Chapter 1: New Life & Soul System

Ugh, what the hell is happening to me? My head hurts. My throat is dry. My eyes don't want to open and I can't even move. Okay, should I begin panicking or should I look at this as a good thing since I am 100% sure I died and was reborn into a new world?

I'm thankful this wasn't the end, but I definitely gotta thank whoever helped me. Unless there's some sort of conspiracy?! Okay, no time for that.

Let's see, oh right I can't do much now. Well damn. This is not a pleasant way to reincarnate… or is it transmigration? I'm not sure, but it appears that it's shaping into reincarnation, I'm still me and I just became 'aware' of my past life. Hmm, it might also be because I accepted the fact that my first life ended already. 

Wait, what's this warm feeling near my heart? Is this the rumored magic core? If it is, then I'm for sure in a world where magic exists. Is it survival of the fittest? I'll have to find out, but in the end, it's not going to matter.

As the reality of the situation seeps into me, I feel my fingers twitch a smidgen, not anything to get worked up about but I am regaining movement in my body. I'm glad. This was getting annoying. 

As my body starts responding to my commands, I can hear a bunch of voices all around me. Did I faint? Kind of explains why it's kind of spotty, but it also feels like there's a significant gap from my childhood. 

I do remember being reborn as Ichijou Ryu, specifically in Nisekoi, but what the hell is this magic core doing inside of me then? No, is it one of those dreaded mash-ups? How the hell will that even work?

Deep breaths. Don't panic, maybe it's just a couple. No big deal, right? I just set up a flag, didn't I? 

Well, nothing to it then. Just gotta flutter my eyes take a look at my surroundings and go from there. No use making a bunch of assumptions. 

I regain my ability to move and right when I open my eyes I see an unfamiliar ceil- not, what I came face to face with were a bunch of scary-looking faces. I don't panic since we've already established that I'm a part of the Shuei-gumi Yakuza clan. And I personally know them. They're all huge compared to my kid self. One should think I should be startled by this, but I didn't even freak out when I died so why do it now?

"Ryu! You made me worried sick," shouts a middle-aged man in distress. He is my father, Issei Ichijou. He's pretty short, but he's pretty well built and that white-silver hair really makes him stand out since it grows out and covers his neck. However, those thick eyebrows are pretty eye-catching too. His pupils were black and they looked like dots compared to how large his eyes are. Anime Logic? 

"Aniki! Aniki!" I hear an immature voice cry out in relief and it sounds oddly familiar. Ah, is it Raku? He practically launched himself at me, I managed to only wince at the uncomfortable sensation of the tender wound. He had short dark blue hair and blue eyes. I lift up my hand to take a look at my hair and yup it's definitely blue. Once I finished checking out my hair I plop my hand down and begin patting Raku's head to calm him down. 

"Yooooung Maaaaaaster!!!!!! You're awake!!!!" An ear-piercing chorus hit me like a truck and rattled me for a few seconds. This is no doubt the yakuza members who were worried about my well-being. It's strange, even though I don't specifically remember every single detail yet, I still feel the rush of emotions in my heart kind of like it's ingrained into my soul, this fluffy feeling. It's comforting.

"Ah yeah, sorry for worrying you guys! Ahaha… I just feel a tad bit light-headed," I said in a light-hearted manner. Well, it might not be much but it is how I am feeling at this moment. 

"Is that so? Hmm, alright come on you blockheads. Let's give Ryu some space, come along, Raku," My dad spoke out for everyone to hear and then motioned for Raku but it seemed my little brother was reluctant to part with me right now. Aww this kid really is pure-hearted. 

"Awh, do I have to…? Aniki was the one who took the fall for me… can't I stay."

"No, we must let him rest. He did just wake up plus he did just take a gunshot to his body. Crazy kid, by all rights you should've died, I suppose you toughened it out, huh."

