Chapter 1

Arthur was distracted looking at his phone, he knew he had an addiction but really, it had never caused him any trouble, it wasn't a real problem. He could live with it.

Sure he didn't like to socialize and didn't have much to talk about with the few friends he still had, it's also true he couldn't get a raise in his job because he did only what was needed and spent every extra hour reading some light novel but, his job was shit anyway and he would be quitting as soon as he finished school.

It was also possible his grades would improve greatly were he not constantly sleep deprived, or took the time to actually study for his tests instead of binge reading a new book, but he got passing grades so it still wasn't a problem, he didn't need to change it.

In fact he both did and didn't want to change and since he could continue to live comfortably like this he keept postponing dealing with it until it was absolutely unavoidable, it wasn't like he was a drug addict or was stealing from anyone after all.

Until, sleep deprived and distracted, he walked right into a huge delivery truck going 60km/h.

In hindsight, his addiction may have been a problem after all.

"Well aren't you a pathetic sort, barely better than those Hikikomori my friends are so found of" said the young man wearing an hawaiian shirt, white shorts and flip flops before taking a sip from a coffee mug

"What?" Art asked, he was under the impression he had died, he expected nothing, or perhaps some angel or demon here to take him away not some strange dude insulting his shitty life choices "Who are you"

"Well let's see… I guess you could call me Rob"

"You're shitting me?"

"I assure you" he said with a confused frown "I do want you to address me as Rob"

"Rob as in R.O.B that kind of Rob?" Art knew he sounded stuppid but, given his current situation, he thought he had an excuse.

After all, despite how many of those stories he read, he knew they weren't true.

"I guess if you want to be that formal about it" he snorted and then sat on the air as if it was a chair "Arthur Schade I have a proposal for you"

Still refusing to believe his eyes, did he even have eyes right now? he was pretty sure the truck had totalled his body,

Art swallowed and asked "Why me? Do you just approach everyone who dies like this?"

"Inquisitive little thing aren't you, I guess that's what I get for not keeping my search to only the japanese" taking another sip from his mug he though for a second tilting his head to the side and decided to indulge "As a matter of fact I don't approach everyone, my criteria are variable but this time I decided to keep to the classics, you're actually the third man in the right age range to get killed by a truck since I started looking"

"You can't be serious"

"Oh I am, you could even say I am 'deadly' serious, ha!"

"What if I don't want to hear your proposal?" Art had read enough novels in this genre to know ROB's were not often benevolent after all

"then you go on to meet whatever the afterlife has in store for you, I don't actually know since I intercepted you before the journey started, have to say it will be a novel experience, the search parameters I use don't usually bring me someone who is ready to move on"

Art was grateful when Rob let him think about it, the being seemed content to just float there quietly in the void, Art was calm, unnaturally calm given his situation.

He could ask the creature if that was its doing but really, what would change, he always disliked those protagonists that didn't know their own strength as if their own will was what kept them alive and not their writers, and wasn't that an unpleasant thought.

Was he actually a self insert? Was there a version of him sitting before a computer and writing at this very moment, or perhaps he was entirely fictional, something created by a complete stranger for his own amusement?

Eventually he decided it didn't matter, he would treat everything as if it were real because, for him, it effectively was.

He was either real and everything could be possible which means he would regret treating others as only characters or he was the result of someone's imagination and was exactly as real as any of those same characters.

Eventually he came to exactly two conclusions.

One, he would accept whatever proposal this Rob was bringing because he was right, Art wasn't ready to die, be it for real or as a fictional story ending.

Two, he wouldn't think about this potential existential crisis, this way only lies madness. "Alright what's this proposal you have"

"Very well, my offer is this, a second go at a life and the chance to gain power in exchange for your privacy" he got up from his sitting position and approached before looking into Art's eyes "It's really simple, you amuse me and I keep you from moving on"

"You're making me immortal?"

"No, you can still die and every time you do you can choose to move on or be sent to a different world"

"Like a jumpchain?"

"Yes and no, I always liked that particular way of doing things but it tends to make the target too powerful, buying permanent power ups and keeping things from one world to the other" laying a hand on Art's shoulder he laughed "No you'll have to work at it if you want to be OP, I'll let you pick some advantages or disadvantages but they are a one time thing and no powers"

"A complete reset every time I die then?"

"Well you do keep any knowledge you gain and, if you keep your body you can keep any improvements on it so, theoretically, you could end up stronger than god on some worlds but that's extremely unlikely, you aren't that lucky"

"Alright what are my choices then?"

