AN: So here we have a whole new fic idea. My FF account has gotten a tad lifeless, what with me focusing on…different, fics. So, while I try and kludge together a new Waking Dreamer or other chapter, have a fic for Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari.

"Speech"
Text/System
Thoughts
Mental communication
Accursed/Divine
Attack/Spell/Skill

Chapter 1: The Most Dangerous Game of All

"Oho, he's waking up! Welcome back, Nicky~"

Nick Ward groaned, sitting up in his chair, only to hunch over and grab his head. "Every time…izzat you, Risk?"

"Eeeeyep~"

"Fan-fucking-tastic. Did I die again?" he sighed, not even opening his eyes as he rubbed at his stubbled jaw.

"Yepyep! You did well this time. In fact, you passed with flying colors."

He opened his eyes to see a woman bending over him. Her platinum hair bounced around her in almost tangled curls as she grinned manically in his face. Her eyes shone brightly with excitement, but also an endless swirl of colors that made him distinctly uncomfortable, no matter how many times he saw them. She wore a dark, frilly dress, a section cut out along her stomach and bust, and a slit exposing one of her long legs. Her strange, almost artificially glossy skin shifted tone and color every so often, whenever his attention strayed. Her small hands, gloved in black velvet, grabbed at his, pulling him to his feet before he could resist.

The two of them stood upon a brightly lit stage, with a large screen on the back wall that was currently blank. In fact, every time he'd found himself on that stage, Nick had never seen the screen turned on. He had very little doubt as to what it would show, however. No matter how much he squinted, he could never see the audience beyond the glare of the foot-lights, but he could hear them, moving about and murmuring to themselves.

"Flying colors, huh?" he echoed, finally answering her, "Does that mean you'll let me quit now?"

He knew her reply before she gave it, frowning with mock-sternness. "Nope. Sorry Nick, but Lady Glory said that the need for Adventure can only-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he sighed, waving her off, "I don't even mind the adventures anymore. I'm talking about getting dragged up in front of the crowd. My last life had total stage fright, ya know?"

There came a laugh from the audience, causing a phantom shudder to run down his spine.

"Where is Her Gloriousness, anyway? I would've thought she'd be around like all the other times."

The goddess of fortune gave a slightly unhinged giggle, smiling impishly. "She's just sulking because I finally won our contest."

Nick frowned. A contest between goddesses? Goddesses who constantly played with his soul like a marionette to put on shows for countless other deities? A sense of dread filled his stomach. "…What contest?"

Risk smiled. Somewhat reassuringly, it was more genuine. "Oh, before we send you off on to your next world, Glory and I have a little game to see which of us gets to give you your initial blessings." She pouted, skin turning creamy. "She kept winning, though. Stupid heroic plot armor…"

"And this time…?" he asked slowly, carefully.

She beamed at him. Winking and twirling to face the audience, she pulled a microphone out of nowhere and called into it. "DEITIES AND DEMIGODS! Before the next round of our lovely show, we're going to changing things up a little. For those of you who just joined our production, Nick Ward," she indicated him, making him cringe, "Is our latest mortal soul to take on our grueling gauntlet of glorious adventures. His deeds, both good and bad, earn him Karma that keeps him going from life to life, until finally he earns the right to stand among us!"

A smattering of applause and cheers issued from the shadowed crowd.

"Now, ordinarily my fellow host, Glory, would be the one to grant young Nick a powerful boon to take into his next life, but only one-time!" Then she grinned, and Nick's blood ran cold as her teeth seemed to sharpen. "But when you run a show as long as this, the status quo cannot go unchallenged! O Esoterica and Elementals, I am the goddess of Fortune! Call me Risk! Call me Chance! Call me Catastrophe and Opportunity! And I'd like to give Nicky-boy here the chance to show us some good ol' fun!"

As Nick watched, wondering how jaded he was with her antics that he wasn't running screaming, a spotlight suddenly shone on a small cart, which he was certain hadn't been there before. It was laden with scrolls of various size, all sealed with ribbons or wax.

