MHA: GAMER PATH

Chapter 115: The 100 Tales of U.A. (1)

~Ren Y. POV~

[Day 1, UA Highschool, Heights Alliance – Tokoyami's Room, Japan]

There were exactly 3 days before the events of the Shie Hassaikai Arc happened. Counting this as Day 1 I expected to use my time wisely.

But this, though? Having sent my clones searching around Japan for any signs of Shie Hassaikai, I was currently inside having time to tell scary stories.

On a Sunday, Hanta Sero, Mina, Denki, Toga, Tsuyu Asui, and Shinso get together to tell some scary stories. Hanta was telling him to good effect while inside Fumikage Tokoyami's room.

Whose room they were using to tell their stories, due to its dark, gloomy atmosphere, was annoyed at everyone's antics, but they continued forward. Meanwhile, on this day around the campus, Momo, Ochaco Uraraka, Toru, and Kyoka Jiro were hanging out in Kyoka's room as she showed her guests her musical instruments.

In Eijiro's room, Kendo checked out his punching bag, giving it a good workout with her hands. She accidentally smacks it a bit too hard to the ground, causing an enraged Katsuki to storm in and tell them to quiet down.

How I know of this is simple. I just do. Don't question it.

Grim faces and deer skulls illuminated only by eerie candlelight seemed to float in a circle as if participants in some demonic summoning ritual Sero continues his story in a spooky tone, "Of course, the man was terrified. But he couldn't exactly turn back now, so he kept making his way down the dark tunnel, one trembling step at a time… Right when he'd made it halfway through, a warm puff of air tickled his throat. This was odd since there shouldn't have been any wind blowing from up ahead."

Man, Sero was selling his story. That was when Denki with an anxious gulp said, "W-why not…?"

Sero grinned as he began to continue explaining in a spooky tone, "Because the tunnel had been a dead end ever since the year before when a landslide had caused a cave-in."

You know, at first, I thought this was childish. But feeling Mina and Tsuyu lean closer to me, feeling their boobs, is a nice reward.

I could hear and see Mina's astonishment painted all over her face as she muttered, "No way…"

Sero glanced around at his captive audience and went on in a whisper as his voice rose for the story's shocking ending, "The man stopped for a second and felt something drip on his hand. Something cold. He'd been careful about not draining the batteries of his flashlight, but the dripping didn't stop, so he turned it on and shone the beam of light directly above. That's when he saw it… A blood-soaked corpse!"

That was when Mina yelped in a scared tone leaning closer to me, "Eeeck!"

Heh. I could feel her boobs on my arm as she yelped, frightened. Next to me, Tsuyu spoke in her typical flat tone, regaining her composure, "Quite down, Mina."

She regained her composure as Toga grinned, seeing the scene. The kids were getting used to dorm life, and on this Sunday, resident party animals Sero, Ashido, and Kaminari had decided to get together for a scary-story session.

They'd also invited Shinso, Toga, Asui, and me to join the fun. Returning to the conversation at hand, Tokoyami spoke up from the corner, "Enough… Or else find another room for your antics…"

Fumikage Tokoyami sat in a chair outside the story circle with a clear scowl on his beaked face. The gang had decided that his room was the best setting for spooky stories, so Tokoyami was now part of this whether he liked it or not as Mina, with a grin and a thumbs up, said to him, "But this's the only pitch-black spot at this time of day! Plus, you've got skulls and stuff to set the mood!"

She does have a point looking at his room. The skulls were purely decorative, of course, but they could've been mistaken for real bones in the dim candlelight.

But, Tokoyami, with another scowl, said in an annoyed tone, "I didn't furnish my room with you people and your ghost stories in mind!"

That was when Mina and Tokoyami got into a minor argument about candles in his room. It was when Mina suggested in a cheerful tone, "No, wait, I've got it! I'm about to tell a tale so spooky it'll scare the feathers right off you, Tokoyami!"

Though Mina's sunniness didn't seem to penetrate Tokoyami's dark mood. But Mina soon began to go ahead and begin her story. She tried to make a scary story with Toga by my side but…

It wasn't scary at all. No like it was just that bad.

Mina was soon wrapping up her scary story in a spooky tone, "And then, the medium got the shock of her life, cuz, like, the closet was full of ghosts and stuff! Spooky, yeah?"

But the audience blinked blankly, plainly unimpressed. Mina, seeing this, asked in a confused tone, "Wait. Was my story not scary?"

Toga and I shook our heads. Tsuyu, with a tilt of her head, said bluntly, placing her finger over her face, "Not really. The story itself had potential, but not the way you told it, Mina. Ribbit."

Everyone agreed with a nodded head. Even I agreed as I said bluntly at her story, being honest, "Right if you're gonna tell a ghost story, you gotta use your voice to up the spooky factor, the way Sero did. You gotta be a performer."

