New Fic? Gamer of Mysteries

"Talking"

'Thinking'

[...] System.

Summary: Varnel, who was a weeb, had been chosen by a gamer system, and he eagerly accepted the chance to transport himself into the world of RWBY, dreaming of building his own harem there.

But something unexpected had happened, and instead of Varnel, it was a nobleman named Lorin Negan, the son of Duke who woke up one day with all of Varnel's memories and the barely working gamer system.

In the endless expanse of the Infinite Cosmos, even cosmic forces like the gamer system weren't infallible, for not every plan goes as intended sometimes.

(No Herem by the way.)

— — —

He had woken up and found himself floating in a strange void, feeling as if he were in a place where the very concept of direction had vanished, and he realized that nothing surrounded him, no walls, no ground, and not even a hint of a sky above.

He had tried to move his hands and legs, hoping to feel something, anything, but nothing responded, as if his body had somehow forgotten how to exist, and the feeling left him in a sort of unsettling numbness, which seems impossible.

'Man, this is so trippy,' he murmured, though he wasn't sure if anyone—or anything—could even hear him.

Then, as he tried to make sense of the surreal emptiness, a soft blue glow sparked in front of him, catching his attention, and slowly it formed into a floating blue box, and his eyes focused on the words that appeared in white text across it.

[Congratulations! You have Died.]

'Is this… is this what I think it is?' he asked, half in awe and half in disbelief, his voice echoing inside his mind strangely, and then, as if on cue, the blue box flickered again, and the words he'd been waiting for appeared in glowing bold letters.

[Welcome to The Gamer System]

He found himself grinning wider than he ever thought possible, though the odd thought crossed his mind that he didn't even have a face here, or a body, or anything physical at all, yet he could feel the thrill rushing through him just the same.

He could hardly believe it, but he couldn't hold back his enthusiasm either, so he let out a whoop of excitement and shouted, 'Hell yeah! I'm going to have a harem.'

Then, almost immediately, more blue boxes began popping up, each one containing messages that made his heart race.

[Skill added]

[Gamer's Mind (UNIQUE)

Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through, granting a peaceful state of mind.]

He blinked in his mind, feeling as if a strange calmness washed over him, and before he could even process it all, another box appeared.

[Skill added]

[Gamer's Body (UNIQUE)

Grants a body that allows for the user to live in the real world like it's a game. After sleeping in bed, it restores HP, Mp, and cures all Status ailments.]

'Uh… system? Can you respond?' he asked, half-hoping for an answer but not entirely sure if he wanted one. When he heard nothing but silence in reply, he let out a deep sigh of relief, realizing that he was actually glad there wasn't some voice nagging back at him.

'Well, that's a relief,' he thought with a grin. 'Though I guess this means no possible AI waifu,' he shrugged, adding, 'Guess you can't have everything… though when I'm strong enough, I could always find a way to get an AI waifu somehow—I am a gamer, after all.'

The next screen shimmered to life before him, flashing bright letters that read, Choose Your World, and beneath that, a list appeared with options that practically made his heart skip a beat.

[Choose Your World

DxD

DxD+ExE

One Piece

Marvel

DC

Harry Potter

Star Wars

DBZ

LOTR

…]

There were names he recognized instantly: DBZ DxD, DxD+ExE, One Piece, Marvel, DC, Harry Potter, Star Wars, and others that went on and on, with so many choices that he could hardly believe his luck.

Then He muttered, 'So… which world should I pick? There are just so many of them…'

He looked at the DxD world, feeling really tempted to choose it, but he had read so much about DxD that he could recite the plot and describe the characteristics of every character with his eyes closed.

Shaking his nonexistent head, he studied the list again, his eyes scanning each world as he considered what kind of girls he wanted. After a while of decision paralysis, He scrolled down and found and chose RWBY, because it was the last thing he read, and most importantly it had all the types of girls he wanted in a harem: Dandere, Yandere, Tsundere.

