When I finally came around for good, there was nothing weird about my surroundings, except that they were nicer than I was used to.
You have slept in a bed, HP and MP have been restored 100% each. All ailments and negative status effects have been cured.
Wait, what? Was I seeing things? I could've sworn there were just words in front of me, but I blinked, and they were gone.
I sat up a little bit.
I was sitting in a deck chair on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at green hills in the distance. The breeze smelled like strawberries. There was a blanket over my legs, a pillow behind my neck.
Before I could think about my status any longer, black words appeared in front of my eyes, twisting and turning out of thin air.
Welcome to your guide!
PERCY JACKSON
Level- 7 (500/3000)
HP- 1600/1600
SP- 5000/5000
MP- 1000/1000
Allegiance- N/A
STR- 5
VIT- 6
DEX- 6
INT- 5
CHA- 4
WIS- 6
LUC- 5
Points- 5
Money- $46
Son of the legendary God of the Seas and Sally Jackson, Percy is the current child of prophecy. Despite his murky past, Percy is ready to take on his future with determination.
REP at Half-Blood Hill: N/A
I stared at the screen in awe. I had a feeling my dad was Poseidon after last night, but I was having a harder time accepting the fact that there were floating letters in front of me.
It was almost like one of those RPG games I played as a kid!
Surprisingly, the words were incredibly persistent. No matter which direction I tried to look and turn, they kept bobbing and weaving so that they stayed directly in the center of my field of view.
I sighed to myself.
Wait- why wasn't I freaking out?
Not only did my mom disappear, but I also realized the Greek gods were real and now my life is acting as a video game.
Great, just great.
Taking a shot in the dark, I whispered, "Uh, game, what's going on with me right now?"
Ping!
Gamer's Mind (ACTIVE)
Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Grants a peaceful state of mind regardless of the situation and immunity to psychological status and effects.
Gamer's Body (ACTIVE)
Grants the user a body that allows the user to live the real world according to his stats. Sleeping in a bed restores all stats to the max.
Uh...okay…
That would explain why I didn't feel any sort of inclination to break down and cry.
I still felt sad at the possibility that my mom was dead, but I felt...in control, almost.
Quest Complete!
A Rude Welcome
This life ain't meant for everyone! Survive your first day as a demigod!
Rewards:
500 EXP
The Horn Of the Minotaur
+10 REP at Half-Blood Hill
Ping!
You have 7 stat points and 2 perk points available for use! Please allocate them now:
I blinked a few times. A quest? I'd never seen the quest beforehand, which meant I was either really, really unobservant or I got this "power" overnight.
For thinking in a logical manner, you have gained +1 INT!
Okay, so my new power seemed to work just like I'd expected. The notification slowly faded away, and a gigantic list came up.
STR—Strength:
This stat represents physical power. Higher levels in STR can directly provide damage benefits in battle.
VIT—Vitality:
This stat represents a character's physical toughness. It determines how much damage someone can take and how well they resist poisons, illnesses, etc.
DEX—Dexterity:
Dexterity represents a person's physical nimbleness. It determines fine motor skills, reaction time, and aiming.
INT—Intelligence:
The stat representing how smart a character is. It can be used to show how skilled a person is, how quickly they learn, their recognition of battle tactics, etc.
CHA—Charisma:
Charisma represents a person's force of personality. Used to determine how well someone can influence others by speeches, diplomacy, fear, and lying. The driving force between romantic attraction.
WIS—Wisdom:
The stat representing a person's prudence and street-smarts. Used to determine a character's perception, willpower, and decision-making skills. Wisdom directly helps in MP usage.
LUC—Luck:
Luck boosts a variety of events that have very low probabilities of occurring; critical strikes, random encounters, good loot, etc.
I read each stat and it's following description, nodding to myself slightly. It was what I'd expected, more or less.
I winced slightly when I got to my CHA, though. It explained why every girl at my school seemed to avoid me like the plague, however.
And, what was REP?
REP—Reputation:
Reputation indicates how well-liked or disliked you are! A REP of 0 is neutral, and a negative REP often indicates hatred or dislike! The higher your REP, the easier it is to convince someone to do something for you, or in some cases, can lead to romantic relationships.
I was drawn out of my thoughts as a 7 at the top right of my screen bounced a few times.
That's right- I had points to spend. If I had to guess, I automatically got these points to make sure I wasn't at a disadvantage at the start of the game, but I also still felt like I was dreaming, so I tried to not put too much stock into it yet.
I thought about it for a moment. I was tempted to put most of my points into CHA but I also didn't want that to come back and bite me in the ass.
Wait!
