The First Circle of Hell (I)

Chapter 1: The First Circle of Hell (I)

Izuku's first impression of Hell was… conflicting. There was little doubt in his mind that he was actually in something of a Hellscape, but the spot he had been dropped on by the Gamer System was within what he would describe as a, "pseudo-futuristic military base."

There were windows, outside of which he could see a bleak desert-like environment and a skyline of red and orange; that seemed like something out of Hell. But inside the steel room, where he currently stood, with firearms strewn about, books and computers in a variety of states between merely worn and completely destroyed…

All he could think of as he stood there was that there had probably been an incident that had left the place abandoned. And, given the description of Main Quest's Progression for this world… It didn't take a genius to guess it probably had something to do with the denizens of Hell. The fact that there were archaic, likely satanic, symbols littering the edges of the doorway leading out of the room as well as along with the edges of the windows, would have clued anyone in.

"Ok… Then, I guess I should explore the inside of this room first?" Izuku mumbled to himself, unsure of where he was even supposed to start. All he had to go on was that he was the only person alive in this part of Hell, and it was his mission to find something of a dimension-traveling device and destroy it, all while fighting whatever monsters were native to the world.

"Hopefully, there will be some food or rations, and water left behind somewhere in this place because it will probably be a miserable experience trying to find anything equivalent… in Hell," he shuddered as he started looking around the room while fighting his anxiety. He couldn't tell when something would go wrong for him, his mind fighting him the whole way through.

Any second, a monster might break through the door. Any second, the vanguard of an army might appear over the horizon, past the point he could see through the window. Any second, he might have to fight with his life on the line. Demons and devils might spawn and tear him, limb from limb. Wrathful entities of legends and myths might appear out of nowhere and ravage his mind beyond the point of saving.

After what felt like hours passed and nothing of the sort happened, Izuku finished completely exploring the ins and outs of the room. The results of his investigation left him wanting, but he felt that he was in a relatively good position, all things considered.

[Congratulations! You have recreated a Core Gamer Ability!

Skills

Observe (Level 1 | As a Core Gamer Ability, this Ability can not regress at all): A Special Ability that combines your perception with that of the Gamer System. Observations made by you will be supplemented with additional information uncovered by the Gamer System's Influence over objective reality in direct proportion to this Abilities Level.]

Above all, the room he was in possessed enough rations and MRE meals — almost certainly confirming his assessment that the place was once a military base — for him to sustain himself for years, if not decades. Just as fortunately, there was a device in the room called an Aquifacer that somehow used the ambient energies of Hell, Argent Energy, to produce enough clean water to fully accommodate "a platoon" indefinitely; suffice to say it was more than enough for Izuku to not be under the constant threat of dying of thirst.

Aside from that, the only other piece of good news for Izuku was the fact that the satanic symbols — now confirmed to be literally satanic — had been left behind by an entity known as "The Praetor" to seal the room off from the influences of Hell.

This Praetor was noted in several of the codex entries Izuku found in one of the computers to be something of a "living weapon" whose sole purpose was waging an endless war against the demons of Hell. The Praetor was a humanoid entity — never confirmed to be human given its many inhuman abilities and recorded feats of ungodly power — that lived only to kill demons, but occasionally, it helped humanity; if only as a consequence of its main observed purpose.

Last Archived Codex Entry: I don't know why I'm writing this. It's been months since Vladsinsky voluntarily left this sanctuary for fear of becoming possessed. He's definitely dead, but I don't blame him. I can see why he'd rather die a human than become one of these horrifying monsters.

Their curses have started affecting me. Poisoning my mind, more and more often whenever I lose the fight to stay awake and need to sleep. The visions… They haunt me and I feel like I'm not far off from being possessed as well.

I've already made up my mind. I'll be joining my comrades, one way or another... But I'll be damned if don't take at least a few hundred of those demon bastards down with me before I die.