"A lot of you ladies and gentle-gods might be familiar with these already," admitted Risk nodding in a random direction, "And I have been longing for the chance to use them on our very own show. That's right, dear audience! The Gauntlet of Lives shall now be partnering with the god-maker itself, the CYOA~!"

There came a thunderous cacophony of applause, delighted laughter, and more than a few shouts of dismay.

"That's right, everyone! I'm giving Nick Ward the chance to choose what sorts of powers he'll have this time around. And better yet, these choices will be persistent from here on out!"

Suddenly Nick was a lot more interested in this grandstanding. If there was one thing that Glory and Chance did well, it was giving him power. As much as he disliked having to act as an interdimensional gladiator at the whims of the gods, he had to admit: he liked power. Of course, some lifetimes had proved better than others, but every time, he had been forced to give up his previous boons, only keeping the sweet, sweet memories of life and love that had been given to him.

Risk was still talking. "And of course, thanks to the last round, he has earned quite a bit of Karma to take a number of CYOAs in a row!"

Even as there came a number of indistinct murmurs, she switched off the microphone and walked towards the cart, beckoning for him to follow.

"Awfully generous of you," he muttered to her, even as he took up a position next to it, "Lemme guess, I gotta pick some of these scrolls without knowing what's inside?"

She grinned, wiggling her eyebrows at him. "That's right. With your current Karma, I'll let you take four scrolls."

He nodded, choosing not to question whether the sizes made any difference; half a dozen lives had taught him that Risk was a mercurial mistress. Thus, to appease her, he grabbed four smaller scrolls at random, figuring that even if they weren't all that helpful, it would give him an idea of how these 'CYOAs' worked.

At an eager nod from the goddess, he cracked the seal on one and unrolled the scroll. Inside were the words Adventurer Meta CYOA

"Oooh, that's a good one!" said Risk, keeping her back to the audience as she peered over his shoulder, "Technically it's unfinished, though, but in your case, Fortune smiles on you! Everything in there is free; just choose which Class to start with."

Nick's jaw dropped as he read through the options listed. I'm getting all of these?! And they'll stick around?! And there's four more scrolls like these?! Shaking his head so as to remind himself not to get cocky, he squinted at the bottom, where it listed three vague 'Classes' for him to specialize in. A note above the section mentioned that it would not be impossible to dip into the other classes later on, so he decided to go with Mage. In many lives, magic was always a powerful tool to have in one's arsenal.

As he did so, that option glowed with blue fire, though he was far too used to supernatural happenings to be surprised by it. Rolling up the scroll and handing it to Risk, he opened the next one.

Isekai Genie CYOA

This one, it seemed, was a little more balanced. Instead of getting anything for free, he would have to choose four of the options on offer.

"Normally it's three, but I'm lettin' you use four."

"Ah. Well, thank-"

"In exchange, I'll be in charge of designing your body this time."

Oh fuck no.

He had to keep himself from cursing her out, instead just giving her a 'swallowed lemon' look, to which she giggled back.

Growling, he made his choices, four squares igniting with blue flames. Aurora Fantasia, Mantle of Chiron, Cornucopic Body and Key to the Genie's Marketplace.

His reasons were quite simple: making magic items more powerful (along with making his own) would always give him another ace up his sleeve, finding and training people with potential would only make his inevitable job easier, training without diminishing returns was a no-brainer, and a market full of any items or services he could imagine was absolutely ridiculous.

The next CYOA made him raise his eyebrows. Planar Travel Agency? He glanced questioningly at her. She shrugged back. He frowned, but made his choices. It might be nice to have some convenient options in case he ever got the opportunity to world-jump on his own. No more dropping in and having to struggle without the locals' common sense, or having to worry about a language barrier.

The final CYOA piqued his interest. Socket: Magic Gem. This felt like the sort of thing that Glory might give him during one of his past lives. Smiling, he made his starting choices, feeling a bit more carefree this time; after all, like the Adventurer Meta, he would be free to unlock the other choices later on with time.

Once he was done, he nodded to Risk. She grinned and, dropping the scrolls on the ground, clapped her hands, whereupon they all burst into flames. "And there we have it!" she called out to the audience, her microphone miraculously back in her hand, "Sorry to keep you waiting, folks, but the next round will be starting momentarily!"