The perks! If I remembered correctly, perks often gave some sort of boost in your attributes, so if I chose my perks first, I'd have a better idea of what to spend my attribute points on.
The game shifted on my command. The list of attributes became smaller and halved in size, rolling to the background of my screen.
It was replaced by a gigantic tree with hundreds of branches that zoomed in at the top. Six hexagons stared back at me; their names were written in bold with a tiny screen that showed the flat boost my stats would get.
I scoffed to myself. These perks were kind of lame, but they were also the first perks, so I couldn't be too mad.
I narrowed my choices down pretty easily. I knew I had two perk points, and, like I said, the perks themselves weren't too hard to pick from.
All in all, I was given 7 options, all hinging on the 7 base stats of the game. From left to right, they were Troll, Last Breath, Moon's Dance, Bookworm, Flirt, Grassroots, and Lady Luck's Draw.
Curiously, I clicked on each of the small hexagons, one by one.
They hopped up and down in place for a few moments before expanding outwards, multiplying in size.
Troll (Level 1): Your body takes on troll-like characteristics in the strength department!
Take a +5 STR and actively boost your STR by 20% while in a fight!
Meh. Not my thing. I'd never been the strongest kid around, and while I was sure I could remedy that very easily in the future, for now, I needed to focus on my strengths so that I could get my mom back.
Last Breath (Level 1): Don't ever fear death with this perk around!
What's the point of fighting if you can't stay alive? When you drop under 10% health, you regenerate health 50% faster and gain damage mitigation!
Mmm...not bad, I guess, but I kind of feel like if there's someone out there who pushes me that much I'll have much bigger problems than my health.
Moon's Dance: May your feet ever walk in the light of two suns…and may the moon shadow never fail you...
The moon smiles upon you. Receive a +5 boost to your DEX and learn the Moon's Dance, a lovely sword form that involves graceful movements and well-timed slashes.
Yep. I knew for a fact I was going to have to pick this one up. Off rip, I knew that DEX was one of my highest stats, so a boost there would be huge.
Plus, I took out one of Hades' furies without any training with Riptide, so learning a sword form would probably make me a force to be reckoned with.
Or so I hoped, anyway.
Bookworm (Level 1): Are you sure you aren't a child of Athena? You love books and books love you right back!
Jeez, get this dude a library card. Learn new skills (1 x your current INT)% faster! Retain more when you read!
Damn, I'd be lying if I said this wasn't a good perk. I wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, I knew that, but learning new skills could be invaluable to get to Mom!
Flirt (Level 1): You sly dog! Aphrodite looks down on you fondly, boosting your attractiveness!
You're going to have a hard time keeping the ladies off of you later on! Gain a +5 CHA and gain a boost of (1 x your current CHA)% while talking to a member of the opposite sex.
Huh. I was surprised. I'm not going to lie, I was expecting something else. That sort of boost could make me seem irresistible to women, which could help me out in a bind down the stretch. Plus, I couldn't deny the fact that the boost to my CHA could help me save my attribute points for later.
Grassroots and Lady Luck's Draw didn't seem to have any description. Both just came with a flat boost of +5 in the respective categories, which made me frown.
That ruled them out. Based on what I could tell, perk points seemed to come by less frequently than skill points, so it would be sort of a waste to use them on perks that gave me fewer benefits overall.
For thinking in a logical manner, you have gained +1 INT!
Hey! That was 2 points for INT I got just by thinking! Maybe I didn't need that perk right away if I could get INT just by thinking!
Biting my lip, I clicked on Moon's Dance and Flirt, spending my two perk points. The two hexagons turned white, and I felt knowledge assault my brain.
Skill Learned!
Moon's Dance, Lv-1 (0%)
An ancient Japanese form of swordsmanship dependent on the grace of its user. Created by ? to escape the wrath of the 9th feudal lord!
3% chance to critically strike.
Alright...onto my attributes.
STR- 5
VIT- 6
DEX- 6 (+5)
INT- 7
CHA- 4 (+5)
WIS- 6
LUC- 5
Hm...maybe I should go for more balance in my attributes, at least for now. Maybe when I get more quests with tons of EXP I'll specialize in something.
STR- 7
VIT- 7
DEX- 6 (+5)
INT- 8
CHA- 4 (+5)
WIS- 7
LUC- 7
Not bad.
I kicked the blanket off my lap and stood on the porch, stretching out the various kinks in my body. It felt like I'd been asleep for ages.
Quietly, I made my way over to the other side of the porch. Two men sat across from each other at a card table. There was also a blond-haired girl- the one who I think spoon-fed me popcorn-flavored pudding- leaning on the porch rail next to them.
