Two of the glowing panels floated in front of , each one softly humming with potential. The one on the left already shimred faintly with the words "The Gar System: Modified." The one on the right remained blank, waiting for fate’s cruel or convenient sense of humor.
But the one in the center? That one was my responsibility. And I was sowhat stumped.
I stood there in silence, cycling through the three abilities I had narrowed it down to. Saiyan. Zanpakutō. Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
All three were powerhouses in their own right. The Saiyan bloodline practically guaranteed strength if I trained hard enough. Its growth curve was absurd. I could take beatings and get stronger from them. Transform. Ascend. Eventually fly and punch planets if I pushed far enough. But this did revolve on nothing but hand-to-hand combat and martial arts. Sothing about only fighting with my hands didn’t really feel right. Not only that, it would be power for the sake of power. All it required was grit and determination. It felt, empty, sohow. Like it didn’t fit my personality. Plus, if I went sowhere with magic, there was no guarantee I could resist it. Maybe wherever I went could have ki and I could just learn it there.
Then there was the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. Logia-level elental power, built-in mobility, devastating range, and electricity-based versatility. In most worlds, it would put near the top right from the start. Untouchable, unless soone had specific counters. How ironic would it be to transmigrate to the One Piece world, the only world with a hard counter, Haki? My amused expression(?) shifted back to concentration.
And then there was the Zanpakutō.
It wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t overwhelming. It didn’t promise instant supremacy or constant transformations. In fact, it started slow, maybe even weaker than the other two, both starting and towards the end ga. The powers were abstract. Often symbolic. Sotis limiting. Would I even have my own? Would it be sothing that already existed like Zangetsu? Zabimaru? Benihi? I couldn’t know.
But still... sothing about it called to .
I tried to logic my way around it. Saiyan had infinite growth. Rumble-Rumble had practical, near instant dominance. Zanpakutō? It was a mystery. It was dependent on introspection. On understanding myself. It required patience and communication and emotional vulnerability just to unlock its true potential. Provided it ca from my own soul and not a replication of soone else’s. I couldn’t imagine getting Ikaku’s, Hozukimaru. How underwhelming would that be?
But why did I keep coming back to it?
I stared at the middle panel. Still blank. Still waiting.
And sohow... it felt like it was waiting for .
I wasn’t sure what pushed to decide. Maybe it was the idea of not just becoming strong, but the potential of becoming whole. Of my power being an expression of my soul, not just an upgrade. I spent so much of my life suppressing who I was, locking everything away behind logic and purpose. Maybe, just maybe, I needed a power that forced to dig into that. To face it. To understand it.
"I choose the Zanpakutō," I said quietly.
The middle panel pulsed with soft, golden light.
There was a pause, then the goddess smiled. Not smugly. Not with surprise. Almost like she had been waiting for to catch up with a decision she already knew I’d make.
"A good choice," she said, her voice gentle. "Not the easiest, but one with depth. Fitting." I looked at her with suspicion.
"Did you know I’d choose it?"
"I had a feeling," she said with a teasing glimr in her eyes. "Your soul has always been more... expressive than your mouth." What did that even an?
I raised an eyebrow. "Didn’t know you were a fan of poetic riddles."
"Oh, I’ve read plenty of your fanfiction comnts. You’re more dramatic than you let on."
If I had cheeks they might have been blushing. Can a soul blush? I rubbed my temples. Great. My celestial overseer reads comnt sections.
"All of my comnts?" I opened one eye to look at her, to see a very amused expression on her face.
"Maybe."
Before I could fire back, the right panel flashed.
Fate’s choice.
I turned to it, expecting sothing overwhelming. Maybe sothing wild. Chronomancy. Gravity manipulation. Skill replication. Limitless. Reality warp. Whatever cosmic roulette was in play, I braced myself.
Then the words ford.
[Perfect mory]
I blinked.
That was it?
At first, I didn’t react. Then I laughed under my breath.
