What is reincarnation?
From what I understood, reincarnation is the religious or philosophical belief that the soul or spirit, after biological death, begins a new life in a new body that may be human or animal.
Now, then, what is transmigration?
Transmigration, also known as rebirth, is the idea that a living being's non-physical essence starts a new life in a different body after death.
Some would say these two concepts are the exact same or similar enough that they might as well have the same word to describe them. Others would argue that these two concepts are completely different and come with their own distinct differences.
What is my opinion on the matter, one may ask?
It's simple.
"Who fucking cares?"
"Sou-chan! You can't say that! That's a bad word!"
"Meh."
I looked away from the young, pale-blue-haired little girl and popped another grape into my mouth. I ignored her annoyed pout and looked up at the annoying blue sky as I continued eating my snack. Sighing in defeat, my fellow orphan retook her seat next to me on one of the small pastel-colored chairs and grabbed her half-eaten cookie.
"…want a grape?"
"Really?!"
"Yeah. Here."
Hase Keiko's vibrant yellow eyes glowed with happiness as she accepted my offer. She didn't wait to devour the sweet and crunchy pieces of fruit as she chewed on the fruit with a large smile.
"Thank you, Sou-chan!"
"Yeah, yeah. You're welcome."
Now then, where was I? Ah, yes. I was talking about reincarnation and or transmigration. It's definitely not something a five-year-old child like myself would normally think about or deliberate during their recess break. However, the topic was very relevant to my current situation.
I was a person who was seemingly reborn with all their past memories into a new world. It was a crazy and almost unbelievable fact the moment I realized the truth after I realized I was once again a baby being held in my mother's arms. I had tried to brush this off as a dream, but the dream had seemingly never ended. Seeing that this was now my reality, I had to take the reality of my situation seriously and move on.
"Ah! Sou-chan! Kei-chan! Let's go play hero!"
I looked over at another fellow orphan as he came to a stop in front of both Keiko and me with an excited smile. The boy had dark orange hair and orange-colored eyes. However, the color of his hair and eyes was quickly forgotten when the young boy's body resembled an anthropomorphic red-scaled walking lizard. This fact would normally cause everyone in the area to panic and run in fear or confusion. At least, it would have in my past life.
"Okay!" Keiko nodded and jumped off her chair. "Let's go, Sou-chan!"
"I'll pass," I said and waved them away. "You two go ahead."
Keiko looked dissatisfied with my answer, but the walking lizard, Tsuchida Hideo, nodded and grabbed her wrist. He began to pull the surprised Keiko off towards the center of the orphanage's open courtyard, where several other children were grouped up together. Off to the sides were a few of the orphanage's caretakers watching the gathered kids with amused smiles as they continued their daily chores or duties.
"Oh! Oh! I want to be All Might!"
"No! You were All Might yesterday! It's my turn!"
"No way! See! I have yellow hair like All Might, so I should be All Might!"
"No fair! No fair!"
I sighed as the group of kids began to argue about who would be Japan's number one hero in today's session of their made-up game, heroes and Villains.
Yes, you heard me right. All Might. The plus ultra guy that can punch a hole through the atmosphere and change the weather. A fictional character from one of my world's hit anime/manga series, My Hero Academia, was now, in fact, a real person in this world.
This means that alongside him, every other character from that series was now a living, tangible person alongside the very world the author of the series created. At least if everything I've seen on television was to be believed, this meant I was now in a world where around 80% of the population had some sort of power or quirk that could determine the course of your life.
Why couldn't I have just vanished into the nothingness of the universe? Instead, I'm now stuck in this train wreck of a world. I released a long sigh and leaned my head back onto my chair. "I guess it's not so bad. I could have popped up in Attack on Titan or Berserk." But still, the thought of being in a world where 80% of the population has a quirk is daunting. It's not the world I was used to, and it's a lot to take in.
I closed my eyes and popped another grape in my mouth. I leaned back and relaxed under the sun's warm rays of light.
In my previous life, I had greatly enjoyed the series for what it was. But as the story progressed and began to near its inevitable end, the writing and character direction completely lost me. I had dropped MHA after class 1-A used the power of friendship to bring back the series protagonist, Bakugo-cough, I mean Midoriya Izuku, back from his short stint as a vigilante.
