Life of a Martial Arts Genius and Wishes

For as long as I can remember, I've loved fighting. Not in a malicious way - I didn't enjoy inflicting pain on other people. But I loved the feel of it. The flow of a fight was...simple. Easy to fall into and follow along. It was relaxing and at the same time, it was exciting. It was just fun.

So I fought and I fought. And, as it turns out, I was actually something of a fighting genius. What took the other kids a few dozen tries to learn, I got it down after a few tries.

Seeing this talent, my grandfather signed me up for boxing. You see, he was a Heavyweight Champion for Japan and seeing my talent, he wanted me to follow in his footsteps.

Boxing. Fun and simple as fighting gets - hit your opponent and don't get hit but when you do get hit, hit back harder. That's what my grandfather said to me when I was around 5-years-old, anyway. He was always saying stuff like that. Weird old man, if you ask me.

But I definitely had his genetics in me because I took to Boxing like a fish in water.

I loved the training and the routines I had to do. Hitting the mitts or the bags was fun. Roadwork was funny when grandfather came with me on his bike. It was all so fun.

...Until it wasn't. I was 12-years-old and I'd finally had my first match. But it wasn't fun.

In fact, it was boring. My opponent was a year older than me and bigger...but he was sloppy and slow. He threw a crude jab and I dodged it, returning with a quick one-two combo which put him down. I won...but I found no enjoyment in my victory. At first, I thought it was because of my opponent not being on my level, so I continued fighting. Match after match, fight after fight...and even when I won an under-sixteens Boxing tournament, I was still bored.

Boxing wasn't fun anymore.

So, just before I turned 13, I made the switch to Karate. Grandpa was gutted, saying the world had lost a future World Champion, but he respected my choices. He was my only family and was basically my only parental figure. My mother died giving birth to me and my father left me to his father soon after, not being in the state of mind to look after me. He killed himself soon after. So, I was left with just grandpa.

Anyway, Karate was fun. It lasted longer than Boxing, at least. Kicks were something I'd never had to do before and having to learn how to keep my balance no matter what type of kick I performed was a novelty that I enjoyed.

Karate employed a bit more of a focus on core and lower-body development than boxing but that made it even more fun. Though, I did incorporate workouts from my boxing experience into the ones I was given for karate. I didn't want to be an unbalanced fighter. Grandpa had said that was bad. He was right.

While sparring, I found so many fighters with weaknesses. Weak arms or weak legs. Weak core strength. Weak balance. Weak reflexes.

So, seeing their weaknesses, I checked myself for weaknesses. I found some...and I corrected them.

I realized at that point that I was different. I tried helping my fellow students but all my instructions went to waste on them. When I told them to stop having those mistakes and weaknesses, they just looked at me weird and said it takes longer than a few seconds to fix mistakes in their stances and that some of the mistakes couldn't be fixed.

I understood the latter somewhat. You can't fix innately bad body parts. But when I thought about what they'd said before that, I was confused. They can't fix mistakes that easily? I was perturbed. But also curious.

So, I helped them. I walked through each step of what I would do, and helped them emulate it. In the end, they'd all seen improvements. They thanked me. I enjoyed their praise and gratitude.

So, I continued helping them.

But after a year, once again, I became bored with what I was doing. It wasn't that I'd hit a wall and stopped progressing and I didn't have the determination to push through...it was just the opposite actually. I found no opposition in what I did. My training proceeded so quickly I couldn't believe other people struggled with certain stances or moves. My body kept up with me and only continued to get stronger - no one was my match unless we're talking about the Masters of the Dojo. Even then...it just wasn't fun anymore.

So, I moved onto the next martial art. Muay Thai. A brutal martial art. But also an exciting one. The training was much harsher than either boxing or karate. Painful as well. But it was new, so I continued with it.

My usual workout plan became more in-depth alongside the exercises I did for boxing and karate. I began to combine them to get the best type of workout I possibly could. A workout that could even challenge my body.

Muay Thai last considerably longer than both karate and boxing. I was 17 by the time I got bored of Muay Thai. But it was a fun few years. I made friends--I even got a girlfriend! Thank god I didn't get bored of people. That would be a literal hell for a social animal like a human, right? I still remember my first girlfriend. Mai. Black hair and green eyes - she was half-Japanese, half-English and she was stunning.

Luckily, through genetics and the rigorous exercise I put myself through every day, I was equally as good-looking. Handsome face on top of a tall, broad and extraordinarily well-built body.

