Honkai: Infinite Self

(A/N: After some consideration, I decided to go with cheat number 1. I haven't finished balancing cheat number 2, and it might still be too overpowered if I use it.)

In a small apartment, inside a room, a young man with an Asian face and long, curly black hair was asleep. His face was frowning, drenched in sweat, clearly showing he was having a nightmare.

"I-I…" the young man mumbled in pain before finally opening his eyes and waking up suddenly.

He panted heavily, his body trembling, and he checked himself over as if making sure he was still intact.

"I-I didn't die?" he muttered, his eyes full of disbelief. He vividly remembered being hit by a truck while saving a child who was crossing the street.

He gulped and looked around. "What happened to me? Why am I here? Was my death… just a dream?" he questioned himself, looking at his surroundings from the bed, trying to make sense of it all.

He got out of bed and carefully observed the area around him with scrutinizing eyes. However, no matter how hard he tried to recall, he wasn't familiar with this place.

Finally, a possibility crossed his mind, making his eyes fill with fear and his imagination run wild with thoughts of terrible things that might soon happen to him.

No, no, no, calm down, Itsuki Kurokami! Don't panic just yet! Let's figure out what's going on here!

He thought, trying to quiet his footsteps in case his kidnappers heard and realized he was awake.

Itsuki checked his surroundings. The place he was in looked like an ordinary small apartment, not at all like a kidnapping site.

This made him doubt, but he remained cautious, trying to listen for any sounds of his kidnappers outside the room.

This is strange… I don't hear them outside… are they gone?

If what he thought was true, he could relax a bit and figure out a way to escape.

So, he approached the door and, with a hesitant hand, opened it, praying there were no kidnappers outside.

He sighed in relief when he saw no one was there. Finally, he could completely relax his tense body and explore the place.

DING!

Suddenly, a loud sound rang out, making him tense up and freeze. After a few moments, he moved slowly towards the source of the sound, which came from a phone lying there.

Did the kidnapper forget and leave their phone behind? How careless of them. I can call the police with this.

He was happy and quickly grabbed the phone, but his face turned to frustration when he saw that it was locked with a password.

At the same time, Itsuki began to feel a strange and painful sensation in his head. It started small but quickly worsened, making him frown in pain before collapsing.

"Arghhhhh!!!" he screamed in agony, his head feeling like it was exploding as an overwhelming amount of unfamiliar memories flooded his mind.

FUCKKK, IT HURTS!!!

He screamed internally before finally passing out from the pain.

In that moment, Itsuki dreamed of a very vivid and lifelike existence, where the person he dreamed of was himself, but with slight differences, such as being an orphan living in an orphanage, unlike himself, who lived happily with his biological family.

The dream was so long that Itsuki felt it wasn't just a dream but that he truly lived a new life there.

However, it ended when the dream reached the point where he lived in the same apartment he had just woken up in, and there, he fell seriously ill with a fever before losing consciousness completely.

The dream ended, and Itsuki opened his eyes, waking up with a new understanding of his current situation.

"I see, to think that I got reincarnated into another version of myself who had died. What a weird fate I've been given," he sighed, though he was relieved to still be alive.

"By the way, what kind of world is this? I hope it's not dangerous. I don't want to live in constant fear, always thinking that tomorrow might be my last day," he muttered with a hopeful expression. Finally, he unlocked the phone with the password he now remembered and began browsing the internet.

Then, his eyes widened in disbelief as he saw familiar information, like the ME Company and Anti-Entropy Animation Studio.

"No, no, no! Why does it have to be Honkai! Why?!" he despaired, his body going limp as he collapsed to the ground, sitting down in shock.

Why! This world is incredibly dangerous! And I'm just an ordinary guy! How can I survive in a world that's not friendly to men?

He thought in depression and despair, imagining that tomorrow could bring a Honkai eruption. His face turned pale with anxiety.

"Fucking hell! What an absurd situation I'm in! Reincarnating after death only to find that my new world is even more dangerous than before! Is this a blessing or a curse for me?" he sighed tiredly, his complexion worsening, looking as if he were gravely ill.

But then his eyes lit up as he remembered an idea. "I remember that reincarnators and transmigrators usually get a cheat ability. Does that mean I, as a reincarnator, get one too?" he asked hopefully.

"System! Chat group! Panel!" he shouted into the air, but to his despair, nothing appeared.

"No, no, no! Don't tell me I didn't get anything like a cheat in this world?! Are you serious?!" He couldn't believe it and kept calling out, but the result was the same.

"It's over… I'm screwed, aren't I?" His eyes twitched, now truly hopeless about his situation.

