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Completed [LP CYOA] I'm a High Tech Hobo Who Stumbled into Another World While Out Scavenging For Parts

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
Alright, hella rusty, but let's give this a shot.


***


Armor on Promotion


I looked at the scattered parts I had managed to scavenge from the Junkyard. Having spent the past few months of my apprenticeship studying the magitech that this world used, I can now claim to be fairly confident in my understanding of the concept. Unfortunately, understanding doesn’t necessarily translate into practical results. This was all the more true for magitech, as the highest grade of construction techniques required corresponding skill in magery. That was a great, big gaping hole in my knowledge, one as big as Dumpster Doug’s gaping hole which he sold to other lonely hobos. Not that I debased myself to actually purchasing his services.

Regardless, I still knew enough to make my own suit of armor. It wouldn’t be what I fully envisioned, but it might still be enough to interest the guild. After all, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve. Technological gimmicks of my own to improve these suits. Hunkering over, I got to work.


***


“What’s this… thing?” Georgios grimaced, his eyes staring at the black hulk before him. I wiped my oily fingers on the tarp which has been covering the armor just moments before and gave him a tight grin.

“I put it together myself, boss.” I said, rapping the massive frame with my knuckles. Constructed out of scarred black metal, looking like it was bolted together in somebody’s backyard (which was indeed more or less the case) instead of being sculpted in a professional workshop, it towered over me. It did not have the wing-like fins that other magic armors sported. Instead, the back equipment was taken up by two long barrels. It was noticeably larger than the average magic armor; a natural consequence of my unfamiliarity with this world’s technology as well as the lack of tools at my disposal. I mean, I had to cobble it together from scrap, give me a break.

“Lemme guess. You snuck away parts from the Junkyard, didn’t you?” A sigh escapes the grizzled foreman. “That’s how you lose an arm or two, rookie. We ain’t in the business of providing stuff for free, and you just stole from us.”

My grin freezes. “Yeah, but-“

“That’s how we’d deal with thieves. But…” After interrupting you, Georgios lets out an exasperated sigh again, “I have no idea at all why you’d show me what you stole. What’re you up to? What’s with this hunk of junk?”

I swallow my saliva and gather my thoughts. That was close. I thought it was all over for a second, that he’d be reporting me and having the Junkyard do what they did to people they considered thieves.

“This hunk of junk isn’t just any hunk of junk. It’s a hunk of junk that’s more durable and powerful than any other magic armor in the arena,” I claim. Granted, it was also certainly slower and less maneuverable than any other magic armor in the arena, but I couldn’t do anything about that with my limited skills. Not yet, anyway.

I continue my marketing spiel, applying the persuasive charisma honed from years of begging for cash.

“This baby’s a whole new concept sure to revolutionize arena combat. Right now everyone’s going for mobility, aren’t they? Can’t blame them. In a fight between two suits of magic armor, the armor plating itself is surprisingly useless in close combat. It can deflect the ranged bolts commonly used, but it might as well be paper in melee range. I’ve solved this issue.”


I look up at the behemoth proudly. “It’s armored with an alloy of my own devising. The average magic knight would do nothing more than dent it even if they swing away at full power.” Being forced to make the frame so large also meant that I could pack more plating on it, so it worked out well there. This armor would be impervious to anything in the lower tiers of Onmusfall’s arena. I was confident about that.

“Okay.” Georgios did not look convinced.

“That’s not all. I’ve also augmented the detection package,” I continued. “In addition to the sensory orbs, I’ve added, uh, other devices that allow for easy tracking and prediction of the target. In fact, it’s so good that even a quadriplegic can shoot down a duck in this armor. That’s how good it is.” Explaining the full array of electronic sensors I packed into the head unit would likely go over Georgios’s head at this point, so I didn’t.

“To top it all off, I’ve revised the design for these enchanted bolt canisters. This belt-fed design increases the ammunition capacity by over tenfold, with a firing rate more than five times that of the best modern designs! And it has four of these marvels!”

