⚀⚁⚂⚃⚄⚅

All men are not created equal. It was a phrase Izuku knew all too well. Still, he had never really wanted to believe it. Not when Kacchan got his quirk and his still hadn't manifested. Not even when his mother took him to the doctor and they confirmed his worst nightmare.

Quirkless. He was Quirkless.

Izuku would often find himself in dangerous situations on purpose. Not consciously of course, but now that he was older, he supposed it had been his own way of trying to acquire what simply wasn't there. Something that was never coming. His body's hopes that getting burned or pushed down by Kacchan and the others enough times might one day activate his powers.

But it never happened.

And yet still, Izuku remembered confidently writing down that he wanted to attend U.A. High School. The same place All Might, his idol, had gone to. Still living in that stupid fantasy where he could become a hero. Only for Kacchan and his own teacher to laugh about it in his face.

But if there was anything that had stuck with him the most leading up to this moment, it was what had been said to him earlier that day.

Go take a swan dive off the roof of the building.

Kacchan had told him that. The person he had looked up to all his life besides All Might. Someone he wanted to stand beside. Someone he used to think of as a friend. Maybe he still did, maybe, despite everything, Kacchan was all those things to him and more, but as Izuku stepped onto the edge of the building and looked down, his mind went blank.

He was up really high, 70 to 80 feet, possibly even more. A fall from this height would surely kill him.

Izuku tensed when he thought about killing himself. Yes, he had walked up here with that intention. Snuck into the school after dark to pull it off too. But he hadn't actually realized how scary it would be until now.

Wow. I can't even kill myself. If Kacchan were here, he'd laugh at me. Izuku shook his head with a sad smile.

No, he'd probably push me first and then laugh.

He wiped at his eyes.

I really am a loser.

A small breeze blew by and Izuku nearly lost his footing, any traces of humor gone from his body entirely. He was now firmly aware of the rigid cold surrounding him and the icy blood pumping in his veins. How hard his legs were shaking and how numb his sweaty hands felt. Izuku hadn't even realized it was windy because his heart was beating so fast in his head, it was all he could hear. That and all the voices that were constantly putting him down.

You know he's right. They all are. You're just another useless Deku.

Izuku clenched his fists and felt hot tears welling up in his eyes as he took another step forward. He couldn't even see the ground anymore because he was crying so much.

So, just do it already! Izuku gritted his teeth, trying to stop the tears from coming.

What are you waiting for?

Jump.

Jump!

At this point, Izuku was sobbing loudly. He couldn't control the way his body seemed to flail back and forth as if trying to stop him from taking the plunge. Izuku could also feel his heartbeat drumming in his hands and feet now. Everything reminding him that he was still alive and that in a few seconds, he would also cease to exist.

Izuku squeezed his eyes shut and prepared to take the final step. It would be quick. Maybe some pain for a while, but then it would be over. He wouldn't have to feel so useless anymore. Or be a disappointment. It would all be...

Woosh.

Izuku felt something fly in front of his face and he let out a tiny shriek. But instead of falling forward as he intended on doing in the first place, he fell back and tumbled to the floor.

He hated himself for feeling momentary relief when his hands touched the ground but decided to focus on whatever it was that had interrupted him. Except when Izuku snapped his eyes open, he wasn't sure what he was looking at.

A glowing blue dice hovered inches away from his face. The light was so intense it had lit up the entire rooftop and before Izuku could realize what was going on, it was too late.

"Hey! Who's up there?" He heard voices from down below and froze.

In a panic, Izuku reached out for the die and covered the glow with shaking hands. However, in his hurry, he miscalculated his steps and ended up falling forward instead, crashing into a crate of props from the theatre department. The dice rolled out of reach and he barely managed to snatch it up again before he turned around and ran, completely unaware of the vibrations coming from the phone inside his pocket. Or that the dice had turned a different color.

⚀⚁⚂⚃⚄⚅

When Izuku made it home, he was out of breath and his lungs were burning. Before he slipped into his room, he grabbed the suicide note he had left on the table and ripped it up. The momentary fear of dying was now replaced with the thought that maybe, just maybe, the school security guard had seen him.

"It's okay, it's okay. He didn't see you. You made it home. You're alright. You're alright." He breathed out slowly, trying to calm his rapid heartbeat. Once he stepped into his room, he slipped off his hoodie and shoved it into the deepest part of his closet. It was covered in sweat and blood and the last thing he wanted was for his mom to find it. He would clean it up in the morning.

