Nightmare Mode (DBZ Gamer!SI)

Game

Thoughts

"Talking"

(Read the AN at the bottom of the chapter please!)

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"This is… more complicated than I thought it'd be." Gray sighed as his eyes scanned through the [Perk Store]. He was already exhausted from such a busy day, and he didn't think he'd have so many options to choose from.

I thought the [Perk Token] was just going to let me choose one of the perks I missed out on during the start of the game, and that the [Skill Token] would be used for basic skills, like learning the Kamehameha or something. 

His thoughts were very wrong. If Gray were a little smarter, he would've remembered that the game told him at the start that the starter perks he didn't choose would never be available again, but that felt like a lifetime ago at this point. Gray glanced up at the [Perk Store] description again.

[A store to buy perks]

[Perk categories:]

[Common - Cost 1 Perk Token]

[Rare - Cost 3 Perk Tokens]

[Epic - Cost 5 Perk Tokens]

[Legendary - Cost 10 Perk Tokens]

[Godly - Cost 20 Perk Tokens]

[World-Breaking - Cost 50 Perk Tokens]

The [Skill Store] had a similar layout, with the prices in each tier being the same. 

How the hell would I ever get 50 [Perk Token]s? It seems like I'll have to choose between shooting for one super-OP perk/skill or being able to get a bunch of decent ones. Might as well start saving up, I guess. Most of the common perks aren't great anyways.

Gray had a small notebook in his hand, ready to write down any perks and skills that seemed useful.

The common perks all shared the theme of giving a small boost to some aspect, usually by 5%. Gray's eyes scanned the long list of common perks, making sure he wasn't missing out on a hidden gem.

[A Quick Learner] - Gain INT 5% faster.

[Muscle-Bound] - Gain STR 5% faster.

[A Charmer] - Gain 5% more reputation from all sources.

[A Speedy Learner] - Gain AGI 5% faster.

There were hundreds of common perks for seemingly every aspect of life, ranging from gaining 5% more coins to lasting 5% longer in bed.

Honestly, they're helpful for sure, but compared to the other tiers? Nah, might as well save up.

The rare perks were a bit more enticing but seemed more angled toward personalized builds. Most of them were either improved versions of the common perks, or sacrificed something to get an actually impactful boost to something else.

[A Quicker Learner] - Gain INT 20% faster.

[Work Smart, Not Hard.] - Gain INT 100% faster, but gain STR 25% slower.

[A Charmer…er?] - Gain 20% more reputation from all sources.

[Who Needs Speed When You Have Muscles?] - Gain STR 100% faster, but gain SPD 25% slower.

I doubt I'll ever get any of these either. Sacrificing one stat to boost another is not something I want to do, and the 20% boosts aren't worth it compared to the other tiers.

Epic was where things started getting interesting. The perks were less focused on stat boosts, and more on seemingly random benefits. 

[Stay Healthy!] - Regain 25% of lost HP upon leveling up a skill.

[Senzu Farmer] - Gain 1 Senzu Bean whenever a skill reaches level 10.

[Womanizer] - Become a natural womanizer. Your reputation with all women will start at 100. 

[Skill Machine] - Upon learning a new skill, learn another random one of the same caliber.

Now that the perks weren't so centered around stats, there was a lot more. The store page contained seemingly thousands of skills, and Gray didn't think he had the mental awareness to look through them all at the moment.

Realistically, this will be the section of perks I choose from the most. There's bound to be some random OP shit mixed in here somewhere. Even the few I've looked at so far seem good, and the 5-token cost is actually obtainable. Assuming I get a [Perk Token] after every major quest, I could potentially afford one by the time I come back from Earth.

The legendary section was too large for Gray to completely look through as well, but just from a glance he could tell that the perks were worth the high price. He recognized some of the skills as well, realizing that some fit perfectly with the character's abilities from the show.

[Form-Changer] - Obtain a physical transformation, which will boost all your stats immensely. This perk is stackable.

Frieza's definitely just got 3 of those, right?

[Combat Genius] - Become a martial arts genius. Gain all stats 200% faster, xp 200% faster, skill xp 200% faster, and obtain the ability to learn a skill at LVL1 after seeing it be used.

That's what Goku has for sure. 

[One-Trick Pony] - Learn one skill of your choice, ranked Epic-Common, and have it become MAXLVL instantly.

Krillin's destructo disk, probably. Despite Krillin being an ant in comparison, this attack could've literally cut Frieza's head off. It's such a basic technique too. Asia uses a similar one. 

[Kai] - Obtain the potential to ascend into a Kai.

Meh, maybe? I don't know what that entails.

[Gacha King] - Raises your odds on Epic and above rarities when using Gacha's.

Very useful, but I'm not a gambler. Well… maybe I'm not a gambler… maybe.