Georgios stared at me, as if I was insane. I’m clearly not. “Look, boy—“

“But there’s more! Look at those two long barrels. Those are-“

“Good grief, are those magic cannons!?” George’s face paled. “Where did you get them? I’m bloody sure we didn’t have any of those lying around as scrap!”

“Is that what they call them here? Magic cannons?” I snort. “Well, I suppose this world’s conceived of that concept too. It’s just hooking up the mana capacitator directly to the cannons as a power source. What’s so hard about that?”

Similar techniques were used back in my world – once you figure out that mana is just another form of energy, it’s not particularly difficult. It’s not like it fires black holes or anything. I guess, I could make it do that, theoretically, if I could figure out how to generate a black hole from magic spells. But I’d have to be certifiably mad to try that in this world. Definitely. Besides, I’m not gonna try anything like that again.

“What’s so hard about… no, never mind. Can this thing even move?”

It could, but slowly. It could track and fire quite quickly but this machine was not going to be winning any prizes for flashy close combat moves.

“It can,” I said. “Or rather, it should. I don’t have the mana capacity to move it for combat, sadly.” The armor required a larger mana capacitator than usual due to its design, and my meagre magical abilities could do nothing more than move it.

Georgios’s scowl deepened. Despite my best efforts, he remains seemingly unconvinced. “And you stole from the Junkyard and dragged me here just to show me something you haven’t even tested yourself?”

“Well…”

“What’s going on here?”

A woman’s voice rings out in the dilapidated warehouse I had been using for working on the armor.

“Fuck.” Georgios turns around, facing the entrance. “Surprise seeing you here, missy. Were you doing the rounds?”

A young woman stood at the doors, dressed in a more refined manner than most in the Junkyard; instead of dirty overalls, she actually wore a dress, as pale as the moon. I’ve never seen her before – I’d definitely remember such a raven-haired beauty if I did.

“I was inspecting this warehouse. Since it wasn’t being used, the Chief wants it fixed up for the new gladiator we’re getting in soon.” Her icy-blue eyes glared at me. “Who’s this and why is he here?”

“Uh, a new apprentice mechanic. Sorry, missy, can’t remember his name for the life of me, but-“

“Has he been stealing from us?”

Georgios turned pale. “Why, uh…”

“Of course not, miss!” I spoke up quickly, eager to deflect any blame before it could land. “I was engaging in, right, a private engineering project for the betterment of the Junkyard! I assure you, I haven’t stolen any material from the guild for my own benefit!”

Her eyes moved towards the giant hulk behind me. “And so that thing would be…”

“Guild property, yes!” shouted Georgios, covering for me despite his lack of faith in my engineering skills.

That did not seem to improve her mood. “I wasn’t aware that our apprentices had enough spare time to be working on trash like this.”

“One man’s trash is another’s treasure.”

My clichéd turn of phrase didn’t seem to amuse her either. Ignoring me, she continued talking to my foreman.

“Regardless, I need this warehouse cleaned up. Dismantle that junk by tomorrow. Do you hear me? I’ll ignore the waste of time involved in making it.”

Dismantle it? After the months I spent working on it? It was the fate of a hobo to be downtrodden and browbeaten by their betters in life. I’m used to it. That doesn’t mean I’m going to take it just lying down from some prissy broad who walked in and started barking orders, though.


***


A. I try to persuade the woman by verbally promoting my armor’s good points, just like I attempted with Georgios.


B. No one will believe me without a demonstration. I beg them for a single chance to show off my magic armor.


C. I might not be able to fight in it, but I can still move it. I jump into the armor and make a run for it. If the Junkyard won’t give me a chance, I’m sure somewhere else will.


D. I decide to be obedient for now and dismantle it, biding my time and learning even more about magitech.
 

Kabas

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Feb 10, 2018
Messages
1,258
According to isekai laws MC will always be underestimated by everyone no matter what until he shows his powerlevel/invention or whatever shit right into their faces. And even when not always, they will likely come up with some incredibly convoluted reason for why what they saw was a fluke or something.
A will definitely won't work, i have a hunch that we won't get a desirable result with B even if we receive the chance and succeed, D is for pussies.

