The Player
Unlock Quirk | Remain Quirkless
Please Choose
Izuku stares at the floating text pane suspiciously, but finally mutters, "Unlock quirk."
A new pane replaces the first one.
Congratulations, you have finally unlocked your quirk!
Achievement: Quirk Unlocked!
See description?
Go to Player Overview?
"See description." He says, feeling a little masochistic, or maybe it's just morbid curiosity.
A second pane appears.
Quirk Unlocked!
Player has met conditions:
A. Player must be fourteen years of age, so as to be able to mentally handle basic usage of quirk.
B. Quirk must finish basic setup requirements.
C. Player must choose to unlock quirk.
Congratulations! You have reached a milestone that most reach upon turning four! Your patience has been rewarded!
Close Description? Yes | No
Huh. Well, that at least explains why it took so long to show up, even if the congratulations is more like rubbing his face in how behind others he is. Wait. How does he even have a quirk? Didn't the quirk doctor say the extra toe joint means he won't get a quirk?
A third pane pops up in response.
Scanning for information…
Research shows that only two thirds of those who have an extra toe joint are 'quirkless'. Of those, it is suspected that a third have very subtle quirks or quirks with extremely unlikely activations. Of the third that are acknowledged to have quirks, many are specific mutation or transformation quirks, but a few are emitter quirks with which the extra toe joint provides very slight extra stability which is useful for safe usage of the quirk.
What. None of the research he's done has turned up more than the occasional mutation quirk with the extra joint, so this isn't lifted from his own knowledge, so where is it from?
The pane flickers and changes to show new text.
Knowledge was found on professional medical sites meant for physicians and researchers.
Okay then. He decides that he probably shouldn't ask how his quirk got that access.
The Player has full access to any information resources that you have at least partial access to.
Well, that's handy.
The third pane disappears, leaving the Achievement description displayed.
"Yes." That pane closes too, leaving just the first one. "Go to Player Overview."
Izuku Midoriya
Quirk: The Player
Stats. Go to?
Inventory, limited. Go to?
Information search. Go to?
Skills. Go to?
Displays, basic. Locked. Go to?
"Go to Displays."
Displays
Basic. Locked until requirements are met.
Displays in basic mode cannot be shown to others.
Player has option to request that displays be temporarily withheld. This is useful for public situations wherein quirk usage is disallowed or during tests where one should not cheat.
Close Displays? Yes | No
"Yes. Go to skills."
Skills
Explanation:
Skills only reflect your current level of ability. Skills can be leveled with hard work.
Skill levels are useful if one is having a bad day and needs to be able to use skill at full capability. State: Employ Skill (name of skill) to use a skill in such a manner.
To add a skill, state Add Skill (name of skill). Added skills will start at Level 0 if one does not have any proficiency in them.
Skills:
Reading: Level 75
Writing: Level 63
Studying | Retaining Knowledge: Level 52
Analysis: Level 51
Fashion Knowledge: Level 3
Cooking and Baking: Level 14
Collecting: Level 64
Stealth: Level 2
Doing Laundry: Level 1
Cleaning: Level 24
Organizing: Level 32
Close Skills? Yes | No
Huh. Interesting. And he has a hunch he wants to try out. "Add skill: Magic."
The pane flickers, then adds an entry.
Magic: Level 0. Locked.
Locked? Well damn. He was hoping this quirk was more like a real video game, given its knowledge search ability being so OP. "Yes. Go to Information Search."
The skills pane closes, to be replaced with a search engine icon with an explanation under it.
To use information search state Search for (specify information to search for). Some information will be restricted, such as information that could obviously put you in danger.
Physical library searches must be preceded by entering said library and adding it as a Preset Library. To add library, state Add Preset Library (name of library).
Oh, that's so useful! Hm. He wonders… "Preset Library Hero Analysis for the Future."
Uploading. Please wait.
A little loading circle icon shows up below the words. Then pauses.
Upload pictures? Yes | No
"Yes."
The loading circle resumes. Several minutes later, the circle disappears as the pane flickers and the text is replaced.
Upload complete.
View library Hero Analysis for the Future? Yes | No
"Yes?"
Volumes 1-13. Please specify volume and page.
