Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works, if you recognise it from somewhere else, surprise it isn't mine.

Betad by morde24, Atrius, Hermes, Priapus, Marethyu, Old man of the mountain, TheDonFluffles, Malcolm Tent and Mike, God of Lore, Beans

The Guild of Gamers: The Game Master

Chapter 01: Summoner Summoned

Do the weird CYOA, Solomon, it'll be fun Solomon.

Past me was a moron, though in his defence I didn't exactly expect a random CYOA that popped up in my inbox to kidnap me from my fucking world!

Okay, sure the email was kinda shady and I had to double and triple check for viruses before I checked out the CYOA, simply called the 'Game Master', but I figured one of my friends sent it to me from an email I didn't have saved.

But apparently, it was sent by an omnipotent asshole, too lazy to do his own recruitment for his interdimensional guild.

So, by the whims of a bored man with more power than common sense, Solomon White disappears from the world.

Yes, I am well aware my name makes me sound like a fucking wizard instead of a university student. Solomon the White.

My parents are weird, some nerds shouldn't be allowed to reproduce. Yes, I'm just as nerdy as them but at least I wouldn't call my son Solomon.

I suppose I should just be glad I'm not actually called Gandalf or Albus, even if Dad snuck Tiberius in as my middle name. Fucking Trekkies.

Dad loves sci-fi, Mum loves fantasy, and here I am loving both.

But yes, stupid stupid name. School was a difficult time for me, kids can be cruel, so very cruel.

Gasping as I sit up in my chair, in my new apartment, I look around the nice living room with a frown.

It's a lovely house, it is.

It'd be nicer if it wasn't in Brockton Bay. Once more past me screwed current me, his lust for Glory Girl and Panpan clouded his mind and diluted his common sense to actually pick fucking Worm as the world of choice.

It's why my fancy new house is on the same street as the Dallon family, and it's why I go to Arcadia, but unlike the fantasy I was picturing I have to face reality.

Victoria is taken and Amy is… Amy. A ticking time bomb, in the best scenarios. I don't even know which Amy I'm dealing with. Hell, even if this is Canon Amy, is it Worm Canon or god forbid, Ward Amy.

Has Wildbow come and taken a piss on this world of mine, so nobody can have nice things?

And here I am, stuck in this hellscape because past me was thinking with his penis at 3 a.m and made stupid choices because of it.

Okay, let's focus on the current situation instead of cursing my stupid 3 a.m decisions. How fucked am I?

Well, I'm in Worm so that's immediately a very, but specifically how bad is it.

I chose one week before the Locker, so the main story hasn't even started yet, Scion is off doing Scion things and I have time.

Time to do what? Fuck if I know, but time all the same.

Calm down, I can do this.

I'm the Game Master, even now I can feel the power I've been granted, the limitless potential. As long as I'm smart, I should be fine.

I wasn't that stupid when I was making my build, my focus wasn't entirely on the girls.

The short version of what my power does? I'm the ultimate summoner.

I can summon anything from any form of media, whether it's magical items, monsters, or gods.

Or I will be able to, in time.

Admittedly I'm rather limited at the moment because I need to unlock different summons with GM points I earn by… well, doing stuff.

What stuff? Anything, as long as I'm not sitting on my ass or just playing the regular civilian I'll get more GM points.

I also have a summon limit, the stronger the summon the more slots it takes up, but that'll grow with time and even eventually be removed entirely.

Summoning items costs GM points, but they're permanently unlocked once I buy them, and I can spawn more copies of them for a considerably reduced price (unless it's a unique item) and consumables regenerate.

If I buy a potion of healing, it'll refill eventually and if I buy another copy then I have two refilling potions. The more powerful the consumable the longer it takes to respawn, which is fair.

They can't be stolen or permanently destroyed since I can recall them or they'll repair themselves over time in my pocket dimension (based on how badly damaged and how powerful the items are).

I won't be summoning Thor Odinson, Protector of Mankind, to come and one-shot an Endbringer for me anytime soon, but that doesn't mean I'm defenceless.

To start with I've got something very important.

I can't actually buy powers with my points, I'm almost entirely limited to summoning items or creatures, but what I can buy are perks.

Such as this, which came as a freebie to anyone dumb enough to pick Worm as their starter world.