Sero had a haughty chuckle, complimenting the tape man. Even Denki added, recalling how freaked out he'd been just a few minutes ago, "For real. You've got the knack for making it real hair-raising, Sero."

Sero puffed his chest proudly, but Mina was pouting again, feeling offended, "What the heck! That was the scariest one in my roster."

She paused a beat before her face lit up with a new idea. She turned towards Tokoyami and asked, "I know! How about a story from Tokoyami? I bet he's a master of horror!"

Hearing her idea, Denki immediately agreed to the idea in a cheerful tone, "Ooh, good idea! Tokoyami's normal voice is already scary enough for this kinda thing."

Hm… I couldn't help but added in an honest tone, "He does make a point."

However, Tokoyami was not thrilled by our assessment as he asked in an annoyed tone, "And what is that supposed to mean?"

Even Tsuyu joined as she added bluntly, gazing at the crow man, "I wouldn't mind a story from Tokoyami. Ribbit."

Mina shook her head excitedly and said, "C'mon, horror master!"

With all eyes and expectations on him, Tokoyami scrunched his face, sighed, and cleared his throat, beginning his scary story as he said, with the slightest hint of satisfaction in his voice, "The following is a story told to me by my grandfather when I was young. Maybe it will leave you all sufficiently terrified. Many years ago, the youths in a certain village amused themselves with the Hundred Tales."

Denki soon whispered as he asked flatly, scratching his head in a confused tone, "I feel like I've heard of those, but what're the Hundred Tales about, again?"

That was when Shinso explained in a hushed tone, whispering to them, "It's a way of telling ghost stories, passed down through the ages."

Nodding their heads, Tokoyami continued explaining his story in a calm tone, making the situation spooky, "You light one hundred candles before starting and blow out one for every story you tell throughout the night. When the final candle goes out, they say a real ghost is supposed to show up."

Mina whispered, growing excited about how the story was going, sitting right next to me, "Ooh, we've got candles right here! Perfect for the Hundred Tales!"

Tokoyami swiveled his chair toward the group and went on in a sooky tone, having the perfect atmosphere for his spooky tale, "In this village, the Hundred Tales was one of the few amusements these youths had available to them. Wary of summoning a real specter, they were always sure to stop at the ninety-ninth tale. One day, however, a blond woman came to the village from the city. As a world traveler, she had heard about the Hundred Tales and was eager to join the fun, so the youths happily welcomed her to their storytelling circle that night. Not one of their tales made her cry out in fright, though. Partway through, she began to grin, which only served to frighten the youths. At last, they got through ninety-nine tales and decided to stop, as always, but the visitor broke her silence and began to tell the one-hundredth tale of the night. The group implored her to stop, but she did not. When her tale concluded, the final candle blew out all on its own."

Feeling nervous Sero said from a logical explanation feeling a light breeze, "Probably just a breeze that did it, right?"

Holding my arm tightly Mina whispered to me with a terrified gulp, "S-so? Did a ghost appear…?"

Remaining silent, I paid attention to Tokoyami's story, genuinely interested in how this scary story of his goes, "One of the youths kept a brave face and pointed out that no ghost or ghoul had emerged, but when he tried to relight the candle…the blond woman had vanished altogether. The next morning, the entire village and its police force searched, but she was nowhere to be found. Perhaps she'd simply gone home, some thought, while others whispered that maybe she had been spirited away. Time passed until most had forgotten about the blond woman, but one day, one of the youths present that fateful night claimed that he had spotted the woman again. The others were convinced his eyes had deceived him until the next day when his body was discovered; his face twisted in an expression of sheer terror now of death. And wrapped around his neck? A single blond hair…"

I heard Mina squirming as she wrapped her arms around one of mine, and Asui took my other free arm. Toga looked genuinely frightened by the story as she took refuge behind me and Shinso with Sero.

Denki was sitting near Shinso as he gave me the stink eye, seeing I got three beauties on me, "What's up with you?"

Mina gave a sheepish response poking her face out from my arm, "This position just makes me feel, I dunno, safer…?"

Tsuyu and Toga nodded their heads, agreeing I was the best safe spot. It says a lot about Denki shooting the stink eye at me with Sero and Shinso sighing.

With the jealous Denki put on the side, I returned to listening to Tokoyami's scary story as he went on, "The next day, another of the youths from that night turned up dead. Then another, and another, until everyone who had been present for the blond woman's hundredth tale was no more. The rest of the village was convinced that the woman must be a soul-sucking demon of some sort."

I blinked, a bit confused about that jump. I then asked curiously for the sudden conclusion, "Eh? Why'd they jump to the demon explanation?"