I vote option C, it would be a good demonstration if this junk mech is indeed an immovable tank even with weapons offline.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
B.
We're trying to convince them that we didn't steal anything. And the armor is slow as molasses. C'mon, guys.
 

Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
B.

We are totally convinced that the armour is indeed impregnable! Right? Right?
 

Kipeci

Arcane
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
3,027
Location
Vicksburg
We sound a lot more confident in its ability to take a beating or dole one out than to hightail it out of here, but we may want to consider what we do with our arm if it gets chopped off.
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
A Challenge

“Hey, hey, let’s not be hasty here!” Holding my hands up, I step in front of Georgios and the woman. “I can assure you, lady, this isn’t junk. And if you let me, I’ll prove it.”

She glares at me, unimpressed and unamused.

“I’m afraid not. The Junkyard has been slipshod for far too long thanks to people like you.”

“What about people like me?”

“People like you ensure that we’ll never outgrow the name Junkyard, that our guild will never see any actual success in the arena. Well, that’s about to change, and if you don’t dismantle that scrap armor like I tell you, you won’t be a part of it.”

I’m surprised by her reply. I had assumed that the Junkyard was fine with scamming rookie gladiators with the actual junk they put together and call armor, but I guess she’s aiming for bigger things. That’s… pretty interesting, I would say. My interest slightly piqued, I turn to Georgios and ask, “Wait, boss, who’s the chick again? Someone important?”

His response is to slap the back of my head. “Sorry, lil miss, I’ll get him to take this thing down and clear up the warehouse.”

“Hey! Wait! You can’t just… wait, I know, you’re just chicken, aren’t ya?”

Both Georgios and the woman seem puzzled.

“Chicken…? What do you mean?” she asks, frowning. “Are you implying something rude?”

“Uh, guess there’s some sort of bug in the language skill…. Uh, pussy?”

Her frown deepens. “Pus…sy?”

“Oh, say that again, won’t you?” I blurt out. “Like you’re out of breath.”

The woman’s eyes flash with unrestrained hostility. “I’ve had just about enough of this farce. Georgios, get this warehouse cleaned up.”

“Aye, lil miss. Will do.”

“No, wait! I meant to call you a bloody coward!” I shout.

“What? What is wrong with you!”

It looks like I’m not endearing myself to her any time soon. Nothing to it but to double down.

“Yeah, that’s what I said. You said it just now, didn’t you? You want bigger and better things for the Junkyard. You want to win in the arena. You want this guild to be known for something besides being a purveyor of cheap junk to talentless hacks. Well, if that’s the case, then you’re a coward for not giving this armor a chance. That’s your chance at victory flying away, right there, lady. Flap flap!”

The woman gives me a disgusted gaze as I flap my arms like wings, running in circles. “You’re insane,” she mutters.

“Maybe I am. But look at me. Look into my eyes.” I suddenly close in on her and clap my hands on her shoulders. Before she can escape, I lean in close, staring into her blue eyes. “I might be mad, but do I look like I’m lying?”

She freezes up like a deer in the headlights, unable to move. One of the tricks of being a successful hobo is to stare at people until they go away or give you what you want, and I put every ounce of charm I have in attempting to mesmerize her with my gaze. She still looks pretty good this close. Maybe not as beautiful as that princess I tripped over five seconds into my arrival in this world, but she’d turn heads even in my old world.

“G-Get away from me!” After what seems like an eternity of gazing into each other’s eyes, she pushes me away and adjusts her clothes. “I can’t believe the nerve of you!”

“But do you think I’m lying?” I ask again.

“W-Well, you seem confident in the performance of that pile of scrap. But that doesn’t mean anything. There are plenty of people who are confident but can’t back it up.”

“I can. Just give me one shot. I’ll show you. It won’t cost you anything. I’ll even move the armor out of this warehouse right now if you want. Just give me that chance.” I say, more serious than I have been in ages, hoping to move her with my sincerity. I look straight into her eyes again. I haven’t pushed this hard ever since the Great Bargain Sale Wars of Shulgi Park. If this doesn’t work, I’m all out of persuasive strength.