My dad shot a stern look at Raku until he relented and dragged himself out of my room. Oh, damn. I was so focused on everyone that I didn't even notice the pain in my chest. How can I ignore this kind of pain?! Ah, then that's why I was 'paralyzed' before. I should probably be in a hospital… Yeah, I have no idea how I survived. Eh, it can wait for now since it looks like Dad wants to say something.

"Ryu, I'm glad you're okay. Your mothers are rushing back home as we speak, so take a bit of rest until they arrive. Hopefully, you can survive the double attack from both of them… It's terrifying how you managed to charm them at such a young age… Even I had trouble with Miyu."

Right before he leaves he mysteriously smiles at me for some reason and I break out into a cold sweat for some reason. It can't be that bad right? A vague image surfaced in my mind and my mind blanked, but I was cut off from thinking about it further when the sliding door closed behind my dad and I was left alone. 

I struggled a bit, but I sat up already when they began talking to me, so I could take a better look at my room now. It's surprisingly simple. I am lying on a large bed with light blue blankets covering me while the headboard behind me has a realistic dragon carving. 

To the side, I see a simple drawer with a lamp and an alarm clock with some dragon action figures surrounding it. Aha, I made some of those… but hey they're cool, though, so whatever. 

The rest of my room consisted of a huge rug with a light blue and dark blue checker pattern and a long table in the middle of it. The rug took up half the space here, and the room is twice the size of it. Better just call it a living room. There's even a sofa to the left of the table. There were some shelves on the other side of the room in the far back, while the bed I was lying on took up the rest of the room. So yeah, nothing fancy… who am I kidding this whole room screams money.

I snap out of my thoughts once I feel a tingling sensation all over my body. The main focus happens to be the core sitting right next to my heart. I had a bad feeling so I immediately dived into the covers and put the pillow over my head. Ima bond with something huh, is it memories? Is it something I obtained when I reincarnated? I don't remember meeting any God or Higher Being.

Right now I don't have the luxury to think as tingling becomes something like prickling from millions of needles all over my body. 

As soon as that prickling happened I gritted my teeth for the rest since I knew this was not going to be the worst part. I was proven right when I felt unimaginable pain over my whole being. My whole body was screaming in agony and I resisted the urge to scream my lungs out, afraid my yakuza family would hear me. Can't have them barging and worrying again. 

I had no idea how long the pain had lasted but I could hear the creaking of my teeth as I pulled the pillow down harder over my head. I braced for more, but the pain suddenly vanished like it wasn't there at all. But I knew it happened since the phantom pain all around my body down to my very being was pounding from the experience. The sweat I produced looked like I pissed myself. Definitely have to hide this from my moms... 

Once I got my bearings back, I heard something inside my mind. Is it just my imagination or am I getting notification sounds straight into me just like some video game? I get out from under the covers and pillow and open my eyes to confirm my suspicion and sure enough, it's right there. My very own system.

[ Converging of [Soul System] Complete ] 

[ Fetching Memories... ]

[ Rewinding Memories… Please Stand By ]

Right when I took a look at it, a bunch of familiar scenes started playing like a movie inside my mind. I closed my eyes and watched as the years before today flew by. The more I watched the more cold sweat started to pour out of my already dehydrated body. As soon as it ended, I closed my eyes and took deep breaths. 

Okay for starters. I'm grateful for this second life, but now that I think about it, why am I having trouble remembering my past? It didn't bother me before since I thought it was the effect of waking up with a gunshot wound but that's weird, isn't it? Taking a proper look now, it's easy to guess based on anime logic, reincarnation cliches, and destiny. I am someone with a mysterious background and I have to find a way to unlock it to find out why this all happened, and how the world is a mash-up. Sounds stupid when I say it to myself, but now that I'm experiencing it, there's no helping it when I don't even know what's going on. But going off cliches then I'll stumble upon my background as I live my life. 

