The theme song for this chapter is HOPE by NF.

Prologue ‒ Finding Your Resolve
Part 3: Hope

Thursday, July 11, 2013 1:41 PM ‒ Grove City, OH, United States of America

I wipe the sweat off my brow as I finish reorganizing the books on the bottom shelves of the town's local library. I run to the counter quickly and get the librarian's attention. "Ms. Samson!" I loudly whisper.

She looks down from the book she's reading. "Oh, young Damien. Have you finished your community work already?"

"Yes, ma'am! All the books are properly organized! You can go check for yourself!"

She dusts off her skirt and stands. "I believe I shall. Thank you very much for your help this past week. I must say, you are most certainly a driven kid for your age."

"Yes, ma'am! I've got a lot of goals so I have to work super hard in order to make them happen!" I reply with gusto. Obviously she isn't privy to the knowledge I have, or the reasons I'm as motivated as I am, but I am internally glad she can see just how much effort I put in. I walk with her as she examines the bookshelves for my handiwork, and it isn't hard to tell just how surprised she is at how quickly and efficiently I completed the task.

She turns back to me, a mirthful shine in her eyes. "I must say, young man, I am very impressed by your work. I could count off the number of kids your age capable of something like this in such a short time on one hand and still have fingers left over. There are kids twice your age that sadly aren't capable of being this efficient. I have to give your parents their dues, they've definitely done their best to raise you right and it clearly shows."

"Thank you, ma'am! I'll be sure to tell my father your opinion of him! I'm sure he'd enjoy the praise!" I enthusiastically reply.

Ms. Samson chuckles lightly. "Oh, there's no need, young man. Now go on, I'm sure you have other more important things to do."

"Right!" I exclaim. "I'll see you tomorrow, Ms. Samson!" I throw back as I begin to leave the library and head outside, where my father is hosting a book fair for the community. My father stands, greeting children and parents alike as they browse this year's various selections. I remember how exciting these events can be for kids who have an actual interest in reading. I remember wanting to get merch and books like this so badly as a kid, but I could never convince Mom and Dad to part with the money. Byproduct of the world at the time ‒ I'm glad my father here is much more reasonable and approachable in that regard. He's intelligent in a way that most parents simply aren't, regardless of how much they try. Far as I'm aware, it's a gift to be so talented at raising a child and being aware of the tools and mentality that takes.

I draw myself back out of my mind as my father approaches me. "How'd it go inside, son?"

"It went great, Dad! Ms. Samson wanted you to know she thinks you and Mom did a great job raising me!" To my utter surprise, my father actually blushes lightly as he chuckles and rubs the back of his head. I instantly home in on this new weakness. "Aww, does someone have a crush?"

My father splutters for a moment before vehemently shaking his head. "Nonsense, son! The only person in the world I have eyes for is you."

I laugh, the fatherly praise making me feel giddy inside, but don't drop the point that easily. "Nuh-uh, Dad! I saw your face light up like Rudolph's nose! You can't slip that past me! Daddy and Ms. Samson, sitting in a tree, K-I‒"

My father laughs as he picks me up and puts me on his shoulders, giving me a piggy-back ride. "Okay, that's enough of that now, son. Man, you're getting a bit too observant for your own good."

"Yup! Who's to blame for that, though?" I counter easily.

My father laughs. "You have a point," he concedes. "So now that we're pretty much done with our community work for the week, anything you'd like to do over the weekend? Maybe go pick up a new game? I know you could use the break; you might think you were able to hide it but I can see how hard you've been working on your studies. You're already lightyears ahead of even the middle schoolers in the country and yet you keep on pushing yourself harder than most grown men I know."

"Hmm…" I take a few moments to consider his question. "You think the anime depot in the mall has new volumes yet? I'd really like to pick up a new story!"

"That's a good idea, son. There haven't been a lot of good stories lately so hopefully we can pick up something good." My father takes us to the car and lets me down and we hop in. Ever since my mother died, I've graduated to riding in the passenger seat next to him, though my seat obviously still has to be raised up a bit to make sure I can see out the window. We've also bonded more over activities I've continued to enjoy since my death, like watching anime, reading manga, and playing various games. He starts up the car and we leave the library, destination downtown.