Nick grimaced as she held up a coin. He knew what was coming next. With an audible *PING!* she flipped it into the air, letting it flash and spin. Before it could land, however, the flames suddenly surged forward and engulfed him.

TBH

Even as he flinched, raising his arms to shield himself, he felt a sickening lurch in his stomach, making his knees buckle. Being used to this sensation (after all, half of his lives had involved teleportation like this), fortunately, he managed to keep himself standing. At some point, the glare of the fire changed, becoming a different light altogether. He noted that he was still wearing his old jacket and faded pants, but now he noticed a distinct weight settling across his back, a sensation he'd experienced and grown used to in at least three lives as a ranger. A bow?

As the light died down, he heard a set of groans around him. Looking down, he saw three young men lying on the ground, dressed in similarly modern clothes. Not only that, but all of them seemed to be standing inside a large, blue, intricately carved circle, on a marble floor.

Interestingly, each of the young men was carrying a different weapon; a sword, a shield and a spear, each prominently featuring a blue, green and red jewel respectively. In fact, as Nick reached back, he felt himself grasping and pulling out a gold and white bow, bearing a similar yellow gem in the center. The weight across his lower back must be a quiver of arrows

"It worked! The four heroes have been summoned!" exclaimed a man. Nick's eyes snapped around to fix on him. He was wearing a set of long, flowing robes, and carrying some sort of metal trinket in one hand. "Please, Heroes of the Four Legendary weapons, lend us your aid!"

"Heroes…?" muttered the dark-haired young man with the shield, standing up, "Legendary weapons? Eh? Wait, what's with this shield?" He grabbed at the small, five-sided buckler on his arm and tugged. "Eh? What the hell, it won't come off!"

The other two men, hearing this, also attempted to cast away their weapons, only for them to flail about somewhat foolishly as they failed. Nick himself gave his new bow a sidelong look, before holding it out with one hand and letting go. It remained stubbornly stuck to his downward-facing palm. "Well, that's mildly inconvenient." Then he frowned at the robed man. "Are you saying that all four of us are heroes?"

Risk and Glory had always sent him on his own to his other lives. Sure, he'd always gathered companions, but they'd always been local denizens of their respective worlds.

"Where are we?!" demanded the sword-wielding man, another dark-haired one, though his was cut longer, and his face was younger, "Who are you, acting so suspicious?!"

Nick's face sagged. Oh no. These guys don't realize what's happened.

The robed man raised his hands placatingly. "A-ah, please! I'll take you to the King to explain…"

"A King?" muttered the shield-wearer.

"This really looks like a fantasy-kinda place, but they even have a King?" the spear-wielder wondered aloud.

Oh gods, please let this be a relatively light world that won't crush these innocent newbies…

Moments later, they were led to a large room, lined with tall sun-lit windows and a long red carpet. Guards stood by the walls, as well as the two thrones at the end. Only one throne was occupied, by a gray-haired man who was definitely on the older side of middle-aged, dressed in lavish purple robes, with a relatively simple crown on his head.

His expression first appeared weary, but he gave them a wide smile, spreading his hands. "At last! I apologize for summoning you four so soon, but allow me to introduce myself. I am Aultcrey Melromarc XXXII, King of Melromarc. We need you, the heroes chosen by the four Legendary weapons, in order to combat the Dimensional Dungeon Waves that have begun terrorizing our country…"

"Ah, it's just talking."

"Even if it's the king, he's just talking."

Looking across the lineup he'd found himself a part of, Nick gaped at the sword and spear-holders who had spoken. Do these guys not notice that we're in the middle of a heavily guarded room?!

"May I know your names, brave Heroes?" asked the King, seemingly having not noticed the blatant rudeness.

"Amaki Ren," said the sword-wielding man with long, dark hair, nodding simply, though his expression remained guarded.

"Kitamura Motoyasu!" proclaimed the blond man with the spear, grinning back, "Nice to meet you, your majesty!"

