Ugly Bastard

Noah woke up in the forest lying on the ground with roots all over him and a sound of something scratching wood very hard. He barely managed to turn his head and saw the wolf that was bound by the same roots, gnawing and scratching at his bonds.

It took a while for the wolf to get out of his trap and he immediately started to help Noah with his predicament as well.

"Thanks, bud" Said Noah rubbing the red marks left on his wrists and neck. "She sure said I can get out, but never said she would help me get out of the trap. Damn I'd be monster feed if not for you my friend. Let's find a safe place to take a rest. I need to take a small rest after everything that happened."

Soon he and a wolf found a small clearing, where the wolf confirmed with his scent detection skill, that there were no enemies around. Noah dropped to the ground with more of a mental exhaustion than anything else, while the wolf stood guard to watch for any threat.

/Open Skill List/ willed Noah and a system window opened in front of him.

Noah checked the new skills and was hugely amazed. 

/System, what happened there? There were some unknown voices in my head./

*User needs to check the CS screen for an easier explanation.*

Ok. Thought Noah, disappearing from the real world.

He came toward the CS screen and scrolled a bit to see what system was referring too. It did not take long to find that. 

"System, what is…? How did this happen?"

On the screen in front of him was a post made from Noah's name in the comment section.

/Dream my dear in dreams you can have a perfect life. You can taste the perfect food. You can have the perfect woman./

Was written there.

"When did I…?"

*You didn't post it yourself.*

"Was it you?"

*No it wasn't me either. This system unfortunately can't take any measures of this regard without a user's approval. And you were in no state to give any approval to make a post or use a any skill*

"Who then?"

*It was done by that dryad lady. When they probed your mind they infiltrated your mind realm. Using their minds to probe all over the place they accidentally enabled the CS posting feature. The text you see is her words that were made to lull you into deeper sleep and make you open your memory holding depths of mind. It was a close call I might say. The people of comment section came to your help right in time*

Noah saw the replies of the people under that very post.

Bitch the only thing perfect in this world is Me. Wrote the person with a strange name June. 

"The hell? Is this guy okay? He seems delusional."

*That is what I thought exactly. A man with a delusional mind yet holding firm to his sanity to interact with people in CS on a daily basis has helped me to make an analysis on him and brought me to be able to create a new type of skill. Being bound by the dryads magic helped to meet additional criteria for this skill creation.*

Noah looked at the skill list and the details of this new skill in particular

//Skill: He who dwells on the precipice of delusion (Passive)//

A passive skill. Skill that is always active and needs no activation from the user. That's how it worked, even though I was under their magic influence. Thought Noah.

"But what the hell is with this explanation?"

//Makes no difference between reality and dreams. Sees dreams in reality, and sleeps while lucid. Travels back and forth between dreams and reality.//

"Sounds like I am schizophrenic now. Should I thank this guy for this or curse him?"

Once again Noah felt that all his skills sway to the maniacal side. 

"The heck is wrong with this system?" Thought Noah but all his thoughts echoed in this space aloud.

*Answer: system has no problem. It functions just as preprogrammed.*

"That's what scares me the most, you know?"

*System does not understand your question*

"Forget it. What's with this other persons reply?"

The world is just a dream, why be so serious? Wrote a person named Ren with a serious girls face with big glasses picture as pfp.

"What does that supposed to mean?"

*My analysis show that the person strongly believe that she lives in dreams whether she is sleeping or awake.*

"System. Everytime I think these guys can't surprise me anymore, someone in this comment section make me doubt the limits of the peoples insanity, for some reason.😐"

"So…this explanation…"

//Skill: He who lives in dreams (Passive)//

//Allows user while asleep to enter and travel through the dreams of others//

"This sound quite an amazing skill, but something bothers me too. What if I come into the persons nightmare? I think I need some proper defence skill within the dreams before I use it next."

*Agree. System will analyse further to come up with a solution.*

"All right then, let's get out of this forest and go ho…Wait. I can't go home. My mother was the one that tried to kill me."

*We might do something using the Malign…*

"Don't even joke like that. My step-mother is over level 50. My step-sister above level 20 and 30 already. I could barely do anything against some forest monsters on the border of a newbie domain. Do you realize the odds I have against them?"

*The Ugly Bastard transformation gives quite a strong boost to the skill that…*

"It's a gamble. A useless gamble with my life at stake. If it fails. I am done for. Besides. The skill gave some kind of random thoughts to the wolf while corrupting their minds. What if her thoughts would be to tear me apart limb to limb on the spot."

*That is a possibility as well.*

"I think it would be more appropriate to gain some more power, before venting my revenge on them."

