2

This world is not just Highschool DXD; it's a friggin hodgepodge of anime from my watch queue. It's going to take me a while to parse all this information, but I know this is going to get complicated. For example, the hero village actually has a name other than Hero Village. It is known as the Hero Village-Orario. The gods really did fill in blanks and merge bits and pieces of various anime. I have no idea how this world is really set up.

On the upside, Basara and Issei's personalities merged in a way that toned down his borderline sex-offender level perversion. Must be all the training from the hero village—toughened his mind. Don't get it twisted though, there is still every intention of having the world's most amazing harem, but at least he hasn't totally shot me in the foot by being a crazed mouth-breathing predator.

As for why we're no longer in Orario, it seems similar to what happened in the original series. When I was seven years old, I was training with some other students; a male hero who had just lost his wife in the dungeon tried claiming the demon sword Brynhildr to use to get revenge. Unfortunately, the evil spirits overpowered the already emotionally unstable man, possessing him.

The man went all Anakin Skywalker and tried to take out all the younglings and their teachers. More than a dozen people were killed before he got to my friends and me. As he approached, I saw him cut down a girl with pink and green hair I'm sure was from the Demon Slayer anime, but I only watched a few of those episodes. Most of us started running, but a couple froze up, and like a heroic speed bump, I tried to put myself between the badun and my friends.

I may have been considered a prodigy, but I was at most a B-rank, but this was an S-rank threat. I knew I was toast; I just wanted to buy my friends a few more seconds to alert the rest of the village, hopefully. I'm pretty proud of myself for not dying immediately, but it was short-lived. Just as the evil spirit-possessed man was about to drop the hamm-er sword, my Quirk woke up. Now, why is it a Quirk and not just an ability? Well, I'll give you a hint, one of the girls behind me at that point was named Nejire Hado.

My Quirk is just like Basara's power in Testament of Sister New Devil. Everything it hits is reduced to nothing and banished to the zero dimension. Pretty overpowered, really, but in this case, it was even worse. The stress caused the power to run amok and swallow most of the mountainside, including all the bodies of the slain and the possessed dude. The only thing left was Brynhildr with the guy's hand still attached. At that moment, Brynhildr's innate will kicked in and chose to bond with me.

The elders determined that I was far too dangerous to be left wandering around the village and determined to seal my Quirk and Brynhildr and even wanted to lock me up. Fortunately, my dad is just that badass and told the elders to pound sand. My Quirk and Brynhildr were actually sealed so that I could only release a fraction of their power. Dad said when I gained enough control, the seals would come loose. He took me away from the village, and we've been living in the mortal world ever since.

That's the easy part. How this whole world fits together is the problem. Will I have to worry about plot lines from all of these various anime just overwhelming me? If Danmachi and My Hero Academia exist as part of this world, in whatever form they take, are there other protagonist-level characters I need to look out for? If not, am I responsible for the plots? Oh, gods, I hope not.

'I am going to need a lot more information if I want to navigate this world. I only have a spattering of memories about the animes and a little extra from some of the wikis. How much LP do I have left?'

'Discerning Eye'

[LP Conversion (S)

Effect: LPs are restored in correspondence to the following actions.

*Enjoyment of a heartfelt, delightful meal.

*Intimate behavior with the opposite sex.

*Satisfaction of monetary and material desires.

*Fulfillment of other desires and wishes.]

I pretty much already knew this. I was hoping it would give me a count on how many I have left. Noir just had to concentrate to get a solid number. It doesn't seem to work that way for me, and Discerning Eye took a large chunk of LP despite it costing relatively little in the anime. Is it because of the downgrade? Maybe everything costs more now... I have to try. It should warn me if it costs too much... Let's Get Creative and create Great Sage.

A wave of icy-cold washes over me like the grim reaper had their hand just hovering over my head before the feeling fades and most of my LP flows out of my body. After a moment, the feeling passes, and I recheck my stats to find my new skill.

[Wise Man (A)

Effect: Able to gain limited information on most topics in the world. A downgraded version of the SS-rank Skill: Great Sage.]

Well, shit. I should have realized Great Sage was that powerful. It makes sense; the amount of information that Great Sage contains is immeasurable. Noir would get migraines from trying to channel the skill.

'Wise Man, what is my current LP, and how much LP did it cost to create you?'

[Current LP: 1300]

[LP cost to create an A-rank Skill: 4500]

Wow, I had over ten thousand LP before my brief spending spree. I suppose I should send my thanks to Hannah for that last night in her dorm room. I hope she passed her History final.

'Wise Man, how much would it cost to create an S-rank Skill?'

[LP cost to create an S-rank Skill is twenty-two thousand five hundred. However, the current rank of 'Get Creative' cannot create Skills above A-rank due to the limitations placed upon it. It would be necessary to raise the Get Creative Skill to double S-rank before the creation of S-rank Skills is possible.]

'Okay, good to know. That's going to slow my plans down a bit. Not that I had a ton of plans, but I was hoping to grow a bit faster. I need a way to get more LP fast. On the upside, I should get more out of Discerning Eye with Wise Man.'

"Yo! Issei! Let's go out for lunch; I have something to tell you," I hear my new dad yell.