"Um. Volume 13, page 1." The pane enlarges to show a page written in his handwriting with a small illustration taking up two thirds of the page. He pulls Volume 13 out of his backpack and opens it to compare. Other than some minor smudges, they're identical and the library copy is the one without smudges. "Spiffy. Close volume. Close library. Go to inventory."
Yeah, he's kind of getting the hang of this.
Inventory, limited.
At current stage, inventory is limited to five slots. Slots may contain a single item, a single item that carries multiple items such as a backpack or a stack of up to 99 of the same item. Items may be added or removed by voice command, mental command or manually by pressing item into item box to add or by reaching into box to remove. Command is Add (item name) to Inventory.
Warning: Living things cannot be added to inventory.
Warning: Dirty items will be cleaned upon addition to inventory.
Warning: Food items cannot be added to inventory at current stage.
Five boxes show below the text.
Well that's… Huh. He can test that out another time. "Close inventory. Go to stats."
Izuku Midoriya
Level 1
Exp. 380/500
STR: 13 Explanation?
VIT: 12 Explanation?
DEX: 10 Explanation?
INT: 48 Explantion?
WIS: 46 Explanation?
HP: 72/72 Explanation?
MP: 0/0 Locked.
STA: 25/25 Explanation?
StP: 1 Explanation?
"Explanation STR."
STR or Strength represents your current level of strength. STR can be gained by doing strength exercises. Status points cannot be used to add to STR.
Welp. That's not the usual video game type thing. Ohwell.
"Close. Explanation VIT."
VIT or Vitality is a representation of your overall health condition. VIT can be added to by using status points, as it cannot be directly grinded for.
Okay? "Close. Explanation DEX."
DEX or Dexterity represents things like hand/eye coordination, speed in general and agility. DEX can be gained by doing exercises to improve hand/eye coordination, speed or agility. Status points cannot be used to add to DEX.
Right. "Close. INT explanation."
INT or Intelligence is representative of your knowledge. INT can be added to by learning new things. Status points cannot be used to add to INT.
Seems pretty self-explanatory. "Close. WIS explanation."
WIS or Wisdom represents decision making and problem solving. WIS can be added to by making wise decisions or increasing one's problem solving abilities. Status points cannot be used to add to WIS.
"Close. HP explanation."
HP or Hit Points represents how much physical damage you can take. Source stat VIT x 6.
Oh. That's why he can improve VIT with stat points? "Close. STA explanation."
STA or Stamina represents how long you can last in an activity, whether physical or mental. Source stats VIT + STR.
He stares at that for a long moment before shaking his head. At least he has motivation to add to his strength stat now. "Close. StP explanation."
StP or Status Points may be used to increase a stat. StP points can be gained by gaining a level or by surviving a dangerous situation.
Well. He'll just stick to gaining levels, then. However that's done. Also, why can he only add stat points to VIT? That's just biased.
"Close. Add 1 stat point to VIT."
Izuku Midoriya
Level 1
Exp. 380/500
STR: 13
VIT: 13
He looks at that for a bit longer before saying, "Close."
Izuku Midoriya
Quirk: The Player
Stats.
Inventory, limited.
Information search.
Skills.
Displays, basic. Locked.
On impulse he tries, "Quirk explanation."
Quirk: The Player
The Player cannot be stolen or given away. The Player is a downgraded acute mutation of sire's true quirk. The search function is an acute mutation of dam's quirk.
Quirk commands can be given mentally, verbally or by pressing buttons. The latter two are not recommended for public use due to being a dead giveaway of quirk usage.
He blinks, then blinks again. Stolen? "Wait. True quirk?"
Hisashi Midoriya is not user's biological father. User's true sire is Restricted Access.
Does that mean his real father is a villain?
Yes.
Well then, what's his bio dad's true quirk?
Restricted.
Oh. That's not good. Wait, what did he claim his quirk was, then?
Unknown. Inko Midoriya may have information.
Oh. Wait. How is he going to explain to his mom why he's suddenly asking questions about his dad…dads? He's going to have to tell her that he got his quirk in, but he has no proof, since he can't show the displays to anyone. Great.
"Close." He says halfheartedly, not looking forward to the conversation he's going to have to have with his mom.
~
"Mom? How come you never told me that dad isn't my real father?"
Inko turns around, looking startled.
"How did you find that out?"
