He died.
That was all.
He died, and nothing happened afterwards.
At least... that's how he expected it to be.
But then he finds himself in the slums, a new batch of memories in his brain, in an anime he once saw because, you know; harem dream. Though harem dream was ruthlessly crushed by the shitty author being a pansy that liked simps and he dropped the story, never coming back to it because of life, he had a photographic memory that was able to transfer over to this life, meaning he knew exactly who he was, where he was, and what situation he was in.
A boy named Miyamoto Musashi, raised in Orario as an orphan, who recently turned 16 and decided to traverse the dungeon, because that was all the options he had left besides turning to cruelty, due to doubt in being able to join a Familia who'd accept him, a worthless human.
Yes, this was the world of Danmachi, famously known as the anime where people dive dungeons for hot women to become heroes, though truly, he was baffled on why those without any talent would do the craziest things just for the smallest bit of contact with a god/goddess- OR wine if you were Soma and Dionysus. Maybe it was just him, but he wondered if that was just how desperate one could be for attention?
Musashi Miyamoto
16 Years
Physical Talent: Above Average
Combat Talent: Supremely Supreme
Magic Talent: Super
Weaponry Talent: Above Average
Intellectual Talent: Super
Stealth Talent: Average
Blacksmithing Talent: Poor
Growth Talent: Supremely Supreme
A blue screen appeared in front of his vision before he could think any further, capturing his attention as he got a brief tutorial on the mechanics of the system that was apparently supposed to aid him for his reincarnation.
To put it simply, this was a system that made quantitative values change into qualitative values. The more you put your focus on training and experiencing the fields in which you aspire for or choose to focus on, the more your talent in that field grows, making each increase you get from doing the same activity at a constant pace better than the results previously at a near visible level.
For example; using the grading ratio that goes from Garbage, Poor, Bad, Average, Above Average, Good, Excellent, Super, Special, Supreme, Supremely Super, Supremely Special, and Supremely Supreme, if your talent at cooking is garbage it would normally take you at least 10 years to make a non murderous meal, but with the systems passive effect of changing one's quantifiable value to qualitative value, as long as you spend an three hours a day cooking one meal, edible or non edible being redundant, you could change one's Garbage talent to Poor in 3 months, Poor to Bad in 2 months, Bad to Average in 1 month, Average to Above Average in 4 weeks, Above Average to Good in 3 weeks, Good to Excellent in 18 days Excellent to Super in 2 weeks, Super to Special in a week, Special to Supreme in a day, Supreme to Supremely Super in 16 hours, Supremely Super to Supremely Special in 8 hours, and Supremely Special to Supremely Supreme in an hour.
This meant that in around 270+ days, you could go from having the worst talent in the world, to the greatest talent. Now the difference between talent is a simple divisor, for people who cook with Garbage grade talent, ten years for a barely edible meal is probably the best they can do, for someone with Supremely Supreme grade talent however, 10 years is enough to make your food an Erina Nakiri Grade Hotspot. In short, you can conquer any type of tongue with a half assed meal you barely put any thought into.
For Miyamoto, this system was quite literally the greatest opportunity one could give him. The Grace of Gods, which was the certified method to strength, in combination with the Quality Increment System was like a dynamic duo the likes of which shouldn't be allowed to stay with each other for too long or everyone else will panic.
Seeing as he now had the means to achieve any dream in the world, Miyamoto had to decide on what he wanted to do most in this life, but looking at his name, and remembering an anime from his last life that made him a fanatic who'd collect hundreds of weird antiques, it wasn't hard to choose.
He wanted to be a Blade Dancer.
....
Who would've thought Orario, even after Bell Cranel showed up was just a cage for dangerous beasts that reveal dangerous ambition everywhere you looked?
Probably everyone. No one sane would truly go down the dungeon with monsters stronger than you by a grand amount because they craved wealth fame and/or power right?
Wait... since everyone in Orario does this, would that make them sane or insane? I mean, even citizens who have no Falna like to test their "might". Hmm, maybe not. Insanity is what others call failures who fail enough times that they failed to count. So what do we call those failures who failed to fail their task of one day failing to become powerful in their desire for heroics?
We call them monsters, legends, or hacks. Truly it depends on their sort of achievements.
Like Miyamoto's current one of walking around in the dungeon with a stick and bashing the heads of a group of Enhanced Goblins and Kobolds on the 4th Floor.
'Whackity, whacka wam, there goes another splat.' looking at the dead black-red goblins body while its brains lay spread on the floor, the currently Falnaless Miyamoto picked up his 83rd lucky drop item while wondering if these nails and teeth would be good material for his future weapon.
"Oh well. It is what it is, that should be Crystal 841, right? I say my first trip should end here before I join a Familia." Speaking out loud to himself as he started to head out the exit of the 3rd floor in the dungeon, targeting towards the surface, Miyamoto had calculated the money he sadly wouldn't be allowed to gain.