[Blank]

You are immune to both Master and Thinker abilities.

Thank god for that, because there are too many threats that fall into one of those two categories, not least of which is a certain stylish hat lady.

I also grabbed a couple of magical items to begin with, because while I can't give myself powers directly I can make do with different magical items.

I couldn't make myself a super soldier, but I could summon the super-soldier serum from Marvel and use it on myself. I have options.

But for now, the items I have are more about hiding my identity than empowering me.

[Masquerade Tattoo]

This tattoo appears on your body in whatever pattern and colour you desire, able to be changed at will. This tattoo allows the wearer to alter their appearance, as long as they remain humanoid and roughly the same size.

It was the cheapest reliable form of shapeshifting or disguising myself I could find. I've had it take the shape of a golden trinity knot on my shoulder.

I also grabbed this to help with the cape costume.

[Everchange Outfit]

This outfit can be altered at will by the wearer, changing the style, colour and material. It also cleans and repairs itself over time.

The ability to change both my face and outfit at will should help me avoid following Fleur's footsteps because I don't have faith in the unwritten rules actually being followed.

They're really more of a suggestion when you're powerful enough, I don't need someone forcibly recruiting me or just putting me down because I stepped on the wrong toes.

I bought a small selection of summons to start with, for a variety of roles.

Summons

[Basic Elemental Bundle]

Water Elemental, Fire Elemental, Earth Elemental, Air Elemental

[Carbuncle]

[Black Chocobo]

You can buy summons in bundles, sometimes sorted by type or by their original media, which is cheaper if you plan to get them all or buy them individually as I did for my Chocobo and Carbuncle.

The Final Fantasy pack was far too expensive to start with, considering it had Behemoths and things like Ramuh and Shiva in it.

The Chocobo is my transport since they can go very fast, the Carbuncle is my support and healer summon, and the elementals are my damage options.

As for where most of my points went?

Well, beyond monsters you can also get unique 'hero' summons, which are specific characters (despite the hero description, you can obviously get villains as well).

Basically, every character from any series is at my fingertips, but they take up a lot of space in my summon limit.

However, you can spend GM points to make any summon permanent, cost depending on their power, so they no longer count towards your limit.

Hearing some humming, I head towards the kitchen and watch the curvy blonde woman happily making breakfast for a moment, dressed in some comfy pyjamas and a fluffy dressing gown.

[Character Background]

This skill allows you to alter the world you are in to give your hero summons a legitimate background when they are made permanent.

One of the GM skills I picked up immediately because The Game Master can alter reality itself to control the 'game'. Most of the skills are hilariously expensive, but this one was affordable.

"Ah, Solomon! Breakfast is almost ready," she says, her Swiss accent clear as she smiles at me.

"Thank you, Me- Dr Ziegler?" I say, testing the words as she chuckles.

"Given everything, I think Angela is more appropriate," Angela Ziegler, the former Overwatch agent known as Mercy, says cheerfully as she plates up my food.

See, I didn't want to drop into this world as a recordless orphan and I didn't want to get put with a family I didn't know, so I had an idea.

What if I made one of my summons, my official legal guardian?

Angela Ziegler is my aunt, my only surviving family member after my parents died in a cape battle, which is why I recently moved to Brockton Bay to live with her.

She's a doctor at the Brockton Bay General Hospital, a genius who has progressed the cause of medical research considerably. I considered making her a Protectorate hero as Mercy but decided against it.

She's just a very good doctor, her Caduceus staff and Valkyrie suit hidden away in my interdimensional storage space.

Why her? Partially because having such a good healer ready to patch me up after fights sounded like a good idea… and mostly because she's incredibly hot.

"Eat up, it's your first day at Arcadia and breakfast is the most important meal," Angela says warmly, sipping her coffee.

Angela is my summon, at my command, she can't disobey me which is why I liked the idea of my summon being my legal guardian. She remembers her past in Overwatch, but I'm not sure what her opinion is about this whole situation.

She's not wrong that it's my first day at Arcadia, the Locker incident happened on the first day back to school after the winter break that's just ended but I've looked into it and Winslow is closed for another week.

I've looked into it and thank fuck I simped for Vicky and not Taylor, because if I did I'd be going to Winslow and that sounds like actual hell.

"What do you think about this, Angela?" I ask, making her pause.

