1 Chapter 1: We don't need non-standard reincarnation
"Let's start from the beginning." A small ball of light spoke, but no one except for the other being in this blank and empty world knew where the voice sounded from, "So I'm dead?"
"Yes. Isn't it easy to understand?" The old man spoke serenely with a small smile.
"Truly! But don't you think that you're simplifying my death way too easily?"
"Hm? Not really?" The old man tilted his head sideways, but all it did was make the small ball of light 'stagger' in disgust at the sight of an old man trying to act cute.
"Eh? Is there no meaning to my death then?"
"Absolutely none." The old man, fortunately for the small ball of light, didn't try to act cute anymore and gave off a light cough before continuing, "Then let me summarize your death for you. And I'll try not to keep it into one sentence this time."
"You were walking down a path on one sunny day, and oops! Lightning suddenly descended and stuck you. But lucky you! You managed to enter my place, and that's where we are now."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Well? Say something. It's your death, after all."
"What can I say? I'm speechless...sigh...I'm not even going to comment on how some random lightning descended in the middle of a bright, cloudless sky. Can I ask what happened to my family after I died?"
"Yes."
"..."
"..."
"Well?"
"Well, what? I permitted you to ask, so go ahead and ask."
"Are you kidding me right now?"
"Unfortunately, as much as I want to do so, I'm not. So ask before I change the topic."
"What happened to my family after I died?"
"Then mourned for your death."
"And?"
"And what? It's not like you were some important figure in your country. What did you expect? The president to come down personally and pay his respect?"
"I'm starting to doubt whether you really are a higher being."
"You don't have to doubt me. I can survive in this place by myself, after all. And without my protection, the space here would have torn you to shreds without even lasting a second."
"Wow! I'm so sorry for disrespecting you! And thank you for your protection!"
The old man's lip twitched for a moment. He had no idea what to think of the young ball of light in front of him. He changed his face faster than the speed of light.
"No problem. Anyways, as I said, your family mourned your death for a while, but since you weren't that important in the world in general, your death was of no consequence. If it makes you feel any better," The old man quickly added, seeing the ball of light dim slightly, "I'll let you know that your world promptly evolved to a whole new direction due to that random lightning strike."
"Eh?"
"Yea. That lightning strike isn't mine, so I don't exactly know what type of lightning it is, but I'm very sure that it's something special."
"Mystical lightning? And what do you mean that my world had 'evolved to a whole new direction'? You're missing some important information here, my God."
"It's actually nothing much. Your world was originally a 'pure' world, with nothing but technological growth. If it weren't for you being the conductor, or medium, between the lightning and your world, your world would have gone on to build space ships, have galactic wars, have alien friends, and so on. Y'know, the usual advancements in technology that a race would usually have as long as they're not stupid."
"But with me being the turning point?"
"But with you being the turning point, it changed to a world of abilities instead. Your family, for some reason, managed to awaken some top-notch abilities. Your father and mother have awakened space and time abilities, respectively, while your young sister awakened the ability to 'decay' anything. Your younger brother is a bit of a special case. He became a summoner, managing to summon some retarded things that even some minor Gods wouldn't be able to fight."
Hearing his family's glorious deeds, the ball of light didn't know what to feel. Happy for his family? Regretful that he couldn't join them in their glory?
"Sigh...so was my death ultimately a good one or a bad one?"
The old man chuckled at his words, "To a being like me, there is no such thing as 'good' or 'bad'. They're both two sides of the same coin, and one can't exist without the other. I can only say that the benefits of you dying outweighed the detriments, though just slightly."
"At least my family had a good life. With all that overpowered abilities, I suppose they became the top powerhouses or something like that?"
"Yep. Your parents are currently having the time of their life celebrating the birth of their great-grand-grand-granddaughters."
"I'm not even going to comment on the fact that I have a great-grand-grandnieces. Even though I have been floating in this space for a while only. So," The ball of light shined slightly brighter, "What now?"
"Well, do you mind if I read your memories? I want to see how you lived your life from your very own lives."
"Can I reject you?"
"Of course. In fact, I was hoping that you would reject so I would have an excuse to keep you here with me for all eternity until another soul like yours appear here once more."
"Then go ahead and read my memories. As much as I would like to spend time with you, I don't particularly look forward to spending the rest of my eternity with an old man."
The old man didn't seem particularly fazed by what the ball of light had said and just extended out a finger towards the ball of light.
The ball of light thought that he would have at least felt something, but not even a second later, the old man retracted his fingers and faced him, "The very epitome of normalness. What a good lad...I wished I had your normalness."
"Aren't you omnipotent?"
"Who said so?"
"Um...no one, but I assumed..."
"Sorry to destroy your childhood fantasy, but no one is omnipotent. Omnipotent is a very contradictory term on its own. It is defined as having unlimited power, but what counts as 'power'? Authority is a form of power. Strength is a sort of power, not to mention that most people agree that knowledge is power. So if knowledge is power, does it mean that the so-called omnipotent dude is omniscient as well? Does it mean that he is also omnipresent? But let's say that such a person was to exist, then I would say that only one fits that description."
"And that is...?"
