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English
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LiD: Minigame Hell
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Published:
2019-08-19
Updated:
2019-09-06
Words:
1,657
Chapters:
3/?
Comments:
22
Kudos:
353
Bookmarks:
43
Hits:
18,206

Welcome to the World

Summary:

Locked in Digital Izuku wakes up, expecting a new game but finds he's... home?

Nope. He's still in the simulation, but now another party has interfered.

Notes:

Chapter 1: New Game

Notes:

Aha, I don’t know what I’m doing. Enjoy?

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

"Alright, new game, let's take stock."

Izuku wakes up in a comfortable bed. He blinks. The ceiling looks familiar? Bolting upright, he frantically assesses the room. All Might posters? His old PC? That slightly fraying carpet? He's… home? How did he get back?

Izuku slaps himself. Existential crisis later, the most important thing right now is, "Mom!" Vaulting down the sole flight of stairs, he skids into the kitchen where his beloved mom sits at the dining table. Eyes watering, Izuku hugs her for all he's worth. "Mom I'm so sorry I must have worried you so much some crazy villain kidnapped me but I made it I got out I don't know how but I'm safe no-"

Something's wrong. During the worst days stuck in those nightmare games, he had pictured this very meeting, of finally seeing his mom again. What would she say? How much of his grueling experience would she have seen? How many boxes of Kleenex would he need to supply? His practiced speech had gone straight out the window as he tried to say everything at once while crying into her shirt. But Mom hadn't so much as moved.

Slowly he lets go. Fearing the worst (has she been drugged?!), Izuku rounds the chair to gently move her face and meet her eyes.

Recalibrating into a new game was the worst. The laws of reality warp significantly between each world, which inevitably meant his perception started out fuzzy for the first few minutes. Normally he'd wait at his spawning point until everything snapped into place, because of course that had to be painful too.

Izuku rears back as his sharply honed senses finally kick in and immediately start blaring warnings. He stares in horror at auburn hair thin frame too tall this is not Mom NOTMOM! Not-Mom smiles blandly as she states, "Right. All boys leave home someday. It said so on TV. Professor Oak, next door, is looking for you."

Notes:

Izuku isn't warned by the usual intro screen because why would the villain allow any guidance?

Chapter 2: Open Simulation

Summary:

Oh my god y'all I was not expecting anyone to read this fic. Big shout out to our ever amazing Kingpin, RogueDruid! If you haven't read his works... well I'm not sure how you got here but gogogo!

I wasn't planning on continuing this fic, but let's see where it goes.

Notes:

Disclaimer: I don’t know anything about how coding works. If I got something wrong, the internet is to blame. Besides, who knows how computer engineering would develop in the BNHA era?

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Izuku slowly backs away from Not-Mom and out of her line of sight. She keeps smiling vaguely at the bare wall. Probably not an enemy then. Damn creepy NPCs. Okay, time to take stock.

There’s a PC in the bedroom. The fucking villain probably wants to gloat again. Come to think of it, he hasn't heard from the asshole since that first threat against his mom. What did he want now? Curious despite himself, Izuku boots up the computer to reveal a white screen with just a couple lines of text. The word “MAILBOX” blinks innocently at him.

With a click, the screen flickers, and… that is not the same villain. Where previously red hair framed sallow skin and manic blue eyes, this person’s features are completely obscured by an angular holographic mask.

"Welcome, Izuku,” a synthesized voice croons. “We've waited so long to meet you."

"Who the fuck are you?” Izuku snaps warily. “Are you in league with that other bastard?"

“No, no. We are not affiliated in any way with Dr. Akihiko Sugoh. That idiot got caught ten days into your ordeal. Good job, by the way, dealing with Slender.”

Hope starts rising in Izuku’s chest. Is this the heroes? A support company must have found a way out. He stifles a relieved sob. He’s done, he’ll be home soon, and maybe he could convince them to give him ten minutes alone with Sugoh.

His questions come tumbling out. “Who are you? How did you find me? Do you know how to get me out? Can I talk to my mom? What happened to-”

“Ahhh, wait,” the stranger interrupts, “Didn’t you know that you've been live-streamed this entire time? You could say hi to your mom whenever you want, you just won’t hear her response.”

What? That’s worse than not communicating at all! He didn’t want Mom to even know about his many, many mental breakdowns, much less witness him suffering in real time.

The voice cackles gleefully. “Your expression right now is delicious. But where are my manners? You asked who we are. Well, we're the ones who have been faithfully watching your every move. Some call us the Watchers, how original, amirite?”

The figure looms closer to the screen. “I much rather prefer to hark back to our roots. Instead, you may call us Legion."

Izuku's blood runs cold. He knows about that group from fleeting brushes with the dark web. Legion, the infamous horde only held together by their craving for anarchy and entertainment. Capricious, chaotic, and unnervingly skilled, no one escapes unscathed from their grasp. And Izuku is now at their mercy.

"Cracking the simulation code has been, by far, our most ambitious goal. And when we finally managed it, of course we first needed to share it with you."

