Not exactly... [Calamitous Intent]

Hi, TheDespaxas here!
If you have read any other branch this will look familiar. We have here another new author, CalamitousIntentwho has decided to give us his take on John's adventures. As always some elements, characters and concepts will vary from my own version and that of some other authors, those are features, not bugs. But I won't hold you any longer, what are you waiting for? Go read the story, and enjoy!

Tempted as he was to steal something from Vanessa, the moment he reached forward her meathead of a boyfriend turned around. John quickly changed the trajectory of his grab to be reaching down for his backpack.

"Yo, nerd!" Frank had no concept of an indoor voice. "It's a good thing you're a dickless coward or I might accidentally hurt you in dodge-ball today."

Most of the other students on the bus started laughing at John's expense and he seethed inside. He never understood what he'd done to attract Vanessa and Frank's attention, but they were relentless in their bullying. Vanessa spread rumors about John being creepy or impotent but Frank... Every opportunity he had, the bully would publicly humiliate John. He sighed and tried to ignore the taunts; at least Frank wasn't talking with his fists.

Achievement Unlocked! - "The High Road"
Avoid a senseless confrontation.
+1 Wisdom

John blinked at the popup that appeared a couple inches before his eyes. It made sense that if his life had turned into a game it then would have achievements, but he was surprised by the reward. In every game he'd ever played pure stats were extremely valuable and usually reserved for leveling up. If he could get one just for ignoring Frank... His mind raced with possibilities, only to halt on a different thought. What did having an extra point of wisdom mean? Was he smarter now?

John looked at Frank and wished he could compare his measly strength score against the larger boy's. It would be useful to have context for figuring out the value of a single point. If Frank had 10 Strength, then two or three points would be a huge improvement! Of course, if the bully had around 50 Strength then John would really be in trouble...

"Why're you looking at me like that?" Frank recoiled from John's inquisitive look, "You gay or something?"

John blinked, "Huh?"

He was saved from Frank's inevitable explosion of embarrassed rage by the fact that the bus had pulled past the gates of his school. Students were already grabbing their things and starting to pack the central aisle; the need to get to class on time outweighing watching the show. John didn't want to be caught in the middle of the rush to exit the bus and grabbed his bag, his fingers passing through the still-open popup. Unlike the other windows, this one hadn't faded away naturally. He frantically waved at it to get it to dismiss.

It collapsed in on itself, blinking out of existence, but was replaced by a different one.

Progress Screen Unlocked!
You can now access your achievements and quests via the Progress Screen.

There was no information about how to access the new screen. John made a mental note to file a complaint, if that was even possible.

His fiddling with his interface had cost him valuable time, so he was one of the last students off the bus. To make things worse, John had no sooner stepped onto the pavement than he felt someone shove into him from the side.

Frank's shoulder barreled into him and John was thrown aside. As he fell towards the concrete, he attempted to cast Theft on the bully as retribution. John didn't have time to read the results before he crashed into a girl who was walking in front of him. They both went tumbling to the ground, landing on the grass of the Academy's front lawn.

Theft Successful - Item stolen from ???????? ???

The confusing text only momentarily distracted John from the girl that lay sprawled out below him. She was dressed in a modified version of his school's optional uniform. She'd replaced the standard blouse with a black one and hemmed her skirt with black thread. It gave her a goth look that was accentuated by eye-liner, perfectly trimmed raven hair and a small lip ring. She looked half-Asian and was rather cute, except for the look of absolute rage in her brown eyes.

"Get off me, you perv!" the girl yelled.

John looked down and stared at her chest, where one of his hands had ended up against the curves of the girl's breasts. They were huge! At least a D-cup, they defied the more conservative appearance of her uniform. The fabric seemed to be straining just holding them back. Realizing he was staring, John looked back up at her face just in time to feel her hand slam into the side of his cheek.

-1 hp.

"I said. Get. Off!"

Another slap brought his health down by two points and John got the message. Even with Gamer's Body it still stung, and he'd really rather not take more damage. He did his best to awkwardly untangle himself, receiving another slap and -1 hp in the process.

John tried to offer the girl a helping hand, taking the chance to cast Observe on her.

SLRInGha guE
Relationship 1321 Error
-1/1 mhp
Level: NaN

Wait, what?

Things flickered for a moment, and the text cleared back to normal. He blinked.

Samantha Nui
Level 1 Goth
30/30 hp
0/1 mp
Relationship: -50

She ignored his offered hand and staggered to her feet, swearing under her breath. Once she was upright, she crossed her hands over her chest and glared at him, "Never, ever, touch me again."

"Sorry. I didn't-" John's attempt at an apology was cut off.

"I don't care."

Samantha hurried away, disappearing into the crowd of onlookers before he could stop her.

"Hey! Good job, dickless! Maybe next time you can try for third base."

John turned around to snap back at his bully, only to realize that Frank was standing less than a foot away. The burly football player grabbed John's shirt and yanked him closer.

"When I make a joke, you laugh. Got that?" Frank's breath stank.

No matter what he said, the bully would take it as an excuse to punch him, so John tried to get a little satisfaction out of it, "Go fuck yourself, Frank."

Achievement Unlocked! - "Antagonist"
Insult someone that intends to hurt you.
+1 Endurance

You'll need it.

Frank grinned and changed to his preferred means of communication.

-3 hp.
-3 hp.
-3 hp.