This meant I had a pretty good understanding of the future and people in this world. Well, that is if everything happens like it did in canon. If not, then I got nothing, and I'd continue with my plan of getting the heck out of Japan as soon as I possibly could. I had no interest in sticking around for the fall of Japan's society when shit hit the fan after all. But even with my knowledge, I have to be careful. I can't predict every twist and turn, and I don't want to get caught up in something I can't handle.
Some would say, "Why don't you use your knowledge of the plot to help you? Wouldn't you have an incredible advantage you could leverage to propel you to the top?" Normally, they would have a point. My future knowledge made me incredibly powerful. I could turn the tides of either side easily if I wished or use my knowledge to place myself at the top of the hero world.
Unfortunately, there was a caveat.
I was five, almost six, years old, and I had not awakened a damn quirk due to an extra joint in my fucking toe. I was quirkless and had no real potential in this world's society.
Normally, In cases like mine where an individual gets placed into a fictional world, it's usually due to a being of higher power or a god wanting to fuck with me for some sick amusement. Usually, at least in the stories I've read or seen where this was the case, the person who was reborn would have received an OP ability or a cheat to help them progress in this world.
I, however, didn't get Jack shit and was born as a normal person.
Trust me, I tested it.
I had tried lifting objects much heavier than myself to discover if I had superhuman strength. Nothing. I had tried running faster than Speed of Sound, Sonic. Also nothing. I had tried expelling beams of power out of my eyes, hands, and feet. Surprise! Even more, nothing! The only thing that differentiated this body from my past one was my ability to learn stuff. I guess you could call me smart but in a world where might makes right, that shit didn't matter.
To make matters worse, my parents from this life had died due to a massive fight that nearly leveled an entire city block into a flaming parking lot. Remember that clip sad-sack Deku loved to watch when he was but a wee lad? The one where All Might pulled out several people from a flaming wasteland with a smile? That's the one. My parents had died due to one of our apartment walls crashing down and crushing them alive.
I had watched them be crushed before my very eyes as a small three-year-old. Completely helpless and weak to do anything as their pained screams filled my ears as the stone column slowly crushed them to death-
"Fuck! Okay! Stop that, stop it." I closed my eyes and grasped the sides of my face tightly as my stomach felt like it was about to launch all my grapes back out.
It didn't matter that I was a person reborn into a fictional world; seeing that was seriously messed up, and the nightmares from that day still haunted me every now and then. I had to be some sort of psychopath if what I saw it didn't affect me at all. I didn't even like thinking about it.
Moving on, then.
I released my face and frowned as I watched the kids running around as they chased one another. Their game of heroes and villains resembled something more like tag but with teams. I joined in from time to time so I didn't give off the impression that I wasn't a normal kid to the adults. It was a pretty simple game, but it was a nice distraction from the monotony of being a child with little freedom.
As the kids ran around, I looked around the orphanage with uninterested eyes.
The orphanage was a large, old building with a worn but welcoming appearance. The exterior was painted in a soft, pastel color, giving it a sense of warmth and comfort. As one entered the building, you were greeted by a spacious and bright common area where children's laughter echoed off the walls. Colorful drawings and artwork adorned the walls, adding a touch of cheerfulness to the surroundings.
Around the open courtyard, small, pastel-colored chairs and tables were scattered around the area, creating a cozy and inviting atmosphere for us children. The caretakers moved about with gentle smiles, tending to the needs of the children and ensuring that we felt safe and loved, at least to a point.
This orphanage was primarily used to house all the children and young adults who lost their parents or guardians during that tragic night. Some of the children sported burn scars and different healed injuries on their bodies as they ran around with reckless abandon while they laughed. Despite how it seems, I knew a lot of my fellow orphans were deeply affected by losing their parents and or siblings from the destruction. Looking down at my scarred hands, I grimaced at the memory of my pitiful attempts at removing the flaming debris that separated me from my parents.
"Okay, kids!" I looked up to see one of our caretakers, a woman with kind features and brown hair, call out to us with a small smile. "It's time to head back inside!"
A collective wave of disappointed groans and moans sounded out from the children as they all slowly marched into the main building. I hopped to my feet and joined the orderly line of children as we walked inside towards our rooms to clean up for supper.
x x x
Shimizu Souta.
That was the name I was given this time around. It was also the name that sat next to three others on the door that led to my shared room. I walked up to my bed and threw my body on its soft surface with a grunt. Tilting my head, I looked over to my nightstand and reached over to open the top drawer. Reaching in, I pulled out a small notebook and flipped through the several pages of writing I did.