Overwhelmed by despair and depression, his body weakened, making him incredibly sleepy. Many depressed people sleep to escape their misery.

So, he fell asleep, hoping that this was all just a dream.

As his consciousness began to fade, he found himself waking up in a strange place filled with emptiness.

"Where am I now? Wasn't I just asleep? Or is this a dream, and I'm lucid dreaming?" he wondered, noticing his body felt as light as a feather, almost floating.

Then his eyes focused ahead, and he gasped in shock, his mouth agape at the unimaginable sight before him.

"What the heck…" he muttered. Before him was an unimaginable and incomprehensible expanse spreading everywhere, with no end in sight, suggesting it was infinite.

What shocked him more was what this 'something' was—a vast number of 'universes,' each with different realities.

They varied in size, and Itsuki could spot multiverses or even omniverses among them, which stunned him.

Everything filled his vision with colors, resembling a beautiful array of stars in outer space.

But what caught his attention most was the fact that he could see alternate versions of himself living in each of these 'universes.'

He saw versions of himself as a genius, a successful person, a pioneer, a president, a mage, a wizard, a killer, an assassin, but what shocked him more was seeing versions of himself as an alien, a god, an outer god, or even as a female.

All their fates ranged from tragic to fortunate, from ordinary to incredibly exciting.

My counterparts… they are everywhere, in everything, all at once…

He thought, finding it unimaginable. He had never expected the quantum theory suggesting that everyone has infinite alternate versions to be real, and now he could see the proof firsthand.

But why am I here? Could this be my cheat? But what's its use? It can't be that I can only see my alternate versions in all universes, right?

He frowned, thinking that if this was true, it would be useless to him in the dangerous world of Honkai.

Is there any way to use it? Maybe it requires a command or a wish to activate?

He tried various commands and wishes, but nothing worked, frustrating him. Suddenly, he recalled a familiar movie with a situation similar to his own.

If only I could use the powers of my alternate selves who are geniuses at fighting in the Honkai world.

He thought, and as soon as he finished the thought, the entire multiverse seemed to move around him, and his consciousness was pulled into it.

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! My headddddd!!!!!

An overwhelming amount of information filled his mind as the universes switched rapidly, and the constant change caused his suffering to increase exponentially.

Memories of all the lives and feelings of his alternate versions flowed into him, growing as the universes continued to change.

If Itsuki couldn't stop this, he would end up as a brain-dead fool, losing his sense of self. So, driven by his survival instinct, he mustered all his willpower to withstand the unimaginable sensations and ordered it to stop.

S-Stop it!!!!!!

The countless shifting universes halted immediately, ending in an ordinary universe similar to his original one.

Itsuki lost consciousness instantly, unable to bear the flood of infinite information. Unbeknownst to him, his awareness was once again pulled, and he began dreaming of the life of his counterpart from that ordinary universe, from birth.

There, his alternate self was born into a happy middle-class family. His parents were different from his original ones, although, strangely, they had the same names.

He grew up like any normal baby, but everything changed drastically when he turned one year old.

His counterpart surprised his parents by speaking a two-word sentence that made sense.

This made his parents extremely happy, and they considered their child a genius. From that moment, his counterpart, understanding that his parents were proud of him, began to display more of his talents.

He started speaking more fluently with longer sentences, solving puzzles, and demonstrating various other skills.

Because of this, his parents entered him into competitions, which he won easily, soon becoming known as the 'smartest kid in Japan.'

However, growing bored of the attention, he stopped participating in competitions and showcasing his talents when he entered elementary school. His peers started avoiding him, seeing him as a monster due to his exceptional abilities.

His counterpart was bullied and beaten by older students who were jealous of his talents.

Experiencing violence for the first time, something even his parents never subjected him to, made him furious, and he fought back using all the martial arts moves he had seen on TV.

He won the fight but sustained many injuries and almost fainted, driven by sheer willpower.

The fight was witnessed by other students, and he was taken to the principal's office but fainted on the way. He woke up covered in bandages, being questioned by his parents.

As a good child, he answered honestly, and his parents did not blame him. In fact, they supported his actions, which surprised and warmed his heart.

The next morning, he woke up shocked to find all his injuries healed. With his genius intellect, he realized his condition was abnormal.

He hid this fact by pretending to still be hurt, continuing to wear bandages at home. When he researched his condition, he was shocked to discover his body's strength had increased.

He quickly experimented with his body, causing light injuries that healed overnight and pushing his physical limits by running long distances.

He noticed a slight increase in strength compared to before. This gave him the idea to fight, and from then on, his life changed drastically from being the 'smartest kid' to the 'biggest delinquent.'