Huh. Both of them sound Japanese. "Nick Ward," Nick introduced himself, bowing low. He could feel the other heroes looking at him in surprise. What, did they not notice that I'm not Japanese as well?

"It is an honor to meet you, Sir Ren, Sir Motoyasu, Sir Nick," said the King, "With the heroes on our side, the Waves can be-"

"Ah, wait a second!" the Shield hero protested, making Ren and Motoyasu jump in surprise, "D-don't you want to know my name?"

Nick grimaced with chagrin, giving the man an apologetic look for forgetting him, but a motion from the king caught his eye. For a moment, he thought he saw a frown of distaste cross the older man's face, but it passed so quickly that he could've assumed that it was a trick of the light.

Sadly, Nick was too experienced not to notice his cold tone. "And what is your name, Hero of the Shield?"

The man shifted uncomfortably, seemingly noticing something similar. "Iwatani…Naofumi."

The king nodded. "Well met to you as well, Sir Naofumi."

Suddenly, there came a twinge somewhere in the back of Nick's mind. He jerked, looking around, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Unbidden, his hand drifted to his pocket, pausing when he felt the edge of a tiny book inside. However, he decided not to check it for now. Instead, he addressed the King, clearing his throat. "If you'll pardon my saying so, your majesty, while a primer on the situation is all well and good, I'm afraid we still need more information how we're supposed to accomplish this task. You call us heroes chosen by the Legendary Weapons…" He held out his bow for emphasis, "But we have no understanding of how these Legendary Weapons operate, or how they might elevate us above a typical warrior. An explanation would be greatly appreciated."

"Oh, good, someone said something," sighed Naofumi beside him.

Motoyasu on the other hand stifled a laugh. "Pfft, you're really into this whole fantasy roleplay, aren'tcha, old man?"

"Old man?!" Nick sputtered indignantly. Risk, what did you do?!

Clearing his throat awkwardly, the king began, "Yes, of course…to start with, have you not accessed your Status magic?"

The four Heroes all shared a look. "…What is Status Magic?" asked Ren.

"Hrm…if you'll look into the corner of your eye, you will see the icon. That will allow you to tap into the world's 'system.' The Heroes of the past often referred to it as such, at least."

Nick frowned, even as he glanced upward. Indeed, a transparent yellow diamond flashed at the edge of his vision, before a large screen opened up before him. "Ah, I see it now. Interesting; so this world operates on a system as well," he commented, stroking his chin. As he did so, he realized for the first time that he had a good deal more stubble going on than he had before.

The screen before him filled his whole vision, though thankfully it was only partially transparent. Of course, Nick had experienced many a world that used game-like systems, so he was more than familiar with the concept.

Name: Nick Ward
Race: Human (Reincarnated)

Level 1
Class: Legendary Bow Hero
Subclass: Magician

Equipment
Weapon: Legendary Bow (LOCKED)
Armor: Wrinkly Clothes (+5 DEF)

Stats
HP: 35
MP: 240
SP: 25

ATK: 15
DEF: 1 (+5)
HIT: 40
SPD: 30
RES: 5
INT: 30

His eyebrows damn near shot off his head. What's with this nonsensical balance of stats?! he wondered, staring in bewilderment.

"Only a Level 1?" asked Ren with some distaste, "What a pain in the ass."

"Yeah, you can't really expect us to fight like this, can you?" agreed Motoyasu.

"The Legendary Weapons all allow their Heroes to grow significantly from combat," the king was explaining. Nick quickly dismissed the status screen with an instinctive swipe of his middle and index finger, "And it is extremely well-documented that the weapons themselves are capable of rapid evolution."

The others all looked at their own weapons, and Nick could see a glint of interest in their eyes. He himself thought back to the choices he'd made in the CYOA, in particular the Sockets and Aurora Fantasia from Isekai Genie. He frowned. Even if I don't have those things, this bow can already grow stronger… He spared the other three a look. But they still don't have the choices I made.

Nodding to himself, he spoke up. "Although we don't know each other, I presume it would be in the world's best interest for the four of us to journey together in order to gain strength, would it not?"