[ [Soul System] Online! ] 

[ Loading Options… ] 

[ Status ] [ Soul-Bond ] [ System Shop & Gacha ] [ System Inventory ] [ Quests ]

The flashing in front of me interrupted my rant, so I shut up and paid attention to the screen in front of me. Huh. It seems pretty simple. Just gotta click on things to pull up the window of the options. I was about to take a proper look at my Status but I was interrupted by another window screen, this time it shined a brilliant red and orange color. I could physically feel the heat radiating off of it. And what showed up blew my mind even more than the mash-up. 

[ [Longinus Class Scared Gear: Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet] Found! ]

[ Binding [Boosted Gear] with the [Soul System] and the Host's Soul ]

[ Please Wait... ]

[ Soul of the [Red Dragon Emperor: Ddraig] will now be Permanently Bonded to the Host's Soul ] 

[ Reconstructing Host's Human Body to a Dragon to Survive the Bonding Process ] 

[ Reconstruction Paused... ]

[ Fragments of Soul Consciousness Found Inside the [Boosted Gear]! ] 

[ Will Now Begin the Process of Pseudo-Reincarnation for the Unstable Souls... ] 

[ Purging Negative Emotions... ]

[Success!] 

[ Reconstruction Will Begin Momentarily... ]

Huh? Why am I getting this overpowered sacred gear!? So DxD too…? Damm, stupid DxD power system, it's going to be a wild ride for me. Relying on past knowledge will be useless thanks to the mash-up. Stupid evil villains might be buffed up too. 

Gah, never mind that. Lemme prepare before you torment me again! I hurriedly jump off my bed taking the soaked blankets and pillows with me then throw them into the bathroom. Once they are inside I bolt to the other side of the room and get brand new clothes. As soon as I do, I make a mad dash to the restroom and lock the door. I take off my clothes as fast as humanly possible, turn on the loud shower along with music on my Bluetooth speaker, and then await the inevitable pain that will come. 

Soon the prickly sensation comes, starting from my toes and working its way up. Not even slowing down as I try to suppress the pain by clamping down on my jaws. Once it reaches my head, I start to feel the way my flesh and bones crack and tear only to connect back into something… stronger. The pain causes me to drop to the floor and clutch the pillow. Shit, I'm afraid if I fall unconscious something terrible might happen or maybe some things won't be able to fully form... I gotta endure, what makes it worse is I'm still a child! 

Though I could feel my strength surge forth like a destroyed faucet, I felt no joy in the pain that came with it. The core inside my body starts sucking in some type of energy, I guess it must be mana, like a vacuum. I crack open my eyes and see ethereal blue and white light being drawn into me, they glitter and swirl together as they disappear into me.

How am I even able to form a proper thought process?!? I am in severe pain and here I am just talking inside my head and feeling out my surroundings. Shiiiiitttttt!!!! My blood is literally boiling!! 

Then I hear it.

*Ba-thump.

A clear heartbeat, reverberating all around me. My eyes crack open to see a faint mirage of a being trying to tear down an invisible film around the bathroom. Hitting it countless times as it released blackened sparks.

*Ba-thump

The second heartbeat was larger, providing the mirage more power. It zigzagged in the air before crashing multiple times on the bathroom walls and floors, sending the same black sparks, except rainbow-colored stars now accompany them... 

*Ba-thump

The last heartbeat was the biggest I've heard but it was drowned out by the tearing and crackling sounds coming from… my chest. The mirage turns towards me or rather stares at something near me. So I snap out of my internal screaming. And right when my half-lidded eyes look in the direction of my chest, I see a literal crack in space-time leading to a dimension that has pink, red, blue, indigo, green, orange every color imaginable swirling around together. My previously droopy eyes open wide when they land on it and despite the pain I am facing my brain automatically knows this is the Dimensional Gap, something that connects every dimension of this reality.