Hearing my question, Tokoyami began to explain in a deep tone as he continued with his scary story, "Because of a certain legend in the village. Long, long ago, it was said, a local couple had given birth to a daughter with blond hair. The dark-haired husband assumed his wife had been unfaithful, and despite his wife's protests, he abandoned her and their newborn daughter on the mountainside. Deep in the mountains, the wife sacrificed the baby to a demon to lay a powerful, grudge-filled curse upon her cruel husband."

That was when Tsuyu asked bluntly as I felt Mina's trembling grip tighten around my arm as did Asui gripping my other arm, "So the baby turned into a demon and eventually came back to cause trouble…? Or at least, that's what the villagers assumed, all those years later? Ribbit."

Tokoyami nodded and glanced around the group. Seeing their frightened expressions except for mine, he continued his story, "However, the story did not end there. The friend who told my grandfather this tale moved away from the village in question at a young age. As a grown man, he found himself nostalgic for his hometown, but when he returned for a visit, he found the village deserted and in ruins. According to those in the next town over, the village was afflicted by a terrible plague that killed off every resident. Was it illness that destroyed them, though? Perhaps not, as rumor has it that strands of blond hair were found near the bodies…"

Turning my head, I see that Mina had tears forming in her eyes, saying in a scared tone, "Okay, whoa. This is getting way too freaky for me!"

Then I turned to see Tsuyu with a slight look of concern on her usual poker face, muttering in a blunt tone, "Sero had more of a straightforward story, but this slowly gets worse and worse. Ribbit."

However, Tokoyami, with a shake of his head after pausing for his listener's comments, continued his tale, "I'm afraid there is still more to come. After the man returned from the ruined village and told my grandfather his story, he began acting strangely. He had spotted the grinning blond woman and was now afraid that spreading the word of her had cursed him, too. 'Maybe you were just imagining things?' suggested my grandfather, but the friend was convinced. He died, suddenly, several days later, with a single strand of blond hair wrapped about his neck."

This final, terrifying development left the group aghast. With a strained smile, Sero rubbed his arms as if hit by sudden chills and said nervously, "This one's gonna keep me up tonight…"

The visibly frightened Denki said in a nervous tone, pressing Tokoyami, "This is fiction, yeah? Totally made up, right?"

Tokoyami seemed a bit flustered by his classmate's reactions. But he apologized sheepishly, scaring the kids, his eyes fixed on us, "I apologize…if this was too scary. But no, my grandfather told me this tale. As for whether he made it up? I cannot say. The stories we pass down contain lessons. The lesson of my tale is that stories themselves should be treated as more than mere amusements or ways to pass the time. Wandering, cursed spirits roam closer to home than we might expect, and they are always listening. Even here and now, perhaps…"

There was no levity in Tokoyami's concluding words. The group swallowed hard as I spoke up in an amused tone, "Either way, it was an interesting story to hear. But I think I know one that might be even top of your story, Tokoyami. Anyone interested?"

Tokoyami seemed interested, but the group shivered. Shinso spoke up in a nervous tone, eyeing me, "How the heck are you not even phased by Tokoyami's scary story? You didn't even react even once…"

A flash image of AFO played over my mind, and I mentally shivered at the thought before brushing it off. Hearing that, I shrugged my shoulder as I bluntly said to Shinso, "Eh, I heard worse. So… anyone interested?"

They all shook their heads, with Tsuyu speaking up bluntly, letting go of my arm, "Tokoyami is right. That seems like enough ghost stories for today."

Mina joined, agreeing, who seemed relieved, and Sero and Denki nodded in agreement as she said, letting go of my arm, "Darn right! This just got a little too real. Better luck next time, Class Rep."

I merely sighed, admitting defeat for now. Man, and I wanted to introduce them to some creepy stories while I was in the mood. Oh well…

I mean, there's no such thing as a ghost anyway. I mean, this is MHA the supernatural doesn't exist.

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~Third POV~

[Nighttime, UA Highschool, Heights Alliance – Ren's Room, Japan]

As everyone has gone to sleep for the night Ren's [Gamer's Path] flared reacting to something foreign placed upon him. A purplish hue of black and purple enveloped him revealing to be nothing wrong at first…

*Beep*

But it was when the notification of his ability of a screen showed giving him a notification that eventually vanished on its on reading the following…

[The host and Class 1-A have been cursed!]

[The Cursed Demon prowls the halls…]

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A/N: Hey guys, the author is here to give you all tomorrow's chapter in advance! The 100 Tales UA is a canon event in the novels so I thought to add some events from the novels to here with some changes and no worries this is a short 3 chapter story.

But on a side note I've been thinking of doing a MHA with the MC having the Omnitrix story for a while at the age of 10 years old during MHA Vigialnte before going to the main story 5 years later. Anyone know any good Omnitrix fanfics?