Again, I don't know why I'm writing this. The chances that anyone will find this message are so close to zero, it's laughable. But… If someone out there is hearing this, I'm sure It'd probably be The Praetor. Apart from us, it's the only thing recorded to have the ability to travel across Hell and back.

Anyways, if you're listening for whatever reason… I'll make sure to follow your example. I'll try to rip and tear my way through the demons till my dying breath, and even then… If all goes well then this side of Hell will have a man-made crater courtesy of yours truly.

"He chose to die voluntarily as a suicide bomber? How morbid," Izuku was left pale-faced for a long time after he finished listening to that last piece of archived information he managed to dig up and playback. It was the only working piece of recording that went on for longer than ten seconds and didn't consist of simple observations.

Apart from that last codex entry and the information on The Praetor, Izuku was left with only a few entries on the demons of Hell and the results…

"My only hope of surviving this place is working on my Quirk and hoping it can quickly become powerful," Izuku said as he failed to reign in his erratic emotions. He couldn't help it as the gravity of his situation hit him with the force of a speeding semi-truck.

Demons, even the weakest of which were borne of possession, had the strength to easily rend human muscle and bone. The absolute weakest could be likened to zombies, with their negligible speed and lack of intelligence, but even then their durability was such that they would need to be shot several times with military-grade firearms to finally die.

The stronger demons, however, were all nightmares for humanity to deal with. Some were fast enough to kill you before you could react, some durable enough to withstand the force of a tank shelling, and some had even integrated with human cybernetics and fought back with their own armaments.

Furthermore, Izuku wouldn't be fine with just besting them; they weren't humans that should be spared and left to pay for their crimes. These were Demons of Hell. They were monsters that would fight to the death with only mindless destruction as their goal. Every single demon he came across would try to kill him and would not stop until he was dead, and he was alone with no one to help him if he made a mistake.

Izuku's life was on the line and he was being forced to kill for the sake of his own survival. Some of the demons he would come across would undoubtedly be the possessed bodies of the military staff that had not died to the onslaught of Hell's armies. Some of the demons he would come across, would also be other intelligent life forms. The thought of needing to kill either was enough to make Izuku's sanity crack.

After all, his whole life all Izuku wanted was to become a hero. He didn't want to become one for fame, glory, or power; he wanted to be a true pacifist. But he was denied at every turn by everyone just because he didn't have any power himself.

Had it really been worth it to gain the powers of The Gamer and his Quirk, if it meant having to lose his most wanted purpose in life?

'It doesn't matter!' Izuku barred his teeth and ignored the pain coming from his hand after he'd punched one of the steel walls of the room. 'I made my choice and I can't turn back now.'

His eyes were bloodshot as his mood continued to drop. He could feel the Curse of his Hairpin Trigger Discipline coax him further into his negativity as he thought, 'Why should it even matter are this point? I made a deal with The Devil. Nobody accepted me for who I was before, so maybe things will be different if I embrace the changes needed to be made to make it out of this kind of environment.'

'Quirkless Izuku died a true pacifist. I, on the other hand… I can at least keep my end of the deal even if it costs me my soul…'

[Update!

Skills

Resolution (Level 98 → 100 → MAX | MAX Level Skills can never regress): An Ability born from being stubborn in one's beliefs and goals. This Ability Permanently Grants you +1 Will every 4 Levels and +1 Charisma every 10 Levels.

MAX Level Bonus: Grants you the Perk "Intent (Determination)."

New Perks!

Intent (Determination): A Unique Ability fueled exclusively by your Will Stat. The higher your Will Stat, the greater your ability to detach yourself from both physical and emotional pain.]

…

Over the course of one week, Izuku discovered the nuanced benefits of his Gamer System's powers as he worked on getting strong enough to venture out of the space he had labeled as his "Sanctuary Safe Room." He used the Stamina gauge of his Status to carefully train for as long as possible without overextending himself to overtraining.

He measured his progress by comparing the effort put forth in his training against the progress asserted by his Abilities. Furthermore, he studied the effects of regression and learned that despite the fact that he could become weaker from it, he could bounce back to his prime exponentially faster than he needed to make further progress.