Nick looked to the other three Heroes for support, but to his dismay, only Naofumi was nodding hesitantly, while Ren looked particularly aggrieved, and Motoyasu wore a glum expression.

"Unfortunately…" the king's ill-boding reply came delicately, "That will not be possible. The Legendary weapons interfere with each other, preventing the Heroes from growing stronger when they are near each other."

"So we can't even fight together…?" asked Naofumi, looking dismayed.

The older man cleared his throat. "Of course not. We will hire any available adventurers to party up with you, not to mention you'll be given a stipend by me personally. You won't be expected to work for nothing, of course."

"Your generosity is appreciated," said Nick, bowing, "In the meantime, might we have a moment to ourselves? Although we won't be journeying together, we four Heroes should at least get a feel for each other's personalities." He glanced at the other three. "At least, if they are willing."

They all nodded slowly, but Motoyasu and Ren were eyeing him with a hint of aggravation. Probably don't like being spoken for, he thought, shrugging internally.

TBH

At the king's instruction, a guard led the four of them to a large room, containing a round table and four rather comfortable-looking beds. "Someone will come to get you once the adventurers have been assembled," the man told them, before bowing his head and retreating, closing the door.

For a moment, there was silence. Then Nick sighed, sinking into a chair. "Alright then, let's get down to it."

"You're…a pretty take-charge guy, aren't you?" asked Naofumi, sitting down opposite him. The other two sat down as well, with some reluctance.

The man smiled ruefully, shrugging slightly. "Ah, sorry, I find that it pays to be up-front and confident when faced with a scenario you're unsure of. Having manners helps too." He frowned at Ren and Motoyasu. "I mean honestly, complaining about talking in front of the king?"

The blond Spear Hero bristled, and Ren grimaced. "What's your point?"

Nick just waved his hand. "Nevermind that for now. We've got more important things to discuss."

"I agree," murmured the Sword Hero, "For starters, how we ended up here."

"That would be a good place to begin," conceded Nick, nodding, "In addition, we ought to introduce ourselves; obviously I don't know any of you, and judging by how you're acting, none of you are familiar with each other."

Nodding, the Shield Hero made to start, but Motoyasu spoke up, giving a suave smile. "Well, as for me, I guess I should start off by saying that I had a lot of girlfriends before."

"I find that unsurprising," said Ren, shrugging. Naofumi and Nick both nodded; the blond definitely did have the air of a flirty womanizer about him.

Of course, given that Nick had had many a lover throughout his lives, he was in no position to throw stones, so he said nothing. "Did anything unusual happen before you were summoned?"

His smile faded and he paled. "I, well…two of them found out and became jealous…"

"A Yandere, huh?" deadpanned Naofumi.

"You didn't tell them the truth?" asked Nick, brow furrowing, "That's just asking for trouble, you know?"

"Th-that's none of your business!" sputtered Motoyasu, glaring, "A-anyway, next thing I knew, I was here." He sat back in his chair, crossing his arms.

Nick only nodded, turning expectantly to Ren next.

The dark-haired young man sighed, rubbing absently at his side. "I was walking home from school, and happened across an assault in an alleyway. The victim was a friend of mine, so of course I jumped in and tried to pull the guy off, but…" His fingers tightened over his shirt, Nick's eyes picking up a small amount of shaking in his fingers. "…That's all I have to say."

"I see. Thank you," said the veteran simply.

"What about you, old man?" asked Motoyasu bluntly.

Nick squinted at him. "I can't be that much older than you. What are you, twenty? I'm usually only around thirty myself."

"Wait, what do you-?"

"But first, how did you find yourself drawn into this debacle, Naofumi," he continued, turning his attention to the Shield Hero.

Naofumi bit his lip. "Well…you two said that you died just before you came here, right?" he asked.

Both Ren and Motoyasu nodded.

"That's not what happened to me, though."

"Oh? I would have thought that a summoning like this would pull from common factors like the deceased…but what did happen?"

Shrugging, Naofumi glanced at the shield on his arm as he explained, "I was just hanging out at the library and found this weird book. Actually, it seemed to be talking about these same four Legendary weapons that we all seem to have found ourselves with. But when I got to some blank pages, I kinda…got sucked through."

