THE CURSED GAMER

Chapter 36: Changes (1)

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Neji's second year of middle school started a few weeks later, things were getting a lot more interesting at this point.

But today, the most interesting development was happening in a city located a few cities away from Chiba city. In Aldera Junior High, a certain green-haired boy was going through the hardest time of his life.

Boom-Boom!

"You dare, Deku!?"

A bleeding Katsuki Bakugou had grabbed a relatively unharmed Izuku Midoriya by his collar while his other hand was close to the latter's face, creating small explosions.

His face was red and his eyes were bloodshot. He glared at Deku, the most annoying thing in his life, as he controlled himself from blasting him to bits.

This motherfucker-

How dare he do THAT again?

"K- Kacchan…" Izuku's horrified face finally made a sound, gulping. "Y- you were hurt… I couldn't just sit back and watch those kids beat you–"

Boom!

"Nobody asked for your help!"

Katsuki interrupted him, blasting on his chest, getting a groan from him.

"You are fucking Quirkless! What gave you the idea that I would need your help!?"

"But-"

Blast!

He released Izuku from his hold and blasted on his stomach, causing the latter to spit out saliva and drop to the ground.

"K- Kacchan… it hurts…" Izuku whimpered, staring at him pleadingly. "I… I didn't mean to make you feel bad–"

Blast!

A blast fell on his face, causing Izuku to cry out loud.

"Shut up, you damn nerd!" He stood above him with trembling hands while glaring. "You… you think you can look down on me, huh!?"

Izuku stared at him, huffing while droplets of tears gathered around his eyes….

So this is what he gets for trying to help…?

Recently, a school close to their Aldera Junior High was chosen to be upgraded and become one of those 'Hero Middle-Schools' that is becoming popular after Nighteye's speech at a conference where he explained how future heroes should be trained from an early age.

Baguko got in a fight with a group of boys from that school... No, he didn't lose, but from the looks of it – he was about to. That's when Izuku intervened… if he didn't intervene, he knew how much the defeat would affect his "friend's" mind.

Yet… after helping him out… he is treating him like this?

Where is the gratitude, where is the appreciation that he is supposed to get...?

Is it because he is Quirkless?

Izuku clenched his fist and stared at Katsuki with betrayed eyes.

"Kacchan…" he moved his trembling jaws. "I just couldn't bear seeing other people beating you like that."

"...What?" Bakugo froze…

But the next second, his glare intensified.

This damn nerd…

"You're making fun of me again!!"

Bakugo threw his punch at Izuku, causing the latter to cover his head with his hands… all to vain.

Boom!

«—(★)—»

10 months later, February, Year 200.

The room was so impossibly silent that even his heartbeat could be heard. To diminish a bit of the silence, he played his favourite video on the computer.

Izuku had no idea what he was doing right now…

Sitting silently in the dark room, he was going through a series of emotions.

'So this is the end, huh?'

He was holding a bottle of transparent liquid in his left hand and a bottle filled with green liquid in his right. He was sitting on his old chair while All Might’s ever-so-familiar video played on the computer screen.

[“HA HA HA! Fear not, citizens, hope has arrived.”]

[“Why? Because I am here!”]

Izuku Midoriya glanced at All Might’s smiling face silently as he fell in a daze.

The buzzing of the old video almost annoyed him. The room filled with the scent of rotten fast food didn't help at all.

Life at school has been harsher than ever.

For a while, Bakugo has been more aggressive. 2 years ago, when different middle schools were assigned to handle the soon-to-be Hero Course Students, Izuku’s school wasn’t one of them.

While that was fine for Izuku, Katsuki Bakugo didn’t like it. He tried to move to a nearby school that was chosen, but unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances, he wasn’t able to.

This caused him to start acting more aggressive since then – and now, after almost 2 years of school, the bullying has reached its peak.

Frankly, Izuku couldn’t bear it anymore.

So, here he was… letting some liquid decide on his fate.

On his left hand, he had a bottle of poison and on his right, he had a “Miracle Quirk Unlocker” that he got from a shady website on the dark web.

He had to choose one of these two, one of these two would decide his future. But… from the looks of it, the poison might be the final answer.

From the reviews of “Miracle Quirk Unlocker”, people were claiming it to be fake. While some people did give it a 5-star, almost 99% of the reviews were calling it a fake, causing Izuku to believe the 5-stars as paid reviews.

But he promised himself to only drink one of these potions. If the Quirk Unlocker didn’t work, he would not touch the poison. This was a one-shot chance… he wasn’t sure what he’d do.

Izuku Midoriya only has one supporter in his life, his mother. But even she… even she isn't confident in him becoming a Hero.

Does he really want to live like this? Everyone looking down on him while he keeps walking forward?

Maybe the poison would indeed relieve him from all this… but i- if the quirk unlocker worked, then all of these problems would vanish too. He’d be able to become a Hero, his mother wouldn’t be incertain at him, and Kacchan… maybe Kacchan would even befriend him?

The last thought was inciting… Kacchan’s friendship alone was enough to match the idea of eternal relief.

[“Why? Because I am here!”]