[Semblance added to Status Screen]

[MP changed to Aura in Status Screen]

As he made his choice, more boxes appeared, and he noticed that new features had been added to his status screen—Semblance and Aura.

Then another screen popped up:

[Choose your race.

Faunus, Human, Grimm, ???]

He saw the options for Faunus, Human, Grimm, and then… there were question marks. Without a second thought, he grinned and said, 'Of course, I pick the question marks.'

[Randomizing Race.]

A description appeared after a second of his choosing:

[Human (Unique):

Humans of this race are born from the remnants of a cosmic being's essence, This connection gives them the potential to ascend to levels of power beyond imagination. By consuming a potion brewed from the characteristics of such a being, they can gradually fuse with this cosmic power, unlocking abilities capable of altering the very fabric of the universe.]

A body started forming right around him out of thin air, looking just like he remembered from before, as if the darkness itself had started to gather and build him up from nothing.

Skin began to cover lean muscle, pale and plain, while his black hair fell loosely around his face.

When he touched his teeth, he found they were straight and even now.

He read the description of the race and smirked, feeling an excitement run down his spine.

"Oh man… potential for overpowered abilities? Now that's what I'm talking about!"

After a while of thought, He tilted his head, "But… how does any of this actually unlock though? It mentions remains of Cosmic Being made into potions. How would I find that?"

"No, wait, is this some kind of devourer race? I just have to find a dead cosmic being, make them into a potion, and drink it to gain power."

"Then it won't be powerful at the start, but when I could defeat at least a lesser cosmic being, then…" He gave out an evil smile.

"I should have the title of King of Escalation."

Another screen flickered in front of Varnel's eyes, pulling him from his thoughts as the message flashed brightly.

[Please roll for your Semblance.]

He hesitated for a moment, feeling a lot of excitement because a Semblance could mean anything, preferably something powerful. He watched as the screen shimmered, rolling through options he couldn't quite make out, each one shifting too fast to read, until it finally settled on one.

[Semblance Rolled.]

[Survivalist: Allows you to endure up to five minutes after your HP drops to zero.]

He stared at the screen, trying to decide how he felt about it, and he couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment since he'd been hoping for something a bit more dramatic.

"Alright, so it's not the flashiest power," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck with a slight sigh, "but five minutes at zero HP… that could save my life if things get rough."

He thought it over, starting to see how it might work in a fight or a tight spot.

"Anyways. Show me the Status screen," he said, watching as the familiar blue box appeared with a detailed list that seemed both impressive and a little underwhelming.

Name: Varnel

Race: Human (Unique)

Occupation: N/A

Level: 1 (0/100)

Title: N/A

Semblance: Survivalist

HP: 150

Aura: 180

Aura Regen: 2%

STR: 10

VIT: 10

DEX: 10

INT: 9

WIS: 16

LUC: 2

Skill Points: 0

Currency: Ⱡ0

He squinted at the numbers, feeling a strange mixture of excitement and disappointment, but his first reaction came out in a low grumble. "Wait… where the hell is Charisma? How am I supposed to improve my looks without Charisma?" He frowned, letting out a groan of pure disappointment. "This system sucks already."

He scanned the stats again, mumbling to himself. "I can probably see what each stat does in detail if I want, but I've seen enough gamer fics to know the basics, and I've probably memorized most of it, though… just to be safe, I should double-check." A couple of seconds later, he skimmed over the descriptions, nodding as he went. "Yep, just as I thought… pretty standard stuff."

Then he noticed his Intelligence score. "INT is nine? I knew I wasn't a genius, but below average? That's just mean," he muttered, shaking his head.

He glanced at his Wisdom, "Well, at least my Wisdom's high… that's something, right?" he laughed nervously, and convinced himself it was better than nothing.

He glanced over his physical stats, which all seemed to be set at ten, and he shrugged, figuring it made sense since this body had just been created. "Guess I'm starting with a blank slate," 

Then a thought struck him, and he perked up, excitement flashing in his eyes. "Hey… is there a gacha in this?"

