cry 6 (I better not regret this)

Now that he had the Speed Reading skill learned he returned the book to the library to pick up a book for Meditation. It was likely that he would find a Meditation skill book in the world he was going to visit but he was not going to take any chances on this. Meditation was going to be a massively important skill for him after all.

Besides, having two versions of a very good skill could only be a boon.

Once he had that book he headed back to his apartment for the next step of the plan. When he opened the door he was greeted with the sight of Monica slumbering on the sofa. Her elaborate costume and the various props she usually set up was nowhere to be seen.

Her slumbering face was tense and it was clear she was not having a good rest. He bit his lip and let out a sigh. He knew why she was like this. He had left in the night with a rather complicated look on his face. So even the light hearted Gremlin that he knew and loved was worried about him.

Clearly, she was waiting for him to come back since she slept on the sofa instead of her own room but he left her stressed and disappointed. He hated that he was doing this to someone he almost considered a sister but he still did not have an answer to that question.

It was just another thing he had to work on when he started his journey into another world.

He went over to her slumbering frame and picked her up. She shifted in his arms and grumbled sleepy but she did not wake. She was usually a rather deep sleeper and her staying up late and passing out on the sofa made that even worse.

At least the tense and uneasy look on her face faded as she settled in his arms. He was not exactly the most impressive person in muscle mass but even he could pick up the 5 foot nothing girl and move her about.

A fact that no doubt irritated his friend but would at least let him get her into her proper resting place. He moved her to her room and tucked her into her bed. She seemed a bit reluctant to let go of him in her sleep but he replaced himself with one of her body pillows.

That girl really was a dork just like him. Her collection was not nearly as impressive as her Gacha addiction really cut into her expenses but she did have some merch she bought herself. She also had the various gifts people bought for her, he was also one of those people buying merch for the girl.

What can you say, merch really is the best answer for a weebs desire.

He left the room as he settled Monica in her bed but paused at the door frame. He looked over at his slumbering friend with a hesitant look. If his plan rolled out well it was going to be quite a while before he saw her again. Beyond that when he did get back he might muster the will to cut ties with her for her own safety.

So this might be the last time he ever saw the little gremlin and that thought caused his heart to ache. So he wanted to ingrain the sight of her in his mind. Maybe the ache in his chest was the sign he needed to make a choice.

“See you later,” He muttered out with an odd look on his face as he left for his own room. His words hit the mark as this was not a goodbye but just another see you later. It may be selfish and it might lead to a rather painful experience for the people he loved but he could not bear to feel like this over and over again.

As he entered his room he looked over his collection with some hesitance. He had two paths he could take here. He could grind in a Dungeon or he could enter a fictional world using one of his limited tokens. Both of those paths had their merits but he was leaning towards entering a world.

Entering a Dungeon was a free action so he did not have to waste such a precious resource like a Character Token. 

The issue with that was once he entered the place he had a limited selection of foes to train with. He could not enter a Dungeon that was a higher level than him as that was just begging to be killed again even with his familiar. Entering a weak Dungeon on the other hand would only lead to stagnation as he had to face the same level one slime over and over again.

The ideal route would be to start at a lower level dungeon and once he cleared that enter the next one but that was an ideal situation. He already knew that the Entity watching him was doing this for his own amusement and that was not exactly entertaining. 

Sure he would be safe from it’s actions when he was in the Dungeon but when he left it to go to the next he might end up assaulted by it’s machinations before he could move on. So that was not an option even if it was safer and less costly.

So that left him with entering a world.

World’s would offer a higher diversity in foes to fight and the interest the Entity could gain would not be as low. Seeing him facing the plot and interaction with characters changing a story well beyond what it once was probably would earn him the hands off approach.

He could also expand his skill sets with abilities that would be nearly impossible to grind out in his own world.

The issue he was facing currently was where to go. He had a rather large collection but some of the material he collected was just for the sake of collection. He did not exactly have time to run through the large book shelf of things.

So he had to eliminate things that he did not have a deep understanding of and things that simply would not help him. The variety of Rom-Coms and Daily Life Manga were ignored without a second thought. All that the world could offer him was time as a resource.

Next he eliminated fiction that had low ceilings of power. Harry Potter for example. He loved the world but the ill defined nature of its magic system either meant it could be great or simply a waste of time. There might be some very high levels there but it was just unlikely to be. He could only rely on what is shown in the story instead of speculations.

Beyond the unknown strength he could gain in world’s like that the conflict in those stories tended to be not as high. So a somewhat competent Gamer should be able to steamroll Harry Potter with very little time. Which would not be nearly as entertaining to the Entity watching over him.

After the low ceilings, he had to eliminate the ones that had danger assaulting you right from the start. Places where living was simply a luxury. Warhammer was obvious as simply being in that place was hell. Warhammer was a rather extreme comparison but DxD was also a terrible place to go to.

God knows how quickly the Devils would figure out something special was going on with you and enslave you to their whims. Not everyone could get their harem of big titty waifus after all.