"I think this world could use an Overwatch of its own if your memories are to be believed," Angela says, frowning as she leans against the counter. "Endbringers and this 'Scion', and I thought that Null Sector was bad."

It's not my memories, but she has access to what I know unless I want to block her out.

"You're not wrong, but I meant about the whole being summoned thing," I admit, making her smile. "You did kinda get grabbed to come play babysitter."

"Ah, I see. Hmm, I do not mind. I am not that Angela, she's still in her own world, in countless versions of her world if I understand correctly, I essentially exist to be summoned by you," Angela finally says, and while I wonder if the system is making her think that, I'm not going to look a gift healer in the mouth. "I am at your command, Sol, and I find myself more comfortable with that than that version of Angela would have been."

"That's good, I get the feeling I'm going to need your healing before long, no matter what I do," I admit, making her chuckle.

"Ah, but it's not why you picked me, is it? You chose me for my looks, not my medical prowess," Angela says, teasingly. She's not reluctant to tease her master, giving me a small smirk.

I can alter the personalities of hero units, it's part of being the game master. I could have made Mercy into a sadistic villain who only heals people so she can hurt them more, but I've left her at basically factory settings.

"Hm, you're not wrong. Sorry?" I say half-heartedly, making her chuckle.

"You're a perfectly healthy teenage boy, who was indulging in a little harmless fantasy about a fictional character. You can hardly be blamed," Angela says kindly. "Now eat, it's going cold. I will drive you to Arcadia, and tonight we can discuss what you want to do now that you are in this world. I'm working at the hospital later, I took this morning off to help you settle in."

She's fitting into her new memories easily, both remembering being Mercy, the Overwatch hero and being Angela Ziegler, the Swiss immigrant to Brockton Bay.

"Right, thank you," I say, starting to eat the admittedly very nice meal. I don't need to thank her, she's at my command, but it doesn't hurt to have manners and it'll help us keep up the image of being a doting aunt and her newly orphaned nephew.

She's right about one thing, I need to work out what I'm going to do in this mess.

My plan in my late night fantasising as I completed the CYOA? Become the big damn hero, beat the Endbringers, beat Scion, get the girls and save the world.

It's easy to think about while you're sitting at a computer desk in exactly zero danger, it's not like I had an actual plan to deal with the big bads.

I might as well have been counting on the power of friendship to win the day.

Plus, I picked the AU option for more points, an easy decision at the time but possibly a mistake with the benefit of hindsight given that I don't know what has changed.

So, what do I do?

I won't stick my head in the sand and hope for the best, I can't leave Worm until Scion is neutralised one way or the other, and while I could pray that Taylor pulls off her Khepri trick and wins the day… Gold Morning had so many casualties in canon, Earth Bet was devastated, and billions died.

Even assuming I don't end up one of them, I don't think I can sit idly by and hope for the best.

I have unlimited potential, as the Game Master I could grow powerful enough to make this entire multiverse, every earth, my 'playground'. A fully realised Game Master could erase Scion with a thought because this is the power to become the DM of reality itself.

I've been the GM of a few tabletop games, but this is the power to alter the very fabric of reality, and complete control over everything.

So, if I want to stop Gold Morning from happening, I need power in immense quantities.

As such, I can't be idle, I need to be active to gather as many points as I can, more summons, more heroes, more magical items.

When Scion snaps, I want his fight to be a one-sided slaughter, a depressed fool throwing a tantrum only to be squashed immediately.

Note to self, find Jack Slash and put down that murderhobo, to buy myself more time to prepare.

Of course, that's all depending on the AU changes being small enough to not have changed the plot entirely, but I only took the first level of the perk so it should be minor changes.

I'll have to wait and see, looking out at the city as Angela drives me to school. She's wealthy, and we live in the best part of the city. You almost can't tell that this place is a corrupted shithole.

So, I need to be part of the action.

That leaves three main paths. Hero, villain or rogue.

Rogue isn't for me, they tend to avoid fighting and focus on making money which is the opposite of what I want since I need points, which I'll get from fighting.

As for being a villain? Well, I don't like hurting people who don't deserve it. I could try to be one of the harmless jokey villains but this world eats them up, even Uber and Leet are genuine villains. Beating up prostitutes, working for Bakuda? They aren't the funny 'haha, nerd' villains, they're a pair of assholes giving gamers a bad name.