After the whole week passed without him Drawing, for example, his Ability dropped from Level 60 to 56. It then took him two hours, while he was taking a break in between his physical training via Calesthinics and Running, and Quirk training, to bring it back up to 60.

Aside from that, the last thing Izuku discovered was how his Weapons' Blight Curse effected him. Before, he wanted to get some semblance of proficiency with guns to at least fall back on them as a temporary clutch if he was caught in a bad situation, but after he tried to test the various guns that were left in the room, by firing through the automatic steel doors of the room — after they were opened, of course — the results were disastrous.

For seemingly no reason, all the guns he used would seize up and jam before he could get past five shots through any gun's chamber. When he pushed past that issue, the guns would literally break down within a matter of minutes. They would literally be left as rusted pieces of scrap metal that looked like ancient artifacts that had weathered hundreds, if not thousands, of years without use.

Left without much of a choice, Izuku would have to make his own body a weapon capable of surviving through an army of Hell's demons. Luckily for him, the Observe Ability which he had slowly been improving along with his physical Abilities, suggested he had at worst another half a year before the threat of possession would start to creep on him.

His attempts to Observe some of the destroyed computers and journals had originally failed to provide him with any information, but after he consecutively improved his ability, Izuku discovered that the risk of possession correlated with one's willpower and outlook on life.

[Update!

Skills

Observe (Level 6 → 7)]

[Observed Status

Name: Ruined Journal (Notes on the Corruptive Properties of Argent Energy)

Durability: 0/100

Description: Pertains to one of the researcher's studies on Argent Energy possessing depressed people much faster than almost all other military personnel. The correlation was stated to be statistically significant, almost linear as far as negativity could be accurately quantified in the study.]

On the one hand, Izuku surmised that he could potentially be much more resistant to possession than the average person, given his maxed-out Resolution Ability. On the other hand… He had Hairpin Trigger Disciple as a Curse and there was no tell how that could tip the scales.

Either way, after a week of progress, Izuku was optimistic about the likelihood of him managing to get his Draconification to a high enough Level to completely transform his body within a few months. He decided it would be in his best interest to work on getting to at least that point before venturing more than a few steps away from the Sanctuary Safe Room and search for a Demon to Observe.

"If I start to get visions of possession before then… I'll just have to risk going out before I'm confident I'll be fully prepared. Hopefully, by then I'll at least be strong enough to put up a fight and manage to run away," Izuku muttered grimly.

…

[Status

Title: The Gamer

Level: 27

Name: Izuku Midoriya

Stats

Health: 100%

Stamina: 100%

Strength: 10

Constitution: 16

Dexterity: 19

Agility: 15

Intelligence: 16

Wisdom: 11

Will: 25

Charisma: 10]

[Abilities

Walking (Level 13 → 49)

Running (Level 5 → 33)

Calisthenics (Level 11 → 22)

Weight Lifting (Level 3 → 11)

Draconification (Level 1 → 20): Activates an energy source — Quirk Factor works best — to transform the body.

Effective Cost 1: 0.5% Stamina per hour to transform a hand's worth of flesh into dragon skin.

Effective Cost 2: 5% Stamina per half-hour to transform a limb's worth of flesh into dragon skin.

Effective Cost 3: 15% Stamina per 10-minutes to transform 50% of one's flesh into dragon skin.

Effective Cost 4: 25% Stamina per minute to fully transform one's flesh into dragon skin.

Modifiers

(World Effect) Demonic Influence: The longer you remain transformed, the more cost-effective the Ability becomes. Beware, for you will be constantly be absorbing Argent Energy and influenced to act out in mindless rage and wrath over time.

(Level 10) Deeper Than Skin: For double the Effective Cost, Draconification effects Skin and Muscles

New Abilities!