Sure, taking on Issei’s role and being reincarnated as Rias’ servant was safe from that route but it also put you in the danger zone. Escalation is a clear route in DxD and the time frame for growth was incredibly limited. 

He might disparage Issei as a pervert but the man had a will well beyond reason. Without that little spark, you might as well be committing suicide trying to take his place. The Boosted Gear carried him but again without that will the Boosted Gear was just another tool and one that would fail you if you were not careful.

So the world selection he needed to face was a delicate balance between extreme notions and risky plots. Countless places ran through his mind as he tried to figure something out but he finally settled on a world that should work.

Naruto. The setting had a pretty high ceiling and the true powerhouses were waiting for a perfect time to set off their plots. Since he could use the Source material and enter any period that was shown in the source he could enter while Naruto was growing up instead of where the story actually started.

Naruto was known as the Flashback king for a reason after all.

Kohona had its risks but in Naruto’s growing period, it was stable and peaceful as long as your last name was not Uchia. That or Senju but those guy’s got their asses merc well before Naruto’s growth period.

Well, that was not exactly fully true either. Kohona has its own darkness and its name is Danzo. It might be a meme that everything was that guy’s fault but it was mostly true. 

Danzo was the reason he decided to not go into Naruto as himself, instead, he was going to insert into a character. The Gamer would allow him to show off absurd potential and that sort of potential might as well be crack for the one-eyed plotter.

Not to mention a militaristic society was not going to teach a random asshole who showed up to their village. That was asking for secrets to leak to other villages. It was not something that was clear from the source material; the manga was just a glimpse of what the world really was.

The question was who?

Naruto was off right from the start. He could not handle the terrible treatment Naruto received from the start of the story. Well, no he could but he could not remain the sunny, happy-go-lucky boy that Naruto was. If he was not acting like that idiot god knows what the Third Hokage would do. Maybe he would really give the boy to Danzo to ensure that the village did not have a malicious Jinchuriki on their hands.

Sasuke was also a no go. For similar reasons. Itachi might guarantee his life but it was not like he could see himself endearing himself with a guy who would murder his mother and father. Not in the same way the original Sauke would have. So he might find himself dead at Itachi’s hands.

It was a shame but the two characters with the most potential were difficult to replace in the early stages without setting off massive changes that might lead to his death.

Any of the adult cast was off the table as a shift in the personality of someone so prominent would sound off so many alarm bells in a Ninja village. He would also not have the full strength that those characters boasted or he could just insert himself as Madara. He would just receive their skills at level one and the stats they boasted will also be reset.

So he was plotting after the younger characters as shifts in personality were a bit more common as a personality is hard to define as a four-year-old.

Well he could try to go for some characters outside of Kohona but god knows how safe those places would be.

In the category of children for Kohona, he struck off any Female characters as a matter of principle. It might be shallow of him to say this but he did not want to spend years training and growing as a girl.

So that left him a couple of characters that he could possibly insert into. Neji, Choji, Shikamaru, Shino, Kiba, and Rock Lee. Rock Lee was cut off from the start as he was not from a clan that could protect him from Danzo’s wandering eye.

Next off was Neji. The kid had the most potential out of the remaining options but being a slave to the Main House was a problem. It was not known exactly how poorly the Branch House was treated but considering the fact that the seal on them had a setting to inflict pain on them did not paint a good picture.

Shino was also a no-go. Turning himself into a living nest for bugs was just not going to work for him. The thought of millions of bugs buzzing and crawling through his flesh was sheer nightmare fuel.

Choji was next on the chopping block. The techniques that his clan practiced did not really appeal to him. While The Gamer would carry him he did want a good technique to work with in the coming years.

So the two only real options here were Kiba and Shikamaru. This choice was a headache.

Kiba was safe but boring. The dude had middling potential and while pursuing Beastification was better than Choji’s abilities it was not much better. The bond between an animal and linking with them might be important for him as he had a Familiar himself and that Familiar had a vast amount of potential. Still, it was unlikely the skill would fit well with his own Familiar but it might still work.

The issue was Shikamaru was just such a better target.

Shikamaru was the best candidate in Potential, Status, and Freedom. The issue was the Nara clan was probably the most dangerous place to fucking go to. A Clan filled with geniuses would be hard to hide from.

The problem was Shikamaru was just so fucking tempting.

Shadow Manipulation might not be as crazy in the Nara Clan’s hands but manipulating a concept like Shadows with The Gamer could lead to some crazy shit. That skill alone might be more valuable than the potential that Naruto and Sasuke showed at least for a person with The Gamer.

Shikamaru being the heir to his clan meant Danzo could not even think about touching him. The trio of clans had a nice support block that made touching the heir very difficult.

So what was he going to go for? Safety or Potential.

He gripped the Manga in his hands and let out a sigh. He could not afford to play it safe no matter how tempting that notion was.

So he activated the World Travel function and inserted into Shikamaru.

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Was supposed to have another chapter of this out already but my dog got out so had to wander around looking for it. The next chapter is still Cry but after that is Chat. Going to work on it now so probably 3 hours for cry and 6 for Chat if I work well.