The volatile energy leaking out from the crack starts getting pulled into my core or rather begins to combine together with my very being... Right before the mirage-like being is forcibly pulled down by my core and merged together with the energy and mana all around me, I see it retracting its claws. Perhaps it was the one who opened the gap? But is it a manifestation of some kind…? And this… this energy. Is it Infinity or is Void a more apt description? Well, whatever, it's what Ophis embodies.

"I… severely underestimated… this transformation… but at least it's over… right?" I say out loud, once the rampaging energy dies down inside my chest and the tear in space repairs itself. 

[ Reconstruction Complete! ]

[ Merging of the Energy of Infinity/Void has Stabilized! ]

[ Human and Dragon Race Awakened by the Essence of a Heavenly Dragon and the Absorption of Infinity. ]

[ Your [Soul] has reached [Rank-5: Spatial Dominion Soul] ! ]

[ Your [Mana Core] has reached [Rank-5: Void Arcane Core] ! ]

[ You have reached [Mid-Tier]! Now creating refinement paths for the [Soul] and [Mana Core]… ]

[ Success! ]

[ Warning! Further Growth Halted! Train. Adapt. Surpass Your Current Inexperienced Self. [Soul] & [Mana Core] Growth Locked] ]

[ Establishing [Pseudo-Divinity]… ]

[ You have obtained the [Pseudo-Divinity] of [Infinite Domination]! ]

[ Another [Pseudo-Divinity] Found! ]

[ Unlocking…. ]

[ Success! ]

[ You have unlocked the [Pseudo-Divinity] of [Life, Light, and Nature]! ]

[ Now Beginning the Soul-Bonding Process… Please Stand By… ]

[ ...… ]

[ Complete! Success! [Red Dragon Emperor: Ddraig] is Now Permanently Bonded to Host ]

[ Temporarily Shutting Off [Boosted Gear] Until Ddraig's Soul has Stabilized ]

[ Remaining Time Until Ddraig's Awakening: 3 Days ]

After a few moments of breathing and taking in the new information shown on the screen in front of me I say, "Phew, it wasn't even that bad... Who am I kidding, that was literal hell twenty times over," silently to no one in particular. 

Seems like my body has been reconstructed into a Dragon along with the integration of the power of Infinity. Awesome. But Pseudo-Divinity…? So, along with two races, I unlocked divinities? How? Did the system just help me unlock it…? But isn't this way too soon, we've barely started the stor- I mean, I barely got this system! Though I suppose I was reborn here, so maybe I had the dormant power within me and it just awakened when I got my memories? Plus who the fuck knows how crazy this world is. I'll take whatever bullshit power I can get my hands on. 

Hahh, well, either way, I'll have to wait until Ddraig awakens to see what they feel about the bond. 

Huh? 

My eyes stop in front of the mirror where I see a young boy with emerald green eyes with an infinity symbol fading in and out on his right eye. They are both open wide in surprise and disbelief. But that's not all… his, or rather my, left eye sometimes changes to a golden narrow pupil. 

My previous short dark blue hair is still there but now I have a single crimson lock in my front bangs. That's not even the weirdest, since I now have a curled black ahoge at the back of my head, near the top. I kid you not, when I opened my eyes in surprise the ahoge stood ramrod straight and then went back to its curly self. It even changes into different symbols like the infinity one and a halo! Okay, calm down. Anime rules, anime rules. 

As I open my eyes to look at myself again and notice the build-up of muscle here and there, okay obviously not to the point where it's weird but I have a pretty good foundation. I'll have a toned physique later on in life huh, pretty nice. Wait! Are my ears pointed now and what's with those horns at the side of my head? I feel the prickly sensation of something on my shoulder blades and my tailbone, but something is suppressing it. Holy Shit. I'm pretty damn sure I skipped way too many steps. 

Oh shit! My moms are almost here! How long have I been in pain for…? How am I going to explain this new look of mine, it's not like I can just make it disappear and then reappear… oh I can. 

Is it a skill? Or something natural? Hah, never mind that I'll just take a look at everything else once I clean everything here up.