I guess the Undersiders are an option but that means Coil, also no thanks to be perfectly honest.

I wanted to be the big damn hero, so that's what I'm going to damn well do. At least I shouldn't need to worry about running out of villains, this is Brockton Bay after all.

It's a buffet of free GM points if I'm willing to take the risk of going out as a hero.

If I ever want to see my parents again, or my friends, I need to slay Scion and be free of Worm. Of course, it'll also open the larger multiverse to me, every universe at my fingertips.

I could take my dad on a joyride of the Enterprise, and take my mom to see Rivendell. Apparently, my 'home' world is currently paused, once I return no time will have passed. Nobody knows I'm gone, and if all goes well and I survive it will stay that way.

Playing the hero comes with its own risks and options. Join an independent group, ride solo, join the Wards.

The only independent group of heroes in the bay is New Wave (unless that's changed as well), and I'm not unmasking.

Wards means putting myself under the control of the PRT, and by extension Cauldron.

That said, I'm never going to be able to avoid the boogeymen entirely, especially as my power grows, and being solo makes me more vulnerable in this early stage.

Coil could come for me, but if I'm in the wards he's unlikely to bother, why risk blowing his cover when he plans to become the director anyway?

There are pros and cons to both, but I plan to start solo at the very least, while I get the lay of the land and work out what's changed and what is as I remember it.

But for now, I have something far more intimidating than fighting some gang members and supervillains.

High-School.

I escaped this hell, I was enjoying university, but my dumbass picked this start and now I have to deal with this bullshit all over again.

Note to self, avoid cheerleaders, even if they seem interested in you. Especially if they seem interested in you.

Made that mistake before, I'm looking at you, Bethany.

— Dean Stansfield (Gallant) —

Getting a new student after the winter break wasn't necessarily strange, even if it was an odd time to join the school since the year was almost over.

That said, there was definitely a buzz around the school over the new student, apparently the nephew of Doctor Ziegler.

He didn't go to the hospital much but even he'd heard of the very talented Swiss doctor, with seven PhDs at thirty. She was a hero in a different way to him, spending a lot of time travelling to different warzones with the mostly defunct Doctors Without Borders, before settling in Brockton Bay of all places.

She was also incredibly good-looking, having drawn a lot of attention fussing over her nephew at the school gate, much to the teenage boy's embarrassment.

Yes, he noticed that Angela was very hot, he might be dating Vicky but he wasn't blind.

The rumour mill was in full effect, people prying into things that weren't any of their business as they looked into Solomon's past with all the subtlety and restraint of a horde of nosy teenagers (and wasn't that a unique name).

Solomon's parents had recently died in a cape battle in England, his home country. Apparently, they got caught in a particularly violent fight between some local villain and the King's Men. Someone had managed to find an online news article about it, a brief mention of Solomon which stood out because of his unique name.

Poor guy, moving from Cambridge to Brockton Bay must be one hell of a culture shock, just salt being rubbed into an open wound

As he spotted Solomon entering the cafeteria, his first thought upon getting a good look at him was honestly probably a little unfair.

Because he immediately thought that Solomon, or Sol as he apparently preferred, looked like he'd walked off an Empire 88 recruitment poster.

Tousled light blonde hair and pale blue eyes, which made sense since Dr Ziegler had the same, Sol looked around the room somewhat awkwardly, first-day jitters obvious.

Sol was definitely good-looking, Dean was picking up enough attraction from the girls of the school to see that, and he spotted Vicky giving Sol a once-over. He wasn't easily jealous, and given the glance he gave Dr Ziegler not two hours ago he certainly wasn't going to call her out on it.

Especially given that she immediately turned to Amy, nudging her sister as she spoke in hushed tones, Amy looking clearly annoyed as Vicky continued her schemes to set Amy up with someone.

Amy worked with Dr. Ziegler often, seemingly fond of the older woman (or as fond as Amy was of anyone).

Dennis, being Dennis, tossed an arm over his shoulder making Sol jump slightly at the unexpected touch, saying something he couldn't make out as they went to get something to eat.

By the time they were heading towards the table most of the Wards were sitting, Sol was grinning and joking with Dennis, chuckling at something Dennis said.

Dennis was good at that, as much as he liked playing the irresponsible jokester he was genuinely very good at getting people to relax.