But as Izuku got up and started taking off his pants, the dice from before fell out of his pocket. Or at least, he thought it was the dice from before. This one was red.

Izuku squinted down at it and was about to reach out and touch it when his phone started going crazy. He let out a tiny yelp and fell against his bed, staring at his hoodie where the vibrations were coming from. Before it could vibrate again, he pulled it out of the pile and unlocked it with shaky hands.

A tiny mailbox icon appeared on the screen, followed by the words:

1 new message.

Izuku swallowed nervously and clicked on the chat. Who could be texting him, a useless nobody, at 1 in the morning? He was pretty sure he had never given out his number to anybody because they never asked. Yet sure enough, as he hit accept, the new message was there, waiting for him, like some kind of carnival prize.

Congratulations!

[you won a dice]

⚄

（。＞ω＜）。You have now become a Dicer! （。＞ω＜）。

–X

As his eyes scanned the screen, his heart sped up. He kept going back to the word 'Dicer'. Dicer? What the hell did that mean? He glanced over at the red cube by his foot and swallowed slowly. 'Dicer' as in for dice?

Suddenly his phone buzzed again and another new message popped up on the screen. This time, it seemed to open up its own conversation thread. The contact name already listed as 'X', instead of with a number.

well, that was a close one! another step and u totally would've been green eggs and ham back there...

get it... cuz your hair is green :P

"Wh-wh-what?!" Izuku dropped his phone, backing away from it and the dice. He saw the screen flash and then heard it vibrate again but didn't reach for it.

He thought back to the last message and tensed. Aside from implying they knew about his attempted suicide, the sender had also said his hair was green. That either meant they knew each other or that someone had really been up on the roof with him. Was this some kind of prank?

For a while, nothing seemed to change. The phone didn't vibrate anymore and he continued watching it closely. He looked up and met All Might's gaze from one of the many posters he had in his room. The man's heroic-looking smile gave him the confidence he needed to pick up his phone again and peek. He regretted it instantly.

hmm, not a dr. seuss fan. noted.

but u r a fanboy. wow, ur room has a lot of posters. gonna take a guess and say all might is ur fav? ;)

"N-no way??" Izuku frantically looked around the room as his heart started speeding up again. Everywhere he looked, All Might's face smiled back at him, along with some other posters of the heroes he liked. But there was nobody else in the room with him. Indicating that either A, he was imagining things or B, someone was watching him from somewhere.

"A-are you some kind of stalker?"

He thought back to when he had been hovering over the edge of the roof and his eyes widened suddenly. Izuku quickly shook his head.

"Or w-wait. Am I dead? G-god?! Is that you?"

Had he really died and gone to heaven? What if he did jump and he was just imagining his or had become some kind of freaky ghost? Was God just disappointed in him now that he tried to kill himself? Izuku wasn't religious but he had read enough to know that killing yourself was considered a sin, right? Except he still couldn't imagine any god talking to him through text messages. Were celestial beings trying to keep up with the times too?

Izuku almost laughed but then his phone vibrated again and he stopped breathing.

awh •ू (ᵒ̴̶̷ωᵒ̴̶̷* •ू ) me is flattered u think so highly of me! but nope, nope. no god. or a stalker. just a game master.

A game what?

This time, Izuku did laugh. Not because anything this person was saying was funny, but because he was pretty sure he was on the verge of losing it.

"Okay, Kacchan. You can come out now," Izuku forced another laugh as he looked around.

"That was really funny," he added slowly. "You really got me there."

Izuku stood up on wobbly knees and tried to ignore the nauseous feeling forming in his stomach. This had to be a prank. It had to be. Someone knew he was going to kill himself today and had followed him home or had snuck into his house, waiting for him to come back, knowing he wouldn't be able to go through with the suicide.

Another vibration. Izuku was afraid to look down, but he still did.

( –_– " ) idk what ur talking about broccoli boy!! my name is 'X' not kacchan. kay, kay?

He quickly shook his head. Izuku didn't even realize he hadn't been typing anything until now. This... he looked down at the name the person had used. This 'X' or whatever, had been the only one texting him. As if they could hear him right now, confirming his fears that there was somebody else in the room with him.