We walk into the anime depot and I immediately notice a new volume of the Kenichi manga, which I never finished in my previous life and which hasn't yet reached its conclusion in this time. I immediately tug on my father's sleeve to get his attention, knowing he enjoys the series as well since I used to practice karate a lot more than I do now. "Dad, look! The new volume of Kenichi is out! Let's buy it!"

My father looks over, surprised, before a grin breaks his resting bitch face. "I think we can do that, but let's look around for a little bit and see if anything else catches out interest too, okay, son?"

"Right!" We split up and I spend the next few minutes looking through the depot's catalog. I go to the 'anime news' section, where magazines from Japan are distributed detailing the industry and developing trends in Japan, and see on one of the covers a girl in a resplendent dress the colors of the sunrise dancing on a stage. Idly, my brain tries to remind me that this is important somehow, but I don't register it as I open the cover and start reading.

The title of the front-page article shocks me so badly I almost drop the magazine out of my hands. 'Idol Culture Becoming More Popular In High Schools And Colleges, Kanto Region Shocked By Sudden Viewership Spike in Musical Media' is what the title says. Suddenly, a veritable flood of memories comes back to me as I remember one of the things I loved the most as far as my hobbies went. My fanfiction writing and my eventual dream to become a professional pianist. The many musical media I had consumed that had started that sudden change in my ambition. And at the center of it all, the anime I had watched from my watchlist one day after a drought from my favorite anime all ending at the same time left me in desperate need of something to relieve the boredom and satisfy my intellectual itch: Love Live!.

I gasp as the book falls out of my hands and hits the floor, and a tear falls from my eye and down my cheek. How could I have forgotten?! Love Live was always my favorite IP after I realized just how much potential it had and the different stories it told! You're… you're telling me it's real?! Is this… is this the LL universe?! Of all the places in the multiverse, I ended up here?! The sudden flood of hope is so intense it almost knocks me over, and I barely contain the urge to weep with joy. Maybe the multiverse does have some small miracles after all… I never could have imagined I would die in the worst way possible, only to end up in my favorite fictional world of all places… No, that's not entirely right. If I'm here, that means it's not fiction. Multiverse theory is actually TRUE!

Man, if the scientists back on my Earth were ever to learn about this blatant violation of causality and macrophysics, they'd pitch the biggest shit fit of all time… That thought forces a laugh out of me, and I finally get out of my own thoughts. With a bright smile, I take the magazine and put it into the basket I'd been carrying since I split up with my father. No way I'm going to let this pass me by. At least this'll give me a good reason to work for all that money… because I have a feeling if I've already had it bad in the world so far compared to my old life ‒even if half of that is by my own choice‒ then the girls whose stories I've grown to care so much for aren't going to have it as easy as they do in the anime or games either. I walk to the counter, where my father is waiting with a few volumes in his own basket, and we buy the selections and leave the mall.

As we head home and get ready for the remainder of our day, I can feel a new sense of resolve solidifying in my heart, and I embrace it wholeheartedly. Everything I've done has led to this. Maybe I didn't specifically plan for this to be how I move forward, but I had wanted to move to Japan anyway, and this just gives me even more reason to work as hard as possible to bring that first goal within reach. Whoever's listening, I promise I will rise to the top. I will gain the prestige that I need to bypass the roadblocks that lie down that particular road, and I'll make this the best second chance anyone's ever been given.

Saturday, August 27, 2016 7:47 PM ‒ Cincinnati, OH, United States of America

I stretch and yawn as I turn off the Twitch stream I'd been running while grinding Top 100 Ranked in Rocket League. Exactly as I'd hoped, RL had released the previous year, and people were already abuzz all over the internet with speculation over who would be the next big entry in the eSport ever since the Season 1 World Championship had ended just two and a half weeks ago. Being that the event was held in Los Angeles, there was no way I'd have been able to attend. My education had changed ‒ my father had to start going back to work once he realized taking care of my education himself simply wasn't possible given just how far ahead of everyone else in the country I was. As a result, he'd hired a tutor to come overseas straight from Japan with a ludicrously expensive contract that he worked himself to the bone trying to afford on his own.

