Cry 3 (Out Of The Playpen)

Once again he jolted awake from the steady embrace of darkness with his heart beating a mile a minute. For something that should be shocking, he was getting used to it happening. Still, even if he was able to get a handle on his heartbeat from experience it was rather difficult this time due to what put him into Darkness's embrace.

He could still vividly feel the knife entering his body over and over as the small puppet cackled over him. The life drained from his body as he felt colder and colder. The feeling of everything coming to an end and not being able to do anything about it and the last desperate hope placed on the whims of a deity.

He died there and that was something he had to accept. He allowed himself to be swept into the mood as the tutorial baby him and having access to something like the Gamer went to his head. Instead, of fearing the strange situation he found himself in he walked straight into a trap.

There were signs that the puppet was going to be far stronger than it was before but he ignored it. Hell, a large part of the mockery was hinting at him. The cloth knife of the first Jack-In-The-Box was clearly hinting at what the thing was going to use. The mention of it being his greatest foe should have tipped the scales. Beyond all of that when he could not read a single spec of information from the creature he should have been cautious.

But he was not. So he lost his life and it was only the design of this place that allowed him to live another second. If that Entity just threw him into the world at large with The Gamer how fast would he have died? He could not afford to be so reckless when his life was on the line and he needed to recognize that.

[For making a wise decision you have gained a point of WIS.]

Seeing that screen he let out an almost hysterical laugh as the piece fell together for him. He was just going to have to do better in the future. He was not going to let his life end on such a fucking joke again.

Oddly enough that release of laughter also took away some of the tension weighing on his shoulders. He did not feel completely fine just yet but he no longer felt like he was going to fall apart. Which was how he usually dealt with things when he was feeling stressed but he did not figure it would work out with something this serious.

He honestly expected to sit around and collect himself for the rest of the day but he was calmish now. Was it the Gamer’s Mind? No, that thing should be far more jarring and while he was calm now he could still feel the tension weighing on his mind.

“If Gamer’s Mind worked like that you would make an awfully boring subject Mortal. Always dragged back to a sense of clarity right when the juicy moments are supposed to happen. That just does not work for me so I changed it. You will only experience that sense of Calm when facing battle which fits the whole Life is a Game theme better. Characters in games experience emotions after all it is only battles that have them calm.” The Entity spoke out in his mind again.

He almost flinched away from the voice as the last time he remembered hearing it he had a knife in his innards and a puppet was making them not so inside of him anymore.

He still felt his heart sped up at the presence of it but it was not as extreme as it was before. So he was able to listen to what the entity was saying to him.

It was honestly a mixed bag. He did not really want to deal with trauma by himself as well trauma is just that. He did not think he could even look at a Jack-In-A-Box for a very long time and Clowns were going to freak him the fuck out but that was the price of his recklessness. On the other hand, he knew that not dealing with his trauma and letting it fester behind an unnatural calm was not conducive to his continued health.

Sure, he would be calm but that was a nightmare of a completely different nature. To have bits and pieces of yourself tied and contained and knowing you had no chance of changing it was not a good thought.

“I guess you could see it that way. I just found test subjects with Gamer’s Mind as you expected, all did things the same way over and over again. It is the emotional instability in you mortals that makes you so interesting. If pushed far enough a mere farmer is willing to fight gods to protect what they must and if broken enough a just man can torment thousands for his own sense of self. Far more interesting than a puppet only taking the route that serves their purpose every time.” The voice drowned out dryly and Oliver felt himself agreeing with that despite not wanting to agree with the entity.

He decided he needed to figure out what he was going to do now that he had recovered. He may have jolted awake before but the place he was currently in was not exactly well anything.

As far as he could tell he was in a near endless black void and it was only the screens associated with the Gamer that produced any sort of imagery here.

As if to assure him that he was not stuck in a never-ending void a new screen showed up in front of him.

[It appears that you have died but have no worries we are not the kind of Game that gives you only one shot. As the Gamer, you have multiple lives in the form of Character Creation Tokens. You can also use these Tokens to enter worlds of fiction to explore and have fun. You are given four tokens right from the get go but don’t worry about losing one of them here as the tutorial has you covered!]

[Would you like to enter Character Creation?]

[Yes] [No]

Oliver read through the menu and another weight was lifted off of his shoulders. He had no plans on running straight to his death again but it was nice knowing he had a backup plan.

It was kind of upsetting that he effectively lost one token even if the System said he did not. If he managed to get through that trap he was likely to not have to spend the free token they had given him. But you win some you lose some. So he hit yes and another screen popped up in front of him.

A model that looked exactly like him appeared and there were several sliders to alter his appearance. He immediately tried to make himself look amazing but he quickly found out the sliders were rather limited in what they could change. He might be able to make himself slightly more handsome if he spent hours trying to mess with his features but he now had a CHA stat so he was better off grinding that.