"X? Is that, like, I don't know, short for something?" Izuku asked, trying to buy some time as he figured out what to do. His room wasn't that big and while it was crowded with merch and school stuff, he didn't know where the person could be hiding if they were inside. Was this some kind of invisibility quirk? None of his classmates from middle school had that kind of ability and he had taken notes on all of them. No Pro would waste their time playing such a game with a kid either. So either Izuku did fall and hit his head really hard and this was all a crazy dream, or his classmates from 1-A had gone through crazy lengths to surprise him.

ughhhh does it even matter? y don't u ask me something fun for a change? like how i'm looking at u rn and stuff :3333

Izuku jumped slightly when X seemed to ask exactly what he wanted to know. He slowly shook his head, afraid to say what he had been thinking. "W-well it's obvious. You're in the room with me, r-right?"

He was almost afraid to check his phone when it vibrated again. Almost as if he already knew what the answer was going to be but he wasn't ready to hear it.

if u want to get all technical then yesh :3 but only because of the die.

Izuku frowned and stared up at the shining object. He had almost forgotten about it. It continued shining back at him, providing enough visibility in the room so that he didn't need to turn on the light. Had he imagined the blue color thing too? Had it always been red?

"You mean the glowing red thing?"

yep yep! as game master, i get to see everything and everyone thru the dice. pretty awesome right ∩ (︶▽︶) ∩

Izuku blinked. "Is it your quirk or something?"

uhhhhh yah sure, let's go with that. anyway, aren't u gonna thank me for saving ur life?!!!

"Wait, thank, you? Why would I do that?" Izuku shook his head. "I wanted to die. That's why I went up there in the first place," he finished softly, trying to keep his voice steady. Izuku couldn't believe he had already forgotten about his suicide mission. Even though he was annoyed at the fact that he was still alive, the more he thought about it, the more relief he felt that he hadn't taken the plunge. But no amount of relief could make up for the confusion and fear going through his body right now.

oh sure u did. but fine, whatever. u can thank me l8 after i help u uwu.

Izuku squinted at his phone screen. "What?"

heh. tell me izuku midoriya,,,,,

Izuku stopped breathing again. "H-how do you know my name?"

If there really was no one on the roof, if this really wasn't some sick-twisted prank then...

If you could change your life, would you?

Izuku stared back at his phone screen, unsure of what to say or do. All of the other messages so far had been written so casually, yet this one was the only one that was grammatically correct. The change in tone from the sender sent tiny shivers up and down his back, a cold incomparable to the harsh winds he had experienced on the roof.

lololol i see i have u at a loss for words. what can i say? i have that effect on ppl sometimes ;)

Izuku glanced up at the die, remembering whatever this 'X' person had said about watching him from it. He started backing away slowly, too afraid to put his phone down. Maybe he could make a run for it, wake up his mom and run. Maybe if he just pretended like none of this was happening, it would go away. Even if this was all some kind of fucked up dream, he didn't want anything to do with it.

hey!!! stop ignoring me. i don't like that very much buddy ( –_– " ) ( –_– " ) ( –_– " )

While he could feel the vibrations and see the messages on the screen, the actual words seemed to be going right through him. He silently shook his head, his eyes desperately searching for a figure crouched down somewhere in his room as another message arrived.

oki, okiiii calm down. let's try a different question then, Midori.

Izuku winced at the nickname. This had to be someone's quirk. X had only said he could see him, not that he knew anything about his life.

do u like playing games?

"Y-yes," he said after a while. Izuku wasn't sure if he should be giving this person any more information about himself, but the question itself had caught him off guard. If X wanted to hurt him, wouldn't they have done so already? Plus, X had kept him from killing himself. Although Izuku wasn't sure how he felt about that yet. He didn't want to think about it, but X very well could be a villain. And if a villain had snuck into his house, he didn't want to risk his mother's life and figured the only thing he could do was play along.

yay! i knew it. u totally fit the depressed gamer nerd vibes. no offense or anything :3

Izuku narrowed his eyes at the phone, gripping it tightly. Kacchan liked to use the word 'nerd' a lot, but this vibe was completely off. Izuku didn't even take Kacchan as a frequent texter. Out of everyone in their class, he was the only one who didn't seem to be glued on his phone all the time.

"Who are you?" He asked again.

i already told u. my name is X and i'm a game master. guess i take back what i said about u. ur too dumb to be a nerd.

but then y would u try and kill urself? hmmm. maybe u were tired of being called short.

Izuku's left eyebrow twitched. As freaky as this X person was, they were also starting to get annoying.

or ppl bullied u bcuz of ur freckles.

He rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.

oh wait, i know ¬‿¬ ¬‿¬ ¬‿¬

There was a pause and then a new message appeared.

it's because ur quirkless, right?

