
by John.Malkin
Welcome to First Mana Mage. A what-if story that gives one answer to the question, “If a system apocalypse happened to you, the reader, what would you do? This is a slice of life, slow burn, slow system apocalypse, no harem, high dialog, GameLit story that’s set in a mostly real world, historical May, 2022. There are a few changes such as fictional locations and people. See the Note at the bottom. There are no monsters devouring your neighbors, no dungeons, no magic swords. Magic zombie rot did not destroy everything in the world. Some people died in accidents because of the Character Screen appearing in front of their eyes while driving. Your problem is, the System is now available to everyone like they were just starting an online roleplaying game, except that it’s real. Everyone somewhat over puberty now has access to magic, skills, knowledge, and abilities like they were in a game. The internet still works, Amazon still delivers in two days or less to Prime members. You can binge watch Netflix, Disney, or Max. The Character Interface is open. The beginning rules and character classes are available to everyone. What will you do? What will you become? This story is about what one man did and became. I have a Discord if you wish to join it. There are things there, including advance information, that won't be in the story here. DISCORD
| # | Title | Words |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | V1-01, Chapter 1: Looking Back | 0 |
| 1 | V1-01, Chapter 2: Waking Up To Crunch Time | 0 |
| 2 | V1-01, Chapter 3: Character Construction | 0 |
| 3 | V1-02, Chapter 4: Testing 1, 2, 3 | 0 |
| 4 | V1-02, Chapter 5: Forming The Party | 0 |
| 5 | V1-02, Chapter 6: First Party Formed | 0 |
| 6 | V1-03, Chapter 7: First Quest | 0 |
| 7 | V1-03, Chapter 8: Shoot The Tree | 0 |
| 8 | V1-04, Chapter 9: Party Time | 0 |
| 9 | V1-04, Chapter 10: Something Outside | 0 |
| 10 | V1-05, Chapter 11: Madame Boudoir | 0 |
| 11 | V1-05, Chapter 12: Planning Session | 0 |
| 12 | V1-06, Chapter 13: It’s Freezing Outside | 0 |
| 13 | V1-06, Chapter 14: Green Monsters Sighted | 0 |
| 14 | V1-06, Chapter 15: You Can't | 0 |
| 15 | V1-07, Chapter 16: She Followed Me Home | 0 |
| 16 | V1-07, Chapter 17: MANA Batteries | 0 |
| 17 | V1-07, Chapter 18: Will and Bhaarrt Talk | 0 |
| 18 | V1-08, Chapter 19: Call To War | 0 |
| 19 | V1-08, Chapter 20: TV Reporter | 0 |
| 20 | V1-09: Chapter 21: Preparing For War | 0 |
| 21 | V1-09: Chapter 22: Marshaling The Line | 0 |
| 22 | V1-09: Chapter 23: Blessings And Buffs | 0 |
| 23 | V1-09: Chapter 24: Battleground Entered | 0 |
| 24 | V1-10: Chapter 25: Ready To Fight | 0 |
| 25 | V1-10: Chapter 26: The Battle of Eddington | 0 |
| 26 | V1-11: Chapter 27: After The Battle Interviews | 0 |
| 27 | V1-11: Chapter 28: More Interviews | 0 |
| 28 | V1-12: Chapter 29: City/County Agency | 0 |
| 29 | V1-12: Chapter 30: Beer and Brats | 0 |
| 30 | V1-13: Chapter 31: Prepare For Battle, Again | 0 |
| 31 | V1-13: Chapter 32: Battle March | 0 |
| 32 | V1-14: Chapter 33: Vitalstatistix | 0 |
| 33 | V1-14: Chapter 34: Not Enough Mana | 0 |
| 34 | V1-14: Chapter 35: Now I Ley Me Down | 0 |
| 35 | V2-01: Chapter 1: Into The Frying Pan | 0 |
| 36 | V2-01: Chapter 2: Local Government Response | 0 |
| 37 | V2-01: Chapter 3: Guild Next Door | 0 |
| 38 | V2-02: Chapter 4: Double Team | 0 |