*May I make an observation remark?*

"Go on"

*User would need to live hiding his identity from the family. Your identity would be checked at the city gate. The fact of your survival will be revealed shortly after. How are you going to deal with that?*

"Good question. I forgot about this."

*I might have a few possible solution for this plight.*

"Speak."

*The Ugly Bastard Transfor….*

"REJECTED! Next solution."

*My analysis shows that some of the people in the CS are using fake identities and pretend to be other people.*

"What?"

*See for yourself.* Said system and CS scrolled down at a fast pace. For example, this person with a picture of cute lamb as an avatar. As you can see after breaking some rules of this comment section, they are being punished by being banned from making any comments for a short period of time. However if you look here.* The comment scrolled a bit up.

*This looks like the same picture with only an awkward mask and a slightly different name and this person is commenting again.*

"Ok, that's obviously cheating. But how does it help?"

*My analysis shows that some people avoid and bend the rules of the CS with the use of methods of recognition inhibition, that make the downgrade version of a system overlooking the CS rules, not being able to recognize them well*

"I see. A skill that would fool the skills of other systems possessed by other people. If we gain it we might fake identity and not be cought by the identifying skills. But that is a skill that is unheard of in our world. Is this even possible?"

*There is a strong argument in the favor of it being possible*

"Let me guess. The fact that you suggested it?"

*Exactly.*

"System why do I get the feeling that anything that leans strongly into most atrocious, sinful and immoral side of the world are being applicable to your capability?"

*....*

"Alright. Seeing how you suggested the skill instead of creating it we lack some information material for it. Is that right?"

*Yes. With some additional information I might be able to create it.*

"So you want me to ask the people in CS to provide some information on that topic?"

*Exactly*

"Ok, let's do this. Short and efficient right"

/How do I fake my identity?/ Posted Noah in the CS.

Buy it. Came a reply a bit later

"I barely have any money in my pocket, friend."

VPN 

"What doe it even mean?"

*System analysis show it is not applicable to the system capability*

"No wonder this word make no sense."

Level up your forging skill

"Wait do these people have systems too? And I don't have a forging skill…Do I system"

*Not enough information for the skill creation*

Tsk tsk tsk, boy. You are under arrest.

Replied another person, adding a picture of a man in uniform holding some identification card and swiping it with a thumb smearing a fresh paint on it away. Obviously the ID was fake.

"Oh this one's looked well made. If only the paint wasn't fresh. Maybe we could ask this person who made that ID?"

/Who made this fake ID?/ Asked Noah replying to that persons comments.

I do my meme myself.

"Himself? Does he have a forging skill?"

/How did you make it? Can you teach me?/

LudisPaintXX

Answered the person a bit later.

"What?"

*Analyzing information…Conditions have been met. Combining received information with an existing skil "He who dwells on the precipice of delusion".  Creating skill.*

*Skill have been created: Mind canvas painter*

/Open Skill List/ willed Noah to check his new skill.

//Skill: Mind canvas painter (Passive)//

//Allows the user a freedom of creativity within the mind realm//

"So what does it do?"

*Allows you create images*

"Where?"

*Right here. In you mind realm*

"Huh? How do I use it?"

*Please think of a tool panel*

"Tool panel? WOAAH…What the hell?" 

Thought Noah aloud when some kind of window with all kinds of painting tools and color palettes appeared in his view out of nowhere.

Noah checked it carefully an chose the brush tool. A small round appeared in the center of his view. Noah touched it and suddenly in absolute darkness of this real that had only the 2 screens and the leftover memory of a mountain from his story travel, now also had a green spot in the middle of the darkness.

Noah noticed that it has the same color as the color in the small squire near brush type tool in his tool window.

"I see. So I can paint anything here now."

*Yes*

"How does that help though"

*Would you allow me to make an example?*

"Alright. I allow"

*Please check the system window*

Noah willed the System window to open and a screen with his stats and skill have opened.

*Taking over Mind Canvas Painter skill control*

*Copy*

*Paste*

Said the systems voice and suddenly in front of noah the same screen appeared.

"Wow. How did you do that."

*System is a high performance calculation programm. Painting an exact copy of an object within a split second is no problem for it.*

*Returning skill controll to the user*

*Please close the system window*

Noah did as system asked and his screen has disappeared leaving only the copied version of it in the mind realm.

*System performed an analysis and confirmed, that both system screen and this copy is a product of a mind realm. There will be no difference from the identification checking skills point of view if we were to allow it to see this fake screen instead of real one.*

"System! You are the most ingenious criminal in the world!" Said Noah with a smile

And started to adjust that fake screen using his new skill.