The Best Laid Plans

John’s fingers rubbed against his temples as he stared at the floor in front of the toilet. After he had considered how much HP just one fall had taken, and how many gut punches Frank liked to throw, panic had welled up in his chest. At that moment, John had decided to duck into the nearest bathroom and hide in the stall, where he currently sat on the toilet.

Better to be late for my first class and get scolded than get my shit rocked. But… fuck me, man. Frank’s gonna be pissed when the bell rings and I never showed up. If he catches me later, it’s just going to be even worse, he thought to himself as his whole body tensed.

All the Gamer had done was delay the problem, and the bully would most certainly collect on that debt with interest. If falling on his arms had taken almost 5% of his HP, then he could only imagine what would happen if Frank hit him with full ****. Would each punch be closer to 10% of his health?

With the damage from before, would it really take less than ten punches to get his HP down to nothing? And what would happen then? Would he simply fall **** and “black screen” for a while like in some video games, or would it be like others where zero health was simply… ****?

As he thought about the damage he’d taken so far, John went to rub at his arms. However, it was then that he realized something. He felt no pain. In fact, now that he looked back on it, since when had that been the case? The Gamer had been so caught up in his own head this whole time, that he hadn’t even noticed. But after he’d fallen on his arms with the entirety of his body weight and without any way to mitigate the fall itself, they should have at least smarted like Hell. But then he remembered a critical detail, and had a screen open before him.

Gamer's Body: Your body is like a video game character, damage reduces your health rather than wounding you.

Now that I’m looking back… I think the pain had already stopped by the time I sat down on the bus. Can’t say for sure, but that feels right. But I guess it makes sense. In a lot of action games, you just keep fighting like normal even if you’ve been stabbed a hundred times in a row. But what happens if Frank punches me in the face and breaks my nose? He doesn’t normally go for obvious stuff like that, but if he’s pissed enough… John shivered a bit at the thought of that.

It was yet another reason for engaging in the impossible task of not letting the bully get his hands on him for the rest of the day. Even if Frank didn’t get his HP all the way down, he could only imagine what would happen if he was right about how Gamer’s Body worked. If Frank or one of his lackeys broke his nose or such, how would they react to seeing the injury healed before their very eyes like he was some sort of superhero? As far as getting reported and then disappeared to become some lab rat went, that was a fate he had zero desire to tempt.

New Quest!
Quest: Safety First
Objective: Stay above 50% HP until the end of the school day.
Optional Objective: Stay above 95% until the end of the school day.
Reward: +300 EXP
Optional Reward: +450 EXP

John blinked at the pop-up, and let out a sigh through his nose. At the same time, the bell rang, which meant he was officially late for the first class of the day. He had spent so long worrying and inside his own head, that the natural march of time had **** the issue.

But if nothing else, at least he should be grateful that his Gamer powers seemed to be more decisive than him. Not only that, but with 338 EXP until his next Level, both the normal and Optional Rewards felt like a metric ton to potentially receive. Especially since from how it seemed, he’d get the combined amount if he did the optional part.

As he still sat on the toilet, John felt that he effectively had two paths before him. He could either be late to class now and then pray to whatever powers that be that he would somehow avoid Frank for the rest of the day. Though at a certain point, he wouldn’t be surprised if the jock simply camped right next to one of his classes for an ambush. Or… he could just go.

While Ashcroft Academy did have a hall monitor who patrolled between classes for any slackers and a front gate with a guard, it wasn’t a high-security prison. He didn’t even need to sneak out, necessarily. It wouldn’t be the first time that John had pretended to be sick to get out of school early. Doing so on the very first day back to class after the break might raise an eyebrow, but he felt that it was still in the cards if he was convincing enough.

Speaking of Quests, you know what would happen when it comes to faking being sick? Taking that Free Point from using Observe while I’m in here, now that some of my MP have regenerated. The Gamer decided to do so while within his tiny shelter of the bathroom stall. Partially to delay when he had to leave it, but also effectively affirming his decision to skip class instead of just being even more late.

And while there weren’t any people around, it’d already been proved that Observe worked on objects too. However, as a quick test, John did use Observe on the floor. Something which did provide him with a result. A less than enlightening one, however.

Bathroom Floor
Description: The floor of a bathroom stall within Ashcroft Academy. One that is mostly clean thanks to the recent work of a janitor.

Although he had to say, one would have hoped that it’d be better than “mostly clean” at the very start of the first day back, but whatever. With that as a task to occupy his focus, John proceeded to cast Observe on the stall, toilet, and then his personal items next. When he did his jacket, though, and was about to pull out his wallet, the notification he’d been waiting for then appeared.

Observe Level Up!
Level 1 to Level 2!
Updated Effect:
Observe now reveals the Rarity of an object.