I checked each of them out discreetly before I fully stepped over.
The girl was looking out at the groups of kids who were walking around, all wearing the same orange shirt as she was.
Ping!
What now?
By observing the girl, you have created a skill!
Observe LV-1 (10%)
By Observing a target, one will get information about the said object and a small amount of data, as well.
LV 1 shows you their level and some basic information.
I rolled my eyes and looked at her again.
Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Athena
LV- 15
HP- 2500/2500
MP- 1500/1500
Hm. While her level was much higher than mine, I could tell she wasn't too much of a pure power type of person.
She could probably still kick my ass.
I turned my attention to the two men.
First, the chubbier man. He was small, but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it was almost purple. He wore a tiger- pattern Hawaiian shirt, and he would've fit right in at one of Gabe's poker parties, except I got the feeling this guy could've out-gambled even my stepfather.
Dionysus, God of Wine
LV-?
I blinked to myself. It was probably a good thing I saw his name first or I would've just spouted off to him.
Next, the other man. From my point of view, it looked like Mr. Bruner, but I was guessing that wasn't the case.
Chiron, Trainer of Heroes
LV-?
Sure, why not. At this point, you could probably tell me I had a cyclops for a brother, and I'd take it in stride.
Ping!
Quest Alert!
The First Impression is everything!
Dionysus is well-known for his dislike regarding demigods. Make a good impression on him and become one of the few demigods he likes!
Rewards:
+10 REP with Mr. D!
+300 EXP
[YES/NO]
Really? Well, I mean, I'm not about to turn down some free EXP…
I clicked yes.
"Ah, Percy," Chiron called out to me with a smile. He gestured for me to walk closer. "Welcome. How are you feeling?"
"Better than ever," I replied truthfully. Dionysus turned to get a better look at me. I dropped to a knee.
"What exactly are you doing, boy?" He said in a confused tone of voice.
"Showing my respect," I explained, looking up slightly. "You're a god, I can tell."
Dionysus' eyes widened. He cleared his throat into his hand. "Well, I must say, he's been a long time since I've been greeted as such. What's your name, boy?"
"Percy Jackson, sir," I replied, rising from my knee at his noncommittal hand wave.
"Well, Percy, welcome to camp," Dionysus nodded to me, a hint of a smile dancing on his lips. "It's a relief to see some demigods still have manners, even if you are old Barnacle Brain's kid."
My eyes widened. How did he know that?
Chiron smiled at me as he shuffled a deck of cards. "Percy; do not fret. You simply look like a stereotypical son of Poseidon, and young Annabeth here discovered that you heal when you come in contact with water."
"Yes, Mary-Beth nursed you back to health," Dionysus said in a slightly annoyed tone. He waved his hand at Annabeth as if he was telling her to go away. "Tell me, Percy, do you know how to play pinochle?"
"No, sir, but I'm confident I can keep up after a few rounds," I said, crossing my fingers that my gaming ability would kick in after a few moments and let me play the game.
"As much fun as that would be, it's imperative that Percy gets acquainted with camp," Chiron interrupted, saving me from an uncomfortable situation. I thought Dionysus was going to vaporize Chiron right there, but he just sighed through his nose, as if he were used to being contradicted by a Latin teacher.
"I suppose. Mary-Beth, take Percy on a tour, will you? I believe I'll take a nap before the sing-along tonight," He clapped my shoulder. "Mind your manners, Mr. Jackson. Have a good day."
Quest Complete!
The First Impression is everything!
Dionysus is well-known for his dislike regarding demigods. Make a good impression on him and become one of the few he likes!
Rewards:
+10 REP with Mr. D!
+300 EXP
Annabeth rolled her eyes and started to walk away without me. I ran a bit to catch up with her.
I took a closer look at her. She was probably my age, maybe a couple of inches taller, and a whole lot more athletic looking. With her deep tan and her curly blond hair, she was almost exactly what I thought a stereotypical California girl would look like, except her eyes ruined the image. They were startling gray, like storm clouds; pretty, but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight.
Which she probably could with ease. She was over double my level, and I knew I'd have to get right to training if I wanted to stand a chance against anyone here.
We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. They stared at me intensely, and I bit the inside of my cheek.
Their levels, like Annabeth's, were at least double mine. The highest one I saw was 20, but it was still a great deal larger than mine.
Was every single demigod I came in contact with going to be stronger than me?
"So, you took out the Minotaur," Annabeth said, trying to break the awkward silence that had been between us since we left the house. "That's cool."
"Oh, thanks," I smiled at her. I felt my Flirt perk activate. It filled me with a giddy feeling of warmth like I'd just drank a cup of hot cocoa. Annabeth didn't seem so scary anymore. "Wish I didn't pass out like a baby, though."