Legion sighs theatrically. "Unfortunately, the short timeframe quite limited our choice in games, and despite the power of open source coding, it’s not quite as refined as the original simulations. Nevertheless, we successfully inserted our creation into the system. We trust you'll find it quite enjoyable."

With a jaunty wave, the message blips closed.

Izuku takes a deep breath. “Well fuck.” So many things are wrong.

Sugoh has been caught, but for some reason the heroes can’t get him out. They must know about Izuku, if he’s solidly caught the attention of Legion. He has no choice but to continue playing, and this new game increases his simulation count to ten. Fantastic.

And an open source code? Izuku shudders. Who knows how many bugs slipped in, either inadvertently or purposefully. Horrifying and glitchy, just what he needs.

But there is hope. Izuku caught how Legion deflected his questions. Because if they deciphered enough of the code to insert him into a new game, they must also know how to get him out.

Izuku has learned a thing or two about coding from Waylon. By prying into the simulation, Legion has handed him the opening he’s been looking for. Izuku can almost taste it, his freedom.

Not now, though. He’s being closely watched for his reaction, dissected by thousands of the Legion. Damn, that Sugoh seriously left him on live-stream? He’ll need to wait until later to experiment, after he’s gotten a few deaths in. By then, the novelty should have worn off.

Hyperaware of his audience, Izuku resumes scouting.

Notes:

The simulation is on the internet. Everything can be hacked. Why wouldn’t an infamous hacker group want to play with cutting edge tech, especially one with such a wide viewership?

Chapter 3: Home Base

Summary:

What am I even doing y’all

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Izuku twitches as the tinny 8-bit background track loops yet again.

Sue him, he earned the luxury of his music player and he’s pissed that it’s gone. This “music” doesn’t even rise or fade as he moves, it’s just the same overly cheery beeping on repeat. He can’t access his notebook either. Fucking Legion must have gotten bored of deciphering the tiny handwriting.

Maybe they're back in the simulation room? Izuku isn’t quite desperate enough to find out by killing himself. Ugh, who knows what mess Legion left over there. He’ll have to bunk here for now.

The house is sparse. Two floors, two rooms, zero interior walls. No closets or cabinets to rifle through, but at least he’s got a Bag of Holding strapped to his chest. Izuku briefly contemplates where Not-Mom sleeps, then immediately nopes because that way lies madness. Overall, brace the windows and the place would be defensible enough.

Though he is disappointed that his All-Might posters disappeared. The familiarity would have been welcome. Now only a solitary black and white poster hangs by the stairs, inexplicably stating, “If you’re confused, ask for HELP! Press the L or R Button!” What a shitty motivational poster.

House thoroughly searched, Izuku can’t justify procrastinating any longer and heads out to complete his first objective.

--

“Where the fuck is that Professor Oak?”

Izuku has searched the entire three building town and the man is nowhere to be seen.

Frustrated, Izuku dithers at the sole exit. Every instinct warns him against trying, his eyes trace the shadowy nooks that hide traps down the narrow path. There’s no way to avoid all of them. Dying never gets any easier, and he’s really not looking forward to experiencing either Legion or the original game designer’s creativity.

But the trees keep him from leaving any other way. Attempts to walk through those end with him waking in bed with a bad taste in his mouth and no memory of how he got there.

Fuck it. He flexes his fingers, wishing for his notebook, but he can calculate on the fly. Aiming for the route that would avoid the most traps, Izuku cautiously walks out.

Or at least he tries to. One step into the grass and Izuku is completely paralyzed. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees an old man advancing on him. ‘Damn I knew this was a trap! Stupid, should have at least laid down some snares before leaving.’ Eyes darting wildly, Izuku frantically tries to devise an escape before this first death.

“Don’t go out!” the old man exclaims cheerily, “It’s unsafe! Here, come with me!” Izuku, still frozen, is force marched to the Laboratory.

‘Oh god, not the experiments again.’ He’d thoroughly examined the machines inside the Lab earlier, and foolishly dismissed them as harmless. Fucking boring ass town, the soft pastels and pink flowers of all things had thrown him off.

As the lab doors are thrown open, Izuku grits his teeth and steels himself against the newest experiment and torture cutscene.


Deleted scene:

Izuku pokes the letter “R” on the poster.

Suddenly, he knows everything about Pokemon! The entirety of Bulbapedia has been downloaded into his brain. He beats the game so fast that Legion is impressed enough to let Izuku out. There are parades, but Izuku just goes home to eat katsudon.

…nah.

Izuku painfully finds out the walls are very solid. Nothing else happens. Gingerly curling his fingers against his chest, he looks around furtively and hopes no one saw that. Because of this incident, Izuku later takes forever to press the Rocket Hideout button in the Game Corner.


Notes:

Alternative title: Midoriya Izuku and the Tourist Trap

Am I stalling until I figure out what direction to take this story? Don’t be silly, of course not! What gave you the idea? hahaha.....