"Shit, I just got here. Don't tell me we are starting the plot already?"

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"Why Oyako-don?" I ask, staring at a bowl of the quintessential man of culture meal. I already knew the answer, but I was playing through the story just to move the plot along. At least for the moment.

"It's limited-time only," Jin says. "Now's your only chance! If you don't eat it, you'll regret it later."

That's actually pretty good advice. Regrets are a bitch, and if you have the opportunity to eat Oyako-don, you shouldn't waste the chance.

"You're too old to fall for that crap," I say as I lift the bowl to my mouth, but instead of eating, I pause long enough to finish my thought. "I'm certain I'll have many opportunities in the future to have Oyako-don, and I'll enjoy them each time."

I continue eating. Jin's voice comes out a little more subdued, and this is where he'll try to float some shit.

"Issei, you said you wanted a little sister, right?" he asks, gazing out the window of the restaurant.

"No, I said I wanted a harem, but I suppose a little step-sister would be a start."

"Sure you did," he says, blowing off my comment. "It was about ten years ago."

"Mmmm, I'm pretty sure I said I missed Yuki and her sister, but why don't we skip that and get to the point."

"I've got good news," a mischievous smirk stretching his mouth. "You've got a cute little sister."

I set the bowl down, wipe my mouth with a napkin, set the napkin down, cross my arms, and stare at him with dead eyes. I obviously know what this is, but time to push this forward a little. "So, what is it really?"

He freezes. "What do you mean?"

I smirk. "Come on, dad, I know I goof off a lot and ogle the occasional pair of oppai-"

His eyebrows raise, "Occasional?"

"Fine. I often enjoy the view of one of nature's greatest treasures. Regardless, I'm still your son, and I know bullshit when I smell it. Even over your cologne."

He watches me for a moment. I wonder if I overplayed it. Maybe he'll notice a shift in personality. Eventually, he smirks, then leans back, and eventually starts laughing. "Well, damn. I guess you're growing up after all."

"Let's not get too carried away. I just know you. So? What's the real story, and what do you need me to do."

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Mio Naruse. The 'I'll kill you a hundred times,' girl. As the story goes, she is the daughter of the strongest demon lord sent to live a normal life in the mortal world for unknown reasons. Mio was also imbued with the demon lord's power. So far, so good. It follows the original to the best of my recollection. Right up to where it doesn't.

The twist in this world is that the demon lord is not Wilbert; it's Wilhelmina. Now, I'm not sure why the gods gender-bent Wilbert, but I'm sure there is a reason that will make things way too complicated.

Anyway, she and her sister Maria are in hiding after her foster parents were burned to death in a supposed demon attack. As far as I can tell, Plot shuffled them into the path of Jin, and he let them believe that they had mind-controlled him into buying their whack-ass story. Their plan pretty much sucked in general.

Brainwash some guy into letting them live in his house and then hide out there. Mio kicks out enough dark energy to attract evil spirits and stray demons and devils like she's putting out a party notice. They'd be captured or killed in a week. Their only saving grace is that Maria chose Jin as the target. Jin thought the amateurish approach was strange for a demon, so he talked to some of his contacts and found out some information.

"There must be a reason we were brought together," Jin says. "If we can protect them, don't you want to?"

"Never said I didn't. I just wanted the full story. Walking into a situation blind can get someone killed," I say. He nods, acknowledging the point. "So, how do you want to play this?"

He takes a drag on his cigarette before answering. "I figure we play along for now. Let them get comfortable with us. It wouldn't do us much good if they just ran away because we were on to them."

I nod. It makes sense. Right now, they're on the run looking for a place to rest. If we scare them, they may panic and run right into their enemy's hands.

We finished eating in silence, both of us lost in our thoughts. Dad was probably trying to make a guess as to who the villain of the peace was. If I remember right, in the original, it was that creepy sex predator dude. On the upside, if it is still him, then Zest will be nearby. The downside, he's a fucking creeper. He's like the epitome of the Ugly Bastard Hentai antagonist. I want to gut him just on principle.

However, I can't assume that the world is the same as it was in the source. The world is more like what would happen if someone took a dozen different jigsaw puzzles, mixed them together, and tried to make them all fit into one giant picture.

I think I've waited long enough—time to see if our fated encounter is truly fated. "I'm gonna go wash my face," I say. Jin raises an eyebrow. "I want to make a good impression. You did say they were cute, right?"

He just shrugs and nods. I make my way across the restaurant towards the bathrooms. In the source material, Basara walks in on Mio with her pants down, and a scene ensues. Part of me wants to just follow the plot for this, but the other part of me thinks having foreknowledge would make that a much creepier scene.

I get to the door, and lo and behold, there is, in fact the sign saying the lock is busted and to knock. I knock and call out, "Anyone in here?"

I hear a muffled sound and a slight squeak that is cut off at the end. That doesn't sound right. Oh, shit!

Slamming the door open, the person holding it gets thrown back. Superhuman Condition isn't just for show. A man pushes himself out of a dent in the wall and reaches for buxom redhead passed out on the floor. A glowing red teleportation circle starts to form under his feet.