"Seriously?" I muttered. "That’s what I get? I already have a near-eidetic mory. I’ve used mory palaces since high school. With my IQ, rembering things has never been a problem."
The goddess tilted her head, watching quietly. Not saying anything. Not warning . Just smiling in that way people do when they know sothing you don’t.
I gave her a look. I noticed her expression. "You’re not going to elaborate, are you?"
"Would it really be as satisfying if I did?"
I sighed. "Let guess. I’ll figure it out later."
She only nodded and giggled.
I turned back to the now glowing panel trio. My three abilities. One chosen with excitent. One with introspection. One with hesitation.
The Gar System. Zanpakutō. Perfect mory.
All very different. All very .
"So this is what I’m working with," I said, glancing between the panels. "A system I sort of understand. A weapon I have to understand. And a mory ability I think I already have."
"You’ll be surprised," she said, stepping closer. "About all three."
"I certainly hope so. Would hate to be disappointed on my second lease on life." I grinned wryly.
She held out her hand, palm up, glowing softly. She placed it on my chest, and I began to feel a warmth in my being.
"Are you ready?"
I nodded.
"As ready as I’ll ever be." I braced myself.
The warmth began to turn into sothing hotter. The heat kept growing until it felt like my soul would be rendered into ashes. One final pulse, one final explosion of heat, like a detonation of a nuclear bomb.
I sucked in a sharp intake of air, rising up, my back rigid, eyes wide. I clutched my chest, slightly out of breath, still half expecting to feel that intense heat radiating from where the goddess had touched . Once I settled down, I looked around and realized, "Wait, this is really happening?!
I looked around the room. No light. No clouds. No nebula swirling beneath my feet.
Just a plain ceiling above . Beige walls without much decor. A little cracked in the corner. A soft hum of a fan running sowhere off to the side.
I was lying in a bed. Moderately nice mattress. Thin sheets that slled freshly laundered.
I pushed myself upright and imdiately noticed sothing else, my body.
I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and stared down at myself. No clothes, save for a pair of dark boxer briefs. My legs were long and lean. Muscled but not bulky. Just enough tone to suggest I exercised regularly. I flexed an arm and saw the definition ripple just slightly. Okay. Not bad. Certainly a healthier body than what I had before.
Then I caught sight of the bulge in my underwear.
"Right," I muttered. "I did make so adjustnts, didn’t I?"
Curiosity got the better of . I peeked.
Flaccid, I was still packing above-average size, and I didn’t even want to imagine what it would look like in use. I felt an odd sense of pride... and maybe a bit of embarrassnt. Still, I couldn’t deny the small smile that tugged at my lips. "How childish and immature of . Worth it."
Before I could enjoy the mont longer, it hit .
A white-hot spike of pain slamd into my skull like a battering ram. My eyes widened as I clutched my head and fell to my knees. It wasn’t just pain, it was disorientation. Like soone had just kicked open the door to my mind and started shouting from every direction.
It felt like my mory palace, carefully constructed, ordered, controlled, had been breached by a SWAT team. Every door blasted open. Every room ransacked.
And then the flood of mories ca.
Images. Emotions. Snapshots of a life that wasn’t mine, but was now.
Parents. Dead. Plane crash from an oversees trip. The insurance payout had kept in a modest ho, small and well-kept, but lonely.
No siblings. No guardians. Just a restricted bank account and a routine.
School. Grocery shopping. Work outs. Lonely evenings.
A quiet, seemingly aningless existence.
A soft sigh escaped as I sat there, breathing through the last ripples of the ntal surge. Of course he was an orphan. That felt... painfully cliche. How many transmigrators get this sa setup? It felt lazy. Like fate was copy-pasting my backstory from a bad light novel. Like an author that can be bothered to be creative for once.
What really got to , though, wasn’t the loneliness.
It was the lost opportunity.
I had failed my mom in my last life. She died while I was too busy chasing perfection in my career to be there. And now I didn’t even get the chance to do better in this one.
No second chance to be a good son. No birthday calls. No late-night talks. No chance to show her I had changed. No chance to take care of her in her ti of need, sick or otherwise.
