1 Why?
Chapter-1
Disclaimer: I own nothing. This story has no interest in offending any party. Having the sole objective of only entertaining the readers. Enjoy~
…
"Yes, the Metahuman Thesis! More likely than not, these exceptional beings live among us, the basis of our myths. Gods among men upon our, our little blue planet here!"
-Lex Luthor
…
"Fuck… how did this happen to me?"
Just a few minutes ago, I woke up naked, facedown in an alleyway. Something I wasn't expecting at all, I remember going back to my bed. I didn't drink the day before either. So it is impossible for me to be in a random alleyway. Naked at that too.
Currently I'm in a corner with just some newspaper covering my manhood. The night was cold and I could barely handle the coldness. I was just minutes away from turning into a quivering mess. How the hell did this happen? Did my house get broken into? Then why am I here?
Did I get kidnapped? Then why did they decide to drop me off here? I'd rather be kidnapped.
"Hey runt!" I turned towards the homeless man who called me.
"What?" I asked. Trying to not sound like a bitch as much as possible. I don't like this feeling… I'm one newspaper away from being naked in front of a total stranger.
"You new here? Or is this some kind of prank for the internet? The cops won't like you running around like that." He asked me.
"No. I don't know how I got naked or how I even got here in the first place." I said while eying on his bag. He could have some clothes in that bag… should I jump on him and steal the bag?
"Huh? That doesn't sound right. Here, wear this." He inserted his hand on the bag and took out an old rugged tracks and a tank top. "Did you get drugged or something?"
"I wasn't even drinking last night." I said while hiding behind a trash can to wear the clothes he gave, and god, wearing tacks without underwear is awful.
"Where are we currently?" I asked him after dressing myself.
"Just a random alleyway near the harbour."
Harbour? There's no harbour in South Carolina.
"What state are we in?" I asked him again. I feel like I'm still in America but… now that I notice this place feels a lot weirder.
He looked at me weirdly for a moment before answering, "New Jersey."
I sighed, it was luckily just New Jersey so there's no need to worry much. I can just go to the cops and explain my situation, I'm sure it will get resolved in a while. But which part of it am I in?
"Where in New Jersey?"
"Gotham"
Huh?
I could literally feel my eyes widening at just the remote thought of what could have probably happened to me. And as if that wasn't enough, something which made me sure that I'm fucked appeared before my eyes.
[**Where Am I?** Quest completed.
After waking up in a completely unknown place. You managed to find out where you are. Explore this world more and experience true life.
Objective= Find out where you are.
Reward= 100 Exp and unlocked all system features.
Accept? Y/N]
The message itself was akin to an hologram, just a blue box with white text and default font on them. But that was enough to make me question reality.
"Hey," The homeless guy's voice broke me out of my shock. "Are you ok? You were staring at the wall for a while."
So he can't see it?
"Nothing…" I shook my head and walked away, "Thanks for the dress. I promise I'll pay you back one day." Saying that I walked, no, RAN as fast as I could on the roads which look like the perfect place to commit crime.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?" I ran.
"HOW THE HELL DID I GET HERE!?" I didn't stop.
"WHY ME!?" I was getting tired.
"ALL… all the people in the world… why me specifically…" I couldn't run for longer and my heart was beating the fastest I've ever seen.
"Fuck… fuck fuck… fuck… FUCK!" How!? Why?
There were many questions plaguing my mind. None of which I knew the answer for.
"This could still be a dream right?" I was hoping that it would be just a dream. "The system that appeared is no longer-"
[**Where Am I?** Quest completed.
After waking up in a completely unknown place. You managed to find out where you are. Explore this world more and experience true life.
Objective= Find out where you are.
Reward= 100 Exp and unlocked all system features.
Accept? Y/N]
But before I could even say that, the system appeared again before me.
"Off?" I tried to turn the system off but it didn't work. Then how did it disappear before… Wait, did it even disappear? Or did I just not notice it even when it was at plain sight.
*Gulp* There's still a chance that all of this is just a dream. If the reward doesn't work then there's a chance I may wake up. I clicked the 'Y' option.
[Quest Completed!
LEVEL UP! +4 stat points!]
Stat points? Does it mean there's stats?
"Stats?" I tried again, to check if it works by voice commands and sure enough, this time as soon as I finished saying it, the screen changed.
