Chapter 1: Prologue: The Crossroads At The Edge Of Insanity
Prologue: The Crossroads At The Edge Of Insanity
All his life, all Izuku Midoriya wanted was to become a hero.
"No way, that's happening, kid. He's Quirkless," the doctor said as he looked up from Izuku's medical chart to meet the gaze of Inko, Izuku's mother.
No one had ever managed to make him give up on his dream.
"I'm sorry, Izuku!"
Not his mother, when she cried on him on the night he was diagnosed with his "disability."
"So you're useless then?"
"Get out of my sight, you worthless fuck!"
Not his classmates or the kids he grew up around through his public schooling.
"Disgusting…"
"Weak…"
"Deku…"
Not even his childhood friend; the one person who at least acknowledged him day-in and day-out.
"You can't be a young hero, young man."
But when those words came from his hero. When All Might himself told him he couldn't be a hero…
"It's good for one to dream… but one should also be realistic."
It was almost enough to break him mentally. Exactly how Izuku Midoriya didn't… even he himself didn't know.
Somehow… Someway… Izuku didn't take his own life after being left alone on that rooftop despite the turmoil in his heart. Eventually, he just carried on as if his life was running on autopilot and his feet brought him back to the apartment where he and his mother lived. The whole way back, he was deaf to the world, blind to the explosions and smoke billowing out endlessly just a few blocks away.
Outwardly, he had no thoughts, he had no expression, and he had no energy.
Inwardly, a war was raging within his mind that threatened to break what little was left of his sanity after all the years of abuse, neglect, and mistreatment. But Izuku was already used to this old song and dance, and even if it was a bit more intense this time around… It was just another day in his life.
He could just sleep it off, he reasoned. So he lied in bed and drifted off to sleep… until he couldn't.
…
Instead of another sleepless night, what awaited Izuku in the world of his subconscious was a lifetime of regret and anguish.
"You should just give up."
The blurred faces of countless adults, teachers, and kids began to whisper.
"You'll never be a hero."
The whispers grew louder and slightly distorted. The blurred faces, once expressionless, were growing agitated and hostile.
"What makes you think a useless weakling like you could be on the same stage as All Might!"
The blurred faces screamed and screeched.
"You think you're better than me? I'll put you in your place!"
The words were barely intelligible, they were so loud and jumbled together with distortion.
"Maybe if you prayed before you took a swan dive off a roof, god might pity you with a worthless Quirk in your next life!"
"Enough," a disembodied voice suddenly, cut through the cacophony of noises and spared Izuku's mind from collapsing in on itself.
Now alone, in a void of total darkness and no sound, Izuku's already stressed nerves were tested once again as he awaited for whatever horrors his nightmares were about to bring him. Only, instead of any nasty imagery or more cruel worlds, the silence persisted until the disembodied voice returned.
"I've come to bargain," the disembodied voice said.
'What?' Izuku thought, uncomprehending of the oddity of the situation. He couldn't tell if he was still having a nightmare or if something else could be at play.
"You can think of me as The Devil. I'm not really, but I might as well be to you for the deal I want to strike with you," the disembodied voice continued. "The exchange I want is simple. You want the power to be a hero more than anything and I want a vessel to recover fragments of a power once lost to the whims of fate."
"I don't… understand what's going on," Izuku eventually responded.
"Look kid, my time in the Mortal Plane is limited, so I can only give you a basic run-down of what you can expect from our deal. In short, I'll give you the foundation of, well… You can think of it as a "Quirk" — a very, very, very powerful Quirk — and in exchange, you'll hunt down the fragmented components of the same "Quirk" across the multiverse."
"It will be hard, borderline impossible, and you'll probably die before completely restoring the "Quirk" in its totality. If you managed to complete my grand quest, I'll grant make another equivalent exchange for the Quirk back. If you don't… Well, as I mentioned, you can consider me the devil and imagine what will happen yourself."
"Why—"
"Because you're at a very precarious point in your life right now." The disembodied voice cut Izuku off before he couldn't even voice his question. "You have the qualities of someone I believe might be able to grow strong enough and survive the hardships that will come with holding up your end of the deal."
"...That's also almost all of my time up, so what's it going to be: Are you in or not? You have ten seconds to make up your mind," the disembodied voice said.