"Um. I got my quirk? It told me."
"Oh. Oh dear. That's inconvenient. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled you have a quirk." She hastily reassures him. "Hisashi is your dad and he loves you. But we've known since you were diagnosed as quirkless that you aren't his. I told him it was a possibility before we got married. Um. What do you want to know?"
"I know that. I just want to know what his name was and what his quirk is. My quirk refuses to tell me."
"He said he was quirkless. His name was…oh dear, let me think. We put Hisashi's name on the birth certificate, so I don't actually have a record of it. I think, but could be wrong, that he said his name was Kazuha Ito."
"Oh. So he lied." Izuku says in disappointment. "My quirk says it's an acute mutation of his quirk, whatever that means."
"What is your quirk, dear?"
"Um. It seems to be a sentient game play type quirk? I mean, it is. At least I think it's sentient. It answers questions sometimes. Oh! But there's an information search function that it says is an acute mutation of your quirk."
"Oh my! That's… That's very interesting. Do you get quests and things like that?"
"Not so far, and there wasn't any mention of quests. I do get stats, but I can't put points into any of them except vitality, so I have to do everything the hard way to level up. There's no item gathering areas or dungeons either."
"Well, at least it lets you level up vitality. That's an important stat in most games."
"Yeah. But I can't do stuff to directly level it up, so I can only level it with stat points."
Inko blinks a few times. "That's unusual. Maybe it just has its own goals, then? Does it have anything else?"
"Just skills and the search function…oh, and the inventory. I can put like five items or stacks of items into it. The skills are just stuff I know how to do already and show how good I am at them. Apparently I'm at level 1 in doing laundry." He admits.
She laughs. "Do you want to learn how to do laundry besides putting your clothes in the laundry bin? Also, inventory sounds dead useful. You should keep your keys and ID and money in there, so you always have them with you."
It's his turn to blink. "Oh. Yeah, good idea. Maybe it will let me keep a change of clothing in there too. And maybe on the laundry."
"Maybe experiment with it? And tell your dad all about it when you talk to him again. He'll be thrilled. He loves quirks almost as much as you do."
Izuku smiles at her. "Yeah! Wanna help?"
"Yes! I'd love to."
So they go to his room, where he picks up his keys. "Inventory."
The five inventory boxes pop up and he pushes his keys into one of them. The box now reads,
Set of Keys x 1
"That's so weird, they just disappeared into thin air." Inko comments.
"Yeah? Cool." He sticks his school ID into the second box.
ID x 1
"Can you take it back out again?" His mom asks.
He pulls his ID back out, shows it to her and puts it back again.
She smiles. "It works!"
"Yeah, I didn't even think about it eating them. I probably should have."
"Oh, wait! Let me go get you some money to try." She says and hurries out, coming back a couple minutes later with several different denominations in both bills and coins.
He takes it from her and tries to press it into the third box. It refuses to take it.
Reminder: If you want to store unlike items together, you must store them in some kind of bag or container.
"Oh, it says I need to put them in something, because they aren't all the same."
"Well that's reasonable. And means you can store your clothes together if you put them in a bag. And you can probably keep your school stuff in there in your backpack. Didn't I buy you an All Might wallet a couple years back? You could use that."
"Oh! Yeah. I think I put it in my loose items drawer. Let me look." A short search later turns up his wallet. After putting the money into the wallet, he closes it and puts it into the third box.
Container of Money x 1
They both cheer.
"That's great. Now I don't have to worry about you being without funds or getting robbed." Inko says.
"Thanks, mom." He replies, beaming.
"Of course, dear. Why don't you use that red duffle bag for the clothes? Then you should be able to fit several sets of clothes in there."
He digs it out and puts in a set of gym clothes for PE and indoor slippers, along with a set of casual clothes and a light jacket and a heavy coat, both of which he rarely uses. His mom adds one of his never used pocket sized umbrellas in there too. Happily, the box accepts it.
Duffle of clothes and accessories x 1
He stuffs his backpack into the last box.
Backpack of School Items x 1
Note: History homework is missing.
Izuku blinks at the note in astonishment, then looks around and finally spots his History homework sitting half done on his desk. He pulls the backpack back out.
"Something wrong?"
"It reminded me not to forget my homework."
His mom just laughs. "That's good to hear."
