1 The beginning
Have you ever read or heard about something so strange that you know that it can't be true even though you kind of wish it was?
Just shoving it into another ' would be awesome if it happened in the world ' is primarily my main response to it. The method's right there with the stillinski method of ignoring something till it goes away and I guess I'm rambling to myself like this because both of my methods don't seem to work in this situation.
The situation I speak of is the darkness
' Or a void or is it space? whatever the case is I've been, if my concept of time is correct, just enclosed in this abstract of dimension to put it artistically for more than 3 hours '
" So people we don't have that many options but let's lay them out
Option no 1: I'm having the most lucid dream I have ever had
Option no 2: I'm hallucinating, I have no idea why but still an option
Option no 3: I've been pulled out of a matrix situation, cause you never know
Option no 4: And this is the one I stuff in the above-mentioned ' if it happened ' box I've been Isekai'd for reasons that might range from ' for amusement ' to ' sorry, my mistake ' while I was sleeping in my home "
You know saying it out loud does make it clear I'm not that much of a logical person, that I'm never the highest score in the class type of teenager but then again
' I never liked to have high scores anyway and no, it's not because I cannot get any '
And as much as I would like to continue my daily procrastination of my life and my many pros and cons I realise that I'm moving, which is fairly surprising cause I don't know why I feel that situation seeing as I don't seem to have a body here
' So what's moving, my mind or my soul? and more importantly, where am I moving? '
And my nonexistent eyebrow twitches cause I remember again that I'm alone. Since I am not that much of a zen person I make sure to shout loudly cause this certainly scares the hell out of me
" You know this is kind of ridiculous man, I mean the hell am I feeling right now and where the hell am I? " Because if it's anything like the novels and fanfics I'm fond of reading this certainly ain't my awakening and I'm pretty sure about it.
But low and behold the dark changes
' And wow man this is trippy, it's like that chair indoctrination in Thor Ragnorak '
Now I'm just being dragged through a spectrum of so many colors that I can't track everything but soon my trip to my unlimited shades of color ends with me standing at a desk and staring back at me is a human-like shape
' And I say human-like cause aside from the dudes, at least I think is a guy, its mouth and eyes in blindingly white light by the way the suit he seems to wear is practically a gif version of galaxies as a thread '
It's amazing to see, I mean you try and imagine something like a human-alien x from Ben 10 wearing a suit in the situation I've been in for the last hours.
' Gents and ladies this event disproves option 3 makes options 1&2 pending and slightly approves option 4 ' I announce inside my mind cause this is just out of my league man
" Ah sorry for them being late to pick you up from the lobby mortal "
I guess he's an immortal, who seems to not be a jerk but I'm not that perceptive when I'm out of my comfort zone so ' let's just pray he's not an acting BROB '
" Why would I even need to act nice when I'm not likely to encounter you again and I only apologized due to company policies "
The immortal being who I respect very much, cause he just read my fricking mind smiles at me as if what he said didn't scare the crap out of me
" Okay, Time out. What's happening here? Where am I? What's the company's name? Nice suit by the way " And I spit so fast that I can't even prioritize my questions cause this. is. not. my. zone
" Your fan fell on you, it cut you up and knocked you out with its blunt force but also electrocuted you as well, your parents were not at home and even though the neighbors rushed you to the hospital you couldn't be saved "
And he just delivered my death notice to me with all the grace of a bull in a glass shop and I knew I shouldn't have gotten that bloody ornamental type fan
" That sucks, that sucks so bad man. I mean I'm still young, can't this be something like a higher warning? Can't you just, you know put me back in my body? " Because telling a 20-year-old something like this when we got responsibilities and duties to our family is just horrible and heartbreaking and it sucks
" Sorry can't help you, I'll be frank miracles are reserved for those who deserve it, the criteria for a person to match all requirements is quite intense and unfortunately for you, you don't match all requirements "
Just like that, I'm officially without hope cause I'm dead and I can't go back and that's just sad
" So why am I here to be judged, destroyed or something? "
" You are here because your religion department of the afterlife could not apparently hold you to be processed and thus you were brought to my sector where we deal with those who still have tethers to your world as you do "
" Say what now? " Because I'm officially lost in this conversation
" Long story short, you're still connected to your world. So you can either still hang around and haunt your old places and wait to either naturally pass or your passing will be helped along by your religion's rituals "
And isn't that something?
