Chapter IX

After the last chapter, let us get to the type of System I aluded to a lot in that chapter.

Gamer style Systems.

Gamer style Systems are always, without exception, entity bound. There can be some specific weirdness around that, but they are entity bound at their core.

Most of those weirdnesses consist of the user being able to grant some level of access to the System to those outside of it.

A Gamer System is always, at some level, supportive to their user.

Even if they do not always show it.

It is also really obvious about that whole mind control thing.

A Gamer type System defines itself through essentially three or four spells at the core, and a variety of auxiliary spells that are common, but that I do not see as the core of the System.

Let us begin with the first of these core Skills, which is, by many, considered to be the most essential of those and most defining. I disagree at least on that last point, but more about that latter.

The Skill is called Gamer‘s Body.

It is a Skill that exists to allow the System to have massive influence upon the basic physics of the Gamer.

It often describes itself as allowing the user to live like as if he were in a video game.

For those of my readers that are unaware, video games are a type of entertainment requiring a lot of math in the background, more or less invisible to the user.

Fairly nice things to relax with to be honest. If you have not come into the joy to experience a video game already, search for a universe where they exist and play for a while. Not all like them, however.

The more technology and the less magic is available, the higher the chances video games exist.

Also, having fairly open and democratic governments helps a lot as well, but is by no means a guarantee, nor a condition.

Ok, back to where I was. So what are the basic benefits Gamer‘s Body tends to offer?

First, there is the access to at least parts of the System that are generally done over this Skill. Although that is sometimes done by using Gamer‘s Mind, which is the second Skill.

Health and Stamina, however, are almost always coming from that Skill.

As well as the Stats that the System defines as physical.

Gamer‘s Body is generally a very powerful Skill, which makes it fascinating that it is one of the defining features of that type of System.

There are a number of Systems that look similar to the Gamer type of System and are missing that Skill.

I do not count them under that type of System, regardless what the Systems pretend.

Gamer‘s Body and Gamer‘s Mind, which I have already mentioned, as well as the to date unmentioned third Skill are necessary for my definition of Gamer.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

The exact ways those Skills function might differ, the exact benefits they give can be very different, but all three Skills must exist, and offer at least a small number of common features.

For Gamer‘s Body that is access to some rather amazing regenerative abilities, that do not necessarily need to function in combat.

I will mention the basic feature the Skill needs to provide at the end of my description of it.

So, let us continue with Gamer‘s Mind.

Gamer‘s Mind is generally the Skill dealing with Mana and the mental attributes, if Gamer‘s Body does not do that.

It also is mind control central, being really obvious about it.

I mean, represses emotions and makes you unable to be affected by them, and thus ensuring you always act rational is a fairly obvious description of mind control.

A fairly positive sort of mind control, yes, if it only does what the description says it does.

Well, if it where even working, which it is not.

For some reason, ability to think logical means that the user should challenge the biggest, baddest badass available to a fight for live and death, while the user is still level one.

It does seem to work out fairly often, though, for no reason I can see or understand.

I suspect more System fuckery.

Also, always living without emotions, or severly stunted ones is not, by any means, a healthy thing.

Now, a second affect is that it protects the user from outside influence as well, which is nice.

If it would work even a little bit, that is. You can bet that if there is one sort of mind control or mind influence available to those not affected by the System, which is everyone besides the user, that that mind control can affect the user.

Although the effect is often lessened, admittedly.

So the core feature of Gamer‘s Mind, which always needs to be there is the stunting of emotions, to ensure rational decisions even in the heat of combat, which never truly works out, as well as the protection from outside influence, which also never truly works out.

It is, for the user, in some ways the most powerful Skill, and the weakest at the same time.

The benefits it gives, and the protection it offers, is genuinely amazing, if you are already affected by the System anyways, or it would be, if it would work even a little bit.

Which it does not, for the record.

Even if Systems want to offer helpful, or at least semi helpful mind control, they cannot manage that.

Who could have guessed.

So, the third Skill that defines Gamer Systems is the reason for the three or four. That Skill can be combined, without ill effects, and I count them as one, because one is useless without the other.

Although most users of Gamer type Systems where that Skill is split only become the second one after they used the first, which makes that first use oddly risky.

That Skill is called Instant Dungeon, often split apart into Create Instant Dungeon and Leave Instant Dungeon.

Because of how commonly it is split, I will talk about both halves independently.

So, first lets talk about Create Instant Dungeon.

The Skill lets you create an Instant Dungeon.

Which is kind of obvious, considering the name.

These Instant Dungeons come in two main varieties.

The Instant Dungeons without enemies, and the Instant Dungeons with enemies.

Let us first deal with those without enemies.

That is generally the first type available to the user.

Generally, a single use of Create Instant Dungeon levels the Skill up, which makes the first type of Instant Dungeons with enemies in it available.

So, what is the use of the first type, beyond being a safe, because enemy less first try of a shiny Skill, while the user does not really know what he is doing?

Well, whatever happens in an Instant Dungeon does not affect the outside of it, so attempting shiny new offensive Skills first in an empty Instant Dungeon makes sense and would be rational.

Most users of the Gamer Systems cannot think that far, admittedly.

They also like to try out the Create Instant Dungeon Skill when they do not have a way of collapsing or escaping the Instant Dungeon, even if, or especially when they are being explicitly told about that issue.

Gamer‘s Mind hard at work, I see.

So, let us talk about the variant with enemies.

So, you know have your first enemy type available for Create Instant Dungeon. It is zombies.

It is always zombies.

So, now choose the enemy type zombie, and create a new Instant Dungeon.

You will immediately need to fight the undead hordes.

Who are honestly very weak.

But be careful, danger is coming. More about that in a while.

Fighting enemies has the advantage of giving you experience, which you can then use to level up your over all level.

So, now we need to mention another aspect of Instant Dungeons.

Time. Or rather, how it works in them. It is fairly common that time goes faster in Instant Dungeons, although that is not a requirement, and the factor varies widely. It might be an extra ability that can be gained through leveling up the Skill.

When you get close to getting that sweet second level in Create Instant Dungeon, there will be, most likely, a boss zombie that will appear.

That boss zombie will be a lot more dangerous than the zombies you have killed before that, and difficult to defeat.

Also, the other part of the Instant Dungeon Skill likely will decide that no, it will not work while there is a boss monster in the Instant Dungeon.

So yeah, you need to defeat that far to strong enemy and cannot escape.

Which brings us to the second part of the Instant Dungeon Skill, the Leave Instant Dungeon Skill.

The Leave Instant Dungeon Skill does what its name suggests that it does.

It allows you to leave Instant Dungeons.

It is, by the way, quite commonly the only way to leave an Instant Dungeon.

So not having that Skill when you create and enter your first Instant Dungeon is a bit reckless.

Admittedly, directly after you entered the Instant Dungeon, you will receive that Skill, if your Instant Dungeon Skill is split.

So, the core of the combined Instant Dungeon Skill is the ability to create dungeons which can be farmed for experience points, which is required for leveling up.

Nothing more and nothing less.

Besides those core Skills, the Gamer type Systems tend to have a few more auxiliary Skills, as mentioned before, which are not, however, necessary.

The first, and most common of these is some sort of Inventory Skill.

That one is often attached to Gamer‘s Body or Gamer‘s Mind.

Another one of those Skills is the Observe or Identify Skill.

If you are a user of that type of System and it is not a core Skill, aquire it as soon as possible.

It should be available.

I think that was what I remember of the top of my head.