"Yeah, the teacher would be upset if I didn't turn it in on time." He agrees, now more certain his quirk is sentient.
~
"Midoriya, where is your school bag?" His homeroom teacher asks a little condescendingly.
"Ah! Sorry, sensei! Inventory." Izuku says. He pulls his bag seemingly out of thin air and sets it beside his desk where it belongs. "I have it now!"
"What the fuck, Deku? Since when do you have a quirk?" Kacchan growls at him.
"Ah-h, Kacchan. Since yesterday afternoon."
"You think you can get away with fucking with me? How long have you been keeping your quirk a secret?"
"Secret? I wasn't-"
"That's enough, Bakugou. Midoriya, make sure you get your quirk registered within the month and turn in the documentation to the school secretary once you have it."
"Y-Yes, sensei."
~
"Let me get this straight. Your quirk shows you your stats and skills, which you can't show me. Does information searches which you can't show me but have demonstrated by turning over information you shouldn't have access to. And has an inventory, which you can't show me, but is demonstrable by the fact that you can disappear and reappear things into seemingly thin air." The quirk doctor, a young woman with auburn hair and metallic gold eyes summarizes.
"Yes."
"I'm going to be honest with you. I'm going to put this down as an information and storage type quirk, and you should never tell anybody you don't 100% trust the other parts. Also, don't update your quirk registration for those aspects if your quirk evolves, which it is likely to do at least once, since it's brand new. Both villains and the HPSC would be way too interested in a quirk like yours. Do you want to name it or shall I?"
Izuku and Inko are completely taken aback by the caution.
"Um. You can name it, I guess. It calls itself The Player, but that kind of tells people what you said I shouldn't."
The doctor nods. "I'm thinking Find and Keep is honest enough while being misleading enough that most people won't look twice at it."
"Okay. I like that."
Inko nods. "Agreed. Thank you for letting us know about the danger."
The doctor smiles at them. "Just doing my job. Endangering my patients goes against my oath."
"Do No Harm?" Izuku asks curiously.
"That's the one!" She beams at him, obviously pleased that he knows of it. "And on that note, I suggest you sue your former quirk doctor for malpractice. A simple blood test is just as easy as an x-ray and far more reliable. He should have given you a blood test before declaring you quirkless."
"Actually, I-" Inko puts her fingertips together nervously. "We came to you because he retired a couple years ago. So I don't know if that's-"
"No, that's fine. Don't worry about it if he's not practicing anymore. I just don't want him misdiagnosing more patients out of carelessness." The doctor hurries to reassure her.
"Ah. Okay. That makes sense." She sighs in relief.
"Alright. Just let me type out the paperwork and I'll give you a copy of it."
"Oh. Um. Can I get a copy for my middle school too? They want documentation." Izuku asks.
"Of course. I should have thought about that. Two copies coming up." The doctor replies, typing quickly. "Your school will probably require you to attend at least a couple quirk counseling sessions, just to make sure you can control it properly. Remember to just talk about the inventory and information aspects. And I'd recommend pretending that you only have access to open source information on the internet. They will really dislike knowing you have access to their private network, okay? So just avoid the issue to begin with. Also, if you let them know about the libraries, pretend you have to read the book or put it in inventory to be scanned, because letting them know you can download an entire library at once will make you way too powerful to not be interesting to people you'd rather not know."
"Okay, I can do that." Izuku agrees cautiously. "Should I just pretend to be able to do limited internet searches? Like Viisor?"
"The search engine? Yes, that's a great idea. If you have any notable change to your quirk, come back and I'll help you figure out if you should update your quirk description or not."
"Thanks." He says sincerely.
"No problem. Like I said, it's my job." She uses her mouse to click on several things, then the printer in the corner starts up and prints out several pages.
~
"A storage and information quirk? Don't look down on me! You'll never be a hero with your weak ass quirk. So don't apply to UA."
"What's that?" One of Kacchan's friends asks.
Kacchan reaches down and snatches the notebook.
"Hero Analysis for the Future? Pfft. You don't need that. Learn your place." He says and explodes the notebook before throwing it out the window.
"Kacchan, that's-" He begins, glaring at him.
Kacchan puts his hand on Izuku's shoulder and Izuku winces at the burning sensation creeping through his shirt. "Hah? You got a problem with it?"
