14 Chapter 14 - Separation

…

Yamcha felt the wind beat onto his body as he used Escape Rope. He controlled it with only a thought and extended it, just like Goku's staff.

Though doing that was harder than it seemed, as he had to concentrate fully on the rope to have it move to his will.

He used the rope to tie to the plane's wings and then tied it around himself to hold his body in place as the plane flew. A bead of sweat rolled down his face as he tried to hold on for life; he didn't want to test how the afterlife would work for him.

"This is harder than the movies make it seem," Yamcha felt himself slip through due to air resistance. He tried to hold on with only one arm, but it was tough as the now healed arm started shifting again, and it felt like it was about to break.

Bringing the rope to his mouth, he bit down hard. It felt like his teeth were going to be pulled out, but he held on like a lion that had got his jaws on his prey.

Thoughts of giving up went through his mind. Maybe giving it all this effort wasn't worth this. But he was reminded of whose body he had taken control of, and if he lost once, he would continue that streak for a long time and won't be capable of getting out of it.

Suddenly the plane tilted on its back, and Yamcha almost plummeted to the ground, but the rope grabbed him and tied him to the plane. Then the plane started rotating, and Goku followed behind it, trying to catch up as he got closer with each second.

Multiple flash bombs shot from behind like a stream of fireworks. They landed on Goku, and a nasty explosion rang out.

"Hope he didn't die from that," Yamcha winced. If that had been him, he would have suffered a bad case of Painful Death.

Goku started plummeting to the ground, but Yamcha knew he should be okay as the Nimbus followed after him. After a quick Observe, he saw that Goku's HP had fallen, but the Saiyan was alive.

Still, he wasn't complaining as this somewhat worked for him. Yamcha then punched at the wing of the plane and dented it slightly before he jumped off as the aircraft started shaking.

The rope coiled itself around Yamcha as he started falling. His heart started beating like an engine, wind hitting his face felt like sharp needles. Every subconscious part of his body trembled from fear of falling. As he fell, the wind rushed through his nose, and unknown feelings streamed through his body.

Yamcha swore to himself that he should learn to fly when he got the chance. But as the ground approached him, and he caught sight of a jungle below, he used the rope, which turned into a net, tied up between the trees, and stopped his acceleration to the ground within almost an instant.

"That felt like spider-man," Yamcha muttered while breathing heavily as an excited smile came to his face.

It also felt like my organs were coming up my throat. They probably were. C'mon, Shounen Logic, don't make me throw up organs. That's way too gruesome for a kid's show.

He gracefully landed on the ground, quickly taking out the seven dragon balls and putting them on the ground next to each other, which made the dragon balls blink in light.

"Come forth, Shenron! And grant me my wish!"

The dragon balls shined bright, and Yamcha felt his heart beating with excitement as the dragon rose. He couldn't wait any longer, or something might interrupt him.

The sky turned dark, and the dragon was bigger than a mountain, the Eiffel Tower, or the Statue of Liberty. A serpentine creature with green scales and red eyes.

For a second, Yamcha was lost in amazement. Many thoughts went through his mind, the wishes he had planned. He had contemplated this endlessly before even meeting Bulma.

What should he use this wish for? Maybe to turn himself into a Saiyan? That was his most prevalent wish, but this had its troubles. For example, how would that react with his Gamer's Body and Gamer's Mind? Maybe the Gamer Interface would see it as an abnormal state, and after sleeping, he would turn back to human, essentially wasting his wish.

Or maybe, the Saiyan body and dragon balls would overpower his Gamer Interface, and Saiyan genes would make him a fighting freak. If that happened, he would no longer be himself, something that he hated more than anything in the world.

What use was power if he no longer was himself? Also, being a Saiyan, in this stage, was almost useless.

Many other similar wishes came to mind. Maybe have the dragon teach Kaioken, but with his current power, the technique would kill him first. That was if the dragon somehow had the power to do that since King Kai is much stronger than Kami. Shenron can't forcefully teleport someone stronger than the Dragon Ball's creator, so maybe reading a stronger creature's mind was also something out of its powers.

Also, he needed something to heal his arms fast because he couldn't continue fighting with arms like this in case Pilaf came with a robot again or started shooting missiles.

Senzu Bean, no, maybe the ability to create Senzu Beans? No, that might just translate to a skill that creates Senzu Beans, and it will limit how many I can make in a day. I don't need another skill to level up. Yamcha contemplated his wish carefully.

Infinite Ki? No, Shenron probably can't make that, as it would be over Kami's power. Intelligence? Perfect memory? No, he can achieve that by just putting points in intelligence.