"+100 for every floor, +50 for Kobolds and Goblins, +50 for Enhanced Kobolds and Goblins, +100 For Dungeon Lizards +200 for Lucky Drops +200 for Enhanced Kobold and Goblin Lucky Drops, so a little bit over 300,000 Valis? with the 30% Guild Tax, and the 50,000 Vali deposit into the Guild for access to a deposit room I end up with 0,000 Valis. That seems like a lot more than it should be...." If he remembered correctly, Bell himself barely got this much when he went to the dungeon dozens of floors down, maybe he missed something that he did which made his money seem like more than it should be?
He forgot that Bell didn't kill many monsters on his first journey, and that he was a weakling who took greater risks than he should be allowed to take.
(Super Secret Alleyway Outside The Babel Tower)
Loki was arguably the most dangerous God in existence.
In fact, remove the arguably: She is the most dangerous God. A Domain in Mischief, Trickery, and Deceit meant more than just being a mastermind who could plot the direction the world goes. It meant that depending on her mood, the Fate of All Beings may not be safe.
The reality was, her domains could be even more than what was explicitly recorded because Gods had near absolute power in their domains, it wouldn't be a stretch for her to trick the senses of Gods who didn't have a domain in Wisdom, Spirit, or Intellect.
It could be said that her descending to the Lower Realm was a blessing to everyone, for the absolute restriction on Arcanums usage was unbreakable and unshakeable, and without her Arcanum, Loki's danger was negligible until she was provoked.
No one understood her, and no one cared to either. For all of those with strong instincts could only fear her, and hoping she'd be merciful was the only thing one could do when encountering her in the upper realm.
The only group of people who dared to face Loki without fear were either people she barely liked, or just didn't care about.
It was her. The Goddess standing in front of Miyamoto Musashi was recognizable for anime fans yet... she did not look like Loki.
"We've met before, haven't we?" Her red eyes sparkled, just like the wide grin she gave him, and Musashi couldn't help but be entranced just as he was the first time he met with death itself.
"We haven't." At least, I've never met you in this form. Who would've thought Loki looked so much like Sakura Alter, And I don't think she's ever met me personally.
His thoughts weren't expressed, and his face was unable to be analyzed, it could be said that this trick could've bypassed any Lie Detector God Mechanism.
Well- "A lie by omission is still a lie, kiddo." Except hers.
Her grin grew wider however, as if she was pleased by his response, even as she noticed his impression of her go up, from a Goddess he would consider joining on a sporadic occasion, to a Goddess he truly appreciated, even as she caught his lie by the throat and cracked down the truth with ease.
"I don't normally send out invitations anymore... but you've really- and I mean really, interest me in a way I've felt very rarely in my life. So... would you join my Familia?"
"Not unless I was forced. The Loki Familia now is strong, and there is no joy in following the strong to become stronger."
Her palms cupped her chin as she felt Euphoria, her fingers pressing her cheeks slightly as her eyes widened in joy, he was the perfect choice for her. Someone so bold to lie to her twice on their first time communicating, not to mentioned he even upped his game!
"I think I'm in love~" She knew what he said was true, her Lie Detector said so, but she still knew he lied, his lie was just buried in the truth. He will join her Familia. He just won't join Loki's Familia. To be honest, she had never expected someone to ever get past her Lie Detector Mechanism, as not even a God can do it, but he not only walked through it so easily he even triggered her domain, which was the only way she could know he lied.
She grabbed his hand then and there, he was indeed going to be a welcome addition to her Familia, and she knew just the way to make things appropriate for his stay.
"You will live in Yggdrasil, one of my secret bases I had constructed to hang out in when I plan to screw around, I will be announcing your recruitment to my Familia, but they will have to find out for themselves who joined, and they cannot interfere with your actions should they discover you. In return, you'll have to have a double persona, one that few would detect is the real you."
He didn't respond until they were at the secret base she told him about only for him to decline.
"No. That's not fun at all. One secret life, and one open life just sounds boring. A Triple Persona- You know what, Just engrave the Falna on me, explaining it is a hassle."
When Loki did just that, she found herself sinking into this recently awakened emotion of hers.
Musashi Miyamoto
Human
16
Level 1
Strength-I0
Endurance-I0
Agility-I0
Dexterity-I0
Magic-I0
Magic:
Tenebrae- (Super, Super, Super Short Chant Ultimate Dark Magic) Creates a ball of darkness that can absorb, destroy, and enchant itself on anything the caster decides, enchanted objects gain the ability to devour other objects to enhance its quality, enchantment is permanent.
Chant: Exedo.
Multiiugis Vitae- (Super Short Chant Transformation Magic) Switch appearances as you desire.
Chant: Hoc Est Unus Modo Ex Multi Vitae
....
Honestly, he didn't expect he would get any magical abilities right off the bat, he just knew the Falna was something that, Once gods placed upon your soul, allowed them access to your mind, So upon seeing the piece of parchment papers copied and translated words, he figured that he was a little bit too lucky, but seeing as he technically did live multiple lives... the magical ability he got really wasn't a stretch.
And who knows, maybe this would work out for him....
Pfft. Who is he kidding? This is just the start of a Hell Level Difficulty, isn't it?
After all, Loki just showed him that this world isn't the same as he knows it. And that's something he should be cautious of.