The Beginning

Okay, I'm really starting to get tired of blacking out and waking up somewhere else. Looking around, I see I'm riding a train. Okay, that tells me…I'm on a train.

I lean back and massage my face with my hands. Guess I'll just have to wait and get off at the next stop. Hopefully I'll understand the language enough to fumble my way through here. That's a typical thing of isekai stories - where they conveniently speak the same language.

For right now…I sit forward and try to use [Observe]. When nothing happens, I look around to see no one is there and mutter under my breath, "Observe".

I feel something swell and move inside me as a screen pops up in front of my face.

Train seat.

Okay, so that's how it works. The entity said I was going to be getting this instead of a Status…I look at my hand and mutter again, "Observe". The screen is exactly what I was half expecting.

[James Harlem]

[Age: 16]

[Race: Human (M)]

[Class: Monk (Beginner)]

[STR: 10 +5]

[VIT: 10 +5]

[DEX: 10]

[INT: 21]

[WIS: 23]

[SPT: 2000 +5]

[LUK: 10]

[CHM: 9]

[Skills: Body Control, Rest & Relaxation, Calm Mind, Mental Immunity, Observe, Nexus, Power Bank]

Reading over the screen in front of me, I can automatically see differences with the Gamer stories I know. I'm not going to complain because at least I got something, and hey, at least they tried. Wanting some more information, I try using Observe on the screen itself.

It works and I being going through it one line at a time - skipping to class.

Monks (Beginner) are a form of melee combatant capable of defending their allies, healing them, or destroying their enemies. By stimulating their internal energy, they can enhance the functionality of their bodies - improving metabolism and healing. They may also learn to control their internal energy to reinforce their bodies to enhance their durability and strength. The true power of a monk, however, is Chi. Through meditation, they can mix their internal energy with their spiritual energy to obtain Chi that allows them to preform great feats of offense and healing. It is also said that monks can draw in the natural energies around them to obtain an even greater power. [Beginner: +5 STR, VIT, SPT; Skills: Invigoration, Reinforcement, Spirit Gun (requires Chi)]

There are five levels of mastery for skills and classes: Beginner, Intermediate, Expert, Master, and Grandmaster. As a Beginner, you have only started to learn the skill - enough to say you have it but not enough to do much. Intermediate is an expression of you being able to perform a skill or preform your class smoothly. Experts are those who have achieved advanced mastery of their abilities. Masters are considered the pinnacle of ability and performance. Grandmasters, however, surpass the pinnacle - there's doing things to perfection and then there's going beyond perfection.

Strength (STR) is an expression of your physical strength and durability. At your base, you are an average, unathletic teenager.

Vitality (VIT) is an expression of your stamina and endurance. At your base, you are an average, unathletic teenager.

Dexterity (DEX) is an expression of your dexterity, agility, flexibility, senses, and reflexes. At your base, you are an average, unathletic teenager.

Intelligence (INT) is an expression of your ability to think - thought processing, memory recall, etc. You have the intelligence of a human adult.

Wisdom (WIS) is an expression of your experiences and ability to make informed decisions. You have wisdom beyond that of a human adult.

Spirit (SPT) is an expression of your soul and resistance to metaphysical effects (i.e. supernatural vitality). At your base, you have a spirit one-hundred times as strong as that of a normal human adult.

Luck (LUK) is an expression of how lucky you are in life - likelihood of things going your way, seemingly random but fortuitous situations happening for you, etc. At your base, you are an average teenager.

Charm (CHM) is an expression of your charisma, persuasivness, and physical attractiveness. You are below average in terms of appearance to a typical teenager.

Body Control (passive-active): You have complete control of your body - allowing you to ignore injury and surpass normal limits. However, you cannot control a body part that is damaged beyond to the point it is rendered inoperable. Delicate control will consume stamina.

Rest & Relaxation (passive): When in a relaxed state, you will experience rapid recovery from any injury as well as quickly recover mana, stamina, and the quick removal of any status conditions.

Calm Mind (active): Suppress emotions to allow for you to make calm, unbiased, and calculated decisions. After, 30 seconds, emotions will return and you will be in a calm state of mind. Requires 1 minute before this skill can be used again.

Mental Immunity (passive): You are unaffected by any ability or skill that affects the mind other than your own.

Observe (active): You can view the status pages of sentient creatures and obtain basic information of items.

Nexus (active-passive): You can enter a special subspace containing a variety of features. You can withdraw anything from Nexus - Inventory at will.

Power Bank: By coming into contact with someone, you can replicate one of their skills. You can then use it yourself or liquidate it for other uses in the Nexus. You can only have one skill copied at a time and to copy a new one, you must either liquidate or discard the one you currently have.

That was it. My spirit I'm guessing is so high because of whatever the entity did to me to prevent me from fading away in the 'Outside'. Otherwise, more or less what I expected except for Nexus and Power Bank. I'm curious to find out what exactly these two can do. Especially Power Bank. Liquidate normally means converting assets into cash, but I'm getting the feeling it might have to do with my 'Degenerate' idea. Awesome if it is, and if it really does turn powers into money, that's good too. But I'll wait until I have any idea what I'm doing.

For now, I lean back in my seat. The one thing about my stats that surprised me was my age. I guess the entity made me younger too. That was nice.

Reaching up, I pull on a lock of my hair to examine it. It's longer than it was before - probably chin-length. It's also a different collar - having changed from brown to black. I try looking around and manage to see my reflection in one of the windows. My skin is pale and I don't have my freckles anymore, I think I'm more handsome than I was, and my eyes have changed from a dull blue to a deep green color. As far as my outfit, I'm wearing a black shirt, grey jeans, and black sneakers. Not particularly interesting but still comfortable.