Teleport to Namek? No, he was too weak, and a Namekian might just accidentally flicker him out of existence, and he wasn't sure how things would go there or if Guru would decide to help him if he couldn't read his mind due to Gamer's Mind Skill.

Gravity Machine? That would probably kill him too. Regeneration? No, that could interfere with training and he needed something that can recover Ki and everything else too. Also he also needed something that could heal others.

Infinite potential? He already had that through his Gamer Interface.

But through all that, Yamcha didn't want to try his chances and tire out the dragon balls. After all, he didn't know how feasible the existence of Omega Shenron was. He didn't want to rush something like that.

All of those thoughts went through his mind in less than a second.

"I am Shenron, the wish-granting dragon. State your wish!" The dragon's voice was like a low roar, bringing the pressure down to Yamcha's bones.

"Mighty dragon Shenron, give me a barrel of Senzu beans as high as me and as thick as a washing machine," he shouted, making sure to add specifications. For now, Yamcha knew that anything too big wouldn't have many benefits. He needed something to help him train and give him an edge during battles. Also, something that might could someone close to death if he somehow messes up the timeline in the worst way possible.

In a blinding light, a barrel appeared in front of Yamcha, and the dragon said in its deep, loud voice. "Your wish has been granted."

After that, it retreated into its dragon balls and shot into the sky, all the balls turning into stone.

Yamcha looked at the barrel of Senzu Beans, and he couldn't see what was inside because it was quite big. So he approached it and put his hand up, took out a small green bean, and popped it in his mouth.

Immediately all the tiredness, Ki, HP, and everything returned to the maximum. His broken arms healed back to normal, and all of his fatigue vanished. How did Senzu Beans work? Yamcha had no idea, so he just summed it up to magic.

"Oh, I am going to abuse the hell out of this," he put the whole barrel into his inventory.

Yamcha had considered taking many beans from Korin, but it was doubtful if he would have given Senzu Beans to take outside; that was after all the food Korin survived on. Also, with his current power, it would be a while before Yamcha could climb the tower of Korin.

His inventory had limits too, and he could only put things in that were about the size of his body at max. Things like cars and houses don't fit. But he can store it in his inventory if it's in its capsule form.

Then Yamcha took out a capsule and took out a can of beans. After that, he popped the capsule into his inventory and smiled happily.

Now started the second stage of his rough plan. For some reason, a sense of excitement blossomed within his chest. Maybe because now he had seen the way to becoming what he previously didn't like in his last life, an OP protagonist with zero character development.

Reading about an OP protagonist was boring. Being one was a whole different thing. It took every ounce of willpower within his body not to jump around like a fool, just in case Kami or some other pervert might be observing him.

…

It took a surprising amount of time for Yamcha to get off his high horse after getting the wish granted. For now, he was dreaming too far into the future, so he shouldn't confuse the present with what he might become.

Remembering the Saibamen helped him get any kind of ego he had back under control.

He then went and started looking for Goku.

Yamcha wandered around the forest nonchalantly and kept looking around with a smile on his face.

Finding Goku was easy. The young Saiyan was injured while riding atop his Nimbus. The cloud was just holding him above the trees as he slept so that no monsters could do anything to him except the flying ones.

It seemed like the missiles had hurt Goku badly, and he was unconscious.

Using the Escape Rope, a Legendary Item, just like the Nimbus, Yamcha grabbed onto the yellow cloud and brought Goku down to his level.

Goku's condition wasn't that bad, as his tough Saiyan skin had protected him quite a lot. Though he was injured and bleeding from the nose, some of his skin had been burned. If Goku were a human, that would have left a nasty scar, but Yamcha wasn't so sure about the Saiyans.

Well, not like it mattered. Yamcha pulled out the barrel of Senzu Beans and stored a couple of dozen Senzu Beans as one item in his inventory so he could pull them out faster. He didn't want to take out this barrel every time.

After that, he used a Senzu Bean on Goku, which healed all his wounds and the young Saiyan opened his eyes. Immediately he jumped up and looked around. "Huh? Where is that big bird?"

"That's called an airplane," Yamcha shook his head. Goku needed to learn a lot of things about the civilized world.

Yamcha tried to touch the Nimbus cloud and was surprised that he could touch the thing, which was quite surprising, as he didn't have a pure heart. Maybe deep down, he was a pure-hearted person all along?

But then he remembered that he maybe could have asked Shenron for humans to get a new super form like the Saiyans. Though he didn't make that wish, why would he want to make any possible enemy stronger? Humans were a whole race, and he knew that many of them would do some messed-up things with power.

History had made that quite clear. Though he couldn't blame the sins of humans of his last world on this one, he didn't want to take the chances.

