Due to populist reasons, I decided to jump in the Gamer wagon. Through cheats and exploits, I gain Victory!
Gaia's Little Helper,
By Pef.
Chapter One: Music can be dangerous.
Pef was strolling back home, happily humming his preferred song, Sabaton version of the "Twilight of the Thunder God", his left hand keeping pace with the rapid drumming. Luckily the side walk was rather empty, so public opprobrium was at a minimum today.
His headphones were also blaring the song at maximum volume, and thus he never heard the yell warnings, and the tell-tale sounds of an object reaching terminal velocity while scraping the side of the building.
Then again, it was his own fault. Never leave your home if your Luck is only 1.
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*You have slept in a hospital bed. HP and MP restored.
*You have been hit by a falling piano. You gain the perk: Mozart.
*Regeneration tree unlocked. Regeneration has reached level 4.
*Gamer's Mind prevents you from experiencing panic and anxiety. Gamer's Mind has reached lvl 2.
"Mozart ?!?" Pef muttered in disbelief.
The window screen shifted to print the new information.
*The perk Mozart grants those lucky enough to trigger it the following boons: Luck increases by 1. Charisma increases by 9. All seduction rolls gain +10 percent bonus while playing a piano, and 10 seconds after.
*Piano playing skill has reached level 9. Music theory has reached lvl 2.
'Hmmm. A VR interface. Skills and stats like in a game. But all games have a win condition...' Pef thought in silence, while glancing around the hospital room. High class hospital, going by the luxurious apparatus and furniture.
"Location?" he asked in a whisper.
*The Gamer has been relocated to Saint George Reconstructive Hospital-4th floor, Valletta, Malta.
*The Gamer has received a new quest: SERE.
Primary objective: Escape the facility and the island.
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Rewards: Allies, Money, Skills, Enemies.
Do you choose to: - Accept quest.
- Die right now.
- Die under constant torture, 900 days from now.
- Humanity ends. Game over.
Pef read the quest in disbelief.
Who in the right mind wrote those choices?
Why was he in Malta?
Who were these enemies?
Still, in less than a second his mind focused back on the task. A flick of his finger and the quest was accepted.
"Bond. Pef Bond." he muttered softly while he searched the room for clothes or weapons.
Sadly, there were no clothes anywhere. With a sigh, Pef begun dismantling the bed covers for a makeshift Roman toga. Malta was a former Roman Province, right? And when in Rome, do as Romans do.
A few minutes later, he gently tapped the room's door. A sturdy steel door and locked.
Perhaps escaping this torture facility wasn't that easy, after all.
He drew the thick velvet curtains. Armored glass window, with no joints or handle for opening.
A prison room then, and rather well-made.
He glanced up, searching for a convenient air vent. Only an air conditioning machine.
Escape seemed a bit more impossible now. He looked around the room, now a dozen times more careful. Dying under torture wasn't a pleasant prospect.
*Ding! You have unlocked Observe!
*You have found a medical electrode. You have found a medical suction cup. You have found a magnetized iron needle. Attempt to combine into an electromagnetic lockpick? Yes/Later
Pef piled the loot on the bed, and sighed a bit at the too obvious clue. It seemed the only way out was with this lockpick.
With the new Observe skill, every object in the room gained a tiny explanation window, telling him the name of the object. This was promising. If the skill could be leveled up, to gain more information, perhaps even about people...
*Ding. You have flexed your brain muscles and increased your common sense. Mind gains +1 attribute.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
An eyebrow rose at the news. Flexing muscles...this game was actually trying to give him clues?
He dropped to the floor and began pumping push-ups.
40 push-ups! He should have been sweating by now. 45, 50, 60! Not even tired.
Pef kept going. 100, 150, 200. Almost no strain, even after breaking all his personal bests.
300, 400, 500. Still nothing!
What was the highest recorded number of push-ups? 6000 or so? He had a goal in mind now.
Pef sped up, flexing those muscles. 4000, 5000, 6000!
*Gamer's Body has prevented muscle fatigue. Gamer's Body has reached level 2.
*Ding. You have consumed all available Stamina. Strength gains +1 attribute. Constitution gains +1 attribute.
Stretching gently, Pef rose up and slowly rotated his shoulders. 6000 push-ups and he only felt tired. That Gamer Body was certainly a cheat.
Pef didn't need a menu to explain what a Gamer's Body was. He had played thousands of hours, of many games.
But a game over here was not the same, the stakes were too high.
Also, the stats and skills could be grown by repetition and exercise. That tingled a gamer streak in his mind, urging him to grind and exploit, and become a mountain shattering god.
"Perhaps later. Right now, SERE. Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape. The first goal is always to survive. Escape is only the last part. Let's make sure I do survive." he muttered inward, while appraising and discarding dozens of objects in the room.
He ultimately decided on a small table bolted to the floor. With brusque pushes, he began shaking the table leg. The metal bolts groaned in pain. Pef kept flexing the metal joints a thousand times, until metal fatigue and heat sheared the bolts, clean off the floor.
*You have crafted an Improvised steel mace(Common quality). Useful to bash cultists over the head.
*Agility has gain + 1 Attribute due to first time crafting. Next time, use the forge Pef!
Pef smiled at the familiar description. Crafting seemed a great skill to get.
He returned to the hospital bed and began assembling an electromagnet from various medical machines.
About an hour later he heard the familiar Ding!
*Crafting successful! You have crafted a Primitive electromagnetic lockpick(Uncommon quality). Still no forge?
Pef sighed in annoyance. The snarking interface wasn't as funny as it thought it was.
Well. It was a bit funny, just not when under pressure of getting caught and tortured to death.
He placed the steel table leg next to the door and plugged in the lockpick. A steady hum of electronics was heard as the device began to charge.
Pef placed the suction cup on the metal door, and waited. A minute later, the hum reached a high pitch, and the suction cup began flaring with magnetic pulses.
The door's lock started rattling on the inside. Then, Pef slid the machine back, along the door. The door's lock clicked open as the magnet dragged the mechanism backwards.
With a cautious glance, Pef peered into the corridor. A dozen similar metal doors lined the hallway.
'Allies. Or maybe enemies. Can't be certain anyone I rescue will not stab me in the back...' Pef thought while thinking at his quest.
Voices and footsteps could be heard down the corridor. A young female and several men.
"Subject 4078 has been delivered into the custody, room 478. Standard lead and cold iron manacles will suffice as containment. These Chinese mystics are too easy." the man said in a derisive voice, then a metal door slammed closed.
Another voice commented in sad tone. "Poor girl. They'll drain her dry of mana, then use her blood for another ritual."
His interlocutor hummed in response. " She's lucky. If she got to the breeding pens, we could have known her a lot better."
"Oh yes. Too bad her traits do no pass onto children..." the first voice said in a sad tone, as he walked away.
Pef clenched his fist, and drew a deep breath. Somehow survival wasn't the first objective anymore.