Introductions were had, and Vicky entirely by coincidence decided to move spaces so Sol ended up next to Amy. His girlfriend was many things, most of them good, but subtle was certainly not one of them.

However, as he picked up Amy's annoyance he noticed something odd. He wasn't picking up anything from Sol, not a hint of emotion from the other boy.

As they ate, Amy's hand briefly brushed against Sol's as she went to grab her drink, and he didn't miss the brief moment of befuddlement from the grumpy girl, her ever-present frown fading for a moment as she glanced towards the boy next to her, before she schooled her expression, looking to see if anyone noticed her slip.

They briefly made eye contact, sharing a look before they moved on.

Amy picked up something from Sol, much like he picked up nothing from the new boy, and the loss of his parents sounded like a trigger event if he ever heard of one.

But the unwritten rules existed for a reason, and he couldn't bring it up to anyone, even if he was immediately worried about Sol possibly getting grabbed by one of the gangs.

Not to mention, trying to talk to him would almost definitely break his own cover, leaving him extremely indecisive over what to do.

— Amy Dallon (Panacea) —

Brushing her hand against Sol's arm, she confirmed what she already suspected.

She couldn't pick up anything from him, she was almost sure she could affect him but she normally saw everything when she touched someone, and yet with Sol, she might as well be touching a stone.

She wouldn't be able to heal him, without her power able to see what was wrong with him, and this had never happened before with the exception of a couple of particularly weird Case-53s that registered as inorganic to her power.

He was definitely a living breathing human being, as he turned to speak to Chris who was sitting on the other side of her she felt his warm breath due to how close they were sitting. The table was already crowded before Dennis brought Sol over, she could feel the warmth of his skin as he brushed against her to get away from Dennis's exaggerated movements as Dennis told a story of his latest prank, but she couldn't see anything.

He was a cape, she was sure of it, it was either that or he was a very realistic Tinkertech robot, and given that he was the nephew of Doctor Ziegler she was willing to rule that second theory out.

She'd heard the gossip around the hospital about Angela's sister dying in a cape battle, that she'd be taking in her nephew, and she knew enough to know a trigger event when she heard one.

But it wasn't any of her business, she highly doubted the nephew of one of the best people she knew was going to go villain, more likely she'd hear of a new Ward soon.

She deliberately didn't pay too much attention to the admittedly somewhat cute boy sitting next to her, not giving Vicky any ammunition to tease her with later.

She had enough to worry about anyway, he wasn't her problem.

— Solomon White —

"So, is your middle name really Tiberius?" Chris asks as I sigh.

"Yes, my dad is- was a Trekkie," I sigh, catching a slight wince from most of the table as I correct myself. "If only he'd gotten the first name, I'd be called James instead of Solomon, with some fantasy middle name like Elrond or Aslan, but alas my mum won the rock paper scissors match."

The suddenly sombre silence lightens a little at my forlorn, but clearly mostly joking, tone, I don't want to make things awkward.

It's awkward enough after I accidentally made friends with Clockblocker because I forgot his actual name. I was planning on avoiding the Wards but Dennis ambushed me, and it'd look more suspicious to go out of my way to avoid them when I have no reason to.

It's hard to act like I'm grieving when my real parents are fine, frozen at home, unaware I'm on a bit of adventure of my own, and I've clearly already alerted Dean, or more accurately Gallant, to the fact that something is wrong.

Past Sol, you goddamn simp, was this really worth the chance to be near Vicky and Amy?

Okay admittedly Vicky is extremely attractive, and Amy is very cute, but no it fucking wasn't.

I could have picked an adult or college-aged starting point and avoided most of the main cast so I wouldn't have this particular issue but nooooo~ past Sol had genius plans to win Vicky from Dean in his fantasy.

Though I'm pretty sure what Dean is picking up is the fact that he can't pick anything up, which puts us both in a weird situation of us pretending we don't know the other's secrets.

I could turn off Blank but there are a few issues with that.

Issue one, Simurgh, enough said.

Issue two, Contessa, enough said.

Issue three, my emotions don't match a recently orphaned teenage boy, so that'd be suspicious enough anyway.

No, it's better to keep Blank up despite the issues it may cause.

The conversation stays light, with a few questions aimed at what England is like, the answer? Rainy, obviously.