Also, Yamcha didn't want dangerous people to be as strong as him. He wasn't a battle-hungry Saiyan.

So, in the end, he concluded that likely Gamer's Mind stops Nimbus from reading his intentions or something along those lines.

[Goku - Lvl 5]

[A strange young man with a monkey tail? His origins are mysterious, and a great power dwells within him. He is a friend of yours... (PL: 22)]

His power level had risen about five again. Which is around a 30% boost...

"That's such a cheat," muttered Yamcha under his breath while trying to keep a smile on his face. He was the one to be cheat-like here, and he would have been that in any other world. But here, it was quite different. "Seems like I will still have to try hard and keep up."

Yamcha wasn't afraid of the challenge; a life without some kind of adversity was boring. Though he would have liked it more if hardship came in things like the internet going off or not liking the haircut but not having the balls to say that to the barber.

He knew how powerful Goku would grow in the future, so he had no time to rest if he wanted to keep up with everyone.

After that, Goku flew off with his Nimbus, while Yamcha used the rope to grab into the nimbus and held on as they flew along. He could have flown with Goku, but there was very little space, and he was afraid of slipping off the cloud. So this was better; also, it looked cooler.

However, the altitude did make him a little nervous.

As they arrived at the destroyed castle, Bulma and Carrot were waiting around. She seemed excited, like a frustrated housewife.

"The sky turned dark, and the giant dragon appeared in the distance. Did the demon-looking shorty make his wish?! What was the wish?" Bulma asked; the regret on her face was quite clear.

"No, I intervened in that," Yamcha said with an embarrassed smile, showing her the can of beans in his hand. "But to beat him before he could say his wish, I asked for a can of beans faster than him. So this is what the mighty dragon made me."

Bulma sighed in real life, but she quickly backed up and smiled.

"Wait, what about Grandpa's Dragon Ball?!" Asked Goku prickly, only now realizing that the dragon had been summoned.

"Once the dragon balls are used, they will turn to stone and fly away. The radar can't detect them for another year as they will resurface again at that time." Bulma continued her explanation to Goku and even gave him the dragon radar. "I think you should go and search for your grandfather's dragon ball when it is detected again within the year."

"Also, you should use that time wisely and train to become stronger," Yamcha added. He didn't want to somehow derail cannon enough where Goku wouldn't go to Master Roshi, so he added. "Perhaps that turtle guy could help you get stronger."

"That sounds good. Maybe next time I will be able to beat you" Goku shrugged and smiled brightly. "I will go and do that, and then I will find Grandpa's Dragon Ball in a year. What about you, Bulma, wasn't your wish to have a bo-"

The green-haired scientist quickly went and covered Goku's mouth. "Of course, that doesn't matter anymore."

Yamcha could feel Bulma's gaze, though he acted indifferent and looked toward Carrot and his goons. As if he hadn't caught on to anything.

'Special Technique: Clueless Harem Protagonist Jutsu'

Ignoring whatever Bulma was up to, Yamcha gathered some Ki in his hand and formed a ball of Ki. He smiled, as relief washed over him. It was strange, as it first came like relief and then became childish glee.

Lately he hadn't been able to relax, too afraid that something had changed, or how Goku might die by some accident. The last time he had been relaxed was when he had shot the Kamehameha Wave for the first time, and with Goku disappearing out of nowhere, his mind had gone to a thousand wrong places.

My paranoid mindset really isn't suited for this world. But it's an easy problem to fix, I just need to become strong, much stronger than anyone else. Then I can play around with beams and magic without worrying at all.

Ah, once again, he was reminded of the joys of actually having Ki Powers. Yamcha had to exert his willpower as he wanted to try and shoot a Kamehameha in the sky. Not like he had to worry about Ki or exhaustion, since he had Senzu Beans.

***

After some more talks, Goku set off, which left only Yamcha and Bulma.

She was nervous and felt like the blood in her heart was about to explode. Even thinking of what to say clearly without making herself sound like a fool was hard.

She had never felt like this before, and the blush on her face made it harder to appear casual.

"Uhhh, so want to come to my place?" She asked awkwardly and immediately started berating herself internally.

'OH MY GOD!! What the hell was with that question?! I sounded like some kind of cougar! Does he think that I am a slut now? Maybe he doesn't like me? Or maybe he thinks that I am ugly?'

Yamcha glanced at her and shrugged, and made teo Ki balls and started juggling them. "Oh, I didn't know I could even do this. Maybe I can juggle three?"

He couldn't juggle three.

Bulma tilted her head in confusion. Wondering what was going through his mind. Probably something very profound. Maybe he is training to be the strongest?

This was likely some kind of Ki Control training, Bulma reasoned.