Izuku doesn't answer and Kacchan decides to leave with his friends following.
Then he pauses at the door and looks back. "If you want to be a hero that bad, I've got a suggestion. Why don't you take a swan dive off the roof and pray for a better quirk in your next life?"
In the silence of the abandoned classroom a pane pops up.
Status Debuff: Burned
Palm sized first degree burn on shoulder. -1 HP.
Treatment recommended.
"Thanks." He says drily.
The pane flickers.
Unpleasant Encounter
EXP gained: 120
EXP: 0/1000
Player Level: 2
StP: 1
Oh.
"Add stat point to vitality." He says, because there's no reason not to.
The screen flickers again.
See stats? Yes | No
"No."
The pane disappears and he sighs and picks up his backpack and trudges down to pick his notebook out of the fish pond.
~
Izuku ignores the information panel that has popped up in favor of staring at All Might.
"So what was it that you wanted to ask?"
"Can someone with an information and storage quirk become a hero like you?"
Then All Might shows him his horrible scar and tells him a villain did it. "Can you be a hero like me with an information quirk? No, I don't think so. But you could very well be a hero like Sir Nighteye, my former sidekick. Or become a police officer. That's not hero work, but the police save just as many people as heroes do. Play to your strengths, kid."
Izuku's still reeling from the 'no' when All Might tells him to knock on the access door and someone will let him in eventually. Then All Might just…takes off again. Leaving him on the roof, trying to understand that 'no' was actually a conditional 'yes'. It's hard to take in. Izuku wants to save people with a smile. Not that Sir Nighteye isn't a great hero, he is, but it's not what he had in mind as his hero career.
The pane wavers and disappears, apparently deciding that he's not going to pay attention to it right now.
Numbly, he knocks on the door.
~
"Don't think this means anything! I don't owe for this."
"Okay, Kacchan." He replies tiredly, but Kacchan is already stomping off. He's pretty sure that meant 'thank you', but what does he know?
Then All Might pops out of nowhere, deflates again and offers him his quirk.
Izuku just stares at him, unsure what to think. Does he want All Might's quirk? Sure. But he did just get his own quirk. Does he deserve All Might's quirk? He's not so sure about that, despite All Might's words.
Please hold hands with All Might.
He blinks and blinks again. "Um. My quirk wants us to hold hands. Is that alright?"
"I- I suppose." All Might says and holds out his hand, looking distinctly uncomfortable.
So they hold hands until another pop up says.
Analysis complete. Quirk One For All is genetically compatible and can be integrated successfully into The Player.
What the-? "Um." He tugs his hand away from All Might's. "My quirk's done. It says that your quirk is compatible. So…"
"Does that mean you accept?"
Impulsively he decides that if his quirk doesn't mind, then he should just go for it. "Yes."
~
Izuku Midoriya
Level 5
Exp. 3908/4000
STR: 13
VIT: 13
DEX: 10
INT: 48
WIS: 47
HP: 54/78
MP: 0/0 Locked.
STA: 19/26
StP: 3 + 2 Reward from emergency quests.
Emergency quests? He doesn't remember those, but then he had been focused on surviving and then on rescuing Kacchan. Apparently he does get quests, then. For what? Emergencies? Like with stat points?
He decides he'd rather not get quests if that's the case.
"Allot stat points to vitality."
Izuku Midoriya
Level 5
Exp. 3908/4000
STR: 13
VIT: 18
DEX: 10
INT: 48
WIS: 47
HP: 54/108
MP: 0/0 Locked.
STA: 19/31
StP: 0
"Close. See player overview."
Izuku Midoriya
Quirk: The Player
Stats.
Inventory, limited.
Information search.
Skills.
Displays. Upgraded for reaching level 5. Limited displays can be shown to others with command Add (name of given Display) Display for (person's name). Information that can be shown depends on intended recipient.
Well, that's something. He should probably tell the doctor about this.
~
"Wait. So you want me to clean the entire beach in ten months' time?"
"Yes. You need to build muscle or your limbs could pop off when you get my quirk. One for All gains power every time it gets passed on, so it will be even more powerful for you than it is for me. And there's no better way than to build muscle while doing a public service."
You could get tetanus.
"My quirk says I could get tetanus." He repeats dutifully.