Nick leaned forward on his hands, thinking. On either side of him, the Sword and Spear heroes gave Naofumi and each other skeptical looks. "Interesting. A book about the weapons that we've bonded to? Curious…" After a moment, he gave the other heroes a strained smile. "Ah, so I guess it's my turn now."

Ren nodded. "Start with the fact that you said that you're 'usually' thirty years old."

"Hm…"

"Oi oi, you're not gonna keep quiet after making us tell our stories!" protested Motoyasu.

Nick rolled his eyes, "Oh, don't worry, I'll give an explanation. I'm just wondering how much of the whole story you'll readily believe. But first, let me see if any of your stories have something that lines up with mine; before you each found yourself transported here, did any of you run into a flashy woman with a black dress and disturbing eyes?"

The other three Heroes all blinked at the bizarre question. "A flashy woman…?" asked Motoyasu.

Simultaneously, Ren inquired, "Disturbing eyes?"

"I definitely didn't meet anyone like that," Naofumi declared with certainty, "I doubt a woman like that would even glance my way."

The other two Heroes nodded, indicating that they too had not encountered Risk.

"I see…" sighed Nick, leaning back in his chair, "If you had seen her, it might be a little easier for you to believe my whole story. In any case, I will tell you that this situation is one that is wholly familiar to me: I have been reborn and summoned into alternate worlds like this many times."

Whatever the three young men had been expecting to hear, it clearly wasn't that. "What?!" demanded Ren, pushing back his chair and standing up.

"How the hell is that possible?" asked Motoyasu.

He shook his head. "I stopped wondering about that a long time ago. However, the fact remains that I have a great deal of experience with this sort of thing." He gave them a small smile. "I'm not gonna ask you to follow my lead or anything, but if you ever feel like you need advice, I'd be happy to provide."

As expected, his humble words caused the two more hotheaded heroes to settle down somewhat, looking mollified. Naofumi smiled cautiously.

"…He's kinda like a tutorial NPC, isn't he?" the Spear Hero suddenly spoke up.

Nick blinked, but before he could ask what the hell he was talking about, Ren concurred. "Yeah, with a line like that. Actually, I've been thinking this for a while, but this whole place is a lot like a game."

"Eh?" uttered Naofumi, looking just as bewildered as Nick felt.

"Not just a lot, but it is!" exclaimed Motoyasu animatedly, "This whole system is exactly like Emerald Online!"

This time, it was his turn to be stared at cluelessly.

"I've never heard of that game," said Ren flatly, "But I was thinking more that it looks like the system from Bravestar Online."

"Huh?! H-how can you not have heard about EO? It's pretty much the biggest VRMMO in the world!" protested the blond.

Naofumi grimaced. "Yeah, sorry, I'm not much of a gamer, so I've never heard of it either."

"It's been gods-know how long since I've been back home, and there was never really one game that I stuck with," said Nick, shrugging, "But either way-"

"Why'd I get stuck with a Spear, though? I mean, sure, Emerald Online's Spearman class is pretty good for PVE, but it just ain't my style!"

He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in deeply at being interrupted.

"I can sympathize, but in my case I suppose I lucked out in acquiring this Sword," said Ren, a small, smug smile tugging at his lips. "So I suppose it could be worse."

"Yeah, you could've gotten the shield," chuckled Motoyasu, before sparing a glance at Naofumi and halfheartedly saying, "No offense, man."

Naofumi, as expected, did take some offense. "H-hey, what's wrong with a shield?"

The Spear Hero only shook his head sadly, spreading his hands regretfully. "The Shieldbearer class in Emerald Online IS supposed to work as a tank, but because of PVP, it was pretty badly balanced and can't fight worth crap, so nobody uses it."

"What the hell…? I mean, it's true that my attack stat is pretty low, but-"

"Ya see? I mean, what's the point in you fighting the Waves if you can't even do any damage?"

Nick's eyes flashed, his jaw tightening with displeasure. "Hey. Motoyasu."