Gray had already found one of the 'Gachas' it was referring to, but he'd think harder on that after looking over the perks and skills more. Gray glanced at the list of Godly perks.

It'll be a long time before I can afford any of these, but damn are they OP.

[God of Destruction] - Obtain the potential to ascend into a God of Destruction.

[God Ki] - Obtain God Ki.

[Angelic] - Obtain the potential to ascend into an Angel.

[Godly Protection] - Start with 1000 reputation with all beings who have any divinity. 

All of the Godly perks were in the same theme, involving the Kai's or God's in some way. 

Definitely end-game perks. I can see why they're so expensive. Even just one of these could set me up to have strength on the same level as the Gods of Destruction. 

Finally were the World-Breaking perks, which fit the tier's name perfectly.

These are quite literally world-breaking. Just one would make me one of those cheat-skill Isekai protagonists. 

[God of Love] - All women will start with MAXLVL reputation.

So just every woman in the world is obsessively in love with me.

[God of Martial Arts] - Copy any marital art you see, but use it at double the proficiency. 

Perfectly balanced. Nice Kamehameha, Goku. Sure would be a shame if I just used it, except twice as strong. Oh, Frieza? Cool transformations! Watch as I transform 6 times, okay?

[Immortality] - Become Immortal.

Pretty self-explanatory, but also kinda lame. I could just use the dragon balls to do that like Zamasu did, right? Why would I waste perk tokens on this?

[Dragon Tamer] - Obtain a pocket Shenron. You can summon this familiar once a week to grant you 3 wishes.

Just a free set of Dragon Ball wishes every week? Super fair. 

Gray decided that he'd save his [Perk Token] for now. He had to save up even if he just wanted an epic anyway, and he could decide to save for an even higher tier if he found out that the tokens were less rare than he thought. He turned his gaze to the [Skill Store], which had the same tier names as the [Perk Store]. Similar to the perks available, the common skills weren't very appealing.

I know skill tokens are probably more common than perk tokens, but why the hell would I ever waste one on a common skill?

There was a seemingly infinite number of common skills, as Gray had scrolled for a good few minutes and still not reached the bottom. Most of them were for the most mundane things.

[Cooking] - Your ability to cook food.

[Dancing] - Your ability to dance.

[Flipping] - Your ability to do a flip.

[Swimming] - Your ability to swim.

This might be the most useless tier ever. Couldn't I just toss some meat over a fire and get the cooking skill for free?

The rare tier was significantly better, at least focusing on combat-related skills for the most part.

[Ki Blade] - Create a blade made of Ki.

[Tracking Ki Blast] - A Ki blast that will track your opponent, following them until it is destroyed.

[Ki Swordsmanship] - The ability to infuse Ki into your blade.

Not bad at all, but not worth the skill tokens either.

Similar to the situation with the perks, the skill shop only started having worthwhile skills in the epic section. 

[Kamehameha] - A powerful Ki beam, strengthened by a righteous heart.

[Gallack Gun] - A powerful Ki beam, strengthened by an evil heart.

[Tri-Beam] - A powerful triangle of raw Ki, causing recoil to its user. 

[Special Beam Cannon] - A powerful condensed Ki beam, becoming stronger the longer it's charged.

Most of the epic skills were in the same theme: signature moves from characters in the series or powerful and destructive attacks. 

I hope I can learn some of these moves, like the Kamehameha, naturally but this is a good backup plan. I hope skill tokens turn out to be pretty common because I'm going to shoot for a big technique.

The legendary category was similar to the epic category in the sense that the techniques were mostly signature moves, but this time, they were on a whole new level.

[Spirit Bomb] - Gather all the Ki around you into a condensed ball.

[Kaio-Ken] - Double your power temporarily at the expense of immense strain on your body. 

However, there was one skill in particular that caught Gray's attention. It wasn't one he recognized from the show.

[Cognitive Acceleration] - Increase your cognitive function, allowing you to think quickly.

It wasn't big or flashy, but Gray could already see the benefits it would bring. He tapped on the skill to get a more in-depth explanation.

[Cognitive Acceleration] - Increase your cognitive function, allowing you to think quickly. 

[LVL1 Description - Temporarily increase your cognitive function at the expense of a 10th of your total Ki per second. While your cognitive function is increased, you will receive all information and senses twice as fast.]

At first, he thought the skill would be the same as bullet-time, with the world slowing down around him since his brain was looking quicker, but that idea was put to rest when he saw the actual [Bullet Time] skill in the godly category.

This is still super useful though. My reaction speed would be faster, and I'd be able to make decisions on the fly better. Receiving information from my eyes would essentially be a mini-version of bullet time as well, as I'd see things quicker than usual. I'll keep this one in mind, even though the Ki cost seems pretty high.

Surprisingly, there was one more skill in the legendary category that looked out of place.

[Solar Flare] - Emit a large flash of light, temporarily blinding enemies.