So he ignored those sliders. Other than that there were options to take over a insert himself into a character of fiction but he needed a catalyst to choose any character. Meaning if he wanted to become Ichigo Kurosaki the Drip Master he needed something related to him. This was hard since he was fictional but apparently a Physical Copy of the Bleach Manga would work.

He could also enter worlds of fiction using the Catalyst method as a Self Insert. That was interesting, but he also had to spend a Token to enter the world. He only had four of them right now so he had four extra lives or four shots at entering the worlds that pushed his dreams. 

Whatever that was something he could think about later. Right now he was sick and tired of feeling like he had a body but not really having one. So he finished up the character creation menu and he was no longer in the endless void.

Instead, he was in a familiar purple room with yet another banner unrolled in front of him. The words written in bright red cursive caused him to grit his teeth in irritation.

Congratulations on your death! Maybe one day you can get vengeance on your greatest foe!

He knew this thing was here to get him mad but it fucking did its job. He wanted nothing more than to start punching something but he just fell silent and ignored it for now.

Beneath the banner was a small table with a condolence card on it with the drawing of that fucking Jack-In-The-Box dressed in all black and holding a Wreath. Despite the somber attire on the drawing, there were specks of blood on the black suit and the bloody knife it used to stab him was tucked into the suit jacket.

The card was clearly mocking him but the sight of the thing still had him shuddering and gritting his teeth. He spent a good long moment just looking at the thing as he was not going to risk his life over something that might be a monster again.

As he stared at the thing a screen popped up.

[Due to special actions the Skill Apprentice Observe LV.1 was created.]

[Congratulations you have created a skill through special actions. You may make skills by doing certain things but be warned creating a Skill is far rarer than you think. Most skills are gained from your Class or Skill Books so appreciate the the ones you do get.]

[Gained title The First Skill Creator.]

He found some interest in the skill creation as The Gamer was supposed to have it but this sounds a bit more restrictive. It made a certain amount of sense and free skill creation is pretty overpowered.

Observe was something that really carried a Gamer as it could tell you quite a bit about most things. The fact that it started off at Apprentice was irritating but you had to start somewhere.

It was him earning a Title that had him feeling off. From what he could tell Achievements and Titles should only be gained through impressive achievements but he was all but giving this one. It was concerning.

Considering the fact that the Entity behind The Gamer was doing this for amusement they would probably find it funny to toss more Gamer powers to people in the world. Probably giving everyone a quest to take out the other Gamers.

The fact that it was being oddly silent about the issue was also pointing to his thoughts but he did not gain a point of Wis. Maybe, he was starting to reach the point of diminishing returns of deduction awarded points?

Whatever he can face that issue later, he was just going to have to prepare for a battle royal twist later on. For now, he had to focus on passing this stupid tutorial. He concentrated on the card and cast Observe and was greeted with a window.

[Paper]

He kind of just stared at that for a good long while before sighing. He figured that the low-level Observe would be fucking garbage but this was pretty fucking disappointing. It did not even tell him it was a Condolence Card. He honestly had more information about it from just looking at the thing with his eyes.

He was tempted to grind his Observe until he could actually tell what the thing did but he had limited Mana and time. God, knows when the Entity would grow bored of watching him do the same thing over and over again. 

So he went through plan B. He used Summon Familar and a dull green summoning circle appeared before him.

His Epic baby clawed itself out of the ground again. It took a look around quickly searching for the threat that hurt it and killed its master but it did not spot the Jack. So the little tree thing looked over at his with a dissatisfied tilt of its head.

Clearly, he was not the only one who wanted vengeance against the thing.

“Don’t worry little guy, if we encounter that guy again we will destroy him,” Oliver spoke out firmly to the little tree showing his determination. The little guy nodded solemnly but due to its oversized deer skull for a head it kind of bobbed back and forth for a bit.

He was kind of tempted to call the thing cute but clearly his familiar was trying to be serious so he was not going to embarrass it.

“Can you do me a favor and check that card for traps?” Oliver asked his familar who looked over at the card and started walking towards it. Since the table was taller than it the little guy jumped trying to reach for it not getting anywhere for a moment before it paused and extended its reach to as high as it could.

Then its arms slowly started to glow green as its arms expanded as the twig-like limbs grew in size and vines started to coil around its arms. Still, it was a very slow process as its arms grew.

Seeing the slow process he was tempted to stop the little guy. He could have just knocked the card off the table using Mage Hand but he held back. Clearly, he was determined to get it by itself so he was not going to break his familiar resolve.

Eventually, it managed to get the thing and its limbs went back to normal length. The little guy opened up the condolence card and stared at it for a good long moment before closing it. He continued that process for a surprising amount of time. He knew he told the little guy to check it for traps but he figured it would have triggered as soon as something touched it.

