to return.

“Guess sympathy in his dictionary is between shit and syphilis.” I glare slightly at the screen, but continue, since It’s almost done.

Now, that concludes the introduction. Please read the rest of the Guide for more detailed information on all that has been mentioned previously. More information will be added as you discover more aspects of your ability.

All that is left is for me to wish you good luck as the chosen ‘Gamer’ of your world.

The Game Master,

Han Jee-Han

I sat there, staring at the screen and contemplating my new life and this strange ability I now had. I had my suspicions, but none of this information shed any bad light on this new power— except the possibility of dying… again. That was something I was not going to let happen any time soon.

There also didn’t seem to be a way to revoke it. It was now mine, and I didn’t have a say in the matter. I have this power now and have to deal with it. I sighed— I knew it never payed to ignore one's problems, so I guess I’m going to have to deal with it.

“Best thing to do know is to gather as much knowledge as possible.” I waved my hand through the ‘Introduction’ window and it vanished. I was about to press the ‘Stat Points and Stats’ button when Another window popped up blocking it.

Congratulations!

You've unlocked the Guide and received basic answers to your new ability!

Quest Completion Reward: +400 EXP

I swiped that one away and was highly annoyed when another popped up in its place.

Quest Alert!

Impressions are important: It’s your first day so make it a good one.

Objective: Clean up, eat breakfast and don’t be late!

Quest Completion Reward: +500 EXP, +15 REP with ???

Accept?

Y/N

First day? First day of what? My new life? I wasn’t sure what it meant, but I had a feeling I couldn’t not accept it, so I pressed the Y button. The screen disappeared and I noticed another screen floating off to my left that I hadn’t noticed before. I give it a read and I slap my hand to my face in annoyance.

Due to actions and choices made a new trait has been added.

Impatient- Non permanent

“Let’s GOOOO!!! NOWNOWNOWNOWNOWNOW!!!”

-10 REP with authority figures

-25 to decisions that require forethought, patience and contemplation

What the fuck was this bullshit? I fumed at the screen. I’m not impatient! I’m not some little, snot nosed brat who’s always hyped up on a sugar rush! I raged for a bit more before calming down, and dismissing the window with an annoyed wave after remembering I’m a little kid again.

“This sucks.” I mumbled softly. I tried to sit comfortably, but now I couldn’t seem to find a good spot— it was like I didn’t want to sit still. My brain froze as it connected the dots. That new trait I got— it actually affected me as if it were a part of my body. Damn, I needed to be careful to not get any more negative traits if they affected me like that, and that fast.

My thoughts turned back to the quest I received not moments ago. The only conclusion I could think of, that made any sort of sense, was that it was my first day of school. I doubt I could be late on my first day of a new life, so it only made sense. This topic also brought up another. What the hell am I supposed to do when I meet my new family?

“I’m pretty sure a little kid suddenly acting like an adult instantly is going to cause waves that I can’t deal with. I don’t want to get a one way ticket to the looney bin, thank you very much. I only know what I read last night about my new parents— which wasn’t much at all. What am I going to do?”

I felt an incredibly odd sensation, and the best description would be that my brain got ‘pinched’. I flinched in pain and… Started to remember? I blinked a few times as new memories started fitting into place. How the hell could I forget about mom and dad? They’re the Awesomest Parents Ever! Mom is so cool when shows off her magic, and dad lifted a HUUUGE broken tree after it fell onto a road we were on.

I remembered dad's famous pancakes that he’d make for special occasions, and that he said he’d make them for my first day of school. My mouth started drooling at just the thought.

Mom can’t cook for crap— she even burnt juice once… I don’t even know how one burns juice, but she did it.

I’m torn out of my memories by my bedroom door slamming open, and a yellow blur leaping at me and yelling.

“RISE AND SHINE!!” Mom yells at the top of her lungs.

“GAAAAHHHHHH!” I scream and leap into the air, grabbing one of the rafters in above my bed. As my heart starts to slow down I glare down at the laughing demon mare I call my mother.

“MOM! I told you not to do that!” I yell which only made her laugh harder.

“OH Sweetie! Your face! Priceless.” She gasps out as she wipes tears from her eyes. I gaze over my mother as she tries to get her laughter under control. She had a coat of daisy yellow colored fur with a blue mane and tail, with highlights of deep, almost black, blue. A spiral horn the same color as her fur jutted out from her forehead above sparkling green eyes.

PING!

I give a mental flinch. What now?

A new skill is created by a specific action

Due continuous Observations a new skill has been created!

Observe- Level 1 (15/100)

Shows information about the target.

At current level it show’s target HP, MP and a smidge of info

I was shocked slightly at this skill, and a bit disappointed. But it was a low level so I couldn’t expect much yet. Mom’s laughter started to peter out and I dismissed the window.

She got to her hooves with a few chuckles and smiled up at me.

“Want me to help you down Sweetie?” she asked. I suddenly remembered I was a good six feet in the air, hanging from a rafter. Self preservation is a powerful thing.

“Yes please.” I said softly. Mom just smiled and lit her horn with a silver aura. I felt a slight tingling as the same color aura enveloped me, slowly lowering me to the ground. From my new memories, I recalled that that was mom’s magic— specifically a telekinesis spell.

“You ready for your first day of school?” She asked me. I couldn’t help but grin; I’d always loved learning new things, and now I was going to a place that would teach me new things. I ran over to my closet and pulled out a large backpack that was near bursting at the seams with stuff.

“Yeah! I’m got everything ready last night! I packed everything I’d ever need, Paper, pen, pencils erasers, notebooks, my new schools books, a change of clothes, fishing ling and hooks, a starters camping kit a canteen of water with purifying tablets, food ration packets…” I was stopped by my mom’s hoof over my mouth. She looked completely confused.

“I can understand most of that and I can even understand the change of clothes but why on Equis do you need fishing gear ration pack and a starters camping kit?” She asks, her head cocked slightly to the side.

“You and dad say to be prepared for anything so I was making sure to have every scenario that could happen covered. Like what if on my way to school a freak storm happens and I get lost and have to find shelter? I couldn’t start a fire without the flint and steel, or get fish without a hook and line.” I told her. This was obvious stuff you needed for these kinds of situations.

I saw moms eyes twitch slightly before she shook her head and smiled softly.

“While I’m proud of you Sweetie for thinking of... every possibility, I don’t think you’ll need all of that this time.” She uses her magic and unpacks almost everything I had spent two hours cramming into my backpack. I pout slightly but I can see where she’s coming from. They were possible but not probable.

“Sorry mom, guess I’m just nervous and I want to make a good impression on the teachers and my classmates.” I say with my hand behind my back and rubbing a circle on the floor with my hoof. She just chuckles as she places everything but my school supplies back where they belong.

“It’s okay to be nervous. Now come on, your fathers almost done making pancakes and you don’t want them to…” I don’t hear the rest of what she said. I just rush out of my room and down the stairs towards the kitchen. My first day of school could wait, I had pancakes to devour and they would never escape me!

Author's Note

What Fun! What Fun! A bit of development goes a long way. Wonder how his first day of school will go? Wait and see in the next chapter.