[STATS
Name = Alex Walker
Occupation = The Gamer
Level = 2
EXP = 0/200
HP = 150/150
MP = 100/100
STR = 12
VIT = 11
DEF = 10
DEX= 10
INT = 13
CHA = 8
WIS = 12
WILL = 14
PER = 12
LUK = 91
Stat Points: 4
]
This confirms it… I ain't in a dream or coma. And really? This is the shit I get when there are guys who get a whole ass creative-mode level cheat? Not to say that this is bad or anything… but the essence of Gacha wouldn't have been bad. If this is really Gotham then I'm probably in DC verse right? Not that I have to doubt it, afterall the system did recognise it as a quest being complete.
"This is like an old JRPG stat window…" I usually played old JRPG because that was the only thing my laptop could handle.
All the console games just drain my cash faster than Honkai or Genshin, so I had to pirate old JRPG games to pass time when I'm bored.
Talking about Stats, most of these seem obvious but what are DEX and PER shit?
As if to answer my question, the screen changed again to an explanation screen.
[PHYSICAL STATS
Strength (STR) = A measure of how physically strong a character is. Strength often controls the power and/or damage of melee attacks, the maximum weight the character can carry, also some weapons might also have a Strength requirement to use them.
Vitality (VIT) = A measure of how sturdy a character is, vitaly influences hit points, and resistances for special types of damage like poisons, illness, heat, fatigue and such. The higher the Vit, the more the character can run, and such.
Defence (DEF) = A measure of how resilient a character is. Defence usually decreases taken damage by either a percentage or a fixed amount per hit.
Dexterity (DEX) = A measure of how agile a character is. Dexterity controls attack and movement speed and accuracy, as well as the chance of evading an opponent's attack.
SOUL STATS
Intellect (INT) = A measure of a character's problem-solving ability. Intelligence often controls a character's ability to comprehend foreign languages and their skill in magic.
Charisma (CHA) = A measure of a character's social skills, and sometimes their physical appearance. Charisma generally influences prices while trading and flirting. Under certain circumstances, this skill can negate combat actions between two individuals.
Wisdom (WIS) = A measure of a character's common sense and spirituality. Wisdom often controls a character's ability to cast certain spells, communicate to mystical entities, or discern other characters' motives or feelings.
Willpower (WILL) = A measure of the character's mental resistance against pain, fear, and other types of ailments when falling victim to mind-altering magic, torture, or insanity. The higher the will, the harder it is to break.
Perception (PER) = A measure of a character's openness to their surroundings. Perception controls the chance to detect vital clues, traps or hiding enemies, and might influence combat sequence or the accuracy of ranged attacks.
Luck (LUK) = A measure of a character's luck. Luck might influence anything, or nothing, with lady luck, anything is possible! But remember, lady luck is a very picky lover.]
Well.. that explains things. The only stat that surprised me is Luck. Like damn, by the looks it seems like 10 is the average for Lv. 1. So 94 luck is obviously better right? I think it has something to do with my transmigration into this reality.
And about the stat points I have. Investing in any kind of Physical stat seems to be the obvious pick for now, unless a demon or a rogue mage attacks me, I won't be needing any willpower shit for now. But the main question is, whether I would be able to unassign an already assigned stat point.
"Time to test that I guess." I said to myself while pressing on the strength stat and it immediately went up by one.
[ STR = 12{+1}(- +)]
Now there are two new buttons near it, a 'plus' and a 'minus'. The functions about the buttons were obvious, I can unassign any of my assigned points, but I can't go back beyond my base stat. This changes the whole game… by a lot. I can edit my stats whenever I want to.
I have to figure out many things now.
"Well for starters, I need to earn some money for food and clothes" I really don't want to roam around in this dress. Especially not without underwear. Wish I was dropped here with clothes and some money.
Putting my immediate concern aside, I just walked around the area for absolutely no reason. Gotham is really a hell hole, even more than LA at nights. I haven't been attacked or anything but I can see many homeless people sleeping, some could even be dead. Used syringes were just lying around on the floor, so I had to be extra careful while walking barefoot. I don't know if my system can save me from STDs.
In my absence of mind, I ended up walking into a dingy alleyway. I should have just walked the other way when I heard footsteps behind me. But it was already too late.
"Move a step and I'll shoot you!"
Just fucking great! Just the thing I needed. I knew what to do during situations like this. I immediately threw my hands up, hoping that this guy wasn't in a mood to kill me.
"Please don't shoot!" I said, while putting all my stat points of PER,. Immediately I felt all my senses increase, especially my vision and hearing. Thank god that this thing works on mental commands.
"Give me all you have and I'll leave ya!" He said while coming a little closer.