"I-I'm in! I'm in," Izuku said before he could even think it over. The disembodied voice was right to believe he was in a very precarious point in his life as he would agree to almost anything if it meant he might have the slimmest chance to still be a hero.
"Very well," the disembodied voice sounded pleased.
And that was the last thing Izuku heard before he suddenly found himself in a void of endless white.
Somehow, despite the change from total darkness to sudden brightness, Izuku wasn't discomforted as his mind was preoccupied with the many screens that had just manifested in his mind's eye.
[Gamer System Initialized]
[New Game Loaded]
[Quests, Status, and Abilities are now Available]
[Main Quest Updated!
Main Quest Scenario: Oh no! The power of The Gamer System has been shattered and scattered across the multiverse after the last Gamer died tragically. [REDACTED] has gifted you the foundation of The Gamers System's power and sent you on your way to recover the fragments! Journey across seven worlds to recover the missing fragments!
Progress: 1/28 Fragments Collected]
[[REDACTED] has given you the root of the Perk System!
-For every world you experience, you gain a new Perk & Curse.
-For every Major Stat Milestone you reach you gain a new Perk
-For every Level Milestone you reach you gain a new Perk
-Certain Abilities may grant you Perks or Curses upon being Maxed out
-Special Circumstances can lead to the natural creation of a Perk or a Curse.]
[For having been born in your original world, you have gained a new Perk & Curse!]
[Please Choose your next course of action:
-Search for the next Perk System Fragment in your original world
-Search for the root of the ? System Fragment in the ? world
-Search for the root of the ? System Fragment in the ? world
-Search for the root of the ? System Fragment in the ? world
-Search for the root of the ? System Fragment in the ? world
-Search for the root of the ? System Fragment in the ? world
-Search for the root of the ? System Fragment in the ? world]
[NOTE 1: Travel to another world stops time from flowing in all other worlds.]
[NOTE 2: It is recommended that you work on acquiring the root of all the Gamer's Systems and make even progress with acquiring the missing fragments to optimize growth and minimize the chance that you run into existential threats. To put it in terms that the newest Gamer can understand, the root of every system might as well be Quirks onto themselves.]
[NOTE 3: Abilities and Perks Sourced from different worlds are scaled differently when the Gamer is present outside their native world. Usually, Abilities and Perks are debuffed outside their native world, so be wary of the imbalances that may become apparent.]
[FINAL NOTE: Once the course of action is set for the Main Quest, IT CAN NOT BE CHANGED UNTIL THE NEXT FRAGMENT IS COLLECTED OR THE GAMER DIES. Choose your next course of action at your own peril.]
"..." Izuku was speechless upon reading the last of the notes. He was still very much confused as to exactly what kind of insane deal he had just accepted. He was almost willing to default on all this just being a very abstract dream his weathered mind had conjured after the day he'd just had, but… Every time he was about to dismiss the situation and lose the last semblance of seriousness he had, something within him jolted him into reconsidering and re-evaluating his circumstance, no matter how silly or nonsensical it seemed.
Existential dread formed a pit in his stomach whenever he ignored those feelings, so he weighed his options carefully.
"First things, first," Izuku took a deep breath. "What are these "Status," "Abilities," and "Perks" that "This Game" has given me."
By way of his will, the answer to his questions was revealed to him by The Gamer System.
[Status
Title: The Gamer — Reflects the nature of a sentient being.
Level: 20 — A measure of experience, determined by age and exposure to different aspects of life.
Name: Izuku Midoriya — Self-explanatory.
Stats
Health: 100% — With -100% Being Death, 0% Being the threshold to start dying, and 100% being a measure of perfect health.
Stamina: 100% — A Measure of physical exhaustion that results in involuntary unconsciousness upon hitting zero.
Strength: 3 — A measure of muscular strength; determines muscle size and density, and is a major factor in determining one's physical force output.
Constitution: 4 — A measure of skeletal and visceral strength; determine's bone density and cardiovascular performance, and is the main factor of one's physical defense.
Dexterity: 16 — A measure of reaction speed and hand-eye coordination; Most physical Abilities are dependent on mainly this Stat.
Agility: 1 — A measure of movement speed and acceleration; this is the second major factor in determining one's physical force output.
Intelligence: 16 — A measure of accrued knowledge and the ability to retain said knowledge; most energy systems are dependent on this Stat to determine energy potency.