As with everything in life, given enough time, I was sure I would forget several key points of the MHA plot. So, to avoid that, I had written everything down in this notebook so I wouldn't forget. This normally would have been risky. What if the notebook fell into the wrong hands? If that were to happen, I would be seriously fucked. So, to avoid that, I wrote everything as if I were writing a fictional fantasy story and switched up key names with placeholders.
One example would be that Midoriya Izuku's name was changed to Sheep Boi, while Bakugo Katsuki is now Spiky PomPom.
Great names, I know.
Anyways...
I had tried to figure out where I was in the timeline by looking through the news and any information UA released about its students. I also watched the yearly UA sports festivals to see if any of the Big Three showed up to give me a better idea as well. From what I knew, Mirio, Nejire, and Tamaki, UA's Big Three, were third years in the original canon, so that would clue me in on when things would start with Midoriya.
Unfortunately, those three haven't showed up yet. Meaning they were probably still kids and I had to wait a couple more years until things popped off. Once I finally see them at the sports festival, I would finally get my indication of when to start getting my shit together to leave the country. No way in hell would I be here when All for One started wrecking everything.
Despite my plan of getting the hell outta dodge, I still wrote down everything I could remember from the original story. This starts when Midoriya first meets All Might during the Sludge villain incident, and it goes up to the point where Shigiraki skewers Bakugo and nearly kills Gran Tarino. The last thing I remember reading was Midoriya going through his lone wolf arc until when his goodie-to-shoes classmates bring him back to school with the power of friendship.
Ugh. After that, I don't have a clue what happens, so whenever things get to that point, I'll be left completely blind to whatever awaits the world.
Damn it. Why didn't I stick with the series until it ended? Assuming the series did have an ending and that it didn't continue going for several more years until Midoriya and his classmates graduated. Well, this is all on the assumption that my actions don't derail the main plot from its course.
Such is the Butterfly effect.
Then again, I had no intention of getting involved in Horikoshi's mess. So I didn't really have to worry about the future-
[…98%, 100%. Loading Complete!]
[Congratulations! The Jujutsu Kaisen Gacha System is now fully installed!]
"…say wha?" I sat up slowly and looked at the floating game-like screen with wide eyes. I looked around my shared room and found none of my roommates to see if this screen was real or if I was losing my marbles. "The Jujutsu Kaisen Gacha system?"
[The Jujutsu Kaisen Gacha System will allow you, the User, to use Social Points, SP, to pull random abilities, techniques, skills, items, and much more from the universe of Jujutsu Kaisen to empower you to greater heights!]
[The way the User can earn SP is by interacting with this world's main players and by having either positive or negative social interactions. Each individual interaction will result in different amounts of points the User can spend to be able to pull for a chance to receive either a Copper, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, or Diamond tier rewards.]
"Oh, no… I don't like where this is going."
[1500 SP will allow you to pull 2 times with a 35% chance to pull a Diamond tier Reward]
[1000 SP will allow you to pull 4 times with a 50% chance to pull a Gold tier Reward.]
[700 SP will allow you to pull 6 times with a 45% chance to pull a Silver tier Reward]
[500 SP will allow you to pull 8 times with a 75% chance to pull a Bronze tier Reward]
[250 SP will allow you to pull 10 times with a 85% chance to pull a Copper tier Reward]
[We would like to thank the User for partaking in the Jujutsu Kaisen Gacha System, and we hope that it will help serve you in completing your goals! As a gift, you have been awarded 1500 SP!]
"Now, wait a minute! I have way too many questions!" I swiped at the floating screen as all the informational screens vanished, leaving behind a small floating Gachapon machine in front of me. The machine looked exactly like any other gachapon machine that could be found in Japan. The prizes inside all contained different colored prize balls that glowed with a mysterious power. At the center was a large dial that one would use to pull a prize. "This can't be real. I'm going nuts! I knew I should have gone to that therapist like that doctor said!"
Despite saying that, I eyed the lever with curious but suspicious eyes. Taking a deep breath, I reached over and turned the dial. I jumped back in surprise as the dial's surprisingly cool metallic texture. I took a few seconds to calm my beating heart and once again grabbed the lever.
[How much SP would you like to use?]
"I see. So I have to tell the machine how many points I want to use. Let's see, I have enough points to do any of the five options. But doing the most expensive options will limit how many pulls I can do." I debated on what to do and brushed back my black hair with a groan. "I can't believe I'm really entertaining this delusion. Still, if there's even a small chance that I'm not crazy and this thing is legit, then this could be my opportunity to rise to the top."
