Accessing the Game System! Body Training!

It's me again. Now we are gonna get started. As you've read so far, the past two chapters were set up for the wild ride.

Here we go!

-+=[BoG]=+-

After failing to aura farm in his underwear, Marcus sat back on the curved sofa staring at the black case.

First, he took off his holster belt stashing it in his inventory because it looked ridiculous in his underwear.

'Maybe I should put on some clothes later.' Without further delay, he opened the case.

He notices four items along with notes for each.

The first on the furthest left-hand side was a BD wreath that he requested with the training shard and a note.

Perfectly calibrated Brain Dance Wreath. You can just slot in the training shard directly instead of your neuroport, doofus.

- The Examiner

'Oh shit, that's right. V didn't have a wreath in the car with Jackie to use it.' Well, at least he didn't need to go out and get one while also calibrating it. 

Just like before, the note burned up and disappeared.

Next, was another shard with a note.

Here is your background and other related information.

- The Examiner

Now we are getting somewhere.

Marcus picked up the shard felt around his neck and found two ports behind his right ear.

He slotted it in and while it felt a little weird, it was more cool than anything.

Again, he heard a voice telling him the info on the shard. 'Why doesn't it show me like in the game?' He felt obligated to check out his cyberware tab as soon as possible.

After the voice finished explaining, Marcus felt the urge to give a deep sigh.

While his name is technically Marcus, that's not the identity he is taking on.

It's John Wick. Literally.

'Why?' He felt a little amused at first by the cosplay shit but now it's a bit annoying, but after some thought, there's nothing he could do about it. He might as well embrace it rather than be bitter.

That's not even the craziest part.

His birth name is Marcus John Linder. Yeah, just like Robert John Linder, or more famously known as Johnny Silverhand.

Pretty crazy right? That's not all.

His father's name is Trace Santiago son of Rogue Amendiares. His mother? Grace daughter of Johnny Silverhand. What in the cultivation novel shit is this? What a fucking family tree indeed. Oh and Gloria Martinez is sort of his aunt from his paternal side. His grandfather apparently had a cousin who then had a daughter named Gloria. You know, no big deal.

'What the fuck, bro.' He didn't even want to think about it. His death as Marcus John Linder was faked when his grandmother found out about her son and daughter-in-law being killed. She set him up with a caretaker when he was young and started working at a restaurant when he was 16. At that point, the caretaker left considering her job finished.

He wasn't even aware of who his parents were or that his grandmother was the Queen of the Afterlife.

The personality of who he was before he woke up in the body was entirely fabricated by The Examiner. 

Now he is 21 years old and it's currently January in the year 2076. So, that gave about a year and some change until the fated heist occurred.

'Well, if the corps, especially Arasaka, found out about my real name, then I'm fucked, so the Blaze of Glory route and the life of an edgerunner is needed to defend myself.' The knowledge of his lineage didn't really change much outside of maybe Rogue, his grandmother, could be more open in helping out, or making it more difficult so he doesn't kill himself. It could go either way.

He reached for his neuroport to eject the shard when he noticed that it was gone along with the note. He Should've caught on by now, but it's still weird for things to poof out of existence.

Lastly, he saw a BD chip along with the last note from dear ol' Examiner.

This includes many of the fights that occur in One Piece from three perspectives: protagonist, antagonist, and spectator.

Enjoy, One Piece Stan.

- The Examiner

'He knows me so well.' Another form of entertainment, quality entertainment at that, is always appreciated.

Putting away the shard, wreath, and BD chip in his inventory, he finally wanted to check out his system.

First though, to set the mood. It was a joyous occasion. The system that will give him an edge in this new life. Best to make a good first impression.

He got up and made his way to his wardrobe putting on his suit and tie. It was completely black, but there was a white shirt if he wanted some contrast. Putting on his black dress shoes, he went back to the couch and reached for the shelf, grabbing a glass, whiskey, and tearing open the carton of cigarettes to get a pack. Luckily, there was a trash bin behind the curved couch that had an awkward empty space.