Nothing else to do, I decide to try and meditate to see if I can mix my internal and spiritual energies to obtain Chi. I lean forward, close my eyes and try to remember everything I've ever read about the topic.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I continue to ride the train in attempted meditation when a voice comes up on the intercom, "Next stop: Kuoh station. Next stop: Kuoh station"

I learn three things from this. Number one, I'm fairly certain they are speaking Japanese. Two, I do not - in fact - automatically understand the language nor do I already know Japanese. Thirdly, I understood Kuoh, and there is only one thing that brings to mind - Highschool DxD. And, that means I'm fucked…maybe…I guess it depends on how accurate my understanding of this world is to what I know. If nothing else, the entity was right that this should be 'fun'. It's just a question of whose having it - me or whatever super-powered psycho kills me with sadistic glee.

While thinking about this, the train stops and I get off. There aren't many people around and based on the sun it's still early - before noon.

The train pulls away while I'm still standing there. I think the standard thing to do is get an idea for stats by using Observe to compare to other people. It's not like I have anywhere to go right now. So, I try to look like I'm not lost while muttering 'Observe' under by breath while looking at people - eventually leaving the train station.

After a few, something besides their stats stands out to me.

[Race: Human]

[STR: 5-20]

[VIT: 5-20]

[DEX: 5-20]

[INT: 5-20]

[WIS: 5-20]

[SPT: 5-20]

[LUK: 5-20]

[CHM: 5-20]

[Skills: Education (Beginner - Expert), Japanese Language (Beginner - Expert), Japanese Etiquette (Beginner - Expert), English Language (Basic - Intermediate), etc.]

These were more or less the range stats and skills I saw among children to adults. It seems people's education counts as a form of skill. Japanese Language and Etiquette seem self explanatory while Education is probably science, history, reading, writing, and math. If that's the case…

I spot someone walking by and 'accidentally' bump into them. When I do, I activate Power Bank - muttering the name to be sure it works - while focusing on their language skill. I then immediately, begin apologizing profusely while bowing. In Japanese. I know Japanese now. Cool.

Only problem is now I can't copy anything else unless I want to unlearn Japanese.

To fix this, I separate from my lender and find somewhere to hide away. Once I'm out of sight, I mutter, "Nexus."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

…Now I'm somewhere else. At least I didn't have to lose consciousness this time.

I look around to see I'm in some sort of concrete chamber.

There are various...I think rocks embedded in the ceiling that are giving off light and illuminating the spacious chamber. Also, there are one... two... three... four... ten gatewayes around me. Each gateway has a neon sign over it before leading into a dark corridor. The signs read clockwise: Dungeon Creation, Tailor Parlor, Leatherwork Shop, Blacksmith Forge, Cook Kitchen, Inventory, Training Hall, Engineer Garage, Enchanter Study, Alchemy Lab.

This is all very interesting and I'm curious to explore, but it's not what I'm focused on. I'm not even thinking about my original objective in coming here. My main thought is, "If nothing else, I now have somewhere to sleep."

Yeah, it isn't lost on me that I have no ID, no home, no food, no anything but the clothes on my back. I just filed those away for later. At least now I can consider secret-objective-I'm-trying-not-to-think-about-to-avoid-panic items number three and four - shelter and safety - off the list. There's still numbers one and two of legal acquisition of food and drink, but I'm not worrying about those now. I'm pretty sure Japan has water fountains and I can go a day or two without food - a week before I'm in trouble and a month before I'm dead.

I can think of a Plan A later. Even if I don't I still have Plan B: do everything I can to get the devils or fallen's attention so I can sponge off them.

Back to my reason for coming here. Not really sure what I expected or where to begin. Inventory seems as good as anywhere.

I walk toward the marked gateway and into the dark corridor. Everything goes dark as I keep walking, but then, I find myself blinded by the light's suddenly returning. Inside is…a larger concrete chamber. I look on flatly when a holographic screen appears before me.

Welcome to Nexus - Inventory!

It is here that all your unused consumables, weapons, attire, accessories, items, materials, and currency will be stored. You can freely deposit or withdraw anything from your inventory at will. Withdrawn currency will be converted into whatever currency you desire.

In conjunction with Power Bank, liquidated skills will be deposited into the inventory as skill orbs. Skill orbs can then be withdrawn to be used in enchantment.

Simple enough and it answers my question.

I proceed to turn around and leave the Inventory.

Then, I head over to the Enchantment Study. This room also consisted of a large concrete chamber. However, there was a large wooden desk in the middle of the room and wall-to-wall empty bookcases on either side or in front of me. After looking around, another screen appeared.

Welcome to Nexus - Enchantment Study!

It is here that you become an enchanter capable of imbuing otherwise ordinary items with mystical properties. While in this room, you gain the profession Enchanter (Beginner). As you engage in enchantment, your proficiency will increase. This will in turn improve the quality and power of your enchantments while reducing the cost.

Enchanting requires special materials to be imbued into an item. You can either utilize these materials in their basic form or proceed to one of the other facilities to process the material into a more raw form to give you greater influence in crafting the enchantment.

If I'm getting this right, I think I can turn Japanese Language skill into a skill orb and then imbue it into an item and that way I can keep the skill and leave Power Bank open. Now, I need an item. I turn around again and leave the Study.

I could go around and check the other facilities out, but I don't see much point. They likely all require materials I don't have. The only two still worth checking are the Training Hall and Cook Kitchen. I don't think I need the Training Hall just yet and I don't know if the Kitchen has prepared food or if I have to cook. In the case of the latter, I probably need shit to cook with.

If this were a game, exploring everything is exactly what I would do. But it's not. So, instead, I turn to my left and walk into Dungeon Creation.