Quest Complete!
Quest: Gamer Basics 1
Optional Objective: N/A
Reward: 1 Free Point

As he had planned, John immediately put that Free Point into Charisma. An act which brought the Stat to a grand total of six, which now made it equal to his Endurance. What that said about either of his Stats was not something he really wanted to think further on. Yet it was only a couple of seconds later that a new and unexpected notification entered his view.

New Quest!
Quest: Gamer Basics 2
Objective: Use the Create Barrier Skill for the first time.
Optional Objective: N/A
Reward: +50 EXP

Before John even had a chance to ask himself where he was supposed to get such a Skill, yet another screen promptly appeared with the answer.

New Skill Gained!
Skill: Create Barrier
Cost: 5 MP
Description: Conjures a space that acts as an identical copy of the local area, layered over the mundane world. This space exists for as long as the creator remains inside or until 24 hours have passed, and is under your control by default. You may customize the size of the Barrier’s dimensions, but such modifications increase the MP cost required.

The Gamer blinked as he quickly read the Skill. Then he glanced back at the newest Quest, and felt a bit confused. It couldn’t really be that easy, could it? Though at the same time… he had gotten a similar amount of EXP offered just for doing his regular morning routine. So as far as what felt like freebies went, it perhaps shouldn’t have felt too outlandish.

Wait a minute! John’s eyes widened with a sudden realization. This Skill is perfect for sneaking out! If I’m reading this right, I should be able to just create a Barrier, and then just exit out the other side. So from here, I could hypothetically enter the nearest classroom and take a seat, and then close the Barrier and just be… there. Would be dumb and way too easily noticed since it’d be like I teleported in, but the point is that I could do that, couldn’t I?

John stood up from the toilet seat and exited the stall. In his chest, his heartbeat had already begun to race as he thought about what was going to happen. Observe had felt magical in itself, but he was going to create some alternate dimension or something and use it to go anywhere he wanted without anyone knowing. That felt like magic, real magic.

As of right now, he was still alone in the bathroom. Something that wasn’t likely to change now that classes were in session. Though there was a chance that the guard could peek in to make sure nobody was skipping, like he currently was. So with that in mind, John decided that he shouldn’t delay things any further.

He focused on his new Skill, and his body seemed to almost act on instinct. His right hand rose into the air, and then clenched into a fist. At that same moment, there was a sound like glass shattering as the world’s color palette was swapped. After John blinked, he looked around to see that everything around him had taken a grey hue, like just a bit of color had been drained from reality.

Barrier Created!
Barrier Owner: John Newman
Current Occupants: 1

At the same time, the notification about his completed Quest then appeared. Happy to have the extra bit of EXP, it was just as quickly dismissed.

The Gamer stepped out of the bathroom, his pulse roaring in his ears. Maybe it was just his excitement to go with the dumb, toothy smile on his face. Or perhaps it was due to the lack of sound. Despite the classrooms to either side, the pop-up claimed that he was the only person in this space, something which he confirmed by quickly checking a classroom. Without any ambient noises, the environment had definitely become a bit more… eerie.

John looked down the main corridor. At what he assumed to be around 50 or so feet away, there was a… shimmer. Everything past a certain point appeared to be through a filter of some sort. He had a good guess as to what it was, but when the Gamer placed a hand on it, a notification confirmed it.

Exit Barrier?
Yes/No

“No,” John replied as he took a step back. “So… five MP per cast, and definitely pretty big for just the default size. Still wasn’t back to full MP, but it won’t take that long to get there. Looks like there isn’t some time limit until this space auto-closes or anything, so nothing is stopping me from just sitting here and waiting. After that, all I need to do is open and close Barriers while just… walking away. Then when I’m far enough, call a Bluber to go home and wait out the other Quest.”

With that plan in mind, using that Free Point on Charisma could have been considered a waste. But with how much John seemed to desperately need help on the reputation front, he didn’t necessarily regret it. Not if a higher Charisma really did get people to like him more. Whether it would make him more handsome or just somehow alter their perception, he wasn’t sure, but he’d genuinely take anything at this point.

Warning!
**** Barrier Entry!
Invaders: 1

From just around the corner of intersecting hallways around two dozen feet behind him, John heard heavy stomping and justling, like how he’d imagine a knight in heavy armor would sound. A thought that wasn’t inaccurate, as just a second later, a person quickly dashed around the corner and into view.

John had already stumbled back as a million thoughts had crossed his mind in that last second. How did someone manage to enter this separate space? Was it with magic of their own? In fact, were there actually other people out there with powers? And when he actually saw the serious and angry face of the red-haired woman who now stared right at him, shield in one hand and warhammer in the other…

Wait, is that Moira Brighton?!