Annabeth's face cracked into a grin. "Well, we'll just have to work on that, won't we?"
"Yes, we will. Any tips for a beginner like me? You are a daughter of Athena, right?"
She looked surprised. "Yeah, how'd you know that?"
Oh, fuck.
I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. "Well, you just seem like one. I can tell you're not a hard hitter, but I see your dagger strapped to your waist, so you're still a skilled fighter, or I'm guessing you wouldn't leave it on display for everyone to see. That, and you have that look in your eyes."
Ping!
Skill Created!
Lying, LV-1 (20%)
This is your ability to lie to people! The higher your level is, the more convincing the lie is! It comes with a smaller chance of discovery!
The chance varies based on the context of the lie, but your lying is boosted by 1% every time you level up!
Lie successful!
+10 REP with Annabeth!
Annabeth looked at me appraisingly. "You're smarter than I thought you'd be, for a son of Poseidon. Just don't die, other than that I'd say to pick up as many skills as possible."
Oh, believe me, I plan on it.
I'd played enough video games to know that the absolute first thing I would be doing would be grinding out all my skills.
I rolled my eyes at her taunt. "Well, you're a lot hotter than I thought you'd be, for a daughter of Athena, so I guess we're both just full of surprises, huh?"
I grinned to myself as her cheeks reddened.
Skill Created!
Flirting, LV-1 (40%)
Flirting is a social and sexual behavior involving spoken or written communication, as well as body language, by one person to another, either to suggest interest in a deeper relationship with the other person or if done playfully, for amusement.
The higher your skill, the better the chance that the recipient develops romantic feelings for you and/or flirts back.
The chance varies based on several facts such as your appearance, the other person's appearance, etc.
You gain a passive 2% boost in CHA for every 4 levels you gain.
Annabeth and I fell into a comfortable conversation as she showed me around camp. I'd never really been one for architecture or anything, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed by the fact that the camp could have so many Greek-themed buildings that still looked squeaky clean. It was like a slice of Ancient Greece existed between the strawberry fields.
Not that I was complaining. My Observe skill leveled up multiple times due to the fact that I was spamming it on every single thing I saw.
We saw the archery range, the canoeing lake, the stables the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheater, and the arena where Annabeth said they held sword and spear fights.
"Sword and spear fights?" I asked curiously. That was probably one of the best ways I'd be able to grind EXP.
"Cabin challenges and all that," She explained patiently. "Not lethal. Usually. Oh, yes, and there's the mess hall."
Annabeth pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls.
"What do you do when it rains?" I asked.
Annabeth looked at me with a smirk. "Percy, look around. Have there been any clouds, even, over the camp since you've been here?"
She was right. I looked around curiously and noticed that around the camp, there wasn't a single cloud in sight.
Outside of the camp's borders, though, it was pouring rain. "Ah…"
"You're such a seaweed brain," Annabeth rolled her eyes at me, smiling gently. "Next up, the cabins."
There were twelve of them, nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were, without doubt, the most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen.
Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on the right), they looked nothing alike.
Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory.
Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass.
Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at.
They all faced a common area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops.
After using Observe again, I could tell exactly which cabin belonged to who. Not that it would've been hard, anyways. The gods had...unique taste.
Annabeth gestured towards the third one. "This is where you'll be staying."
It was long and low and solid. The outer walls were of rough gray stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor.
I nodded to myself as I looked at it. This felt more like home to me than all of the other ones I'd seen before.
"If you need anything, don't be a stranger," Annabeth told me, patting my shoulder. "Cabin 6. I'll come to get you for dinner."
"Thanks, Annabeth," I told her sincerely, and she smiled at me and began to walk across the field.
I opened the door to my cabin. I caught the salty scent of the interior, like the wind on the shore at Montauk. The interior walls glowed like abalone. There were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets turned down.
I stepped inside and took a whiff of the air, but my hand immediately went to my pocket when Observe caught a name in the middle of the cabin.
I dropped to a knee instantly.
Lord Poseidon, it read. Ruler of The Seas
LV-?
HP-?
MP-?
?
"Hello, son."
AN: Welp, it was just a matter of time. I've been reading the Gamer!Percy fics like crazy, but I'm sad to see that there aren't really that many of them that are complete. I'm new to the genre as a whole, but the only thing better than reading a fic si writing one!
So, I'll be taking a crack at it.
Let me know what you thought. Oh- let me know what pairings you guys would want to see. I have some ideas as of right now, but I'm open to suggestions, for sure.
See you guys later.