The same shiver from before ran up and down his spine. Izuku felt his toes curl inwards as he held out the phone in front of him. He pursed his lips tightly to keep himself from answering. This had to be someone from class. Nobody else knew he was quirkless aside from his mother. Yet still, as Izuku read the message over and over again, he couldn't find any malice in the words, even if it was a text.

ahahahaha, that's it, isn't it?? i'm right aren't it? aren't i?

"L-look," he began, as confidently as he could, "if-if you aren't going to answer any of my questions, then... then I'll break my phone and... and call the police."

His answer was pathetic. Anybody would have laughed. But Izuku didn't know what else to say or do. Even if this was a potential villain, he had to stand up for himself somehow.

jesus christ dude, take a chill pill. i already answered ur question. my name is X and i'm a game master. ur the one that keeps asking the same thing over and over again dummy :P

Izuku let out a puff of air in frustration. X did have a point. But he wasn't sure what he wanted to ask first. Well no, that was a lie. But he felt like asking if they had evil intentions would only make the sender mad. So Izuku decided to focus on the basics, the things that didn't make sense.

"Fine. Why did you use that blue dice to save me? Is it part of your quirk? What is your quirk? And how does it function? Do you just toss dice at people and save their lives or grant them wishes? Is 'game master' your hero name or something?" Once Izuku started asking questions, he realized he couldn't stop. He almost choked on his own spit because he was speaking so fast.

okay nvm that was too many questions╭( X_X )╮but whatevs. i'll start with the easy stuff first.

that beautiful red object in front of u is called a 'DICE'. creative, right? :P

i don't really know if it's my quirk to be honest, oof. i just like playing with it, hehe.

Izuku frowned. "What do you mean you 'don't know'? Didn't you get tested for a quirk when you were younger?"

hey! no interrupting the game master. i'm not done answering your questions.

Izuku's face flushed the same color as the die. He decided to take a seat, the mental exhaustion from the night finally setting in. "I'm sorry. I just... I don't understand. This is... a lot to take in."

heck yeah, it is. how do u think i feel when u just asked like a bajilion questions?? ( –_– ")

anyway, as game master i am sorta kinda like a facilitator for the dice. u said u liked playing games, right?

Izuku nodded slowly.

well, then it's ur lucky day, Midori! i just so happen to run one. and u, my friend, are honorary player numero uno! (that's one in spanish if u didn't kno)

"Wait, I don't remember signing up for anything," Izuku shook his head. He thought back to all the All Might Hero forums he had joined, but none of them had ever mentioned anything about dice.

okay so u technically didn't sign up for it, but u did roll which means ur a player now! don't tell me u didn't notice when the dice changed colors? after u fell back there on the roof? or r u blind too??

"You don't have to be rude about it," Izuku mumbled quietly.

He stared at the dice. "But y-yeah I guess now that you mention it, the dice was blue at first. At least I wasn't imagining things."

mhmm when a non-dicer rolls a blue dice and it turns red, that's called 'player activation'. this is all part of a fun game where you're given a set of quests and rewards. it's all about that sweet, sweet sense of accomplishment.

"So like being a hero and saving others?" Izuku perked up. The more he listened to this 'X' talk, the more he wanted to believe that he was a good person. That there was no danger lurking here and he could calm down and relax.

er, no.

.

maybe.

.

it all depends on the player after all ;)

"What do you mean?" Izuku shook his head. He didn't realize he was leaning forward until the phone was inches away from his face.

well, the game is designed so that the person playing can achieve a sense of accomplishment in a way that aligns with their moral compass. their desires, what they most want at that given moment. aka, what makes it so fun!

"Desires? You mean... like anything?" Izuku's eyes sparkled in the low light.

yes. anything. a girlfriend, a quirk, a bigger pen15 ;))))

A quirk? He blinked, ignoring everything else on the screen.

remember the rewards i mentioned? they're basically more dice, but u can use them to change diff aspects of urself. just like a game character from an rpg.

here are ur stats rn.

He was too shocked to answer with anything as X sent him a couple of pictures. Izuku clicked on the first one and held his breath.

[Picture loading...]

[Loading complete. New player profile unlocked.]

Player Name: IZUKU MIDORIYA

Age: 14

Birthday: July 15th

Sex: Male

Height: 5'5'' (165 cm)

Weight: Unknown

Quirk: None

[Access player stats?]

[Player Stats loading...]

[Loading complete. Player stats unlocked.]