Midoriya assumed having a Quirk would not only stop Kacchan from bullying him, but others would also accept him as a person. He'd even get to be the hero he always wanted. Maybe… his suicidal thoughts would vanish too?

As All Might’s Clip played for the umpteenth time, he thinned his lips and gulped.

Putting down the bottle filled with a transparent liquid on the table, he stared at the other bottle for a while… From the reviews, drinking this might cause some mental backlash. Yet, he wasn’t scared to take the risk…

He took a breath-in and opened the bottle cap, devouring the liquid in one go.

“—Cough!!”

First, it stung.

He coughed and fell to the floor. Why was it burning his insides?? No reviews mentioned this. Did he drink the poison, instead?

His mind wasn’t clear enough to give thought to that. He started coughing unbearably.

‘Oh no… M- Mom will hear!’

He didn’t know how she’d react to seeing poison in her son’s room.

[“Why? Because I am here!”]

All Might’s voice gave him the sudden strength he needed.

But,

“Izuku? Are you okay inside?”

Knocks started to fall on the door, causing Izuku to feel the sudden urge to hide the bottle kept on the table.

He barely stood up on his knees while his hands grabbed the poison on the table. He smiled, thinking it was it – he opened the drawer to hide the potion, but just then….

The world around him went slow as he felt a twist in his brain. His vision distorted, he felt his consciousness fading, causing him to lose balance from his knee.

He started falling on his back, the bottle on his hands got tossed in the air and started to fall with him.

His head hit the tiled floor with his eyes vacant.

The bottle of poison that was made of cheap glass fell right in his teeth, resulting in it shattering into pieces, causing both the shattered piece of glasses and the liquid poison to enter his throat.

At the same time, the door handle twisted with a click sound as Inko, Izuku’s mother, walked with a key in her hand.

“I- Izuku?!”

«—{★}—»

Japan new year,

“Hey, have you heard? That quirkless Izuku tried to kill himself.”

“Wait- wha? Really?? That’s some courage! I myself would never be able to do such a thing.”

“Hehe, same. Though he failed. He is currently in hospital from what I heard. It would have been a lot better if he died though, the poor guy gets bullied every day…”

“Shh, watch out. Bakugo might hear…”

Annoying.

This was so annoying.

He was used to the sound of large explosions, but this murmuring still got on his nerves. At least, this time it conveyed some useful information.

‘So that Nerd tried to kill himself…’ He thought with a solemn look on his face.

‘Heh,’ a smirk formed on his face. ‘Must have been half-assed if he failed.’

Pathetic. To think he almost felt bad for that Nerd while he was just trying to gain pitying looks from others.

"I would teach him a lesson the next time he comes to school." He muttered to himself while he leaned back and closed his eyes.

Suddenly, the chattering in the room stopped. Curious, he peeked open his eyes as they went slightly wider.

"I- is that Izuku?"

It seems he wasn't the only one shocked.

Green curly hair, and freckles… that did look like Izuku. But what was with the changes?

Dark circles around his eyes, a part of his hair covering his left eye, a straightened back and a creepy smile on his face.

"..."

Katsuki stared at him in slight shock while Izuku's eyes flashed by everyone, finally stopping at Katsuki.

Izuku revealed a toothy smile and walked closer to Katsuki.

"Kacchan,"

Katsuki frowned.

"I unlocked my quirk."

«—[★]—»

In India, the Royal Palace of Nawab

A man with clear Indian features wrapped in a pair of white Kurta and Pajama was kneeling in the hall of a Grand Palace.

India has come far from its state in the 21st century, they don’t dress like this anymore - but to meet Nawab, dressing traditionally is a must.

In front of him – going past a white net-like curtain, on an imperial throne, a person with a slim, short build sat.

Most people didn't know 'their' gender, including the kneeling man, but since most people know that the title "Nawab" is masculine, they assume 'them’ as a "He".

So the man wearing white Kurta was doing the same.

"Nawab Bahadur,” the man started. “We have finally gotten real success at the [Miracle Quirk Unlocker]. It’s a boy from the country of the rising sun, Japan.”

“...”

Nawab stayed silent and just nodded his head, allowing him to continue.

“Since he’s the first success, our scientists were demanding we bring him here. I tried to contact Ujir, but Ujir is too busy with the recent appearance of the ‘Atlantians’.”

“So… I am here to ask for your permission, Nawab Bahadur.”

The man then lowered his head and waited for an answer.

“Hm…”

An ethereal voice belonging to a young female entered his ears, causing him to raise his head and look at Nawab’s covered face with disbelief.

“He shall be left alone, for the foreseeable future. Mine <Sixth Sense> is telling me that this is better. Besides," a sweet laugh left the female's lips. "I desire to see how this one would interact with that silver-haired child."

The exotic voice of the female was like a melody, whose lyrics went over the man’s head, as he stared ahead with sheer wonder.

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Author’s Note:

For those who don’t know already, I have multiple images for characters (specifically harem members) in my Discord. Ahem, as you know from my previous pictures, they are quite ‘steamy’, so join if you want to.

Discord link - https://discord.gg/pkGvcYpTbJ