There was also an ashtray and a lighter on the shelf. The former was some kind of black metal with divots to hold the cigarettes along with a lighter that had the Samurai logo.

Is it too much to ask for just a regular one? A simple black, silver, or red lighter? Marcus sighed as he flicked the lighter open and ignited it. Looks good to him.

Putting a cigarette in his mouth, and then pouring a glass, he lit it up taking a drag.

Exhaling the smoke and taking a drink, he thought bringing up the menu should be similar to how the inventory functions so he did just that.

The next thing he knew his vision completely changed to a familiar screen with different menus.

From left to right was the Cyberware tab, Inventory, Map, and Character.

He also saw his carrying capacity and eurodollars. There were 100,000 Eurodollars as expected.

Marcus mentally selected Cyberware and it immediately looked different.

There was no Cyberware Capacity bar nor an armor bar. It only gave a list of his cyberware.

Arasaka Neural Interface Mk.1

Arasaka Personal Link Mk.1

'Ironic that it's Aras...hold on, I have a personal link and there are supposed upgrades for both implants?' Exiting the menu, he took a look at both wrists and saw a port at the base of his left wrist. With a thought, it ejected a cord before he put it back. 'How the fuck did I not notice that? I didn't even feel it.'

Thoughts for later.

'Wait, I don't have an optical implant, so is that why I am only hearing stuff instead of seeing it? I think that the neural interface pairs with the optics, so that would make sense.' He surmised as he exited the menu and into the Inventory.

He saw the utility belt, wreath, and BD chip, but also a few other things.

A fucking machete and a studded bat, actually it looked more similar to a kanabo. That's pretty cool.

Next, he looked at the map.

Looking at the holographic image, he immediately recognized where he was. It was V's megabuilding in Watson. That means Vik is close so if I wanted some trustworthy work done, then he'll be ideal. Nice.

There was also an option to make notes and place them at certain locations which was nice, but that was about it. No icons for fixer, ripperdocs, or quests. Actually, he didn't even see the equipment screen from before, but considering that stuff like quick access slots and stat gear don't exist, then it's not really relevant.

Lastly, the Character tab, or the attribute and stat screen. Now he'll finally know.

He opened it up and it immediately clicked in why he was so damn skinny.

Body 1 (0/400xp)

Reflexes 1 (0/800xp)

Technical Ability 1 (25/800xp)

Cool 1 (0/800xp)

Intelligence 1 (0/400xp)

Every single stat started as a meager 1. Even V starts at 3 with no points added. He also noticed Body had half the requirement as the others but he realized that was from his physique. Marcus also noticed that he has some XP in Technical Ability but that was where Gunsmithing should be, so does he get a quarter of the experience from level skills?

'I'll have to train a bunch of skills then if I only get 25%. Not sure if this system is the same as the game where you cannot level your skills past the level of the overarching attribute.' He pondered rubbing his chin.

Guess it's time to get to work, but before that, he mentally selected Body and saw a skill page.

It was empty, naturally, he didn't have them yet, but Gunsmithing should be in Technical ability, right? There was also a description of what Body encompasses.

Increases Carry load, overall strength, power, fortitude, and stamina.

That sounds about right but he wants to know about the rest.

Reflexes

Increases reaction time, dexterity, agility, and cyberware tolerance.

Marcus backed out and selected Technical Ability.

Increases proficiency in engineering, gunsmithing, and overall crafting ability.

- Gunsmithing 1

Ah, there it is. On to the next.

Cool

Increases stealth capabilities and retaining a calm mind.

Intelligence

Increases hacking/breaching proficiency and speed along with programming capabilities.

Backing out of Intelligence, there was also a tab for an overview of all attributes and stats to look at all at once which was nice. The programming part of Intelligence is interesting but it makes sense since netrunners can make their own shit like quickhacks or daemons.

Taking another drag of his cigarette he extinguished it before heading back to the wardrobe to take everything off and put it back. What? It's not dirty.

