original

Champion is Playing: Hero GO!

作者: LittleMe

章節 1: Prologue

How much time had passed since I appeared in this world? Not much. What did I want back then… To sit and do nothing? Well, I got what I wanted, and I was already fed up with everything.

After I had saved the entire planet, it turned out that my recent partners had acquired a bit of power over the world. My suspicions had been right all along—I was being used! Sure, they were generous enough to provide me with what they considered to be a perfect life. I got a home, money, free time... Samantha even wept on my shoulder and said that she would miss me. What was stopping them from paying me a visit? No one came to see me! I wasn't about to believe the stories that a price was put on my head and that criminals from all over the world were looking for me, or that they wanted to deal with all of that before I could officially come back. I was bored out of my goddamn mind.

"How you doin', Dan?" Stephen, a local hobo to whom, oddly enough, every clerk would give a bottle of booze or two, emerged from the nearby store. And there they were—two bottles were sticking out of his oversized coat. "Will you keep me company? You're Russian, you guys love to drink."

"Thank you, but no," I answered firmly. I didn't even live here! My house was at the countryside, in a residential district. However, there was absolutely nothing to do there; but on the outskirts weren't as boring and you could always find some company. "I am here on business today."

"I get it, you're keeping an eye on the champion," Stephen immediately realized what was going on. "I stay close to you then. Although you already know my opinion about those games… Nothing but a waste of time. Do you know where all of that is coming from?"

At first, I was almost offended by what he had said about the games, but his question piqued my interest. Stephen would sometimes talk about stuff that one couldn't find on the internet.

"You know that everyone in this day and age has an identification chip implanted in their body, which has access to our money and can heal us in case anything happens." It was something everyone knew, even me. I implanted such a thing into my own body recently. That was when I found out about the champion battles. "Twenty years ago, someone created a program that, in turn, created something like information clusters that rely on our chips and natural anomalies. Something like the Earth's magnetic field or traces of solar bursts."

"So, those clusters make a champion?" I was amazed by the genius who had not only been able to think of such a thing but make it happen as well.

"Exactly, and we're sitting next to one of those anomalies right now, waiting for new developments," Stephen sipped half a bottle of beer at once and looked at me doubtingly as if I would change my mind and have some beer after all.

"Oh, damn you, give me that. I feel that I'll be sitting here for a while." He handed me the other bottle. I wondered how it remained cool and fresh considering that it he kept in his coat's pocket and that it was hot outside. "This is good."

Waiting immediately became more pleasant; and it wasn't because of the beer, but because of the good company. Stephen may be a strange fellow, but chatting with him was always interesting.

"By the way, who are you trying to catch?" Having emptied his bottle, he turned toward the shop with a look of doubt on his face, wondering should he go in to grab another one or remain where he was for a while longer.

"I don't really care," I admitted. "I just want to get a rare one and train them."

That wasn't a problem for me, especially with my experience and brains. This time I planned to follow the plan to the T. No more impulsive decisions, only precise combinations and strategies. I was able to stay on top before, but this time, I was sure that everyone would be awe-struck with what I had prepared for them. Here, in the future, everything was too comfortable. For a real gamer to be born, they would have to be brought up and trained in an atmosphere full of stress and pressure, and they would have to have the ability to work in such conditions and to win no matter what. Take, for example, the first time I went to that computer club...

Suddenly, the world around me seemed to have stopped, and the veil of nostalgia that washed over me vanished without a trace.

"Dan, I've been looking for you." Just a second ago there was no one in front of me, but now one of the Fates that I had met in the last tournament was standing there. What does she want?

"I have a delivery for you… A reward for your victory." She could read my thoughts!. Don't think about her chubby cheeks… Goddamn it! Ok, don't look into her eyes and don't irritate her further. She didn't seem to seek to take vengeance on me and continued talking, "Your decision to refuse to have your wish come true has turned out to be contrary to the equilibrium, so I will have to adjust things on my own."

Ability received: ''Curse of the Genie''

A random wish will come true once a day.

The wishes can only be material and are limited by the laws of physics.

"Why is my reward something called a Curse?" I couldn't resist asking. Even without reading the description, it was obvious that there was a trick to it.

"No special reason, it simply happened to be like that." It was obvious that this Fate wasn't in a hurry to leave and that she was enjoying my confusion. She was definitely offended by that chubby cheeks thing.

"What are the conditions?"

"That means that there will be no magic." That wasn't much of an explanation, but she was kind enough to provide an example. "Let's suppose that you wish to find a ton of gold, right there, in the ground under your feet. Physically, such an amount of precious metal takes up too much space, and there's no way it could appear there. Therefore, the maximum that you could get after wishing for something like that would be a single bill under a bench."

"And what if I wish that the equivalent of that ton appears on my bank account?" I believed I understood the logic.

"That could happen," the Fate smiled, immediately making me think that I was missing something. "But I haven't finished speaking. Any force must be balanced, so I will add a force-counterbalance to your gift."

Ability received: ''Genie's Counter Curse''

Within ten minutes after the ''Genie's Curse'' has been activated, your opponent's random wish will come true. In the absence of one, the Counter Curse won't be activated.

The wishes can only be material and are limited by the laws of physics.