Sprinting (Level 17): Demarks your proficiency in applying proper form and technique to sprinting. This Ability Grants you +2 Agility every 5 Levels and +1 Constitution every 25 Levels

Martial Arts (Level 3 | Styleless): Demarks your proficiency in applying proper form and technique to fighting. This Ability Grants you +1 Agility & Dexterity every Level, +1 Strength every 2 Levels, and +1 Consitution every 3 Levels]

"This… This should be good enough to at least check on the immediate surroundings outside of the Safe Room," Izuku muttered as he reviewed all the advances that contributed to his current overall power.

It had been well over five months since he had been dropped in the First Circle of Hell and he had yet to see any signs of possession. He had reached his initial goal with regard to his Quirk development, but it had started to stagnate to the point where it'd take weeks to Level Up at this point. Most of the Abilities that determined his Physical Stats had the same problem, thus, Izuku decided to venture out despite the lack of an absolute need to do so at the moment.

'Who knows,' Izuku mirthlessly thought as he approached the door to leave, 'maybe it won't be so bad.' Try as he might, even he did not believe it for even a second. He literally couldn't with all the work he'd put into developing his Observe Skill. To get it where it stood now at Level 12, he'd used it whenever possible throughout the entire five months, and since there were mostly archives of the nature of Hell, Demons, and Argent Energy left in the safe room…

'This is going to be rough…' Izuku grimaced as he stepped out of the door and watched it close behind him automatically. He momentarily panicked for as long as it took to reapproach the door and see it open automatically again before he ventured out the hallway to search for what horrors lied ahead of him.

All it took was a few minutes of walking before Izuku stopped at the sound of footsteps, not of his own. Fortunately for him, it was just a few Possessed demons that had yet to take notice of him.

[Observed Status

Level: 25

Name: Possessed Scientist

Stats

Health: 100%

Stamina: 100%

Strength: ~10

Constitution: ~20

Dexterity: ~5

Agility: ~5

Intelligence: ~0

Wisdom: ~0

Will: ~0

Charisma: ~0]

After seeing that all four of the Possessed Scientists in the immediate area had the exact same Observed Status, Izuku took a deep breath before opting to transform both his arms and legs with Draconification. He had long since come to terms with accepting that the only way forward would be through unrestrained violence.

So, he ran. He came across the first Possessed Scientist just as it noticed him. And he punched it squarely on its jaw.

Squelch…

He dismissed the feeling of flesh bending to the power of his fist, the force of which sent the Possessed Scientist that was hit flying across the room. 'It's probably not dead, so I should focus on at least doing some damage to the other three while I still have the advantage of surprise,' Izuku thought.

With a step and turn it took less than a second to punch another Possessed Scientist and send it careening out of sight. Then, true to Observe's estimated Agility for the two that remained, the demons were so slow that Izuku barely exerted himself while dodging their attempts to claw and grab at him as he punched them as hard as he could as well.

Only…

Seconds passed by and none of the demons got back up.

[Observed Status

Name: Demon Corpse (Possessed Scientist)

Durability: 72/100

Description: One of the bodies of the Possessed Scientists you just killed. The inside of its head has turned to mush, with most of the pieces of its skull fragments thoroughly destroying the brain matter that had previously been animated by the ambient Argent Energy that permeates all of Hell. Though this corpse is edible for humans, eating it would be considered an act of cannibalism.]

For minutes, Izuku just stood there and looked between the corpses. He was conflicted over many things.

He couldn't believe it had been that easy to kill even the weakest of demons. He couldn't believe he had killed at all. He didn't understand how he had managed to instantly kill a being rated to have a Constitution Stat double that of his own Strength; even if Draconification almost certainly augmented his Stats in a way that wasn't quantified by the Gamer System.

Was it all just because he targeted their heads as their most obvious weak point? Were the Observed Statuses of the Possessed Scientists blown completely out of proportion? Was his own Status just entirely underestimated?

"None of that matters right now," Izuku muttered as he shook his head and desperately fought to reign in his endless doubts. "I should just be content with the fact that I came out of my first fight in Hell without so much as a scratch."

He took another look at one of the corpses before turning away and continuing down the hallway.