He started flipping through the options and features, scrolling through the menu, hoping to find some hidden feature he'd missed. But after a few moments of searching, he found nothing that looked even remotely like a gacha system or any other hidden bonuses, and he sighed out of disappointment.

Finally, he decided he'd seen enough, so he cleared his throat and said, "Alright, system, take me to the world of Remnant."

Almost immediately, the system responded with a new message on the screen.

[Commencing Travel… Estimated Time for Arrival: 2,147,483,647 Years.]

And with that, everything went black as he felt himself slip into unconsciousness.

...

Duke Negan Mansion, Backlund, Loen Kingdom.

Lorin Negan woke up slowly, his eyes barely opening as he lay in bed, feeling like he'd stayed up all night, like at his coming-of-age party, but this time, the exhaustion clung to him like a fog, and there was an intense buzzing that seemed to be coming from inside his own head.

He groaned, rubbing his temples, and then he noticed a bright blue screen flickering in front of his eyes, the letters shifting slightly as if the panel itself was struggling to stay online.

[User Activation Detected]

[Warning! Severe Damage to the System Detected]

[Quest Matrix Online]

[New Quest: You're not where you're supposed to be. Something has happened. Find out where you are.

Rewards: Failed to Activate Reward Matrix]

He became vigilant and started to look around his room. It was bathed in a bright red glow, and furnished with heavy wooden pieces and rich details. His bed was in the middle, and a full-body mirror was placed on one side of the room. Nearby was a cabinet for his clothes. An ornate clock ticked steadily, its pendulum swinging back and forth in a quiet rhythm. The tall windows were draped in thick velvet curtains.

His stare turned to the screen, feeling his mind scramble to make sense of everything, and he blinked a few times, lying back down in his bed, the confusion twisting his thoughts.

Lorin's mind reeled, and his first thought was pure panic. 'Am I… Am I being attacked by a Beyonder?' he muttered, feeling his voice tremble. 'Is someone out here… manipulating my mind?'

The word "Beyonder" echoed in his mind, and suddenly, a vivid set of memories flashed through him, this time of a man hunched in front of a metal box—a computer, he realized—and typing away furiously.

"What… why am I seeing this?" he wondered aloud with his voice trembling. "Why did this all show up in my mind when I thought of a Beyonder?"

The buzzing in his head grew sharper, building until it turned into a piercing ache, making his eyes water and his head feel like it might split open. He tried to speak but only whispers left his mouth. "What… what are these memories?" he clutched his forehead as strange images filled his mind.

He saw scenes that didn't feel like his own, fragments of a boy's life, a boy growing up in a city filled with steel and concrete, and he watched as this boy was teased and bullied with his confidence shriveling over time. He saw the boy withdraw completely, choosing the safety of his room over the world outside, and started to live entirely on the internet.

As he lay there, the memory shifted, and he saw the boy, now a man, falling ill, suffering quietly, unable to bring himself to visit a doctor, and then everything went dark, and he woke up in that void.

His confusion only deepened, and he forced himself to sit up, his first thought going to his father. "If someone's messing with me, if this is some sort of attack, then I need to tell my father," he whispered, trying to steady his breathing.

But before he could even get out of bed, the buzzing in his head grew overwhelming, so sharp it nearly blinded him, and another memory—longer and more detailed this time—unfolded in his mind.

He saw that same man, sitting in front of the computer, looking at the screen with a focused intensity, as he started reading the story everyone had been debating. He was captivated in no time, even reading fan fictions about it afterward.

When the memory faded, Lorin found himself sitting in silence as everything felt like clicked inside him.

Author's Note: I had originally planned to make the duke's son the useless character (Korean novels have ruined my mind about duke's sons being useless), but then I thought, why would a wealthy duke's son be incompetent?

So instead, I decided to make the reincarnator the useless one.

What do you guys think? Should I continue it? I have a rudimentary plot in mind but nothing concrete.

Anyway, this chapter already contains the reason why the gamer system would arrive in the LoTM world instead of its intended destination. If you spot it, you can have a cookie.