All Might squints at him. "Your quirk is an information quirk? It does some odd things for an information quirk."
He's not supposed to tell anybody. But if he can't tell All Might, then who can he trust? "Well, it's sentient. Or at least like an AI. Not quite sure which."
Golden brows raise in surprise. "I see. That's unusual. I suppose I wouldn't like to talk about it either."
"Yeah. I have no idea how it can do genetic analysis. That one is just weird."
All Might's brows rise even further, but he decides not to ask. "I believe the tetanus issue could easily be solved by a quick visit to Recovery Girl for a tetanus shot and a pair of thick gloves to work with."
Acceptable.
Izuku squints, getting the distinct impression that his quirk is sulking despite the approval. "My quirk says that'll work."
~
Izuku stares up at the 0 Pointer determinedly.
Emergency quest: Save the Girl
Notice: Super Strength function is locked until you reach STR 50. Please find other method of saving the girl.
"Fuck." He says, then turns around and heaves the cement trapping the girl upwards. If he can carry fridges with All Might in his buffed up form on top, he can lift some measly cement slab. He manages about a foot of height before realizing how freaking heavycement is.
Luckily the girl yanks her foot free before he drops it, muscles screaming at him.
Ignoring said muscles, he scoops her up and books it. He has no intention of becoming road kill.
~
Recovery Girl kisses him and abruptly his muscles stop screaming and start weighing him down with exhaustion.
See Status? Yes | No
"Yes." He whispers.
Izuku Midoriya
Level 6
Exp. 4783/8000
STR: 39
VIT: 18
DEX: 13
INT: 48
WIS: 48
HP: 108/108
MP: 0/0 Locked.
STA: 8/57
StP: 1 + 1 Reward for Emergency Quest.
"Add stat point to vitality." He mutters.
Izuku Midoriya
Level 6
Exp. 4783/8000
STR: 39
VIT: 20
DEX: 13
INT: 48
WIS: 48
HP: 108/120
MP: 0/0 Locked.
STA: 8/59
StP: 0
"Did you say something?"
"Uh, just talking to my quirk, Recovery Girl."
"Ah. Well at least you were smart enough to find a solution other than 'smash it'. Unlike some idiot I know."
Izuku laughs nervously. "I did think about that first, actually. But my quirk has locked, um, that until I reach a higher level of strength."
She snorts. "Well, at least one of you is smart."
He gives another nervous laugh. "Yeah."
"Here. Gummies. They should give you enough energy to get home safely."
"Oh. Thanks." He opens the package and starts eating them.
Energy Gummies: +3 STA per each x 8
STA: 32/59
Izuku stares dumbly at the pane.
So what? The gummies are like a health potion item? And he can analyze them?
Skill Analysis level 51 allows you to assess food items for STA or HP benefits. Level Analysis to 75 in order to be able to analyze food items for general health benefits and analyze nonfood items for value. Level INT to 75 to unlock basic analysis of people.
Whoa! That's…unexpected. But cool! He can't wait to tell his mom! Oh, and the doctor.
"Hey, Recovery Girl. Can I have another package of gummies?" He calls after her.
She stops, turns and makes a 'come here' motion.
He trots over to her, a little excited about getting to use what's basically a gamer type item.
"Normally, I wouldn't, but I assume your quirk told you to ask?" She holds out another package, which he takes gratefully.
"Uh. Sort of? Each gummy apparently restores 3 stamina points and this package should bring me up to almost full points. Thanks, by the way."
"You're welcome, but don't get used to it. There's too much caffeine in them to be healthy to eat this many."
"I won't. Thanks!"
She waves him off and goes over to the next student who requires healing.
~
He flops on his bed, exhausted.
STA status buff has expired.
STA 7/59
Oh. He guesses that makes sense, since Recovery Girl said the gummies had caffeine and caffeine wears off after a while. Oh well. All he wants to do now is sleep.
Notice: Quirk OFA has been acquired and assimilated.
Quirk The Player has gained new functions. New functions are locked until requirements are met.
Quirk The Player has gained a new skill. Ghostly Communication level 0. Talk with the ghosts of OFA in your head to level skill.
You know what? He's not dealing with this. Future!Izuku can deal with this. Current!Izuku is just going to sleep.