The Spear Hero jerked slightly at his sharp tone of voice. "Ah, uh…what's up?"

"What are your defensive stats?"

Motoyasu blinked. "Ah, er… ten and fifteen?"

"Well. My defense is one, and my resistance is five!"

Naofumi's eyes widened. "That sounds…my Attack stat is five as well, but my physical and magic defenses are both 45."

"As expected," said Nick coldly, giving Motoyasu a severe glare. "What use is there for someone who can't do damage? How about making sure that we, with our lower defenses, don't get wiped out by the Waves?"

Ren grimaced. "When you put it that way, then I suppose we were too hasty in judging the Shield…"

"J-jeez, old man, no need to be so intense!" sputtered the Spear Hero defensively.

"I'll be as intense as I need to be to make sure you three newbies make it through all this alive," Nick retorted, standing up, "You compared this world's system with games? Make no mistake, boys: there are many worlds like that out there. I've been to many of them. But let me tell you something, no matter what style or form the system takes, these worlds will always make you play the most dangerous game of all."

Motoyasu shrank down in his seat under Nick's heated look. Naofumi, on the other hand, gazed up at him with more than a little respect. "What game is that, Nick-san?"

The older man smiled bitterly, thinking of the gods up above, playing their own games with him.

"Real life."

TBH

AN: And there you have it, my contribution to the Tate no Yuusha fandom, such as it is. This is NOT a self-insert, so Nick won't be relying on any meta-knowledge for this Isekai.

In addition, when any AU or crossover elements rear their heads in this fic (because that's happening), don't you start complaining. If anyone wants to give criticism, then you'd better be polite about it.

And yes, Nick DOES have an absurd advantage over the other heroes in terms of starting power thanks to his CYOAs. Wanna know how much stronger? Here ya go!

Isekai Genie CYOA
Aurora Fantasia: Doubles the power of any magical item/weapon. Over time, the increase grows up to a 100x multiplier. Gives the ability to sense magical items. Eventually gives the ability to create and enchant your own.
Mantle of Chiron: Allows the user to sense the potential present in other people, as well as draw people destined for greatness to you. In addition, when teaching a person, you can quadruple the speed and results of their training, eventually increasing their max potential.
Cornucopic Body: The limits of physical training no longer apply. No matter how much the user trains, they never suffer from diminishing returns, only growing stronger, faster, tougher, etc. Does not apply to mental or spiritual abilities.
Key to the Genie's Marketplace: When inserted into any lock, the key will create a portal to an otherworldly marketplace, where anything can be bought or bartered for. Time moves at 1/60th of the normal world, and you don't age, but you can only exit through where you came in.