I clenched my fists. That chance was stolen from . Again. And this ti it wasn’t my fault. The first... I was the thief that stole my own life.
I raised my gaze to the ceiling, letting the silence settle around . "I’m sorry, Mom," I whispered. "But I swear, I’ll live this life for you. I’ll do it right this ti. Not for success. Not for glory. But for the life you would’ve wanted to have. A full life. A happy life. A aningful life."
I felt sothing trail down my cheek.
A tear.
I touched it without thinking, fingers brushing wetness I hadn’t felt in years (and however long my ti in the void was).
It shocked more than the pain did.
The old had been emotionally numb for so long that crying had beco theoretical. A reaction people had, but one I watched from the outside. This body, this new vessel, ... it felt different.
It could cry.
It could feel. At least a little. Which was much more than where I left off.
And for the first ti since I could rember, that thought made genuinely happy.
Eyes closed, I exhaled slowly, letting the weight of that realization settle before pulling myself back onto the bed.
Alright. Ti to see what I was working with.
I sat cross-legged, elbows on my knees, and opened my eyes.
"Status," I said out loud.
A crisp digital ding echoed in my mind, followed by a glowing semi-transparent interface snapping into view. A flat blue window hovered in front of , pulsing faintly.
{Status
Na: Toshio Amano
Title: —
Race: Human
Age: 15
Level: 11 (0/1100)
Health: 100/100
Reiryoku: 10/10
Physique: E
Zanjutsu: F
Hohō: F
Hakuda: F
Spiritual Potential: D
Soul Resonance: 5%}
I stared.
"...What."
Where were the numbers? Where was the actual math? The stat ranges? The growth curves? Where were the equations that told how close I was to leveling up or which stat would hit the next threshold?
What kind of gar system didn’t use numbers?
I clicked my tongue, clearly annoyed.
Instead of nurical values, I was staring at a letter system.
"System, can you explain this letter system?" A screen popped up overlaying my current display.
{Hello Toshio and welco to the Fusion Gar System!}
Another chi.
{To answer your question, the letter system is a weighted scale based on race, ranks going from F to SSS class. After a sufficient amount of progress is made in a particular stat, the letter grade will increase. Once you advance from C, it will move to B-, then B, B , A-, and so on. Each stat is progressively more difficult to reach than the last. These letters are weighted by race. A human at S rank, may only be a D rank to another more powerful race. Other skills obtained later are on a nurical scale, 1-10. After obtaining a certain proficiency, understanding, and comfortability, a skill rank will advance to the next number. Skills (both active and passive), at rank 10 are considered mastered and cannot be advanced further.}
F through SSS, like so kind of overdesigned ranking chart. It felt arbitrary and imprecise. Definitely irritating. I couldn’t help but grumble.
I was a number cruncher. Give a spreadsheet and I would dismantle the universe. But this? This was going to take getting used to.
"What kind of gar system doesn’t even use numbers?" I muttered, my face full of irritation.
"That goddess obviously knew better than I know myself, so there has to be reason for such an, arbitrary, system. I suppose I think about it later." I thought to click "OKAY" at the bottom of the panel, and it vanished. Well that’s at least convenient, I don’t have to physically tap on the screens.
Physique at E wasn’t terrible. It ant I had a baseline above a normal human, maybe a casual athlete level. Everything else was rock bottom.
Zanjutsu. Hohō. Hakuda. All F. I recognized those as Bleach terms. Swordsmanship, speed and agility, and hand-to-hand combat. Standard Shinigami stats. Wait I have reiryoku? How would that work in this world? Well, assuming I’m not in Bleach. I’ll get to it later.
Then there was Spiritual Potential. A staggering D. Why did that register so much higher than the others? Maybe because I have what I’m assuming is a dormant Zanpakutō?
Guess I had nowhere to go but up.
I noticed my na next. Toshio? I guess it’s fitting, the na aning ’brilliant man’. Wait, what was my na before? I sat and wracked my brain for my na, any na of any people I had co to know. I couldn’t rember. I sighed.