Classes start, and once again I stand out because I graduated and was well into my university degree in my past life, so I frankly breeze through the classes and any questions thrown my way.

Well, I was a nerd in school anyway so that's more of the same, witness my genius you mere high-schoolers.

Still, I'm not that much older than them. Most of them are around 16-17, and so am I now, whereas I got yoinked from my old world at the ripe old age of 20.

The sacred rule of half your age plus seven is still in effect, and if you take my physical age and my mental age and equalise them, I'm in the safe zone.

Classes drag, but it gives me time to consider what I'm going to do since I can do all the work on autopilot. I forgot how much easier school was to university, the assignments seem so laughably small.

A thousand words due next week? Is that all? Are you sure it doesn't have to be fifty thousand words with seven hundred credited sources, due three days ago?

Still, it's not all a cakewalk. History for one, this world is different from mine so I can't just rely on my memories. Plus, one of the assignments is about the effect Endbringers have had on global trade, still, it should be an interesting subject to research-

Oh god, that's a nerdy sentence.

As classes come to an end, I take some time to look up the public transport situation to get home, Angela let me know she was busy at work so I need to make my own way home.

Fortunately, there is a bus that goes from the school to one street away from where I live, so it's easy enough to get home without any fuss.

I doubt it'd be so painless if I was going to Winslow.

Speaking of Winslow, I think I'm going to stop the locker incident from ever happening because I can't rely on Taylor saving the world, so why leave her to get partially eaten alive by bugs in the first place?

Of course, I'll need a reason to be in Winslow, so I have a week to work that out. Maybe I should just shapeshift into someone else and shove Emma into the locker instead, see how she likes it.

I won't, obviously, but it's tempting.

That said, maybe I could get some justice for Taylor using my shapeshifting… I want to be a hero, but I'm not above some morally grey vigilante justice. Emma would find it harder to bully Taylor if she was going through a little reputation crisis. Something to consider.

If nothing else… It would be funny.

Heading into the house, I head for my bedroom ensuite and check myself out in the mirror, my features shifting.

I've always been told I'm 'cute', but my cape identity will be more handsome, with striking features to counter my softer ones.

I'm staying the same age, roughly even if I add a year or two onto my cape identity, my hair going chocolate brown and my eyes turning a striking gold. For the finishing touch, I give myself pointed Elven ears, to embrace the 'magical' persona I'm going for.

My clothes shift as well, I'm not going for a robe since it'd be too inconvenient but the velvety blue outfit with various 'armoured' leather pieces, such as a single pauldron over my left shoulder and my bracers and boots, gives me a decidedly fantasy adventurer look.

To be perfectly honest, I look like the character art I had done for my first DnD character, a half-elf wizard, only younger, and most importantly…

I don't look like Solomon White.

Switching my appearance back and forth, I make sure I can do it smoothly and accurately each time before I take a breath.

I should probably wait to talk to Mercy before I set out for my first patrol, but if I stay around the downtown/boardwalk area I should be fine because that's where the PRT patrol most of the time.

I want to establish myself as a hero as soon as possible, and Angela is apparently being swamped at work because she's a doctor in Brockton Bay.

Still, as I do a little online research on the cape and gang situation of this place, no need to go into things blind after all.

…so, some quick questions.

Who the fuck are the Sons of Samedi?

Why are there several Asian gangs instead of just the ABB?

Where is Kaiser and who is Iron Rain?

Ah, right.

Past Sol, I'm going to summon something capable of time travel and then kick you in the dick, it's just a little AU it'll be fine.

Fucking moron.

Author's Note: Yup, it's another Worm story. Discord is a bad influence and encourages me to let my whimsical muse do what she wants.

I am entirely motivated by praise and interaction, so leave a review and I'll probably write faster.

I have a discord server (technically someone else's but my name is on the server so it's basically mine) with a bunch of other authors and a load of porn. Here's the link for that: discord .gg/wd3tUYWVCd

If it says it's expired, add me (ThePumpkinKing) and I'll invite you myself.

I've finally started to use my Pat Reon for something, mostly I've just added some discord integration so that my Pat Reons can read early previews of chapters. This won't affect regular posting, but if you wanna read my works a day or two early then consider checking it out

Link: Pat reon TheDarkWolfShiro