The woman falls silent, combing back her long black hair. Then, she sighs, and speaks. “Fine. You get one demonstration.” Then, she gives me a nasty grin. “I mentioned that we’re getting a new gladiator, didn’t I? You can fight her and the best armor the Junkyard has to offer. Let’s have the match tomorrow night.”

“Sure thing,” I smile, rubbing my hands together. “So who’ll be my gladiator?”

“Your gladiator? That is none of my business,” she snorts, turning to leave. “Georgios. If he loses, I want him out of the guild, together with the usual penalty applied for stealing. Since he’s that confident, he needs to be prepared for at least this much punishment, right?”

The woman leaves, and Georgios groans in annoyance. “You’ve been a good worker, boy, but I have no idea what possessed you to act like that. Miss Celia’s not gonna let you go easy.”

“Oh, so she’s called Celia,” I muse. “Nice name.”

“You really don’t know her? Celia, the daughter of the guildmaster?”

“Uh, well…” I was too busy studying how to build armors to pay any attention to anyone, unfortunately.

“Ain’t nothing of that matters now anyway. Hope you got a gladiator lined up, or you’re going out there in your own armor. If you wanna run, now’s the time. That’s the most I can do for ya.”

***

A. I need to find a gladiator, and quick. The match is tomorrow night. This city is full of those seeking to get into the arena. Surely I can find a willing guinea pig. The only question is where I should go to find one…
1. Hit up the streets. That’s where the poorest and most desperate gladiators are, and I should be able to get someone fairly easily.
2. Go to the arena office, where gladiators are registered. I might be able to wheedle information from the clerks about any potential gladiators receptive to my advances.
3. Go to the bars. Drinks help negotiations, and someone drunk enough might be willing to help.

B. I’ll just have to do this myself. I will need to tinker with the armor until right before the match; even then, I definitely can’t operate this armor at full potential. But I should be able to use that time to cobble together a weapon that can be used without plentiful reserves of mana:
1. A large metal disc attached to a thick chain. I can toss it to smash shit up and use the chain to trip opponents up, though it’ll need all of my skill to use.
2. A hydraulic pike. It stores energy generated from the armor’s movement to unleash a destructive pile bunker. Needs quite some time to charge up, though.
3. A giant shovel. I’m very used to handling shovels. One could say that I’m an expert shoveler. It’s nothing fancy, but I can rely on my shovel-fu to carry me through the fight.

C. Yeah, no, this is too much of a hassle. Time to cut and run!
 

ItsChon

Resident Zoomer
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Երևան
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
B3 but can you let us know just how much us piloting it versus someone else will effect the mechs performance?
 

Kipeci

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tenor.gif


Let’s keep digging!

B3
 

Baltika9

Arcane
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Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
I think that the trick here is that we just need to do well enough for our demonstration fight. Enlisting an experienced gladiator to fight for us might be a bad idea, because it will raise the expectations of our audience.

But if an untrained dilettante (us) does a passable job wearing that armour, then we will have demonstrated its efficacy.

Bandwagon3, I think it's best to stick with a familiar tool for our first fight.
 

Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
Bx. Nobody else has the BELIEF that we need for the armour to succeed! We must have FAITH!

The tool that we choose should surely depend on the opponent, though. treave we must have observed enough about typical armour design & tactics for junkyard folks now. Do they tend to favour up close and personal combat? Mobility is mentioned as the key going fad right now, and we're going to be criminally outrun and out-dexterity'd. So I don't think the recharging pike will work, but maybe tripping people up is the way?
 

Kipeci

Arcane
Joined
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Messages
3,027
Location
Vicksburg
I think that the trick here is that we just need to do well enough for our demonstration fight. Enlisting an experienced gladiator to fight for us might be a bad idea, because it will raise the expectations of our audience.

But if an untrained dilettante (us) does a passable job wearing that armour, then we will have demonstrated its efficacy.

Bandwagon3, I think it's best to stick with a familiar tool for our first fight.
Ehh Celia did say to apply the regular punishment “if he loses” without qualification so there’s a chance of that going poorly, though I agree that how strictly they are could be proportional to how well we fight in practice. Doing better is also more likely to get us an in with another guild even if this one only wants our arm in the end.
 

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