He then changed into a more casual outfit of a simple black shirt and red sweatpants.

Now it was time to train.

Marcus decided that he should do physical exercise first since he would be stationary in the training shard.

He didn't find weights in the apartment so he will likely have to get a gym membership for more intense workouts but calisthenics will work perfectly fine, especially with his low Body attribute.

Pushups sound good to start.

It was, in fact, not.

Marcus was violently shaking as he finished his tenth pushup and plopped down on his knees gasping for air.

'Holy fuck, I may not have been the most active person in my previous life, but I could at least do 20 before.' He panted greedily sucked in oxygen. It's not entirely surprising though.

He is skin and bones while also being over 7 feet tall. You naturally get heavier the taller you are since there's more of you other than muscle and fat. 'I bet I'm still over 200 pounds(90.72kg)'

After finishing he heard the familiar voice.

Athletics +100

Athletics is now Level 1

He got a bit of knowledge of how to breathe correctly while running or doing physically demanding tasks but the more noticeable change came from his body. Marcus felt tingly all across his body and he felt less winded and sore. Not by much but it was still evident.

Now that it happened again, he came to the conclusion that he won't get alerts to attributes gaining XP. That's nice, wouldn't want to be bombarded with a bunch of XP gains. He can always check his stats.

'Back to the grind.' Marcus did another set of 10 pushups but there was not a notification, but that made sense since the difficulty should scale in how high-leveled you are.

Burnt out from pushups, he did squats.

Athletics +100

He did situps along with more pushups since his arms were more rested.

Athletics +100

Marcus even ran around the room like a professional upstairs neighbor to train his cardio.

Athletics +100

He checked his stats, specifically his Body attribute.

Body 1(100/400xp)

- Athletics 1(300/400xp)

Yeah, it's definitely a quarter experience from skills. 'Get to level 2 and then the training shard.'

His arms were dead so he kept doing squats and even added forward lunges.

After 10 minutes, he got the notification he was waiting for.

Athletics +100

Experience in Athletics is maxed and unable to level up. 

Requirement: Body Level 2

Ah, so it is like that then. It sucks but if he remembers correctly, shotguns and assault rifles should be a part of body, along with unarmed combat, so no biggie. Could he also continue exercising and get the quarter amount of XP even if he gets none from Athletics? That's something worth experimenting with.

He checked his stats again.

Body 1(125/400xp)

- Athletics 1(400/400xp)[LOCKED] Requirement: Body Level 2

Marcus' stomach growled loudly and instinctively gazed at the vending machine that stuck out like a sore thumb. He didn't really pay much mind to it before because…it's a vending machine, but it's a little cool.

It reminds him of those from Japan in his old world. They had practically everything in the machines there.

He walked up to the vending machine that was situated between his bed and bathroom. There were multiple tabs for food, drinks...boys?...girls? What the fuck does that even mean. Is a dude gonna be dispensed here? I don't even want to think about the toys menu. He has plenty of entertainment thank you very much. Oh, there's also a toiletries tab and cleaning. These machines are sick.

The dark reality is that grocery stores are for the mega-wealthy and fresh food is either reserved for the uber-rich or extremely risky to eat thanks to plagues and engineered food pathogens...What? He has watched quite a few video essays on Cyberpunk and some stuff just sticks. Anyway, most people live off of vending machines and street stalls. There is a reason most of these places don't have kitchens. What are they even gonna cook?

He selected the food category with a press of his finger and he saw a burrito. There were a few options but he went with the classic Burrito XXL and for the drink, he went with a regular NiCola.

Marcus almost grimaces at both items and grabs them.

'I hope I didn't fumble by not asking for modified taste buds.' 

He went over to the sofa and prepared himself.

-+=[BoG]=+-

Another chapter down.

I appreciate the support thus far and the motivation is high.

So far so good.

Hopefully you all like how I've outlined the system and the path forward.

See you all in the next chapter!