"Do you think I have anything on me?" I asked this idiot, "Look at my dress. Do you think I have any money?"
"I'll check it myself! Turn around."
I turned around and saw him, he was wearing a ski mask and had a gun in his hands. Looking at him, I can say he's a newbie. He keeps on looking around often and his grip on the gun isn't strong enough. And the main point, no thief will even come close to their victim when they have the gun and distance advantage, especially when the victim is cornered.
"Check for yourself." I shrugged while still keeping my hands up.
He walked closer to me, unironically he was more scared than me. Guess I got lucky, it seems to be his first robbery. It was incredibly disgusting when a man touches your groyne when you aren't wearing underwear.
He didn't stop and went to check my shirt too, but that is where he made a mistake.
He stopped pressing the gun against me. I didn't even waste any of my time in putting all the stat points on STR and punched his jaw full speed.
*Ting*
It knocked him out and he immediately fell down and hit his head on an iron rod creating a loud noise.
[ Defeated Lv.1 John Gresham
Reward= 100 Exp.]
"Fuck!'' I immediately checked his pulse and thankfully he was alive, but may have suffered some brain damage but it's his fault for pointing the gun at me.
That said, "I wouldn't mind a gun."
I took his gun and searched for his wallet and phone, and soon I found it. I took all the money he had and I have to say, this guy was an idiot. He had his house keys and address on his wallet.
"I'll take clothes and food from his house." I opened his phone with his finger print and looked for his address in the wayne maps. If this city name didn't make it certain, now the large 'Wayne' logo on the back of the phone now makes it certain. This world is a DC verse.
"The date is Jan 2, 2003." I looked at the phone, I have no idea if the Justice League, no If even Batman or Superman exists.
I tried searching their names but there's no evidence of Superman. Batman on the other hand has some articles on him, but none of them mention anything related to a 'bat' so my guess is that he has just started. Flash is not there, No random Tsunami and no mention of Aquaman but Atlantis is a serious conspiracy theory like Area-51.
"So this is before everything began I guess.. That's a lot more concerning in some way. Since no hero had their 'origin story' yet, it's all bound to happen anytime now." I can already imagine General Zod attacking Earth… but since this ain't the movie version, maybe there are some other unknown variables like green lantern corps or Martian Manhunter.
I just pray that this version of Batman isn't like the comic versions where he is MADE just as edgy as the Joker sometimes.
"Take left after 33 metres"
"This is basically just google maps." I have seen Wayne industry logos more than once now… the containers in the Port, the street lights and hell even this phone is from Wayne industry. No fucking wonder Bruce can make a space station by himself.
Taking a deep breath I try to not think about my situation too much, after all I'm nothing but a mere pebble in the grand scheme of DC verse. Fucking Sixth dimension exists here, so there's no way I'm not noticed by the gods here. Unless my system provides me with a security of privacy against all those hackers.
I wonder what features this thing has?
Just like before a new screen appeared again.
[ [Interface]
[Character]
[Quest System]
[Inventory]
[Map]
[Skill List] ]
Cool… I have a Inventory and map? Skill list too?
I mentally tried to open the Inventory and a new screen with many blank boxes appeared. It was like Minecraft. I mentally tried to put the gun into it, and the gun simply vanished from my hand and one of the boxes changed, and the picture of the gun appeared there.
I tried to retrieve the gun back, and instantly the gun appeared in my hand again.
"I have a good career as a magician." I put the gun back in again and tried the map.
It just shows a 100 m radius around me, it's just like a GTA map with lots of blue and yellow dots. And As a pro gamer, I can easily guess that blue are innocent NPCs, yellow are the ones whom I should be careful of, and my enemies are probably gonna be red.
I opened the skill list to see if it registers almost everything as a skill.
[SKILL LIST
Breathing LV 12(Passive)= A skill that allows the player to breath easily. 12% increase in breathing efficiency.
Cooking LV8 - (Passive) = A skill that allows the player to cook delicious meals. 8% increase in cooking efficiency.
Swimming LV 5 - (Passive/Active) = Passively increases movement speed when swimming by 5% = 2.2 miles per hour.
Running LV 17 -( Active) = Increases movement speed when running by 17% = 10 miles per hour.
Fighting LV.3 - (Active) = Passively increases proficiency in fighting(Any kind of fight be it mental or physical) and damage and defence buff of 3%
Gunslinging LV.2- (Active) = Increases your accuracy and proficiency by 2%
]
How the fuck is running higher leveled that breathing?
.......