Mai, was her name. She worked at a book store and I was in the need for books so I could catch up on certain subjects I'd missed out on. She helped me pick them out but I was hardly paying attention at that point. I was absolutely smitten with her.

So, even after getting the books, I continued to go back to that book store just to meet her.

Along the way I actually picked up a liking for literature. Books, poems--hell, even Manga. I liked it all. She introduced me to it all. This was how we became friends--It was all very rom-com anime-esque, you know? End all and be all is that we got together in the end.

Stayed together for a whole year, as well. I even picked up a new martial art - Judo! Sadly, Judo may also be the reason Mai broke up with me.

Here's a lesson: Don't prioritize martial arts over your lover. They will get very pissed off with you.

So, yeah, long story short, Mai broke up with me because I spent too much time training and not enough time with her. It bummed me out a bit that my girlfriend dumped me but I didn't sit around sulking forever, you know? Live and learn, right? So, I got back out there (also did a lot more weight training for Judo) and I had a few more flings. Then highschool was over.

College! What a place. Like highschool but with no uniforms! Plus, the teachers actually treat you like adults instead of being patronizing assholes!

Haah~ Fun times, man.

Joined the Judo Team. Won a few national-level tournaments and became the Captain for the Judo Team. Unknowingly became the toy boy one of the hot professors used when she was cheating on her husband. Proceeded to have to defend myself from a knife wielding maniac shouting about how I stole his wife. Proceeded to question the wife. Then I left the college Judo Team because she ran it and I didn't want anymore people coming at me with knives. Yada yada yada--boring stuff, really.

Towards the end of college, I found my next big girlfriend. A foreigner - American - who was called Beth. Golden blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes, and boy could she smile. She was intelligent and kind and caring.

If I was smitten with Mai the day I saw her, then the day I saw Beth I fell in love at first sight. Cliche, right? Well, no matter how cliche it is, that's how it went.

I was just lucky she felt the same way.

Blah blah blah, I asked her out, she said yes, blah blah blah, a few dates later we officially got together, blah blah blah, one special night we blew each others minds with some brilliant sex, blah blah blah...Am I missing anything? Oh yeah, we decided to travel the world together after we finished our college courses. A bit of a big shoot for a couple that'd only been together for, like, 5 or 6 months. But we did indeed end up travelling together after we'd finished college.

It was fun. Also gave me a chance to fight new opponents and train in new ways.

Beth didn't mind either. She didn't shout at me or get upset because I spent so much time training. Instead, she spent that time with me. Watching me train and exercise while talking to me. She'd even admitted to me that watching me fight got her a little--ahem, moving on!

I was living my best life. That was until a cancer diagnosis came out of nowhere to ruin...well, everything. Again, to turn a long story into a short one, I died.

It sucked ass.

But now I'm here! In some sort of waiting room. Looking around, I recline into the chair I'm on and just wondering - this is Heaven right? Maybe Purgatory? Definitely not hell. I don't think there are any torture devices here anyway.

Suddenly, a person appeared in front of me. A woman. It was Beth...but with angel-like wings. Just to make sure, I raise an eyebrow, "...Beth? Or someone who looks surprisingly alike my girlfriend Beth?" I reasoned, not feeling all too comfortable with whatever was happening right now. It felt like some kind of breach of privacy despite it not even being my appearance...whatever is in front of me, is copying.

The angel who I was now beginning to understand absolutely wasn't Beth - Cut me some slack, I just died, brain not think too good - because it's face was completely emotionless and it's voice was so monotone it was like hearing a machine speak.

"Soul Ready to be processed. 'Soul processing.exe' running," it said, making me look around when it actually started speaking like a computer program, "Soul Identified. Name, Hiro Takagi. Age, 24. Karma, positive. Calculating...calculating..." it began to say the word 'calculating' over and over for a while and it was sufficient to say I was creeped the fuck out. "Soul's Religion Identified, Reincarnation. Insufficient power. Soul Hiro Takagi, would you accept being Transmigrated instead of Reincarnated?"

Not exactly sure what was going on, it took me a few seconds to answer but I still answered. Obviously, your choice of religion or your belief on what the afterlife is (in my case I believe in reincarnation and whatnot) changes whatever awaits you after you die. Huh.

"...Uh, yeah, I guess," I said, looking around for something that could help me with this process and actually had a semblance of sentience.