Wisdom: 11 — A measure of applied knowledge and the ability to solve problems; most energy systems are dependent on this Stat to determine energy recovery and maintenance.
Will: 19 — Willpower quantified; certain special energy systems and Abilities can make use of this Stat to drive their power.
Charisma: 4 — Overall presence and projected aura; this Stat quantifies how influential your presence is on its own.]
[Abilities
Primary School Academics (Level 95): Measures all the basic educational knowledge you've acquired from school, videos, television, documentaries, and living life in general. This Ability Grants you +1 Intelligence every 10 Levels and +1 Wisdom every 25 Levels.
High School Academics (Level 36): Measures all the advanced educational knowledge you've acquired from school, videos, television, documentaries, and living life in general. This Ability Grants you +2 Intelligence and +1 Wisdom every 10 Levels.
Analysis (Level 51): Demarks your proficiency in dissecting and analyzing Abilities. This Ability Grants you +1 Intelligence every 33 Levels and +1 Wisdom every 10 Levels.
Walking (Level 13): Demarks your proficiency in applying proper form and technique to walking This Ability Grants you +1 Agility every 33 Levels and +1 Constitution every 10 Levels
Running (Level 5): Demarks your proficiency in applying proper form and technique to running This Ability Grants you +1 Agility every 10 Levels and +1 Constitution every 5 Levels
Writing (Level 41): Demarks the speed and proficiency with which you can apply proper form and technique to writing. This Ability Grants you +1 Dexterity every 10 Levels.
Drawing (Level 60): Demarks the speed and proficiency with which you can apply proper form and technique to drawing. This Ability Grants you +1 Dexterity every 5 Levels.
Cooking (Level 12): Demarks the speed and proficiency with which you can apply proper form and technique to cook. This Ability Grants you +1 Dexterity every 25 Levels and +1 Wisdom every 20 Levels.
Calisthenics (Level 11): Demarks the proficiency with which you can apply proper form and technique to exercise with just your body weight. This Ability Grants you +1 Strength every 5 Levels, +1 Constitution every 8 Levels, and +1 Agility every 10 Levels.
Weight Lifting (Level 3): Demarks the proficiency with which you can apply proper form and technique to exercise with weights. This Ability Grants you +1 Strength every 2 Levels and +1 Constitution every 3 Levels.
Resolution (Level 98): An Ability born from being stubborn in one's beliefs and goals. This Ability Grants you +1 Will every 5 Levels and +1 Charisma every 20 Levels.]
[Perks
Regalvanized: [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED]. This Perk Grants you the Special Ability "Draconification"]
[New Ability!
Draconification (Level 1 | This Skill can not regress further and be lost): Activates an energy source — Quirk Factor works best — to transform an insignificant amount of body mass.
Cost: 1% Stamina per minute to transform a finger's worth of flesh into dragon skin.]
[Curses
Weapons' Blight: You are fated to never be in tune with weapons of any type that are not borne of your personal strength. Physical weapons created by you will be affected by this curse and corrode with every use.]
"...Where do I even start?" Izuku muttered to himself as he nursed the headache that had begun to grow in intensity as his thoughts jumbled and swirled together.
'I never was one for games, but even I know my "Stats" are terribly bad. My personal Level is higher than all my stats individually, so that doesn't make much sense… Unless… Right. Stats are tied to my Abilities and mine have been reduced to what was listed on that page. Great…' Izuku thought as he continued to evaluate all the information that had been presented to him.
'My Stats and Abilities are probably lacking due to regression. The information from Draconification pretty much confirms it's a possibility and my current list of Abilities makes up most if not all the actions I take on a regular basis. But if that were true then… A zero for any one Stat would not be an objective absolute zero.
'Zero in Strength would just represent a person who has absolutely no physical development; someone who has either never exercised or has atrophied whatever muscular development they might have had after not exercising for a long enough time…'
'That makes sense to me,' Izuku thought before he sighed. 'Draconification, on the other hand,' he felt all the muscles on his right hand contract and tighten before his right index finger darkened to a near pitch-black, '...I don't understand how I just know how to pull this off. I got the Perk, the Ability, and just… That's it? How—'
[Reminder!]
[Please Choose your next course of action:
-Search for the next Perk System Fragment in your original world
-Search for the root of the ? System Fragment in the ? world
…]
"Oh, right. I still have those fragments to look for," Izuku muttered as he was drawn from his internal rambling.