| 39 | V2-02: Chapter 5: Updates From Blaze | 0 |
| 40 | V2-02: Chapter 6: Convincing The Flanagans | 0 |
| 41 | V2-02: Chapter 7: Come To The Dark Side | 0 |
| 42 | V2-03: Chapter 8: Useless | 0 |
| 43 | V2-03: Chapter 9: Reporters | 0 |
| 44 | V2-03: Chapter 10: The Invitation | 0 |
| 45 | V2-03: Chapter 11: Three At Once | 0 |
| 46 | V2-04: Chapter 12: 19th & Fox Plus Two | 0 |
| 47 | V2-04: Chapter 13: Presidential Video Chat | 0 |
| 48 | V2-04: Chapter 14: The Ball Is Rolling | 0 |
| 49 | V2-04: Chapter 15: Second Morning Spawns | 0 |
| 50 | V2-05: Chapter 16: K-Mart Blue Light | 0 |
| 51 | V2-05: Chapter 17: Bring In The Army | 0 |
| 52 | V2-06: Chapter 18: Captain Park | 0 |
| 53 | V2-06: Chapter 19: Meeting the Holdens | 0 |
| 54 | V2-07: Chapter 20: Igniting The Flame | 0 |
| 55 | V2-08: Chapter 21: System Store | 0 |
| 56 | V2-08: Chapter 22: Buying and Selling | 0 |
| 57 | V2-08: Chapter 23: Exploring The Tavern | 0 |
| 58 | V2-09: Chapter 24: Summoned to ECC | 0 |
| 59 | V2-09: Chapter 25: Secret Meeting | 0 |
| 60 | V2-09: Chapter 26: How Do We Do This? | 0 |
| 61 | V2-09: Chapter 27: Video Meeting Too | 0 |
| 62 | V2-10: Chapter 28: CCC Eddington | 0 |
| 63 | V2-10: Chapter 29: Training & Prep Work | 0 |
| 64 | V2-10: Chapter 30: Even More Prep Work | 0 |
| 65 | V2-10: Chapter 31: We Plot With Our Friends | 0 |
| 66 | V2-11: Chapter 32: Curses, Shamen | 0 |
| 67 | V2-11: Chapter 33: Shamen In The Woods | 0 |
| 68 | V2-11: Chapter 34: The Bird Is The Word | 0 |
| 69 | V2-12: Chapter 35: Preparation Time | 0 |
| 70 | V2-12: Chapter 36: Site Pre-check | 0 |
| 71 | V2-13: Chapter 37: Final Preparation | 0 |
| 72 | V2-13: Chapter 38: Meeting The Visitors | 0 |
| 73 | V2-14: Chapter 39: View From The Living Room Window | 0 |
| 74 | V2-14: Chapter 40: Enchant The Gear | 0 |
| 75 | V2-14: Chapter 41: Setting The Stage | 0 |
| 76 | V2-15: Chapter 42: Release The Kraken | 0 |
| 77 | V2-15: Chapter 43: The Reveal | 0 |
| 78 | V2-15: Chapter 44: Peach Cobbler Breakfast | 0 |
| 79 | V2-16: Chapter 45: Leading The Troops | 0 |
| 80 | V2-16: Chapter 46: A Time For Speeches | 0 |
| 81 | V2-16: Chapter 47: - Presidential Challenge | 0 |
| 82 | V3-01: Chapter 1: - Poker Run's Problem | 0 |
| 83 | V3-01: Chapter 2: - At The Commune | 0 |
| 84 | V3-01: Chapter 3: - Clean up and Inquiries | 0 |
| 85 | V3-02: Chapter 4: - Reporting What happened. | 0 |
| 86 | V3-02: Chapter 5: - Deciding What To Do | 0 |
| 87 | V3-02: Chapter 6: - Talking With Blaze | 0 |
| 88 | V3-03: Chapter 7: - First Planning Session | 0 |
| 89 | V3-03: Chapter 8: - Getting Ready for the Dungeon | 0 |
| 90 | V3-03: Chapter 9: - Dungeon Diving 101 | 0 |
| 91 | V3-03: Chapter 10: - Dungeon Diving 102 | 0 |
| 92 | V3-04: Chapter 11: - Dungeon Diving 103 | 0 |
| 93 | V3-04: Chapter 12: - Dungeon Diving 104 | 0 |
| 94 | V3-05: Chapter 13: - Dungeon Diving 105 | 0 |
| 95 | V3-05: Chapter 14: - Dungeon Diving 106 | 0 |
| 96 | V3-06: Chapter 15: - Dungeon Diving Boss Fight | 0 |
| 97 | V3-06: Chapter 16: - Dungeon Core | 0 |
| 98 | V3-07: Chapter 17: - Dungeon Diving Debriefing | 0 |
| 99 | V3-07: Chapter 18: - Real World Problems | 0 |
| 100 | V3-08: Chapter 19: - More Dungeon Talk | 0 |
| 101 | V3-08: Chapter 20: - Dinner and Discussion | 0 |
| 102 | V3-08: Chapter 21: - Sword and Staff | 0 |
| 103 | V3-09: Chapter 22: - We Talk About Why | 0 |
| 104 | V3-09: Chapter 23: - Shadow Calls For Help | 0 |
| 105 | V3-10: Chapter 24: - Early The Next Morning | 0 |
| 106 | V3-10: Chapter 25: - Albert's Payment | 0 |
| 107 | V3-10: Chapter 26: Convention Center Rooms | 0 |
| 108 | V3-10: Chapter 27: Tanks For The Fight | 0 |
| 109 | V3-10: Chapter 28: The Cost Of Fame | 0 |
| 110 | V3-11: Chapter 29: Wild Bill Problems | 0 |
| 111 | V3-11: Chapter 30: Taking Care Of Bill | 0 |
| 112 | V3-11: Chapter 31 Growing Our Guild | 0 |
| 113 | V3-12: Chapter 32: Breakfast Discussions | 0 |
| 114 | V3-12: Chapter 33: A Trip To The Store | 0 |
| 115 | V3-12: Chapter 34: Afternoon Discussion | 0 |
| 116 | V3-12: Chapter 35 In Bed But Not Sleeping | 0 |
| 117 | V3-13: Chapter 36: Hunted Hunter Hunting | 0 |
| 118 | V3-13: Chapter 37: Big Bad Wolf | 0 |
| 119 | V3-13: Chapter 38: The Naked Man | 0 |
| 120 | V3-14: Chapter 39: Wolf No More | 0 |
| 121 | V3-14: Chapter 40: Dungeon Diving 2 | 0 |
| 122 | V3-14: Chapter 41: Lunch With Shadow | 0 |
| 123 | V3-15: Chapter 42: Where Do We Go From Here? | 0 |
| 124 | V3-15: Chapter 43: Hospital Visit | 0 |
| 125 | V3-16: Chapter 44: I Spy In The Sky | 0 |
| 126 | V3-16: Chapter 45: Goblin Camp 1 | 0 |
| 127 | V3-16: Chapter 46: Goblin Camp 2 | 0 |
| 128 | V3-17: Chapter 47: Explore the Quarry 1 | 0 |
| 129 | V3-17: Chapter 48: Explore the Quarry 2 | 0 |
| 130 | V3-17: Chapter 49: Explore the Quarry 3 | 0 |
| 131 | V3-18: Chapter 50: Counter Attacked | 0 |
| 132 | V3-18: Chapter 51: Fade To Black | 0 |
| 133 | V4-01: Chapter 1: Fade In | 0 |
| 134 | V4-01: Chapter 2: Recovering | 0 |
| 135 | V4-02: Chapter 3: Battle Prep | 0 |
| 136 | V4-02: Chapter 4: Sheep Shot | 0 |
| 137 | V4-02: Chapter 5: Two Become One | 0 |
| 138 | V4-03: Chapter 6: We Need To Talk | 0 |
| 139 | V4-03: Chapter 7: Pizza Promise | 0 |
| 140 | V4-04: Chapter 8: A Visit To The Doctor | 0 |
| 141 | V4-04: Chapter 9 - The Unboxing | 0 |
| 142 | V4-05: Chapter 10 - The Mysterious Mission | 0 |
| 143 | V4-05: Chapter 11 - The Math Book | 0 |
| 144 | V4-05: Chapter 12 - Family Matters | 0 |
| 145 | V4-06: Chapter 13 - The Rain Not In Spain | 0 |
| 146 | V4-06: Chapter 14 - Cultivation In The Rain | 0 |
| 147 | V4-06: Chapter 15 - Pass The Mana Test | 0 |
| 148 | V4-07: Chapter 16 - Cultivating Cultivation | 0 |
| 149 | V4-07: Chapter 17 - The Last Task | 0 |
| 150 | V4-07: Chapter 18 - A Meal Of Pizza And MANA | 0 |
| 151 | V4-07: Chapter 19 - How Not To Cultivate | 0 |
| 152 | V4-08: Chapter 20 - Now What? | 0 |
| 153 | V4-08: Chapter 21: Where Do We Go From Here? | 0 |
| 154 | V4-09: Chapter 22: Work To Do | 0 |
| 155 | V4-09: Chapter 23: Manifold Possibilities | 0 |
| 156 | V4-09: Chapter 24: Mary's Mighty Maids | 0 |
| 157 | V4-10: Chapter 25: Feelings of Mana | 0 |
| 158 | V4-10: Chapter 26: First Theory Crafting | 0 |
| 159 | V4-10: Chapter 27: Second Theory Crafting | 0 |
| 160 | V4-11: Chapter 28: System Theory 101 | 0 |
| 161 | V4-11: Chapter 29: System Theory 201 | 0 |
| 162 | V4-11: Chapter 30: Speed Leveling | 0 |
| 163 | V4-12: Chapter 31: Townsend Town | 0 |
| 164 | V4-12: Chapter 32: Angry As Hell | 0 |
| 165 | V4-12: Chapter 33 – Positions Everyone | 0 |
| 166 | V4-13: Chapter 34: Ready, Aim, Wait | 0 |
| 167 | V4-13: Chapter 35: My Name Is Will, Prepare To Die | 0 |
| 168 | V4-13: Chapter 36: Convoy | 0 |
| 169 | V4-14: Chapter 37: Battle of Townsend | 0 |
| 170 | V4-14: Chapter 38: Odd Fellows | 0 |