Cause he just inadvertently confirmed we have ghosts
' I mean it's not that groundbreaking compared to everything up to now but still, it's something '
Also, what's the deal with the haunting anyway?
" The way that works is that you hang around for the connection to dissipate naturally or till you are helped with it, there are some unfortunate side effects, some minor and very rarely some large effects your presence can bring "
The being is reciting that with his eyes closed and I have to wonder how many times he has had to do this
" These factors naturally are your psyche, misfortune and sometimes even psychical harm. So this is not something I recommend to you "
' Yeah no shit, I'm not bringing more trouble for my family like that, no way, nien ' So I ask him what else do I have as an option or if I'm to be his workplace chatmate
" Oh heavens no, as you should know while I'm not a BROB, we of this department have the opportunity to be your ROB if you accept, we can't grant you everything but we can give you something "
' Well, Damn!!! The authors were right, they were slightly wrong but still right '
" Can you make it so my family lives better lives. I'm an only son you know, my family's just an ordinary one. We aren't rich or that healthy, both my parents are reaching their sixties. So can you just help them, please? "
Because that's one of the things I was worried about when I was alive and ironically even when I'm dead that's still my worry.
' Still, if I can still help my family that's alright I guess '
" Your family does not seem to have any major misfortune coming their way so that's alright, in fact aside from your death and some minor things, everything's coming up good. Still if you wish we can ensure the minor issues are taken care of at a certain price "
The being just looks at a file and reads it, somehow wearing a reading glass he didn't have a moment prior
" What's the price? " I mean just cause I'm willing and probably will pay it if I can doesn't mean it's going to be all good
" Contrary to your thinking, we don't grant wishes when we send you away to another reality, consider us like an omnipresent company and you have a certain balance. You barter for your ideal vacation and we try to provide it to you if you've got enough balance and karma "
" That makes a lot of sense to me " Cause I always wondered why any ROB would grant that many wishes when they are not even guaranteed that much entertainment even if they granted every wishes and I started to listen as he explained it further
" Every soul who comes to this department has a funding of 25000 value in kph that's our currency here plus whatever your karma has gotten you, Your balance as average for your age is 29642 which I won't round no matter" He seems very annoyed by the rounding matter and I can't fault him because that could get annoying on his side
' And very disheartening on our side because I wanted a nice number '
"So what I propose is this, you can have your family become prospered and content if you are willing to part with 3000 of your kph and you may choose your other features with the remaining balance " Here he looks at me for my decision like I would change my mind or something
" Done " ' And that's my family secure ' and one worry settled with
" Excellent. Now the reality you will be sent to is randomly chosen from your five preferred choices normally I would have to explain further but thanks to the type of genre like isekai novels and movies you understand the basics with some differences so make your choices young mortal "
' He said there would be some differences and some I think I can anticipate like the world operating on real rules and such and not fantasy things so I should pick five worlds that will ensure my safety at least better than the average citizen of that world '
I need time to make my choices so let's ask him about the differences
' let's just hope he doesn't get angry with me for wasting his time '
" Ponder your choices wisely and I assure you I am quite patient, The first difference is that we clearly will not allow your original reality to be your selected choice
The second difference is that you will need to pay to keep your memories or accept tasks instead of paying, be warned the task may very well be a dangerous one as you need 5000 kph to remember your past life in a new reality and on a side note you also need to pay if you wish to edit yourself like a higher height, more muscle or better IQ etc
The third difference is that for very high-level features you wish, your karma will be taken into consideration whether you deserve it, other mid-level and low-level features can be bartered with and the prices and three categories will depend upon the selected reality of your departure
The fourth difference is that while we will not deposit you on the original timeline, we will make it so that it's a new branch of that reality from the moment of your birth and your actions afterward will have an effect on the timeline.
These are the major differences you should know about and the other differences are minor compared to these three "
Well that clears some doubts and worries I had
' He seems enthusiastic saying this, I wonder why? '
The three rules make sense I mean imagine bringing something like solar-powered things into the Jurassic era, or someone like the sith of Star Wars in the medieval era.
They would change everything and the other major thing, in my opinion, was the fact that we could have an object. Also as a feature we can even buy an advanced or less advanced version of the object, but the copy of the original object will cost less and the editing stuff is also fine.
I mean we can even ask to be born with our preferred bloodline as well and that can be considered a mythic-level item for gamers and anime nerds
' And that's alright. I mean imagine being an upgraded version of Broly without the anger issues, or Saitama with hair or being smart as Tony Stark and being strong as the Hulk without their figure. That's completely broken even if the person who gets it is a noob '
And since the being has given me the time I slowly ruminate out loud about the five worlds I'm leaning towards
" The first one is naturally Pokemon for me, I may not know the plot that well and the world may not be the same way but regardless of whether the various tricks in the games and show are real or not, I genuinely think I could have a good life there and most importantly it's gonna be a blast for a fan like me "
"If I could interject that reality you spoke of is not that much of a peaceful world in the original timeline both in its past and future, criminals and calamities and all that. Besides any benefit you choose would need quite a large amount of kph if you wish to share it with others, for example, if you wish to buy a feature to make you a psychic it will cost you merely 1800 kph but that psychic potential is random, choosing your potential will cost you 200 kph more for low level, 400 more for medium level and 700 more for high-level potential.
And all this is without considering every other power you will need to choose as being born with high potential allows you only higher comprehension and talent, it will not grant you techniques instantly "The being continued even further seeing as I was waiting to hear his explanation
"And as that world is literally of beings that are all about strength and being born with special powers you will need to spend quite a sum to match their physical or spiritual peak, especially if you also wish to choose the favored mind shielding many choose"
' That is a damn shame, I really liked that one, I guess I need to choose wisely and cheaply if that's the one I'm matched with '
" Well, the second one is one piece.
Pros
Fantastical world, knows the plot released till the Wano arc, is possible to live a civilian life, know techniques and secrets of various superpowers in that world
Cons
Slavery, backward as hell justice system and society, not everything is known about the plot, will probably lose control and be either named as a pirate or revolutionary by the first marines I see, will probably lose my mind and choose to fight, laws of my reality do not make that much sense in one piece world and very importantly deadly diseases and skewed medieval punk world time "
' Yeah not the best for my mind, but hopefully not as consuming khp as the Pokemon one '
" The third is Naruto
Pros
Can be civilian, peaceful for at least a decade if chosen the correct timeline, somewhat knows the plot til boruto, techniques and also know some secrets
Cons
Probably be drafted to be a child soldier without consent if shown the potential, level of power needed to survive changes quite a bit with every arc and that might be challenging as I don't have the plot armor, and the chance of dying before reaching adulthood is quite high, guaranteed to make me paranoid, has a high chance of being betrayed as the real world of ninjas will not be sunshine and daisies and the plot of boruto had literal aliens as the endgame too "
' Yeah this one is also gonna be a pain in my behind '
" Fourth one is Ben 10
Pros
Knows the plot, high chance of leading a civilian life happily if lucky, and is technologically somewhat the same
Cons
Galactic wars, aliens and their cultures and invasions will be a lot to take in, cosmic beings as well if not a civilian will need to have high potential and perfect features to thrive in "
' I may not be a dumb idiot but so far this one despite the galactic wars is the best one so far '
" The fifth one is MCU
Pros
Knows the plot, with luck I can pass as a seer and get the others to deal with the messes, aside from being fit and mentally secure will not need to spend much kph, technologically superior to my world, and still have my country and state and might even have MCU version of me right in Kochi there and could potentially travel to space and be happy
Cons
Apocalypses and calamities favorite reality, cosmic and galactic armies and maniacs, omnipresent And omniscient beings, often have time traveling, dimension-hopping shenanigans and racism in various forms of species, experiences and age "
' I swear this one sucks but it's the only one I still know more and to be honest, not every world has that much reality, I mean something like a teen wolf or Twilight might be more civilian but they never had any exploration done behind the plot of the show and the future is uncertain so no MCU remains the better one as the only one comparing to it the game of thrones and I am not doing medieval apocalypse and racism '
And so I steel myself and tell my selections and the being snaps his finger and lo and behold the old and tried method of fortune wheel appears with my selections in cursive letters and equidistant portions
' And I sure as hell hope that wasn't him being a prelude to Thanos '
" Are you absolutely sure about your selections because you cannot change them again? " The being asks because he thinks he is being kind and he probably is
' But I am a procrastinator and I'll probably take a mile when given an inch so I won't allow myself to doubt and screw myself by panicking again '
" I am certain about my choices " I reply quickly once again to him and he doesn't seem to doubt me this time because the wheel starts spinning
' Damn I'm nervous, please not the MCU, not the MCU ' The wheel starts to slow down and my nonexistent heart is beating like hell
I hear drumroll sounds in my head as the wheel comes to a stop on
" Naruto, ok. Okay, yeah I can deal with that. I mean it's only got one apocalypse event in the Naruto era so, yay "
' Because I'm kinda relieved to be honest because while Ben 10 would've given me a mundane version of the universe, one piece and MCU would have screwed me over and Pokemon might have ruined my love for it by the world's realism' Also naruto is a ninja world...
Enough said on that matter.
" Your new reality is Naruto, assuming you wish to keep your memories and shield them completely as you were concerned about will cost you 9000, and subtracting your earlier 3000 purchase you will have the balance of
17642 kph
Also, you have the option of selecting your village which regardless of choice will cost 1000 kph, your clan if you wish to have one which will cost depending on their potential especially if they have Kekkai Genkai or anything else unique to them, the time of your birth is in a cycle in which the longer you have from the apocalypse event the higher the cost.
Similarly choosing to be reborn as any one of the main characters will be of low cost compared to the creation of the original character with the same stats but be warned any plot-given benefits and shields will not be given to you. Choose wisely"
' Right both the memory keeping and shielding are necessary so that's 9000 gone and let's try to get a gold finger if I can '
" How much does the gamer cost? " I know it's going to be out of my range but it can help me determine the high-level broken things price
" 11 times your current balance " And there goes any chance of obtaining anything remotely high level and most likely super medium level things as well
' Damn that's pricey as hell but let's see if we break it down and make it cheap '
" How much is something like an idle experience system? "
" 8 times your current balance " so that's out of the question too
" How much does it cost to be born as a member of Naruto's generation? And how does it cost to be born as a member of the Rookie 12? How much will it cost for me to be a civilian with those stats they have at the same age? "
Because while the cost was also higher in the period before the villages there were clan wars, I mean village has a higher chance of betrayal but the other party will at least hesitate once in choosing war with my side and concluding the numerous clan wars and the two shinobi wars with high-level ninja, naruto's period is the safest one
' And that's also minus 1000 kph in Konoha since if you have to choose a village might as well choose the village that wins '
" 1500 kph to be born in that particular period in the Konoha village, it's 800 if you choose to be born as Naruto, it's 1800 if you want to create a character of his stats without the jinchuriki status, it's 1100 if you wish to be reborn as a member of rookie 12 and it will cost you 1500 kph if you wish to be born a civilian and have the same stats" the being who I am really starting to regret not asking the name of replies calmly
" You may call me Mr. K mortal"
' And I have no idea why he wants to be called that but hey, his choice his life. So Mr.k it is '
' Alright so let's break it down further '
" How much will it cost for a system that only tells me my stats and levels at using techniques with standard slots inventory? "
" That will cost you 8000 kph "
' Damn that's still high but maybe if I lower my expectations a little '
" How much did the system without inventory cost? "
" 3000 kph "
" How many slots can I get with 500 kph? "
" 100 slots "
' So that's what 5 kph for one slot, that's good I won't need more than 100 with where I'm going, still let's make sure I'm on the right path '
'Alrighty, let's do this! '
" I would like the system that only tells me my stats and levels at using techniques with 100 slots of inventory "
' and I'm happy about this because this is necessary, I am patient for the things I want but not necessarily the things I need so I tend to get cranky when I don't get results '
What can I say about myself other than being ordinary
' Still how the hell does anyone buy a real system in this place? Did they cure cancer or something? '
" The feature has been purchased now you have the remaining balance of 14142 kph "
' Right, now the next one needs to be something that helps me learn faster '
" Mr. K how much will it cost me to have a tutor added to the system as one of the features, a tutor that will help me recreate and modify techniques "
" That will cost you 3000 kph " ' That's a steal '
" I would like that feature as well Mr.k "
" Very well. Your current balance is 11142 kph "
' Right so that's two things that will make up for my lack of talent if I'm hopeless with the mental sides of those things, so the next should be probably something for me physically '
" Mr. K how much will it cost me for a Saiyan physique? "
" Saiyan physique, the base one itself is priced at the high price of 20000 kph due to its sheer potential "
' That's not surprising considering conquering planets at the toddler stage is something that even low-level Saiyans are expected of and let's not forget their transformations and zenkai boosts and last of all monsters like Broly clinches why that price is not that high in my eyes '
" A Saiyan is overkill in Naruto world " It's a shame that it's not meant to be mine but oh well, since we can't get that one let's go for the next on the list
" Mr. K how much will it cost for the physique of the one-piece world? "
Because honestly, that's a place that produces physical monsters as side effects for fun, I mean even the people who don't focus on their bodies is ridiculously fit
" 1000 kph, this low price is because of the fact that everyone in that world has the same potential to stand at the peak of the bodies if they train for it " Mr.K explanation solves my doubt about that low price and solves another fact why the Saiyan physique is worth the price
' And it also solves why no one quite catches upto the Saiyans as well in the Dbz world. I mean the difference their training yields must be so different, still the physique of one piece world should help me on that path now let's see if I can't add to it '
" Mr. K how much will it cost me if I want a Hanma bloodline that helps me break my body's natural limits and keep me disease-immune? "
' I'm thinking simple, the hanma bloodline is all about breaking limits and add one piece physique on top of that and you have a path to being Saitama. Besides that limit breaking/evolving on its own is a slow zenkai boost '
" It's going to cost you 900 kph. "
" I'll take both of them Mr. K"
' And that's my body done '
Mr. K looks at me and reminds me that I still have a balance of 9242 kph.
So I was thinking at this point that I should choose who I'm gonna be from now
' It's gotta be from the rookie twelve but let's eliminate the obvious ones
Naruto
no plot armor as it's going to be me, all the hate, eyes on me, and literal sabotage in most likely everything that makes me stronger and smarter. So no!
Sasuke
Aside from being the other kid in Konoha that has a right to be an angsty teenager, his family and clan get murdered, similarly eyes are on me and let's not forget about needing the betrayal to happen to maintain the plot, so no.
And both of them have the Asura and Indra nonsense going on. On that note let's also eliminate all the girls from this, I'm not changing my gender on top of this too '
So thinking of the rest of the characters I muse to myself
" This is quite a pickle I'm in "
' Because lee is out because aside from the fact it will negate certain purchases of mine, I genuinely like that guy
Neji is also out because I don't want to be caged by that damn seal which doesn't have any use beyond being a racial slave mark
Shino on the other hand is ok with me, the only downside I see is the fact that I have to be logical because that would be too much of a red flag otherwise and I also think they can't use that many ninjutsu that harms their hive that well so regrettably Shino despite being the only shinobi like in the rookie twelve of the show is also out
Choji is likewise out, even if the hanma bloodline and one piece fix my lack of appetite it's not that favorable to me as their techniques are practically being a giant target and not even like Susanoo or something like that, it's just being a giant. I mean I can make it work but I'd rather not So Choji is also out
Now the most favorable two choices '
" Kiba
Aside from being from a clan that doesn't seem to be that formal, it also provides you with man's best friend and the greatest thing is that they're also one of the best with instinctive techniques so far and that could help a lot with the body further and being hardworking would be expected but the drawback is that I don't think Tsume is that going to be that much of a good shield against Danzo and people like him "
' I mean think about it they are instinctive people among shinobi so naturally, they will be more emotional than others as well and if they are experienced like Danzo is he'll probably be able to get a reaction and enough reasons to make it seem better that I should get trained by him, worst case include clan genocide as well as being an emotionless robot '
" So that means Kiba is also out and now the only one left has enough protection as his father is a genius and also a Jonin commander and while being hardworking can be contributed by claiming something like Kyuubi or even the Kumo thing because a Nara would be expected to be smart enough to make sense of the danger he's going to get himself involved in. The shadow techniques also have a lot of potential as this body should allow me to further concentrate as this body with its extra features can handle the strain far better than the usual Nara as their lack of stamina might be one of the reasons why Nara are only considered strategists "
So let's make it official.
" Mr. K I would like to be reborn as Shikamaru Nara "
" That has cost you 1100 kph your remaining balance is 8142 kph "
" Mr. K could I have a list of all possible system extensions I'm able to make with my current balance "
Now that I have procured the primary chance of survival as best as I can it's time to focus on the secondary things such as entertainment so I started to read the list which is at my eye level like a virtual tablet after Mr. K snapped his finger again
' And the list is surprisingly long with 86 extensions possible, most are unsurprisingly very mundane natured like there are tea maker system, farmer, and even dance system and singing system but only two catch my eye because of their potential '
" Mr. K I would like to buy the crafter system extension and would you mind explaining this dungeon set extension for me? "
Because the second is literally called dungeon set and would it provide me enemies to fight, would I have loot if I defeat them?
" The crafter system extension of cost 3000 has been purchased the remaining balance is 5142 kph, the dungeon set system extension provides you with a dungeon that is set in a world you choose with only one species of enemies with three loots being the highest you can get "
" So I can set the species as Pokemon and I will be able to farm them and fight against them and can their summoning contracts drop as loot " Because if it does then I'm being an aura guardian, screw the damn plot.
" Summoning contracts may drop very rarely, most of the drops will be Pokemon items which you could use to create using the craftsman system, please note everything you create can only be brought in two conditions
You are the one using it
The item in question is created only for the sole individuals use, you can set a successor output in the object if it truly bonds with their individual "
' That's everything I wanted and more '
" Mr. K I would like to buy the dungeon set extension please "
" The dungeon set system extension has been purchased for 2000 kph, you may set the dungeon in the new reality and your current balance is 3142 kph "
" Can I have a familiar like the shadows in the blue dragon universe who is loyal to me and grows stronger as I grow "
I liked that show and Shadow Monarch was awesome as hell but since necromancy is not my cup of tea let's settle for this
" A shadow beast familiar is available for you at 1500, you also have the choice of having a permanent slot for Pokemon of the dark nature or ghost nature to be set as your familiar if you like it while this reduces the cost to 1400 kph it also ensures that particular Pokemon will not produce loots again in the dungeon so choose wisely "
' And believe me on this, there's not much to choose as unlike a summon which as the name implies needs to be summoned a familiar is always around much less one like a shadow familiar which is capable of living in a person's shadow and is capable of considerable autonomy even when the individual is knocked out which provides me, in this case, an incredible guardian and a good friend if everything goes right '
" I would like to buy the shadow familiar permanent slot please Mr.k "
" Very well your purchase of 1400 kph leaves you with a balance of 1742 kph "
' Damn I'm almost spent out, wonder what else I could get ' Then it came to me out of the blue, my entertainment dilemma solver is if I still have time to be bored
" Mr. K Is it possible for you to create a feature of surrounding music and music from my reality as one of the extensions to the system for my remaining kph? "
" It's indeed possible but be warned this is the last purchase you will have the chance for, are you confident in your final selection? "
" I am Mr.k "
' And I really am because music will remain one of the bright spots of my life, always was back then and now always will be in this next one '
"Congratulations on your final purchase, you will now be processed and will remember this conversation when you have reached the age of four, good luck "
And I being the good boy see myself off via the glowing tunnel of unlimited shade work and shout my thanks to him and I surrender myself to my ride
" Thanks for everything Mr.K "
