When I woke up, I was half expecting something weird.
After all, 9 was basically on the worse scale, considering average people wouldn't be unlucky, and so on and so forth... but it literally seems to be average, except for my dead parents.
It's always the dead parents. I guess that's convenient, but it's always a pain to handle everything yourself, especially if you're in your third year of middle school and need to prepare for high school entrance exams.
I do seem to have quite the luxurious home, though, and a lot of money from insurance, considering my parents died only about 3 days ago in a villain attack. Some Villain who attacked a Police Station, and my parents were in there completing some verification we needed to do for my application for UA.
There's that, too. It seems the Gacha decided to let me have a quirk that was literally Random. It was basically a quirk that gave me random powers for random periods of time, but only one at a time.
I guess I can just say it mutated?
Fun.
I'm not updating my quirk registry. Who knows when Garaki Kyudai will come and kidnap me to be a toy for All For One. After all, from what I learned, that abilities would be normalized for the world I'm in.
It has now been about 5 hours since I woke up, and my phone had enough information for me to understand what was happening around me. And the nurses have not come to check on me even once.
Then again, there were a lot of Villains on the rampage nowadays. Especially since All Might had just left for Musutafu a few months ago, and there wasn't any top hero stationed in Osaka for now. Unless you count Fat Gum, Fourth Kind, or Gunhead.
I pressed the bell, and the nurse came running. I spoke to her, confirming that nothing feels wrong in me. The doctor walked in shortly after, and he asked me some questions. After a while, I stopped being able to answer, to which I claimed a spotty memory. They ran some MRIs and whatnot on me, before finally deciding that my memory loss might simply be a side-effect of grief.
They didn't know that I literally didn't have any memory of this place before. They didn't need to know.
After a couple days in observation, I was discharged. It was 8 at night, and I didn't have any cash on me. And for some reason, in this world, even with all the powerful tech, mobile payment wasn't available.
So I walked.
It was only a couple kilometers away, what could go wrong?
It turned out, a lot.
One moment, I was fine, and the next moment, I felt a powerful hit on the back of my head. I was knocked on my face flat, and my head felt heavy. while I could feel everything, my dizziness meant I couldn't do much.
Then, I felt the needle pierce into my neck, and I stilled. I could feel some blood being drawn, and after a while, it stopped. The moment the needle was out of my neck, I used the ability I had on.
/Abilities\
-Active(1/1)-
[Uncommon - Wind]
-Storage-
[Uncommon - Restraint levels]
[Rare - Soften]
[Epic - Grand Theft]
So up they flew, and they couldn't control their body, while I slowly turned around. I looked up, and while my eyes were still spotty due to the blow, I could recognize that crazed smile anywhere.
Himiko Toga.
What's she doing here? Shouldn't she be in Musutafu or Kanagawa?
I didn't have much time to think about it.
"You're sooo cool and handsome! I think you'd look even better with blood all over you ~"
...Yeah, that was creeping me out. Cute as she may be, her fixation on blood was just a little creepy.
Then again, I think it's just a side-effect of her quirk. Something like withdrawal symptoms? Except she couldn't get better because it was wired into her genes.
My musing was cut short when a knife flew at my face. My wind wall did only so much to slow it down - I hadn't practiced with it beforehand much, go figure - and I barely dodged it. Two more knives came sailing at me, and I decided enough was enough.
/Abilities\
-Active(1/1)-
[Uncommon - Wind] -> [Epic - Grand Theft]
I switched to Grand Theft, and stole everything off her.
Now, she was naked as the day she was born, all her knives were missing, and she was falling from ten feet above the ground upside down.
And confused.
"Wow, what's this~ How'd my clothes all disappear!"
"Is it you, darling?"
I caught her as I was coming down, but I held her in a lock. I didn't want to be attacked, after all.
I decided to ignore her for a couple minutes and recover. My head still felt heavy, but it was getting better, and the dizziness was fading. Her voice seemed a little nervous, but hey, I had an idea.
This was a cute chick. Naked. At my mercy. My loins were already stirring.
Of course, I wasn't a rapist. Oh no, consent is the sexiest. My idea was to calm her down, mainly. And then try and score her.
I'm a scumbag. I know. Sue me. I don't care.
So once I'm done catching my breath, I stand up and switch her position, so she can look into my eye, and return her back to normal standing position.
I could see the tears in her eyes.
And I remembered what was known about her. Shunned for her quirk, her feelings and draw towards blood were confused by her as a crush towards a bloody person. Her parents tried to repress her quirk's effects, causing her repressed feelings to compound and burst, after which she was called names and ousted by her parents and society, while all she wanted was love and acceptance.
Yeah, this world deserved some of its Villains. In a way, the MLA was right.
I smiled at her, and wiped her tears away. Her breath caught, and she snapped her eyes to my fingers. I gently caressed her cheek, and said, "You know, if you hadn't just attacked directly, and instead asked me out on a date, I would have accepted."
Her eyes hardened slightly, and she scoffed. "You're just saying that. Once you know my quirk, you will send me to the police anyway. And then I'll be killed." Tears started to reform in her eyes. "I don't want to die!"
"Then tell me, and see if I'm lying."
Her eyes snapped to mine, a burning gaze like it was trying to survey my soul. "...It's a quirk where I drink the blood of others to transform into them."
"Cool... do you also get their quirks?"
Confusion colored her irises. "You... aren't scared?"
The smile didn't fade off my face. "Why would I be? I guess you wanted my blood to drink, right?" She flinched, but slowly nodded. "Must be a side effect of your quirk. Generally, people dislike blood, but since it's something you ingest, your quirk might have reversed the chemical causing you to dislike the blood, and might have gone too far, causing you to like drinking blood." Her eyes widened. "If you were my girlfriend, I wouldn't mind giving you my blood whenever, you know? Just don't drain me dry, I still need to be a hero. Or at least live."