While I had appreciated the gesture to help expand my already insane potential my father had displayed, I refused to let him foot the bill on his own, and shortly after my tutor, Miyazaki-san , had arrived to become my in-house instructor, I had started a Twitch channel and begun actively streaming my Ranked grinds while interacting with my slowly expanding fanbase. That was a year and a half ago and I now had a decent following and enough revenue that I could pay for a third of the expenses on my own.

All that brought me back to the speculation over the next big name in RL. Being that I had been on Twitch for quite a while, my name was already starting to get thrown around in conversations of who was on the come-up, though like I expected, most people dropped my name shortly after realizing it would be another three and a half years before I'd be eligible to play in the RLCS. I was only eleven so it wasn't a surprise for players closer to the eligible age to get talked about more, even though I had consistently dominated the Ranked 2s and 3s leaderboards since the game had released.

Yeah, being a reincarnated cheater felt weird sometimes and made me think I didn't deserve the fame I had slowly gained, but I wasn't afraid to milk that cow for all it was worth, because it was all for a greater purpose. A purpose that's still who knows how long down the pipeline considering I've kept up with Japan's trends ever since that day back in '13 and still haven't heard anything about Love Live. Though school idols are starting to become a solid thing now, so that's at least a sign that we're trending in the right direction.

While Miyazaki-san wasn't afraid to make sure I was getting in my proper amount of study, Japan and its mainland neighbor Korea were also very well-known for their eSports involvement, so he didn't try to stop me when I had started my streaming career, even though he was worried. All worries promptly ceased when I stepped up to the added challenge of my significantly more difficult Japanese education and shocked him with my knowledge of subjects already prevalent in Japan's middle and early high school curriculums.

I stand up out of my office chair ‒no way in hell am I ever sitting in a 'gaming' chair again unless I absolutely have to. Those things are hell on the lower back‒ and walk out of the room I'd turned into an office with my father's help, heading down the hallway toward the kitchen and greeting Miyazaki-san as I pass him in the hallway. I head to the fridge and grab a bottle of my preferred pineapple mango-flavored green tea, opening it and closing my eyes as I take a large gulp from the bottle. I sigh in relief as the cool liquid wets my throat, then head over to my father's study and knock on the door. "Dad, you busy right now?"

"No, you can come in, son," I hear from the other side of the door. I open it and find my father reading a couple articles on his computer. "What did you need, son?"

"I just wanted to check in and see how the portfolio's doing. Reinvestment is the best way to make sure we don't suddenly have something happen and all our money comes sliding out from under our feet."

My father nods. "True, that. Come sit down, I was actually just getting ready to check it myself. How was your stream?"

I groan. "I have to keep up with them so we can afford Miyazaki-san's tutoring costs, but they're starting to get annoyingly repetitive. I like having consistent viewership, but I don't think it's normal for such a fun game to become boring. I don't want to end up with burnout but it's also extremely hard to do variety content with any measure of success."

We take the next few minutes looking over the portfolio, before I decide it's probably best if I get to bed early. I stand up, yawning. "I'm gonna head to bed now, Dad. Good night, love you."

"Love you too, son. Get some rest."

"Thanks, Dad."

Monday, July 15, 2019 6:01 PM

Yeah, whoever said nerves go away with experience was lying out their ass as far as I'm concerned. I'm currently in the period of my career where I have to schedule and tryout for various teams, and it's been an absolute whirlwind of constant motion. Tryout for one team, restroom break, spend two hours grinding ranked waiting for the next tryout session, tryout for another team, repeat. It's been like this for a week now and I already hate it. Plus the fact that I won't even be eligible to play until after Season 8 ended in my timeline, which means if I have my math right, it's almost time for the world to get kicked in the teeth by another pandemic. Of course, I know how much that's going to suck going in. If what H1N1 did to my world almost a decade ago was any indication, COVID won't be pulling any punches either. And with my involvement in community service and my new (under-the-table, obviously) part-time job as a mechanic when I'm not grinding or reading stories to destress, my days are very busy now and I wouldn't be surprised if COVID hits me this time. The only reason I'd never caught it in my previous life was because I was a recluse who almost never left my RV aside from work and took the mandates seriously, which led to the only time where I was sick being after I'd received my second shot.