Adventurer's Meta CYOA
Body Makeover - You get a free makeover for your physical appearance, be it size, ethnicity, or even gender. No, you may not change your species - only human. In addition, any genetic defects and existing physical/mental health conditions will be fixed. This will only happen once, so don't waste it on becoming a little girl or something, okay?
Enhanced Condition - All of your parameters gain a boost, whether physical, mental, or even spiritual, upgrading them to twice as potent as those of a peak human in Marvel/DC Comics. Also includes the obligatory pool of magic you can use to cast spells you learn (free spells not included - make up your own).
Boosted Health - You're immune to all forms of mundane poison, venom, diseases, as well as the effects of aging, and highly resistant to supernatural ones. In addition, you gain a superhuman healing factor, healing shattered bones in an hour and regenerating severed limbs within a day. Just remember that while you are biologically immortal, taking too much damage can still end your life.
Inventory - You gain access to an inventory that can store any number of items, which can be accessed via any form of items that can be used to store and carry things. It is not linked to any one particular receptacle, any you open can be used. Any item that you can pick up can be stored, and all items stored are in stasis and have no weight while within the inventory. Gasses, liquids and plasma must be bottled or otherwise contained before they can be stored, although the container does not need to be sealed, a cup of tea would be fine. Sapient or mobile beings cannot be stored. Whenever you open your inventory, you will automatically be able to know what is contained within it, and can remove any desired item without having to search.
Journal - You gain access to an automatically updating, indestructible, unlosable journal that keeps track of information for you. Jobs, rumours, bestiary, maps, places, item values, number of sweet rolls you've stolen and far more are all recorded as you encounter them. Ordinarily only you can read anything within the journal, for anyone else it will appear blank. However, you can choose to show an individual specific entries if you wish, though they will still remain unable to read it by themselves. You will automatically know if any major new additions are made to the journal and can, when opening it, turn straight to the page with the information that you desire to read.
Fast Travel - You can instantly teleport to any exterior door, gate, or threshold you have touched before, or to inside the entryway of any buildings that you own. This can only be done while you are still, and not in immediate danger of attack or any combat. You may take companions and willing allies with you if you choose, but they must also be out of danger like you.
Mental Map - Your sense of direction and your memory of the land is uncanny. You remember what the land around looks like, even if you barely glanced at it, and can visualize it like it was a map. If you're within 500 meters of a spot you've been previously, you know exactly where you are. If you got teleported, you don't immediately know where you are relative to your old location, unless your new and old locations are connected by area that you've "mapped".
Experience - You can slowly and steadily improve yourself by going out and do things, whether it is killing monsters in a dark dungeon somewhere, or working a Nine-to-Five job in some city. Whenever you level up (how it manifests is up to you), you gain "points" that you can then spend to invest in any attributes and abilities you pick. Yes, even if it has nothing to do with the route you chose to level up, so you can be a boring office worker who just happens to be a terrific swordsman or something.
Quests and Loot - At times, you may receive requests from others, be it random strangers on the street or someone you are familiar with. Accepting these requests, whether they're doing some grocery for your mother or retrieving five bear asses from the local mountain range, will grant you additional "experience points" as detailed above, as well as some reward, whether monetary or something more exotic (but mostly monetary). The more specific and difficult a quest is, the better the reward. In addition, anything you kill from now on (be it people or beasts) will have a chance to drop something upon death, such as money or something thematic to their nature. Like before, the more powerful or rarer your kill is, the higher the chance for them to drop some sweet loot upon death.
Chosen Class: Mage

Socket CYOA Spirit: Bronze (4 starting stones, 2 threads, get 3 of each stone a day, gain new stones and threads in half the time)
Stones:
Forgestone (Free) (Tempers, enhances and repairs. Each stone can be used to give a one-time permanent boost to an object)
Arcanite (Grants magical power, along with Wisdom and supernatural guidance towards one's goal.)
Dreamer's Guard (Induces sleep, creativity and mental protection. Can also create a mindscape.)
Evanescent (Gives speed, clarity and immaterial quality. Can also create clouds of sense-obscuring fog.)
Verdant Seed (Gives Healing, stamina and sustenance. Can also create temporary magical flora.)
Threads:
Dispersion (Free) (Resets all thread effects and ejects all socketed stones from an object.)
Leap (Allows stones to link to each other even if they're socketed into separate objects.)
Fray (Allows you to filter a stone's abilities, so that only certain aspects (which are then strengthened) get passed on.)

Planar Travel Agency
Language: The ability to speak and understand any language, including reading and writing.
Currency: Any currency that you get from another world can be transformed into the local equivalent of your current world
Wardrobe: Any clothing you possess will be converted into an equivalent considered normal by local inhabitants, depending on the quality of the clothing itself.
Lore: When entering a new area, you will learn any common knowledge that the local inhabitants would know. If the area is uninhabited, you learn about weather and climate, along with any features that may prove useful to you.

And there you have it. I don't wanna hear about how this is too Overpowered, because that's the whole point. Like with Waking Dreamer, I want to have some fun with the Legendary Bow, and decided to add some stuff to make it more fun to come up with stuff.

As for the game system, for those who don't recognize it, Nick's stats and equipment work off the Disgaea system. Other things will be mixed in as well.

If you've managed to stick with me until this point, thank you for reading (and hopefully enjoying) this chapter. As with anything, I have no guarantees as to when the next one will be out, but in the meantime, if you have any questions or comments, please leave a review (that I can respond to) or send a PM.

North South Out.