"Well I guess it doesn’t matter, that was that life. Let’s focus on this one."
Lastly, soul resonance. I hadn’t the faintest clue what that ant.
"System, what is soul resonance?"
{It is the space between breath and silence. A reflection half-ford in still water. As your soul learns to attune to itself clearly, the distance between you and your Zanpakutō shortens. When your truths are no longer hidden, when your burdens are no longer denied, your resonance will rise. So awaken through peace. Others through pain. All must eventually face the voice they’ve buried deepest.}
"..."
"What is this poetic garbage? Goddess knows I loathed poetry and English classes back in college. I slightly regret not choosing Raphael. Wait, no! No more regrets! I’ll just figure it out later. Maybe once I do sothing to progress it, it’ll make more sense."
I let out a sigh as I leaned back, still shirtless, still cross-legged, and let the system screen hover in front of . I smiled despite myself.
This was real.
I was here.
And this ti, I was going to do it right.
I then rembered sothing the system said, that dialogue box said this was a "Fusion system" right? The parallels to my old life were hilarious. I didn’t laugh.
"System, what does ’Fusion System’ an?"
{The Fusion System is a one of a kind system that displays your stats and attributes, skills, and milestones. Eligible skills that have been learned can be fused to make sothing new, especially in regards to your Zanpakutō abilities. The more skills that are fused together and into your Zanpakutō, the more powerful you will beco. There are other functions, but they have not been unlocked yet.}
Well that’s interesting. Just like a Fusion reactor combining atoms for energy output, I fuse skills together for greater energy. I see that goddess has a great sense of humor. Again, I didn’t laugh. But I couldn’t help the small smile that found its way to my face.
"Okay, let’s try skills."
A chi sounded, followed by a new window materializing in front of . Unlike the status screen, this one had a sleeker, more segnted layout. At the top were two simple tabs:
[Base Skills] [Fused Skills]
The simple organization of tabs was satisfying. My Excel senses were tingling.
A small box popped up just above the window, like a tutorial prompt in an old-school RPG.
{To access a topic, simply think about selecting it. Your intent is the interface. Thinking about nu interfaces will reveal an explanation.}
I blinked.
"Well that’s convenient," I muttered. "Can’t say I miss touchscreens."
I focused on the left tab, searching for more information.
{Base Skills: These are basic skills that can be obtained through rewards, repetitive actions, or given abilities. Skills eligible for Fusion will glow.}
"Nice and simple." I focused on the tab to view its contents.
The panel shifted imdiately, expanding with a soft glow to reveal four entries under Base Skills:
{Gar’s Altered Mind (Rank X)
Gar’s Altered Body (Rank X)
Perfect mory (Rank X)
Observe (Rank 1)}
I hovered on the first entry. A description appeared instantly.
{Gar’s Altered Mind (Rank X)
Your mind is immune to all forms of ntal interference, illusions, domination, possession, and fear-based control. Emotional manipulation is suppressed unless you choose to experience it. Your cognitive function is unaffected by fatigue. You may continue thinking, analyzing, and reasoning at full capacity even in the face of unconsciousness or imminent death.}
I raised my eyebrows.
"Alright, that’s... different from what I rember."
being immune to mind altering effects or control is great, but it seems like my own thoughts and emotions are free to run rampant, should I let them. I better learn ditation soon. My mind always running at full throttle no matter what my body was doing? No matter how tired I was? I could feel a quiet wave of satisfaction roll through . That alone could make a strategic nightmare. Rank X must an the skill is special or constant.
I moved to the next.
{Gar’s Altered Body (Rank X)
Your body possesses limitless physical and spiritual growth potential, provided you follow paths that cultivate it. You may grow without restriction so long as your choices are consistent with that growth. Sleeping for at least eight hours will completely restore your health, stamina, and reiryoku.}
I paused.