It was not like it had any skills for actually checking for traps. So instead it took a rigorous examination of the Card before it. Oliver was going to say something after five minutes but it appeared the little guy was stratified. It raised the card in the air as if it were the Ten Commandments and ran over to Oliver with its little legs. Again the cuteness factor of his familiar was crazy for something that was mainly made of skulls and dead-looking wood.

When it arrived with the card it looked at Oliver and presented the card with all the seriousness it could provide. Oliver smiled at his familiar and thanked it by patting its cold bony head and taking the card. The little guy seemed proud for a moment before it turned around alert looking for enemies threatening its master.

Oliver frowned at the card as it might not be a trap but it was still mocking him. He opened it up and he found a short little passage that had his teeth grinding again and a coupon taped to the interior of the card.

Well since you lost like the loser you are, you are going to need something to make up for the experience you are missing to level up. So here is a coupon for 50 experiences! Congrats on proving that participation deserves a reward as well you loser.

He took a deep breath to calm his iration and picked up the stupid ticket. As soon as he touched it the ticket dissolved into specs of light and a screen popped up in front of him.

[50 XP gained]

[Level up!]

[Congradulations you have leveled up so it’s time to explain the leveling mechanic. Each class gains stats when they level up and they are assigned automatically into the stats that best represent the class. For example your current class gains 2+INT, WIS, and one point of CHA. Higher tier or rare Classes can have elevated stat gains but you are a long way from that. Your HP, SP, and MP will fill up automatical at a level up and they will also receive a boost even if the Stats you gain have no relation to them.]

[To switch classes you need to master your current apprentice Class but for higher tier class all you need to switch is to reach LV. 25 and you can switch classes.]

Again it was not something that was out of his expectations but knowing exactly how the leveling works it good. The free level from the tutorial was good as well even if it was clear that the first level is ridiculously easy to get.

He would have preferred to receive raw stat points but since this is a Class based System it makes sense to not be generous with that. He closed the window and the door blocking his way again released a loud click and swung open.

Oliver tensed but seeing no reaction picked up his familiar and walked towards the door. He peeked his head through the door and was greeted with another room but in the center of the room was a stall.

It had a puppet that looked like Toad manning the place. Instead of casing out the place he entered the room freely and walked towards the puppet. It was not because he was loosening on his caution but because the puppet’s name was clear and it was not red. Meaning this was not a Foe as far as the Gamer was concerned.

[Shopkeeper Lv???]

The unknown level was concerning but as long as it was not hostile he was good.

“Greetings traveler and welcome to the shop!” The puppet squawked out in an annoying voice that he was used to hearing from Toad. Too high and oddly rough. He was tempted to call copyright infringement on the Entity as surely Nitendo would sick him for stealing their character. Nothing could stop them when they were on the hunt after all.

“Do you need any help finding my wares?” The puppet asked as it held out its hands to gesture at the table containing said wares. Excerpt there was not really anything there. It was just a stall.

He was going to ask some questions but another screen popped up in front of him.

[Welcome to the Shop! The Shop is a multiversal Platform that allows you to buy quite literally anything from the bra that Black Widow was wearing to the Infinity Stones themselves. The Shop takes credits which can be gained from Dungeons or drops. Beyond that you can convert any wealth into credits automatically or you could try to sell your wealth at a higher value.]

[Beware Gamer, Supply and Demand is a thing. Prices are automatically adjusted to be higher for things considered Rare in your current universe. So you could purchase water cheaply here as it is abundant but travel to a world were it is not as abundant and the Price adjusts.]

Oliver took a brief look over what was being offered but closed it quickly. He really could buy anything but the price for anything considered fictional was off the charts. Seeing as there was quite literally no way for him to get those things in his current reality.

He also saw Character Creation Tokens but the price was well out of his empty pockets. That should change with the Gamer on his side but for now he was not going to be able to afford anything except some snacks.

When he closed the window the door leading out of this room released a click but did not swing open this time. Again he walked cautious towards the thing.

“Hey wait! You did not buy anything! COME BACK! NO ONE EVER COMES HERE PLEASE YOU ARE THE FIRST CUSTOMER EVER! PUPPETS NEED TO EAT TOO PLEASE!” THe toad Puppet shouted out with everything it had. Oliver felt his lips twitch but the Puppet was not really selling anything so he could not really give it anything.

He also kind of doubted that the Puppet did in fact need to eat. He had other things on his mind like the door that might be a trap. That was the thought running through his mind until a screen popped up in front of him as he reached it.

[Congratulations you have completed the tutorial!]

[Title Unlocked.]

[Achivements System Unlocked.]

[Gained Title The First.]

[Achivment Unlocked The Start.]

[Would you like to leave?]

[Yes] [No]

Oliver hit the leave button quickly as this day was really stressful with his death weighing on his mind. So he wanted nothing more than to get to his home where he was not going to be threatened by fucking puppets.

So he left the tutorial while ignoring Toad’s pleas to buy imaginary things.