Why did I have a feeling that this was all just another dirty trick? The Fate disappeared, having decided she had answered enough of my questions. Maybe she became self-conscious about her cheeks, who knew.

"It looks like we have guests," I didn't notice when the world around me came back to life. Stephen's voice announced the appearance of Scooter's gang. That guy was a serious local authority, and fortunately, he and I coexisted in peace and understanding. I would give him money from time to time, and he would make sure that neither his people nor any other gangs touched me.

"Dan, I see you've become a frequent visitor here," Scooter said, throwing a piece of iron to one of his guys, who deftly caught it. "You know, I should probably take more money from you then. You wouldn't mind, would you?"

He had such kind eyes; there was no way anyone would assume that just yesterday an unlucky businessman had been found with broken legs in his hood. To be honest, I had a lot of money and had no problem spending it. But, on the other hand, it was a bit offensive that he considered me an ordinary milk cow. I surely didn't know how to fight, and my bare fists wouldn't do much against such a crowd. If I was supposed to defend a girl, I would go all in but in this situation... I could, of course, complain to my friends, but then both Scooter and the whole city would be turned into dust. I couldn't live here in peace anymore if that were to happen. I would have to move again which would get in the way of my plans to get myself a champion and win the world tournament. The qualification round was just around the corner, and I haven't started training yet.

"I thought you would take the hint…" Scooter pretended to frown in discontent and stretched out his hand, demanding his crowbar back. "Or do I need more convincing?"

Oh, I wished they'd shove that crowbar where sun don't shine.

"Why don't you go to hell?" I wasn't a fan of giving up, even when it came to games. Jumping to my feet I was ready to sprint away when the situation changed suddenly and dramatically.

"Charlie, what are you doing?" I let the bandits out of my sight literally for a second, but at the next moment Scooter was on his knees with eyes wide open, and the crowbar, as I had imagined it just a couple of seconds ago, was sticking out of a… rather uncomfortable place.

"I don't know how it happened!" A huge, muscular guy with a child-like face was standing with his hands in the air as if he couldn't realize what he had just done.

"Ha ha ha!" Stephen's hoarse laughter broke the silence. "Well, you sure do amaze me, Dan! When did you find out about Scooter's plans and managed to bribe this kid? Did you hypnotize him?"

He continued laughing, and the gangsters, who became even more confused in the meantime, picked up their whining boss and rushed in the direction of the nearest clinic. The Fate did say that she would make a random wish come true. A random one! A mere, poorly phrased thought could become a reality. Am I supposed to just live with that? Will I have to keep track of all of my thoughts now? This was a trap! Wait, what about the Counter? Scooter had been my opponent in this situation; would his wish come true now? Having looked around, I calmed down once I made sure that no one was approaching me from behind.

"Curse you!" The gypsy from the fortunetelling parlor on the corner, who had come out to have a smoke, suddenly cursed me, and then, with eyes wide with surprise, she went back inside.

"What was that?" Stephen, who still hadn't resolved his dilemma about having one more beer, glanced in the direction of the parlor.

"She's crazy," I shrugged, silently exhaling with relief at the same time.

The description clearly stated: no magic. Scooter's wish seemed to have been wasted. At least I thought that was it. What else could have he wished for except a curse? It was good that he wished for a curse in general, instead of imagining something more precise.

Another odd thing had started to occur recently. I was able to notice minor details. Not just notice them; I also understood why and how they had occurred. I believed that all of this was the result of my communication with the aristocrats. It was to be expected after all, considering that I was constantly to one of the most intelligent people in the world. It was natural that such a company had effect on me.

"Master!" A thin, but a husky voice, came from behind me, making me almost jump in surprise.

Turning around sharply, I saw a small, yellow goblin standing next to me.

"There's your champion." Stephen narrowed his eyes, looking at the strange creature. "And, apparently, he doesn't have any problems with becoming a part of your team at all. By the way, he's rare, just like you wanted."

I immediately squinted and opened the description window.

Goblin Mage

Rare champion

Level 1

Well, it wasn't exactly what I had in mind, and that dirty yellow skin didn't look too well, but it would do. I wasn't just any random person… I could win with such a minion. Although... I had a question.

"Why did you call me master?"

"The master's been cruel and vile, the goblin immediately started respecting him." Seems he arrived just in time to see the incident with Scooter. The goblin, just like Stephen, saw Scooter's disgrace as a good thing. Well, the more he respected me, the harder he would train, so that was a plus.

"Good… Welcome to the team." Having pressed the necessary buttons on my bracelet, I officially registered my first champion. The only thing left to do was come up with a name for him. But first, a motivational speech. "Right now, you are weak, but I will make you stronger, I will make a true warrior out of you! Together we'll be the best and we'll win the World Cup!"

"A warrior?" For some reason, he seemed to pay attention to trivial things. Why was he trembling? "But I am a mage! I even have a staff."

The shaking goblin waved a wooden branch. He looked pathetic. The greatness of mages could never be compared to that of true warriors. I would make a decent fighter out of him. The fact that he had a preference for spells wasn't a big deal, we could fix that. As they say, everyone has their flaws.

Why was he looking at me with such horror? Did I say all of that out loud?