"The very place we are right now - the universe. The universe is expanding infinitely at the speed of infinite. An infinite amount of knowledge is being born in every infinite of a second, and an infinite number of beings even stronger than me could be born for every moment we are currently experiencing right now. To be omnipotent, he or she needs to become stronger constantly. Otherwise, if they stop for even a moment, a fraction of a nanosecond, they would lose their title of being an omnipotent being. So, do you think there is still someone omnipotent?"
"Being omnipotent isn't as good as you think it is. Even now, I can sense countless battles between the strongest amongst the universe. Imagine an infinite power growing an infinitely time more powerful. How do you calculate that? Infinite? Then wouldn't you just go back to square one?"
"Wow...I have never really thought of it that way before..."
"Of course you haven't. In fact, it would have been stranger if you actually had this train of thoughts before. Anyways," The old man continued before the ball of light could speak, "I don't want to hold back on your desire any longer. You are pretty respectful to your elders, compared to other people, that is. At least you don't start ordering me the moment you see my face."
"Well, it's not really my style to disrespect people when we first meet. Plus, you look old, and I always treat my seniors well."
"Good boy. Well, now that I have read your memories with your permission, excluding the biological reactions of a teenage male, I have learned your inner desires and expectations of meeting me."
The ball of light shone a crimson light for a moment before returning back to its yellowish-white glow.
"Haha...well..." The ball of light laughed awkwardly, "So, can you do it?"
"Of course I can. Although I'm nowhere near the top of the universe, I'm at least above the 75% percentile. So, going by your expectations, I'm going to allow you two wishes. Be as specific as you want, and I'll have lesser things to adjust.
And as a present of keeping me company for this thousand years, by you Earthling's calculation, I'll let you choose where and how you want to start and give you permission to roam the universe. As for the timeline, I'll be the one deciding where to place you in, just for the sake of having some fun. Is that up to your expectations?"
"Wow. That's slightly more than what I had expected, but yes. Thank you, God."
"No problem. I'll periodically observe you if you don't mind."
"Of course not."
"Good. Now, your wishes."
"Um...I want to have all of Gojo Satoru's ability. If you don't want to grant this, then at least allow me to have his power of limitless, domain expansion, and six-eyes."
"No, your wish is fine. In fact, I'll even grant you Gojo's experience in combat as well, though I won't change a thing to your tactical mind. It will be up to you to not be stupid, essentially. But I do have one thing to confirm with you. Gojo's techniques are primarily based on cursed energy. Do you want cursed energy to be your main energy source as well? Or would you prefer something else?"
"Um...you mean other energy systems like mana or qi?"
"Yes."
"Then, can I just have no energy restrictions instead?"
The old man fell silent for a moment before laughing out loud.
"Hahahaha! Nice one, kid! No energy is also a form of energy! Congratulations, and here you go! Now, your techniques will all have one extra property due to it being fueled by No energy."
'I think he's misunderstanding something but...whatever. I'll take it.' The ball of light thought and accepted that he would be getting a completely new energy system that he had never heard of before.
"No energy, like its name suggests, is a form of a negative energy system, like cursed energy system and reiryoku energy system. I'll leave it to you to figure more about your new energy system, so state your second wish."
"Thank you, then. For my second wish, I would like reality manipulation."
"Reality manipulation, eh? It may sound strong, but in the face of those beings, it's nothing. Are you sure about your choice?"
"I think you misunderstand me. I never planned to become the ruler of the universe. I just want to strong enough to protect myself."
"Very well, then. It's a good choice, by the way, since even if you wanted to be the strongest, you're like infinite eons late to the party. Now, reality manipulation is a pretty big category. Do you want anything in particular?"
The ball of light shook left and right, "Not really. As you mentioned, I need some fun in my life. Why don't you decide how I would use reality manipulation?"
"Very well. I shall grant you the ability 'Infinite Deception of Words', an ability that would allow you to bend reality through lies and deception."
"Interesting...I think I would enjoy it more than just plain old waving my hand and voilà! I have changed reality!"
"Glad that you liked it. It would also help train your intelligence. Now, for your final choices. Tell me what world and what family background you would like to have."
"My Hero Academia. And I hope I can be placed in a good orphanage."
"Oh? I thought you would have asked for a wealthy family instead."
"Would you be erasing my memories?"
"No., it wouldn't be much of reincarnation then, would it? But would that matter?"
"Yes. I can't completely accept that I would have a different set of parents taking care of me. After all, I only have one pair of true parents who gave birth to me since I would only remember about them. It would make me feel guilty towards them. Call me selfish, sentimental, or stupid, but I'm not going to change my mind on this one."
The old man didn't say anything further and just snapped his fingers.
"Very well. All your fantasies will now come true. You'll regain your memories when you're three, and from then on, it would be up to you to do whatever you want. And as a bonus perk, you don't have to train much. I didn't nerf your powers at all. All you need to know is to apply them in real battles, but then again, with Gojo's experience, it wouldn't be too long for you to surpass him. Good luck in your new worlds, and I hope you and I wouldn't meet face to face like this for some time."
The ball of light glowed brightly before revealing a young man in his teens. He bowed towards the old man and gave his sincere thanks, "Thank you for giving me this opportunity."
"You're welcome, kid. Now, shoo!"