She nodded her head frantically. "So... will you be my boyfriend?"
"Sure, why not? I'd love to."
I released the girl from the lock. She may have been almost standing normally, but I had her legs in a lock and arms behind her back. It took me quite a bit of strength, and the girl had felt light.
People in this world must have their bodies getting stronger in general to adapt to their quirk factors, whether or not the quirk affects their strength.
"...Is it really okay? For me to drink your blood?"
I gave her a winning smile. "Yes, it is. But... maybe, for today, you could settle with that large syringe? Any more blood and it might be getting slightly dangerous for me."
She smiled cutely, and nodded. Then, she buried her head in my chest, her ears completely red. "C-clothes..."
I looked at her and understood. She was embarrassed? This woman who would go on and on about her love? Now that was cute.
I gently set her down before retrieving her clothes from the inventory.
"Here you go."
She held her clothes to her chest before looking at me, her face red from embarrassment. "C-could you maybe, turn around...?"
Oh, she was so cute.
I turned around and heard rustling behind me. After a bit, the rustling stopped, and so did her embarrassment, it seemed, since she hugged me from behind.
"Thank you." She whispered into my ear. It sent up a tingle up my spine.
I was always a sucker for love from a cute girl.
Or a sexy woman. A cute woman. A beautiful... you get my point.
I turned around and put my arms around her waist, before dipping my head and kissing her.
Feat Achieved! Convert a budding Villain away from the darkness for the first time!
+1 Silver Gacha Ticket
Feat Achieved! Get Toga Himiko to be your girlfriend!
+1 Bronze Advantage Gacha Ticket
Feat Achieved! Kiss Toga Himiko!
+1 Silver Advantage Gacha Ticket
I ignored them. Girls came before Gacha. Maybe not in the real dictionary, but it definitely did in mine.
I was about to deepen the kiss before she disengaged, her face looking as if it were on fire. She hugged me hard - I thought my ribs might crack - and buried her face in my chest.
We stayed like that for a while before I took her home.
What? She was my girlfriend, I had no parents and lot of money, and she was sort of homeless but still loaded due to her occasional assignments she took from Dark Dealers. Villain contacts, basically.
So I took her home.
Once I was home, I decided to roll my Gacha.
Three more tickets, ooh. The Gacha was calling me.
Rolling Bronze Advantage Gacha...
A Common Item!
[Black Knight Set]
|Common Item|
Dark Souls - A set of armor and weapons wielded by the Black Knights of Lordran. The armor is perfectly fitted to your body and will keep conforming to your body as long as your body shape does not change too drastically. The set contains a Greatsword, Battle Axe, Halberd, Sword, and Shield.
or
A Common Skill!
[Novice Conceptualization]
|Common Skill|
Conceptualization is your ability to understand what shouldn't be, in essence, it is your ability to comprehend the mystical, magical and eldrich. You have an easier time comprehending, understanding and learning mystical and exotic effects but so much above the average person.
Yikes. This is hard.
Neither really fit the direction I would be going. As of now, I'm more of a Mage Character, so the latter should be what I use, but then again, what use is understanding the mystical when there is no magic in this world?
Then again, the armor set provides me defense and weapons for when I don't have energy for my abilities. Yes, both primarily utilize stamina, but my abilities take much more out of me than even running would. Maybe because technically, I just got the ability and need more understanding about it to use it better.
Which brings me to another confusing point - would it improve my ability learning pace? Or not?
Hmm... The Gacha did say all abilities would be modified as much as possible to fit the setting of the world without reducing the ability, so... it should help me master new abilities faster?
Yeah, I'll take it. Novice Conceptualization it is. Next!
Rolling Silver Gacha...
An Uncommon Trait!
[Antibody]
|Uncommon Trait|
You are very resistant to most diseases.
Well... I guess that would be helpful? It might not be optimal, but at least I wouldn't be down with a flu on exam day.
Alright, enough said - move on!
Rolling Silver Advantage Gacha...
A Common Ability!
[Jaw]
|Common Ability|
Allow you to turn your teeth into very sharp and durable fangs.
or
A Common Trait!
[Flexible]
|Common Trait|
You are inordinately flexible, even more so than an expert contortionist.
Yeah, no, I'm not taking another Common Ability when there's a Trait. All Hail Traits!
Flexible it is!
Once I was done with my choices, I chose to integrate them, and immediately, I felt the difference.
First was Novice Conceptualization. The moment it was integrated, I felt as if I could understand the world better... how the wind was supposed to move, how it could be directed, how the sofa I'm sitting on was pretty much ordinary artificial leather...
Then came Antibody. It wasn't something I would have noticed before before Novice Conceptualization, I think, but now, I could slowly sense my body expending less energy on fighting microbes - most didn't affect me at all. Due to this, it seems like all the other parts of my body gained a slight boost, especially my liver, kidney and lungs. This caused purer Oxygen and nutrients in my bloodstream, slowly improving my body faster than it normally would have.
Finally, Flexibility. I could already feel myself slowly becoming cat-like. Maybe not as inhuman as them, considering I'm still not as fluid as them and don't have their ability to snap both ends of their body in opposite directions to land on my feet, et cetera - but you get my point. I could rotate my shoulders 360 degrees completely from back to front without moving it to the side. I could snap my ankles at impossible angles, and it also seemed that my control over my muscles had been slightly enhanced. Ever so slightly, but yeah, it was there.
This also meant I'd have a much lesser probability of injury, and that meant - more training!
Yeah, it was time to hit the grind. The UA exam was in 3 weeks, and I needed to get a grasp on all my abilities.