'Now… Should I look for the next fragment of the Perk System here or… Should I go to another world to look for the root of another part of the System? Wow, that sounds ridiculous, even in my head… I should make a list of pros and cons to either decision first.'
'So, first, staying in my "Original World." The pros would be that I'm already familiar with this place. There won't be any possible conflict with communication and culture shock. And… That's pretty much all I can think of, since I don't even know where to start looking for a fragment of the Gamer System, in any of the worlds…'
'As for going to another world, well… It was recommended by the Gamer System, first and foremost, and there was also the note about time stopping outside the worlds I'm currently not in, which would go a long way in helping me catch up to everyone who's been training their Quirks all their life to become pro heroes.'
'But… I don't have the slightest idea as to what kinds of worlds I'd be sent to. Apparently, the Multiverse is real and I'll only need to dip into seven out of the infinite possible realities, but the problem with infinite possibilities is the fact that I could end up literally anywhere. I could get lucky and be sent to a world where violence and negativity are concepts that don't yet exist… Or I could end up in a place with eldritch horrors and nightmarish entities that could kill me by simply existing.'
'It shouldn't come to that extreme, given there's no logic to "The Devil" giving me this chance just to see me instantly die. But… It wouldn't be out of character for them to send me somewhere I could just barely survive by the skin of my teeth for their entertainment. Should I risk it? I'd get another Perk just by going and my first Perk literally gave me a Quirk. But, is it worth possibly being cast into untold despair, suffering, and possible death?'
[Reminder!]
[Please Choose your next course of action:
-Search for the next Perk System Fragment in your original world
-Search for the root of the ? System Fragment in the ? world
…]
'I should… just do it,' Izuku swallowed nervously. 'I made a deal with The Devil. If I make the wrong choice going forward, I'll just have to live with the consequences. It's only right, given how much this opportunity means to me.'
Take me to another world, Izuku decided. Send me where you think I should go first.
[Acknowledged!]
[Now Travelling To "The First Circle of Hell"]
'God damn it…' Izuku could only shake his head in acceptance.
[Main Quest Updated!]
[Perks & Curses Updated!]
[ETA to the "First Circle of Hell:" 2:59 Minutes]
With nothing better to do but wait for what was almost certainly going to be a terrible time, Izuku decided to check what the updates to his Main Quest, Perks, and Curses were.
[Main Quest Updated!
Original World Progression: A fragment of the Perk System was been detected somewhere within the underbelly of the heroes society. Become a student at one of the universities of Heroics and ascend the ranks of Pro Heroes while keeping an eye out for any threats to society, both external and not.
Doom World Progression: Humanity's attempts at establishing a colony in the First Circle of Hell failed miserably. As the last human left on site, it is now your duty to fight your way through Hell's army and destroy the dimension-bridging device that connects the solar system to Hell and stop Hell's invasion to the other side. There is a very high chance one of the Root Fragments of the Gamer System are in or around the dimension-bridging device.
Progress: 1/28 Fragments Collected]
[Perks
Cognizant: Once you become aware of an object of interest — enemies, useful materials, allies, environmental factors — you remain aware of them no matter the circumstances. The effects of this Perk remain in effect until an object of interest is beyond 20 meters of you.]
[Curses
Hairpin Trigger Disciple: Your impulsive control is reduced tenfold. You are not influenced to act outside your normal range of behavior, the threshold to act extremely has simply been reduced to a fraction of what it once was.]
By the time he finished reading the last of his newest Curse, Izuku had just under a second to prepare himself before he vanished from the void of white. When he adjusted his senses to the location he had been transported to, he didn't know quite what to make of his surroundings.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
BrightDawn
BrightDawn Welp, I've returned from another months-long hiatus to post some random bullshit I couldn't stop thinking about. I'll be posting here and on fanficiton.net, so... Try not to roast me too hard. It's been a while since I posted anything on Webnovel and the only thing I remember is how hard it is to please you people.
This story isn't going to be some Self-Insert, Level-1-Overgod, Overpowered, Self-Gratification, Waifu-Collecting, Pollock-esque spew of word-vomit. If you're looking for any of that here, you're at the wrong place, chief.
Anyway, this has been your boy, Yet Another Fucking Disappointment, signing off.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone