WARNING! THIS CHAPTER WILL PROBABLY BE EXTREMELY BORING BECAUSE IT IS AN INTRODUCTION TO WHAT TYPE OF STORY THIS WILL BE! IF THERE ARE ANY ISSUES, FEEL FREE TO PM ME OR LEAVE A REVIEW STATING IT!
The story is through 'Kanzaki's' POV, so any spelling mistakes or any words that don't exist are his thoughts/speech.
Reincarnation? Strange…
When I felt a train impact with my body, I think I died instantly. I only saw black, and that's that. I had thought that I would be stuck like this forever, until reincarnation crossed my mind. I guess that the thought of reincarnation was the beginning of the tree that would eventually fall down. For the second time. Hopefully not by a train this time.
But feeling a sudden burning pain all over your body was not what you want when you want to be reincarnated. It actually felt like I was in the middle of the sun. The strangest thing about the burning pain was that it felt relaxing and calming.
And then I felt a pressure all over my being that didn't want to leave, no matter how many times I had asked it to. The one time I didn't want it to leave, it decided to suddenly leave.
All of these events were confusing me to hell, though, and the only logical explanation I could think of didn't make sense either. So it wasn't very logical.
Now, anyone would surely freak out when a white hole suddenly opened up, followed by the sounds of talking. My vision surely was blurry, though. A giant set of hands decided to pick me up and hand me to what I presumed to be my new mother. And then I cried.
I couldn't control my body, not until time froze and a black box with white text appeared in front of me.
Achievement Unlocked: Reincarnation!
Achievement Unlocked: Merge with another soul!
Wait, what? Merging with another soul? Is that why I can't control my body? I really wanted to sigh, but I couldn't. I'm also kinda angry about not getting a reward for unlocking an achievement.
Level up! Current level: 3
Reward: 30 Stat points, 50 Soul Mergence points, 1 Merit point and 20 Base Modifier points awarded!
Stat points? Merit points? Base modifier!? This all too much to handle. Maybe this is some sort of practical joke…I certainly don't see any HUD elements in my face. Yes, it must be a game prank of sorts. A really crappy game prank.
While my mind was racing with thoughts about how crappy this game was, I didn't notice that I had got another achievement.
Achievement Unlocked: Realise the truth about your reincarnation!
Reward: Stats unlocked!
And then a white screen popped up in front of me with what looked like a stat sheet.
Issei Hyoudou's Stats
Speed: 1/1000
Strength: 1/1000
Intelligence: 1/1000
Wisdom: 1/1000
Agility: 1/1000
Charisma: 1/1000
Seriously!? Starting from the beginning!? That sucks! And I'm this Issei Hyoudou now!?
Soul Mergence
Body Control: 0/100000000
Spiritual Influence: 0/100000000
Thought Influence: 0/100000000
Physical Influence: 0/100000000
I'm going to have a hard time with life now. I wonder what it means by base modifier? I once read that it has something to do with genetics, but I'm not so sure.
Base Modifier Stats
Feminine Beauty: 1/10000
Feminine Physique: 1/1000
Lolita/Shotaro Body: 1/1000
Gender: 1/10000
Locked
Locked
Locked
I can slowly change gender, I'm guessing…even though I was and am still a guy…oh my fucking god. Now I know my life goal. Bu~t! I can always look like a genuine girl instead! And there's a lot of locked options, which was strange. I appreciate the range of selections. And why is Feminine Physique and Lolita/Shotaro Body requiring less points than the other two?
And then I realised that there wasn't any more Base Modifier options that I could actually choose. Great. This is so awesome. Alright, I'll spend my points wisely, right after the Merit section appears.
Merits
No Merits are available at the moment
Cue cricket chirping…what are merits anyway? Are they special powers, perhaps? I guess I'll find out later.
Add points?
A screen prompt decided to make its presence known to me. Right in my face. I tapped a small yes icon under the prompt and plus and minus buttons appeared next to every option that I could actually select.
In what seemed like a long time to me, I finally decided what I should with my points. With Issei's stats, I decided to put 20 into Intelligence and 10 into Wisdom…what? I don't want to be a stupid baby!
I decided to put all of the Soul Mergence points into Body Control and all the Base Modifier points into Feminine Looks, making them effectively useless at the current moment. After I confirmed that I wanted my stat points to stay in the areas that they are placed in, time resumed again and my body continued to flail without me controlling it.
Sigh, this is going to take a while.
After one gruelling year of infancy, I finally learned how to crawl. I still didn't know how to control my body, and I never actually went to sleep. When the person that I assumed was Issei went to sleep, all I saw was darkness and a giant red dragon that seemed to be asleep.
And no matter how hard I tried, the dragon wouldn't wake up. I hadn't levelled up either, which sucked.
Achievement Unlocked: Learn to crawl!
Award: Body Control Power!
Seriously!? Can I control this stupid body now?
After several attempts of trying to control the body, it wouldn't work. That wasn't until the Merit section popped up in my face.
Merits
Body Control Power: 0/1
I only need one Merit point to do that? Sweet! Without a second thought, I dumped the Merit point into Body Control Power, and what happened next scared me slightly.
I moved my hand slightly and fell onto my face. It hurt a little, yes, and then I started to lose control of the body. And then I lost it entirely. Three seconds, huh? Even though I dumped fifty into what, zero out of one hundred million?
Achievement Unlocked: Control Issei's body!
Award: 50 Spiritual Mergence points, 50 base modifier points and 1 Merit point!
I'm not entirely sure that that mathematically adds up. Ah well, I'm sure something will happen soon enough. But I really want to spend that Merit point.
25 SM points (I've decided to call Soul Mergence that because it's way too long) into Thought Influence and the rest into Body Control. You should know by now what I did with the Base Modifier points (shortened to BM this time because I'm still lazy)
Achievement Unlocked: Learn how to walk!
Award: 1000 EXP!
Level Up! Current Level: 4
Reward: 15 Stat points, 25 Soul Mergence points, 1 Merit and 10 Base Modifier points!
I feel like this game wants me to look like a girl by the time high school starts. Maybe I should make that happen? I'm also too young to start walking, right?
To the points and stuffs. I added 10 Stat points into Intelligence and 5 into Wisdom because I still don't want to be stupid. I put 15 SM points into Thought Influence and the rest into Body Control. Geez, this is getting stupidly repetitive.
"Mama!" That was the first word I have ever heard since being stuck in this body. I'm surprised I haven't tried to commit suicide, but that may be because my Body Control limit is only thirty seconds at this current moment. And I think I'm about one year and a few months old.
Achievement Unlocked: Say your first word!
Achievement Unlocked: Hear for the first time!
Reward: Ability to talk to Issei through the mind!
Is that all I get? Seriously? No points or anything? I want to become better, god dammit!
'Hey, kid, can you hear me?' I think that I should at least try to talk to the little chibi.
"Blub gah goo."
'…Yeah…I'm just going to leave you alone now…'
That was creepy, and I'm wondering why Issei's parents haven't been freaking out over him saying his first words. Maybe something's happened?
I somehow managed to half-crawl half-walk up the short flight of stairs and to where my new parents slept at night. The door was left half open for some strange reason as well…very strange in my book.
That was when I decided to take control of the body to toddle away to an area that little Issei wouldn't be able to get to. In other words, his room that would make me cringe if I ever had the chance to.
One of those stupid baby gate things was blocking my path, though, and I lost control as soon as that happened. I won't go into too much detail, but Issei ended up walking in on his parents doing it. Right when the climax of their evening happened…haha, puns…I should go die again…
Maybe I messed up this particular universe's timeline by making little Issei not walk in before it happened, "Mama!"
And next came the shock of his parents. That was when I also learned this was some sort of JRPG because I am in Japan. How did I figure that out? His parents were speaking in Japanese. Great.
The next achievement didn't come until I started kindergarten at the age of four, approximately two years after my new little sister was born. I guess I screwed up the timeline in this universe, but I don't even care.
Achievement Unlocked: Enter kindergarten!
Reward: 5000 EXP, 50 Soul Mergence Points, 100 Base Modifier points and 50 Stat points!
Level up! Current level: 6
Reward: 15 Stat points, 25 Soul Mergence points, 1 Merit and 10 Base Modifier points!
I levelled up, huh. I did the usual with the Base Modifier points, making me look slightly feminine. I reckon I'll look like a girl to anyone that casts a very brief glance at me. With the Stat points I got, I decided to evenly split them into all of the stats, making them effectively look like this.
Issei Hyoudou's Stats
Speed: 11/1000
Strength: 11/1000
Intelligence: 40/1000
Wisdom: 25/1000
Agility: 11/1000
Charisma: 11/1000
I really think that I'm getting a head start in life. Most kids my age could only run about a hundred meters before they passed out. I could only run a few meters because my Speed and Agility were still very low. But I think I'm going to beat every kid in any race that may appear. And a strange thing that happened was my body tingling and numbing slightly when I levelled up stats that would physically affect me. And then I could feel my imaginary body feeling really hot for a moment before it faded. I noticed that Issei had wiped a some beads of sweat off of his forehead…strange…
You know what I did with the BM points, so straight to the SM points. I put all the SM points into Body Control once more. What? I want to be able to save what I am now calling my vessel if danger should arise. And with my Merit points, nothing happened. I still can't get anything else in the Merit section.
'Little Issei-kun, are you having fun?' Ever since Issei could actually start saying full sentences at the age of three, I decided to try and interact with him to try and create a pseudo relationship that I may deepen if he proves to be worthy enough. But I thought it was strange that I couldn't communicate with him through thought.
"Yeah, I'm having lots of fun, Kanzaki!" Yeah, Issei decided to call me Kanzaki, even though it's not my real…name…what was my real name? SHIT! Don't tell me I'm forgetting about my past life! What was it…what was…it…I don't really know…god dammit…
That's when I found out that this wasn't a dream of sorts, even if I hadn't known that I was wishing that this was all a dream. But I relished in seeing the looks on some people's faces when Issei starts talking to me out loud. I'm not even sure he knows what a thought is.
"Hey, Kanzaki, what are you doing?" Little Issei is now nearing five years old of age and he finally learnt how to have thoughts. I feel so proud for some reason. Is he smart because of the intelligence I helped him gain? Anyway, I got a Merit that was called 'Spiritual Defence' and it allowed me to come out of Issei's body as a shadow for a few seconds to deflect or take any life threatening attacks. And it only works once a day. Without my consent. The Merit has nothing to do with talking through our minds, though, so I'm weirded out. Do random Merits appear or are they set in place for certain achievements or scenarios?
Yeah, I'm having a hard time in life. My little sister, who is gracefully called Asuka, has entered what I like to call the 'onii-chan' phase. I think it's pretty self-explanatory so I'll spare you the details.
'Nothing much, little Issei.'
"Do you want to do something?"
'Sure.' I'd literally do anything to get off of the couch in the small house. The TV in this world sucks, except for the few animes that come on, like Dragon Ball and One Piece. Man, gotta love the stuff that is also in my world. Yeah, Dragon Ball and One Piece existed in my home dimension as well. Maybe this is some alternate dimension where I exist twice. Thinking about that hurts my brain.
"Wanna go out and play?"
'Sure!' With a weird grunt of somethingness, Issei got off of the couch and headed towards the kitchen where his mother was.
"Hey, mom, I'm going outside to play!" Issei's mom turned around and smiled slightly before nodding.
"Be safe, Ise-kun. I don't want you to come home covered in mud, okay?" Issei nodded at his mother's order, before he ran to the door and into the outside world.
And then we both forgot that it was summer. But I couldn't feel anything that Issei touched or anything that touched Issei for some reason, so I was ready to roll. With the first step out of the house, Issei was sweating buckets all over the floor.
'Let's go to the park. See if other kids want to play.'
"Okay, Kanzaki." Man, I have a massive influence over this kid. I just hope he doesn't grow up to be some pervert. If he does, I'm going to punch someone in the face. Literally. For a reason that has nothing to do with them.
After a short walk through the typical Japanese neighbourhood, we arrived at the park where there was a small amount of children playing around rather lazily. I think they should go home and be like every other child in summer. That's right, sitting at home in the air-con while eating food like there's no tomorrow…no? Only I did that?
Random Encounter! Befriend Irina Shidou!
'Hey, Issei, become friends with that kid in front of you.'
Issei stepped up to a boy that had some weird brown-blonde coloured hair and said the most cringe worthy thing ever, "Hey, be my friend!" I'm pretty sure everyone did that at least once when they were kids, so I'm not alone in this one.
The kid frowned for a second before smiling almost too brightly before shouting out, "Ok!"
"I'm Issei Hyoudou!"
"I'm Irina Shidou!" And a beautiful friendship had blossomed…ah, childhood sure is carefree.
Random Enounter successful!
Reward: 1000 EXP, ability to open menus at will!
Oh, yeah, I just realised that I never opened any of the menus at will. They magically appeared in my face after I levelled up. Suspicious.
"What are you doing here, Irina? I thought I told you to never come here again." Issei turned his head to the direction that the voice came from and frowned when a kid that looked to be eight years old began to walk towards him.
"Who are you?" Issei asked innocently as the kid sneered at Issei. Geez, I didn't know that children at that age could look so pissed off.
"Get out of my way, midget." Issei was pushed to the ground as the kid walked straight up to Irina with a fist raised.
Random Enounter! Protect Irina!
Shit, I gotta do something! The fist fell from the sky and struck Irina across the face, knocking him to the floor while he cried out in pain.
Random Encounter Failed!
Random Enounter! Save Irina!
…What? I fail something and then get given a mission of sorts that is related to the previous once. I should stop having a monologue as Irina is getting the shit beat out of him. Irina was getting pounded into the ground with the bully standing over him as kicks were aimed at his ribs and limbs and occasionally his head.
Without me realising, Issei had gotten up and charged the bully with a cry, "Get off of Shidou-san, you jerk!" And then Issei was backhanded.
Achievement Unlocked: Get hurt for the first time!
Reward: Fight menu!
Fuck off, achievement! I don't need you at the moment!
'Listen, Issei, I'm going to do something that may confuse you.'
"Okay, Kanzaki. What are you doing?"
'This.' I took control of Issei's body and stood back up quickly. I've got about thirty seconds to dispose of this prick. I ran up to the bully and ducked as he turned around with his arm outstretched, his arm flying over my head as I sprung up with my fist pulled back.
The kid's face widened in shock before my fist connected right with his nose, breaking it. The kid screamed as he covered his nose with both hands, blood flowing out of his nose and through the gaps in his hands.
"Go away before I hurt you even more." I said in a dark tone as my hair shadowed my eyes rather sardonically. And then the kid scrambled off while bawling his eyes out.
Random Encounter successful!
Reward: 1000 EXP, relationship with Irina Shidou improved!
Achievement Unlocked: Hurt someone for the first time!
Reward: 50 Fight points, feeling in Issei's body!
Achievement Unlocked: Break someone's nose!
Reward: 100 Base Modifiers, 50 Fight points, 20 Stat points!
"Are you ok?" I think I had about ten seconds left now. Wait, what!? All of that happened in, like, twenty seconds? I thought that that took about ten seconds to complete, even if I was slightly surprised that I still maintained my reflexes from my old life. And how am I so good at controlling this body so well if it's one of a child!? And why can I feel things all of a sudden!? Did I get an achievement or something?
"I…think…" Because Irina was lying face first on the floor, I didn't really get to see the extent of his injuries until he stood up and turned around. Frankly, I felt really angry at the kid, even if I did manage to get slight revenge by breaking his nose.
Irina had a forming black eye and I could see a few bruises on his arms and legs, as well as a theory that he had a cracked or broken rib from the kicks that he received while he was on the floor, "I think we need to take you to the doctor or something." And then I felt my control over Issei's body vanish into thin air.
"Woah, Kanzaki, what did you do!?"
'It's a little secret~! But it might happen at random so don't be surprised if you can't control your body at times.'
"Okay!" I wonder why Issei didn't contact me when I was fighting the bully. Maybe he can't.
"Ah, I'm fine, Hyoudou-san."
"Just call me Issei! And we need to take you to a doctor!" At least Issei can hear and see what I do when I control his body. That's a good thing, I guess.
"I'm fine, Issei-san. You can call me Irina, then! And no, I'm not going to the hospital!" Cue childish arm cross.
"We should at least take you back to your house!"
"I'm fine, really!" Then Issei had enough with Irina's stubbornness. He stepped forward, grabbed his wrist and led him out of the park and down a street before he stopped mid-step.
"Where do you live, exactly?" Issei's using a lot of big words today. I guess my stat distribution did something useful.
"Just down this street." Just like that, Irina's stubbornness is gone in an instant. What a surprise. After a minute of leading Irina, Issei stopped in front of Irina's house, "Let's go inside." Irina muttered before he dragged Issei. What a role reversal. It was entertaining when Irina's father nearly had a heart attack at the sight of their kid with bruises on his body. I think the black eye was the feature that gave away that idea that he was hurt, so I was also kinda disappointed in myself for not stopping that first strike. Where was his mother, though?
"Irina, what happened to you?" His father had asked when Irina dragged Issei into the living room.
"The bully came again…" Irina was visibly depressed, and I don't want the depression of a small child hanging onto my soul for the rest of my current life. It would suck knowing that I could've down something to cheer him up.
'Hey, idiot, cheer the kid up!'
"Don't worry, Irina-kun! I scared the bully off forever!"
"Oh, who's your friend?" He only noticed me now? He doesn't seem to be blind or partially blind because there are no glasses in sight.
"I'm Issei Hyoudou!" Typical child introductions, always fun.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Irina-chan's father." Generic male introduction to children that are potential friends to his kid.
"It's nice to meet you too!" Generic child things again. I'm certainly having fun in here, aren't I?
"So you scared off the bully, eh?" Things seem to be getting interesting now.
"Yeah! He was really scared of me!"
'Nice of you to take all of the credit.'
"Don't worry, Kanzaki! I won't forget to mention you!"
"Yeah, dad! You should've seen Issei-kun get him right in the nose!" Irina was now enthusiastically shouting about how awesome Issei was. Why does he get the credit? I clearly did all the work!
"Oh, interesting. We should patch you up, Irina." Irina's father forcefully dragged him up the stairs of the small house, leaving me by myself in the living room. I wonder, how do I open the menu?
Err…menu open?
To my surprise, it did open. Right in my face. Causing me to try and scream out in shock.
"Kanazki, what's wrong!?" Issei heard that? Wow, I must've forgotten that he could hear me if I tried to talk.
'Nothing. Just realised something, that's all.'
"What did you…rea…realise?"
'Well, you said that word properly. Good job.'
"Thanks, Kanzaki!" The attention span of this child is pretty low, I think.
Current Level: 6
EXP: 3000/7000
I'm not sure if that mathematically adds up. What do I know? I'm just possessing some little kid's body.
Anyway, I noticed that I unlocked a whole bunch of achievements from that one fight. I also unlocked the ability to feel what Issei feels, probably including emotions and pain, et cetera and a 'Fight' menu. Wonder what that is.
The 'Fight' menu appeared in my face again, but I was prepared this time. No screaming, I promise.
Fight Stats
Pain Tolerance: 1/1000
Reflexes: 1/1000
Enemy Movement Tracking: 1/1000
Enemy Movement Predictability: 1/1000
Battle Strategy Planning:
Battle Versatility: 1/1000
Locked
Locked
Locked
Just like BM, there is a lot of locked options, and I'm not looking forward to unlocking them all. It'll be a drag to find out that they're useless. That's if they're useless.
So, what should I do with my current one hundred Fight points? Let's see…for now I'll go fifty in Pain Tolerance and fifty in Reflexes…yeah, those'll be good because the other ones are useless at the moment.
My BM menu opened, and I did the usual routine. Dump all the points in Feminine Beauty. Geez, maybe I should start putting them into Lolita/Shotaro Body…nah, I don't want to be small. It won't be fun at all.
My Feminine Beauty stat is already looking healthily filled out.
Feminine Beauty: 290/10000
I'm still thinking up a reason as to why Feminine Beauty requires more points than the other ones and I haven't been able to come up with an intelligible answer.
And with the 'healthy' amount of normal stat points I managed to gain, I decided to spread them 'evenly' once more.
By that, I mean that I put four points into every stat but strength. It would be suspicious if a borderline five year old is able to lift a chair up…not that it has happened before…
Now they look like this.
Speed: 15/1000
Strength: 11/1000
Intelligence: 44/1000
Wisdom: 29/1000
Agility: 15/1000
Charisma: 15/1000
I'm going to be the smartest pre-schooler ever. While I was adding my several points into their respective areas, I didn't notice that Irina had finished being fixed by his father. And I didn't notice that a conversation about Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z had started…wait, time flows when I'm putting my stat points in now!?
"I reckon Frieza is better than Goku!" My, Irina is being rather bold with her statements. To be honest, Frieza was my favourite as well, even if he was an asshole.
"Why did Goku beat him, then!?"
"Because he cheated!"
"How did he cheat!?"
"He dodged Frieza's Death Saucer and let them cut him in half!"
"Goku warned Frieza about it!"
"…"
"…"
"He still cheated!"
You know what, I am so fucking done with this conversation!
'Issei, let's go! Frieza's better and there's no denying it!'
"Goku's better!"
'Fine then! Ask Irina for a Goku versus Frieza battle outside!'
"Irina! I challenge you to a duel! Goku versus Frieza!"
"You're going down!
"KAME…HAME…HA!" Irina jumped to the side and widened his eyes as he imagined the legendary Kamehameha flying past him.
"Hahaha! You'll never defeat me, Sayajin, for I am the might Frieza!"
"I won't forgive you for killing my friends!" Issei began powering up as he imagined himself going Super Sayajin.
I didn't expect something this intense to happen. Definitely not in the middle of a park where younger kids watched in awe at their 'battle'. I'm not even sure if their following the real battle, though, so I can't say for sure who's going to win.
"What's this? Your power level is rising!?" Are they even following the script now?
"You'll pay for killing my friends! KAME…HAME…HA!" And then Irina pretended that his lower half had been blasted off, falling onto his back while looking up at the sky.
"Damn…it…stupid…Saiyan…getting…in my…way…" And then Irina pretended that he was dead.
"See, I told you Goku was better!"
FOR FUCKS SAKE!
In the end, Irina ended up becoming a fan of Goku as well, just like Issei. But their disputes never ended about who was better. And the battle that started the whole thing was short. Very short.
I also, I unlocked a menu when I finished preschool and it was called the 'Study' menu. Everything in it was locked which may have pissed me off slightly, but that doesn't matter right now.
But, Irina and Issei entered their first year of grade school two years later, and it was hilarious when a random Dragon Ball fight between everyone in the whole class somehow started during the middle of class. Needless to say, it was hilarious when there was a tag team of Piccolo's, a whole army of Goku's, a single Frieza (not gonna tell who that was) and a Cell in his Perfect Form.
Somehow, all the Goku's except for Issei were murdered, one of the Piccolo's died from 'running out of energy', leaving Perfect Form Cell, Goku, a Piccolo standing on the sidelines and Frieza. And Cell and Frieza teamed up against Goku.
"KAME…HAME…HA!" One of Frieza's arms are gone now.
"Blasted, you stupid monkey!" An arm was extended outwards and eyes widened, "Death Beam!" Goku fell to the floor clutching his stomach, "Tch, I missed his heart."
The teacher was stunned, standing at his podium with his mouth wide open at the number of students lying on the floor, pretending that they're dead.
"FRIEZA!" And then Issei 'turned' Super Sayajin.
"No, this can't be possible! A Super Sayajin!? That isn't possible!"
"Please, everyone, share me your power! I need it to defeat Frieza and Cell!" And then all the 'dead' people pretended to share their energy with Goku, 'creating' a giant Spirit Bomb, "SPIRIT BOMB!"
And then everyone but Goku…'died', I guess. Happy days, everyone dies and Goku wins like always.
"See, Goku is waaaaaaaay better than Frieza!"
"No he's not!"
I'm never going to stop hearing this, am I?
'SHUT UP AND ACCEPT DEFEAT ALREADY, ISSEI!'