Jujutsu Kaisen is another anime/manga series from my original world. The series held a plethora of amazing and broken abilities from characters that could easily molly-wop almost everything in MHA. If this Gacha system could grant me abilities and techniques from that world, then nothing could stop me from achieving all of my ambitions. Gojo Satoru's Limitless and Six-Eyes or even Ryomen Sukuna's Cleave/Dismantle technique would make me invincible. If I could pull either of those techniques, then the sky would be the limit.
"Use 1000 SP." I said and twisted the dial. The machine clanked and hummed as the bottom lid sprang open to reveal a glowing plastic ball. I tentatively grabbed the ball and snapped it open.
[You have pulled: Nanami Kento's Cursed Energy Reserves! Rank: Silver.]
"Wow!" Instantly, I felt my body swell with a newfound source of power. I looked down at my scarred hands and clenched them into fists.
Let's see. From what I remember, Cursed Energy, or Juryoku, is a power source that stems from negative emotions. Sorcerers and cursed spirits from JJK use cursed energy to fuel their jujutsu. Negative emotions are present in every human being to some extent. If this amount is higher than a certain degree, it grants the human the ability to see cursed spirits.
Using that knowledge, I focused my negative emotions to bring out my cursed energy or CE to the surface. Slowly, black and blue waves of fire covered my hands. My mouth stretched widely at the sight of my new power, but it quickly vanished due to my brief distraction.
"Damn, having Nanami's reserves doesn't necessarily mean I have his control." I looked back up at the machine and saw the number three next to it. "Right, I have three more pulls. Hopefully, I'll get something like cursed energy mastery. The Six-Eyes would be great."
Twisting the dial, I watched the prize balls dance within the machine. With a satisfying pop, the lid opened to reveal another prize ball. I grinned and snapped open the lid, only to frown at my prize.
[You have pulled: Nobara Kugisaki's Hammer! Rank: Bronze.]
"…what am I supposed to do with this?" I lifted up the hammer and saw the small pink heart on its surface with a frown on my face. "Unless I pull her technique, this is useless unless I decide to become a carpenter."
I placed the hammer inside my nightstand and turned back to the Gacha machine for another pull.
[You have pulled: Yuji Itadori's Hand-to-Hand Combat Skills! Rank: Silver.]
"Yes!" I pumped my fist and felt a wave of knowledge surge into my brain. Jumping onto my feet, I tried to throw out the series of combos that reduced Mahito into a pathetic mess. But to my immense disappointment, my body failed to keep up with my mind. Meaning that my young, untrained body was incapable of performing a decent one-two punch. "Tch. I guess this means I have to train my body to be able to keep up. Hah… maybe I'll get lucky someday and get Toji's body."
With one final pull left, I did a quick prayer to Akutami Gege and twisted the dial.
"Come on, come on! Give me my Gold tier reward!" After another second of waiting, a glowing gold prize ball finally rolled out. Slowly, I reached out and grabbed the ball with a large smile on my face and snapped open the lid.
[You have pulled: Todo Aoi's Cursed Technique, Boogie-Woogie! Rank: Gold.]
"Yes!" I pumped my hands into the air in celebration but suddenly paused. "Hold on. Boogie-Woogie switches the positions of the user and anything they desire that has above a certain amount of cursed energy. Meaning that if I want to switch with something, it needs to have… cursed energy. Shit! Fuck!"
I fell onto the floor and watched as the floating gachapon machine vanished, seemingly sensing I was done pulling for now. I remained where I lay until the sounds of rushing footsteps caused me to turn my head to see Keiko above me with a wide, excited smile.
"Sou-chan! Sou-chan! You'll never believe who's coming to visit us today!" Keiko said as she danced around me. Pure happiness radiated off her, causing me to squint at her.
"Ha? Who the hell is coming here?"
"It's Japan's number one hero! All Might!"
My eyes grew wide as saucers at her answer, causing Keiko to chuckle at my expression as I quickly rose to my feet.
"…seriously?"
AN:
Hello! This was a story idea that has been running through my mind for the past several weeks now. This story is mostly for fun and for me to release my frustration on how MHA was handled and how it ended. I know a lot of its fans enjoyed the ending, but I'm not one of them. So this is mostly my response to it. Depending on how it's received, this story will either continue or stop here. So be sure to let me know what you think if you want to see more!
Until next time!