Oh, and the loneliness. My father suddenly developed brain cancer last year and couldn't make it through the end of the year before the tumor claimed him. That was a shock, but with what had happened in 2010, I was at least a little more prepared than when H1N1 had wiped out most of my family. I live with my caretaker now, but we don't interact very much. She mostly gets groceries and keeps the house clean while I'm busy with one thing or another. We also sit down to meals she makes in the evenings, but I was never very good with interacting with someone who was literally hired to be exactly what she is now in the wake of my father's death, so we mostly chat about our day before cleaning up the mess and going back to our routines. I at least help out with the dishes after dinner – it would be horrendously unfair for me to ask her to clean up after my own messes when she already keeps the rest of the house clean.

I shut off my equipment and walk to my bookshelf, picking off volume 1 of Mob Psycho 100 and opening it up. I settle in my bed as I start reading, turning on the reading light to see better. My collection of manga and other books, which I'd inherited from my father after his death, were one of the few things that helped keep my stress levels low nowadays, since I still came back to re-read the stories I'd enjoyed even in my previous life. It also helped for when my creative juices got flowing and I'd have a pen and paper on hand to do some writing with – though with my fanfiction writing days now almost fifteen years behind me, I'm now very rusty and what I write isn't very good anymore.

Let it never be said being in a kid's body gives you back the energy you had when you were a kid. I think a big part of it is mental, because after my father died, Miyazaki-san moved back to Japan, and I had to start planning for my future more conservatively, I had lost the motivation to continue pursuing my community service, which led to my current job as a mechanic and my significantly decreased participation in community service. When that happened, I noticed a large drop in the amount of energy I'd have day-to-day; my operating theory was that kids have that boundless energy because they almost never run out of things that they want to do, whereas that capacitor of mine was taking a major hit because my mind, adult-aged with adult plans and adult concerns, was losing motivation to find things to summon that energy to accomplish. Now it was taking more and more effort to make sure I was keeping up with my training and studies – though I was never particularly worried about stopping those entirely, I knew I had to keep more of a pulse on them to make sure I didn't slip up and potentially lose my position at the top of either of those respective ladders. Sorry, Fūtarō, gotta take a page out of your book and go the broody route, because it doesn't look like I'm gonna be able to keep up this cheerful façade much longer.

Either way, I had made plans, plans I was intent on seeing through no matter what happened or what tried to stop me. I'd set myself on this path from the moment I was reborn and I would fulfill the promise I'd made years ago.

All this introspection is very distracting when you're trying to read, however, especially when you've been laying in bed for an hour trying to focus. Sighing, I set the book on the nightstand next to me, take the bottle of melatonin gummies off and take two out, popping them into my mouth and chewing and swallowing them. I get up and head to the bathroom, quickly getting a shower and brushing my teeth while I wait for the melatonin to kick in. By the time I'm back in bed, I'm yawning heavily as I slip under the covers. I turn off the lights in the room and settle in for the night. Within minutes, I'm out.

My final thoughts before I pass out are, Yeah, I'm gonna be pissed if I develop insomnia like my mom had in my previous life; and, I have to hold out hope that things change again soon. I can't stand this monotony much longer. Give me a sign to make that move, universe, please…

And with this, the Prologue is finished. Starting in the next chapter, we'll be moving into the Love Live part of the story and introducing the revamped setting.

Hope y'all enjoyed the three-part Prologue! I had a lot of motivation, but writing almost twelve thousand words in thirty-six hours is seriously draining on the mental banks, and I might need to turn in early to get enough sleep for work.

Speaking of how much, this is now the new fastest turnover I've ever had in one writing session. This beats out the speed I took to finish The True Homefront by a solid half again, but this level of motivation more than likely won't come around again.

Starting from this point, the story will slow down in pacing to give both itself and my life time to breathe as I work to continue improving my skills and reflecting on where I want to take this story.