It's eye's blinked, a flash of light going through them before it's face went completely blank. I don't mean their expression became dull and without life--I literally mean their face, the face of Beth, just fucking disappeared and what's left is a metal mask that's completely smooth. The same monotone voice came from the thing soon after this.

"Transmigration of Soul in progress. 'Transmigration.exe' now running. Soul Hiro Takagi, please, pull this lever three times to decide your wishes. Good luck," it obviously tried to cheer me on but it didn't succeed. At all.

Suddenly, I found myself slapped down onto a seat in front of what looked like a slot machine...with only one slot.

...Whatever this is, is goddamn crazy.

Tentatively, I lifted my hand and pulled at the lever. It easy came down but when I let go, it slam back into it's original position quicker than I could see. Then the slow began spinning so quickly it all just blurred together.

Then it sudden came to a stop. Some fanfare went off - some confetti exploded around me with what sounded like a studio audience clapping and cheering all around me. Again, this place is fucking crazy.

Leaning in, I read whatever I'd gained from the spin.

[Gain The Genes and Innate Abilities from Five Great Fighters!]

[Randomizing...Randomizing...Totally Randomized! Here are the fighters you've gained Genes From! Raiden Tameemon (Shuumatsu no Valkyrie), Yujiro Hanma (Baki), Lu Bu (Shuumatsu no Valkyrie), Sasaki Kojiro (Shuumatsu no Valkyrie) and Pickle (Baki). Congratulations for gaining completely and totally randomized Genetics!]

...I have a feeling that wasn't randomized at all. But, a good pick nonetheless. Just Yujiro Hanma would've been brilliant but Pickle, Lu Bu and Raiden Tameemon (also known as Taroukichi Seki) makes me a real physical powerhouse. Sasaki Kojiro put together with Yujiro Hanma makes me a analytical fighting master. Plus my own talent for observation...and I'm a certified monster. I wonder what else I can get from this machine?

Curious, I pulled the lever again and it spun instantly again and stopped a few seconds after. The same fanfare followed and I just read what was on the singular slot.

[You gained a unique muscle manipulation technique! '100 Seals' is used to suppress muscles and stop them from overgrowing but it can also be used as a way to store latent muscle power to use in whatever way you want! Congratulations!]

...Seriously not randomized at all. It seems built for me. But maybe this is because my fantasized version of the afterlife is like this? All those novels and fanfics have rotted my brain to the point where even my personalized after life is like so many of those shitty wish sequences. Well, not like I'm complaining or gonna start any time soon.

Pulling the lever for the third time, I waited for the slot to land on it and when it did, I felt a little cheated.

[You've gained a complete identity for the world you're about to land yourself in! Congratulations! Have fun looking through all those new memories! Randomizing identity...randomizing identity...]

No. No. Do not. I swear to God I will have my vengeance if you make me a--

[Identity Randomized. Identity Assigned - Average First Year Highschooler.]

--ARGHHHHHHH!

...Goddammit. It doesn't exactly matter because of the super genes I'll be getting but it still sucks ass to know I'm gonna be known as some normal mob-like character. Welp, at least I have my first goal: Change other's perceptions of me. Can't be average. What? You don't get as far as I did in martial arts without developing an unhealthy amount of pride and competitiveness, you know?

[Please pull the lever one last time to decide the world you will Transmigrate to. Sadly, due to your identity as a 'Average First Year Highschooler' already having been made, some worlds have now been closed off to you. We give you our apologies.]

"Whatever..." I grumbled before pulling the lever which almost instantly landed on a slot.

[An Amalgam World of Fighting Anime...and a little extra!]

[Good luck, Hiro Takagi! Enjoy your new life!]

And with that, I felt like I was hit in the chest by a hammer--Wait, did I just here a fucking truck beep it's horn at me?! W-wait, was that Truck-kun?! I was sent to my next life by Truck-kun! I'm a motherfucking protagonist!

Then everything went black. The next time I felt something, I felt someone poking my cheek, "Stahp it..." I grumbled, waving my arm toward them.

Then I promptly realized where I was.

I was in a Japanese classroom, at a desk. The classroom was lit in an orange light--it was getting darker. Nearly nighttime.

"Jeez Hiro-kun...and you call me lazy, you big meanie," I heard a sulking girl from my side and I turned to look but when I did, I was shocked.

Floaty coral pink hair, cut short and slightly curled at the ends, with a large red bow on the left side of her head. Her eyes are sky blue and innocent. I know who this is. Both my new and old memories know who this is.

I'm lost for fucking words. Whoever put me here...I kinda wanna thank them.