He fought continuously, taking on senior bullies at his school, then middle school delinquents in his area, and eventually high school thugs.

This went on for a long time, and by the time he reached high school, his counterpart had achieved inhuman strength, able to punch holes and cracks into concrete walls from all his fights.

But he wasn't satisfied and continued his hunts to other areas. He earned the title of the 'King of Fighting' among all delinquent students in the region!

With his inhuman feats, like destroying walls and defeating 100 people without getting injured, even the Yakuza gangs noticed him and tried to recruit him, but he refused, remaining a law-abiding citizen despite his delinquency.

Then, when he thought he had conquered nearly every school gang in Japan, one gang leader he had defeated told him about a school called 'Shuzuran,' where every student was a monster and even the ordinary students could defeat the gang leaders he had beaten.

Intrigued, he went there, and the gang leader's words were true. Even the ordinary students from that school were on par with the gang leaders he had defeated.

Of course, with his inhuman strength and genius in learning and fighting, he quickly defeated them. However, his fights were witnessed by the friends of his enemies, who immediately challenged him.

He defeated them too, but they had already called for reinforcements. Within seconds of defeating one opponent, several dozen others showed up.

These reinforcements, consisting of dozens of people, brought a wide grin to his counterpart's face, his blood boiling with excitement. But, as before, he easily defeated them.

This made him bored because he wanted everyone at Shuzuran to fight him just like he did when conquering all the delinquent school gangs in his area.

He got an Idea and marked all his defeated enemies with a permanent marker, insulting and humiliating them while also challenging the other gang members.

And it worked. The next day, when he arrived, many gangs were already waiting for him with angry faces. He even noticed other gangs watching from the sidelines.

This made him grin with excitement. Without much talk, he rushed at the gang in front of him, and in a short 15 minutes, they were all down, leaving him unharmed, while the other gangs looked on in disbelief.

He smirked again and provoked the rest of the gangs there. True to their pride, they got angry and attacked his counterpart.

But what was the result? Of course, their defeat. However, his counterpart did get slightly injured since he was fighting more opponents at once than ever before—over 1000 people.

From then on, several individuals kept challenging him, like a short guy, one of Shuzuran's leaders, who had impressed him with his resilience, and a new kid with weird hair who turned out to be a Yakuza child. But as usual, he kept defeating them until they eventually gave up trying to beat him.

Before he knew it, his counterpart graduated high school. Now, his opponents were no longer human but had become animals because there were no humans left who could defeat him in combat.

He started with fighting a bull, winning with a few injuries. However, the next day, he healed and found his strength had increased, allowing him to lift half a ton.

Next, he fought dangerous animals like hippos, lions, and even gorillas. All these fights ended with him covered in injuries, filled with adrenaline from these life-and-death battles.

Despite the danger, he continued this path to become the Ultimate Being, the strongest creature on Earth. He fought grizzly bears and then moved on to elephants.

He succeeded In defeating them, feeling satisfied. The strength and combat techniques he learned from fighting wild animals made him stronger and more dangerous, perhaps reaching the level of a one-man army.

Now, only sea creatures remained. He knew this would be more troublesome than his previous fights, but he was still excited because he could adapt during his battles.

Yes, adaptation! It turned out that his body's true power was its ability to adapt, which made him stronger after every fight. His body adapted and evolved to his opponents' attacks, improving and enhancing itself whenever he faced dangerous situations and recovered from injuries.

He realized this strange power in his third year of high school when he suddenly developed night vision while exploring the forest at night. He wondered why this ability had only truly just awakened, but he thought it might be the result of the intense battles he had fought over the years.

That's why his counterpart dreamed of becoming the Ultimate Being, like Kars from the Jojo comic he read. He constantly sought new challenges to push his body to adapt and evolve.

Unfortunately, this world was very ordinary without superpowers or supernatural elements, which made his growth slow, taking years to become completely superhuman.

But his counterpart didn't give up. He kept fighting and adapting, slowly becoming stronger, starting with humans and moving on to all the wild land animals.

Now, only sea creatures remained unconquered. Perhaps with that, he could become the Ultimate Being, reaching a body that no longer needed oxygen after adapting to the ocean.

However, fate was not on his side. He stared in shock as an enormous meteor, larger than an island, plummeted toward Earth.

With eyes full of unwillingness and regret, he could only watch as the meteor slowly approached and struck the Earth. His vision faded to black, and he perished along with the world that was destroyed.

As his counterpart's life ended, Itsuki's consciousness returned, and he slowly woke from his slumber.