"Limitless sounds nice, but what are the ’paths’ it’s talking about? Does that an I can achieve that as a human? Or do I have to elevate my race, soul, or Chinese cultivation level? Did I need to ascend to the "Heavenly Sage Realm" or whatever? I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself.
Still, a guaranteed full restore with good sleep? I never had that in my last life. Eight hours usually left feeling like a corpse in a lab coat.
I did notice the absence of my body being treated like a ga character. That ans I can bleed, I can die from regular wounds. That sounds, lethal. I guess I’ll have to be extra careful. Unfortunate. I’m starting to dislike this whole altered thing.
I looked to the third entry, already guessing what it would say.
{Perfect mory (Rank X)
Every sight you witness, every word you read, every conversation you overhear, and every problem you solve is stored permanently. You may recall any of it at will, with perfect clarity. Emotional or sensory mories may also be summoned as vividly as when they occurred. You may not access information sealed by divine authority or outside your system’s current clearance level.}
"Huh."
That was more than just a party trick. This was better than a mory palace. I could rember everything. Not just concepts or summaries. Exact words. Exact faces. Emotions. The tone of a conversation. The ingredients list on a label I glanced at once. Every single fra of every ani I’ve watched. Every manga panel.
So long as the goddess wasn’t hiding it, I had it.
I gave a low whistle. "Okay, I take it back. This one’s way better than I thought." And what’s nice, I only rember what I want to rember. It’s not intrusive like what Thane Krios had to deal with.
I leaned toward the last entry.
{Observe (Rank 1)
Allows you to gather basic information about a person, creature, or object you focus on. At Rank 1, displays only na, classification, and general threat level. Threat levels are on the sa letter scale as above, and is relative to your current power and abilities. Further information may unlock with repeated use or higher proficiency.}
Okay, solid four, basic skills. Better than nothing at least. That perfect mory was going to co in clutch if the universe I was in was sothing I had read or watched.
Alright, inventory next.
The mont I thought it, another soft ding rang out. A new window shimred into existence in front of .
My eyes lit up.
Now this was an interesting nu.
The screen split into three distinct sections. On the left was a translucent outline of a person, humanoid, blank-faced, gender-neutral. Around it were equipnt slots, arranged cleanly: head, chest, arms, legs, feet, accessory slots, and even a cloak or cape option. It looked exactly like the kind of loadout screen from every MMO I’d ever played. Straight forward enough, although I really hope the items disappear like they do in Solo Leveling. I would hate to sacrifice aesthetics for utility. I did that enough in my old life. I’m grateful the goddess didn’t bring up my wardrobe.
The next rectangular box to the right of the equipnt panel, revealed a simple unadorned katana, its sheath right next to the blade.
Above it, a naplate:
[Asauchi (pending)]
I tilted my head.
"Asauchi?"
It clicked a second later.
"Ah. It hasn’t ford yet."
Of course. A Zanpakutō wasn’t given, it was earned. Discovered. Shaped through identity and introspection. This was the blank slate. The sword without a na. The reflection of a soul still too fractured to take form.
I leaned forward and studied it for a second longer.
Black sheath. Simple guard. No markings. Just a clean edge waiting to beco sothing more.
"...Soon," I whispered under my breath, more to myself than anything else. I had a lot to figure out first.
Shifting my attention, I looked over to the right panel. Larger. Grid-based. Clean 4x5 layout, twenty boxes in total.
My brow furrowed.
"Only twenty slots?" I asked the air. "Seriously?"
No answer ca, of course. Hopefully certain items could stack, like potions and the like. No size or weight restrictions would be great too. If I was limited on slots, the least the system could do it not limit the utility of the 20 slots.
"Okay... so not unlimited, but semi-useful. Guess I can’t shove an entire army’s worth of gear in here, but as long as item stacks exist and size matters, I’ll make it work."
It made sense. Sort of. Carrying around hundreds of weapons and supplies in so bottomless bag would be overkill. This forced managent. Planning. Efficiency. Almost reminded of Diablo, but not as harsh.
Not my favorite, but I could adapt.