Such a simple technique looks out of place in the legendary category, but I guess it's actually pretty OP. I feel like it blinded literally everyone in the show, right? Didn't Krillin even use this shit on Frieza to get away?

Gray hoped he'd be able to learn the solar flare naturally, either from his own practice or from someone like Krillin or Roshi, but he wrote down the technique anyway. Of course, he'd still rather get a [Godly] or [World-Breaking] tier skill, but the cost ramp-up past legendary made that seem impossible. Granted, the high cost was worth it. The godly category was game-changing. 

[Time-Skip] - Accelerate through time, skipping ahead a determined amount - but only for yourself.

Hit's ability. Makes sense, he could go toe-to-toe with Super Saiyan Blue Goku because of it.

[Stone Body] - Turn the fluids in your body into a petrifying substance. Anyone who comes into contact with it will be turned to stone.

Dabura's spit thing? It did work instantly on Piccolo I guess.

[Candy-Beam] - A beam that turns anyone who it touches into a piece of candy. 

A cheesy technique, but also not worth it. It'd be OP early game, but later on, it'll be worthless. Vegito just became a sentient candy and continued beating Buu's ass. 

[Evil-Containment Wave] - A wave that can seal anyone who has evil in their heart.

This one is… interesting. It seems hard to hit, but when it was used successfully it could seal even fused Zamasu. But, I'd rather try to learn this from Roshi then spend tokens on it.

[Instant-Transmission] - Teleport to any Ki-containing location instantly. 

Goku just casually has a lot of broken skills and perks, huh?

The world-breaking skills were, just like the perks, actually world-breaking.

[Altered Reality] - Change reality.

Janemba's technique. It could literally bring back the dead, right? The possibilities with something like this are pretty endless, too. I'm glad Janemba isn't very smart.

[Time-Freeze] - Freeze time around you for as long as you can hold your breath.

Seems out of place since it's fucking GULDO's ability, but it really is broken. We're planet-busters, I could probably hold my breath for half an hour, longer if I trained for it. Guldo being Guldo is the only reason he hasn't taken over the universe with this yet.

[Kai-Kai] - Teleport to any location instantly.

Ah, the Kai's version of instant transmission. You don't need to lock onto any energy, and you can move between dimensions. 

[Body-Swap Beam] - Change bodies with a chosen opponent.

Another Ginyu Force technique? Though it makes sense since I could just use it to swap bodies with Beerus or, hell, maybe even Zeno. 

[Carrot-Touch] - Turn anyone you touch into a carrot.

An OG Dragon Ball technique being here? Being able to turn someone like Beerus into a carrot the second he punches me is pretty OP, I guess. 

[Devilmite Beam] - A beam that instantly kills anyone with evil thoughts.

Now, this is what I expected to be here. An underrated skill from OG Dragon Ball again. Most people I'll ever fight will be trying to kill me, so it's pretty much just a one-shot beam. 

Gray sighed as he fell back flat on his bed, "I want one of those world-breaking or godly skills, but they're so expensive. Am I really gonna be patient enough to save up?"

Gray hummed as he looked a the cost of each tier again, then chuckled to himself, "Of course I'm not. 50 tokens? Are you fucking kidding me? I'll be 50 years old by the time I get that damn many!"

Gray sat up, looking over the part of the shop he'd been intentionally avoiding.

Let's go gambling!

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Gray Tanaki:

[Saiyan D-Class Recruit]

Age: 15

Wallet: 46,150 Coins

Lvl: 10 (33,000/75,000 XP)

PL: 31,972,700

Available Points: 600

HP: 55,500/91,450

TKI: 164,025/164,025

STR: 315

AGI: 350

END: 290

INT: 415

CHA: 145

LUK: 155

KI: 395

HREG: 196

EREG: 196

Skills: [Observe LVL 4], [Running LVL 6], [Determination LVL 4], [Ki Control LVL 9], [Ki Gun LVL 5]. [Ki Enhancement LVL 4], [KI Suppression LVL 5], [Ki Sense LVL 2], [Pushup LVL 4], [Punch LVL 4], [Kick LVL 4], [Jump LVL 4], [Flight LVL 4], [Prediction LVL 2], [Zenkai Boost LVL 1]

Perks: [Gamer's Mind], [Gamer's Body], [Double-edged Sword], [Legendary Super Sayian], [Perfect Ozaru], [A Cute Pawn], [A Humble Master], [Ladies Man]

Fighting Styles: [Boxing Style: Kolra LVL 1]

Party: [Empty]

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AN: You can read the next chapter RIGHT NOW! At Patreon.com/Koyon ! Thanks for reading, hope y'all enjoyed that chapter! 

ALSO! If you have any cool skill/perk ideas, feel free to share them. I already have some in mind for Gray, but if your idea is epic and cool and cool and epic I might include it down the line!