Player Title: Quirkless Nobody

Level: 1

Strength: 1 [+] [–]

Stature: 1 [+] [–]

Look: 1 [+] [–]

Money: 1 [+] [–]

Charm: 1 [+] [–]

Intelligence: 10 [+] [–]

Dullness: 99 [+] [–]

Add another category?

these can change too. u might decide u want to increase ur speed for example and it becomes its own category. or ur agility. and well, it wouldn't be a quirk exactly but it could give u the powers you've always dreamed of having. or maybe u don't care about that. maybe u could just use the dice and become filthy rich, that would be a gr8 fuck u to society, right?

Izuku's phone fell out of his hands and landed with a thump. He felt dizzy and sick like he was going to puke any second now. All of his information was on the screen, along with his school picture as if it was some kind of I.D. tag.

"Wh-what... you... how..." Izuku couldn't stop his body from shaking even if he tried.

This time when his phone vibrated again, he wasted no time and picked it up again, anxious to figure out what the hell was going on.

what??? u don't like the pic i chose for your avatar? maybe once u get more dice and change up ur looks, i'll put up a new one ^_^

"This isn't real. This isn't happening. How can a quirk..." Izuku looked over at his hero analysis journals. He had never read anything like this. His phone buzzed again.

for the last time, Midori!!!

"D-don't call me that," Izuku whispered even though the message had already been sent.

it isn't a quirk. now, synchronize ur dice already, hehe! aren't u tired of being a quirkless loser?

Izuku stared back at his phone in shock. If X was telling the truth and they didn't have a quirk, then how did they know everything about him? It just didn't make sense, and now they were bringing up new things Izuku had never heard of. Plus, if it wasn't a quirk, how could any of the things they were saying be real? Increasing his strength? Becoming rich? What the hell was going on?

"Synchronize? Are you telling me you want me to just accept all of this?!" Izuku spat. As cool as it sounded, Izuku knew better. X didn't seem like a liar but everything they had just told him, everything they had shown him, sounded too good to be true.

"I... I don't know if you're good or bad, or, or even if you're a boy or a girl!" Izuku stammered, feeling his cheeks go red.

X took a while to respond, and at first, Izuku freaked out because he thought he had offended them. But then, the new message arrived.

If you want to know whether or not I'm a hero or a villain, I'll tell you right now that I'm neither. But I saved your life and I'm giving you a chance to start a new one.

So, tell me Midori, is that so bad?

.

.

.

oh and i'm totally a dude. otherwise, i'd be blushing like a schoolgirl because ur shirtless rn LOLOL ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

The red spread throughout his whole body as Izuku dove under the covers to hide. He didn't even realize he was half-naked. After a while, he poked his head out and watched as his phone continued to vibrate. X must've been mad he was ignoring him, but Izuku was too tired to move. His head hurt and he wanted to sleep. But most of all, he wanted to forget everything that had happened to him today. From the bullying to the planned suicide, Izuku just wanted it to go away.

Except that no matter how hard he tossed or turned, he kept hearing their voices in his head. Yelling at him, calling him useless. Kacchan, his classmates, even his parents. X was there too, a blurred figure in the background, holding up a die in his palm. Before Izuku could realize what was going on in the dream, he had already started rushing towards him, hands out, ready to roll the dice again. Because even if he wasn't conscious, even it sounded like a twisted dream, he couldn't help but want to believe him. That X was telling the truth. That X could change his life and give him powers.

"Okay," Izuku decided after waking up in a cold sweat. He turned on his desk light and sat down with his phone, notebook out, ready to pay attention.

"I want to play."

[A/N: And so, to my lovely readers, I ask the same question: if you were given a dice, would you change your life? I'm actually not sure if I would, but damn would it be cool.

Nevertheless, here we are! The fanfic nobody asked for but I really wanted to write because I couldn't find much content for it anywhere. Like seriously, DICE is such an amazing WEBTOON! There should be more fics about it :D Anyway, all I have to say is get ready for a fucking wild time. You don't have to have read the WEBTOON to follow along because I will be explaining the game mechanics, as I did here. And obviously, there will be spoilers for the general premise of the comic, but there will also be deviations from it because it takes place in the MHA world after all.

I really hope you enjoyed it and found it entertaining. Please let me know what you think! Updates will take place weekly for now unless my job gets even more demanding as we progress into 2021. Or if I manage to pump out another chapter soon because I'm excited, then it will obviously appear before then. Thank you so much for reading!]