I focused my thoughts on the word Inventory floating above the panel, just to test the system’s limits. As expected, another box appeared, a tooltip window hovering above the grid.
{The Inventory stores material objects that can be spatially stabilized and preserved. Items will remain in stasis until removed. Certain items can stack up to x99. There are no weight restrictions. Size restrictions apply to items larger than a 10’x10’x10’ cube. Maximum slot capacity is determined by System Tier. Additional slots, compression upgrades, or personalized loadouts may be unlocked through quests, skills, or item fusion. Sentient beings cannot be stored.}
I gave a slow nod.
"Fair enough. No kidnapping NPCs and stashing them in my pocket dinsion. Got it. Also nice that it verified my hopes. The size thing makes sense. 1000 cubic feet. It would be weird if I could store an entire house.
I took one last glance at the [Asauchi (pending)] box. It pulsed faintly. Waiting.
No rush. I’d get there. When I was ready.
When we were ready.
I backed out of the Inventory panel with a final glance at the [Asauchi (pending)]. The window folded in on itself, disappearing with a soft flicker.
And then — ding.
A new box blinked into existence front and center, edged in dark gold with a faint shimr.
{[Secret Quest Completed!]
Tutorial Integration Complete
You have explored the foundational systems of the Fusion Gar Interface. Basic orientation verified.
Reward: 100 XP}
The window pulsed once, then dissolved into glittering fragnts.
Another chi followed as a thin progress bar appeared across the bottom of my vision. XP tracker, just like a traditional RPG HUD.
[XP: 100 / 1100]
I blinked. "Okay... secret quest for just looking around. That seems, awfully generous."
I studied the numbers for a mont.
"Wait. So... leveling up is a thing. But if I can’t allocate stats manually, what’s the point?"
I focused on the bar. "System, what does leveling up actually do?"
Another soft chi answered , followed by a prompt that scrolled into view:
{Level Progression Explanation
Leveling up increases total system integration and soul-body synchronization. At specific milestone levels, users will receive:
- Stat Upgrade Runes: Instantly boost a chosen stat by a certain amount
- Skill Upgrade Runes: Increase a learned skill’s rank by a certain amount
- Reiryoku Upgrade Runes: Expand base spiritual power reserves by a certain amount
Additional milestone rewards may include perk unlocks, new interface access, or hidden functions. Advancent is holistic and nonlinear.}
"Okay..." I muttered. "So leveling doesn’t directly boost anything, but it unlocks things that do."
It wasn’t the raw stat dumping I was used to, but I could work with that. Runes, huh? That ant I’d get to choose what to upgrade, just not when or how often. Right? That actually made optimization more important, not less. The vague "by a certain amount" was again, irritating. My previous life was ruled by number and calculations. It’s almost like the goddess deliberately did this.
Anyway. Noted.
I closed the panel with a thought. The system HUD minimized back into its small, dim icon in the corner of my vision.
Silence returned.
I looked around the room again.
Looking back to this body’s, Toshio’s, mories, I rembered that I’m currently living in Kuoh, Japan. I’m scheduled to enroll in Kuoh Academy after this Winter, starting in April.
"I’m...in...Kuoh..., DxD?" Shock could be seen on my face. Once recovered, I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself.
"Of all worlds, I get the borderline hentai one huh. Think I’ll enjoy it my ass, Goddess. I suppose it’s a good thing I have a system and ti to prepare. The year is, 2010. The first season of DxD takes place in 2012. That would put in Rias’s grade. Huh. I only watched the first 2 seasons of DxD. I couldn’t for the life of watch more due to Issei. I loved the world building and characters, but hot damn Issei ruins it. Well, this should be interesting at the very least. I already know no matter how much I try, I’m going to get sucked into the plot. I wouldn’t resist it anyway. Where’s the fun in avoiding the main plot? Plus...
"I’ve never had a girlfriend, but now that I’m here though, that’s probably going to change whether I want it to or not." Considering who’ll I’ll be around, I’m more than a little hopeful.
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