"I'm glad you aren't even pretending like you won't accept anymore" Rob smiled and approached him and whispered "You wouldn't believe how many of my customers think they know how to trick me just because they read too many isekai stories, it's only amusing so many times before it becomes tiresome, alright here's a provisory list for your first rebirth"

[Advantages:

30 - Filthy Rich - start with an unlimited amount of wealth

50 - Young master - be from a family of considerable power

25 - Genius - gain the setting power at twice your normal rate

10 - Peak body - have your body be made in perfect physical condition

10 - Save game - Retain current body for next jump

100 - UNLIMITED POWER! - be from one of the top 3 races or families in the world.

20 - Luck - any game of chance is improved by one stage.

50 - Inspect - have the ability to gain knowledge by observing people

80 - Knowledge is power - be able to recall every detail from your current setting even those outside the main source material

120 - Plot armor - have the world itself work to make you survive, allies get hunches, powerful people have good feelings about you, random chance spoils deadly shots.

100 - blast from the past - visit a previous setting in a time where you aren't present.

Disadvantages:

Hard start - +5 points - star in a perilous situation

Crippled - +10 start without a member or sense.

Powerless - +100 start without the ability to acquire any of the world's power

Bad luck - +5 anything having to do with chance is lowered by one stage

Tsunade special +20 - Have very terrible but non deadly luck unless something worse is going to happen..

Criminal +5 - be known as a minor criminal to the authorities

Poor - +5 start without any money

In debt - +10 have a huge debt towards loan sharks

swapped +10 permanent change of gender

Red shirt - +15 any projectile fired towards you have greatly enhanced aim

Isekai tensei +10 be reborn and have to grow up again

Antagonist - +20 lose your own body and take over the body of one of the antagonists.(loses all powers unique to the body but gain those natural to the character as well as knowledge of how to use them to their proficiency)

Hardcore - +10 start with someone powerful actively wanting to kill you

TRAITOR! - +15 start with an entire organization actively wanting to kill you

It's a trap! - +5 be forced to live as a member of the opposite gender by your family

Nope! - +20 previous world powers lose their effect

Family trouble +5 - have a member of your family close to you be a feared criminal

Stormtrooper - +5 be unable to use any projectile weapon with accuracy

Evil clone +15 have an evil version of yourself that instinctively hates you

Quest! +10 have a time sensitive goal or be forced to change worlds

Dying +10 have a deteriorating condition that will kill you if not treated.

Sick +5 have a random incurable disease

]

Art took his time reading the list, occasionally taking a peek at Rob or stopping to think about it, he then folded the list and sighed while massaging his temples "Alright I have some questions"

"Shoot" Rob casually answered while opening a package of bubbler gun

"What happens if I take opposing traits, like filthy rich and poor?"

"Opposing traits are not allowed on the same rebirth, you also can't take Peak Body and Continue or anything that would 'game the system' I'm not a lawyer, the advantages and disadvantages will work based on the spirit not the letter of the contract" he bit his bubble gun and formed a bubble before continuing "Like, if you take 'filthy rich' and 'in debt' and I let you I will make sure the debt can't actually be paid with just money, you could use money to help you pay the debt but it wouldn't solve it"

"Alright and what exactly is a peak body?"

"It will be the most balanced body a human could possible have, an olympic weightlifter would still be stronger than you and a sprinter would be faster because they have specialized training and muscle development but you would be far above them in every other physical aspect"

Art thought some more before asking one last question "What exactly is the difference between things like Filthy rich and Young master"

"Come on, think about it a little, the evidence is pretty self explanatory" Rob tsked but then shook his head and answered "while some of the options may seem and even act the same in some cases they're not, just because you're a young master doesn't mean you get unlimited allowance, on the other hand you wouldn't be able to buy a tank no matter how much money you offer without the contacts a powerful family could give you, you could take those two traits together you know"

"Alright I have made my decision" Art smiled, he had started to get excited about it, his life had been crap before, perhaps this was the chance he had been desperately waiting for "I'll take Filthy rich, Peak Body and Genius I want to start lightly"

"And the disadvantages, keep in mind you start with 10 points and those do stack but only if you don't buy anything"

"I'll take 'Hard start', 'TRAITOR!', 'NOPE!', 'stormtrooper' and 'Quest!'"

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah I got a good feeling about it and you said you're doing this for amusement I doubt you'd spawn me and not give me at least a chance to survive"

"Well… you aren't wrong I guess" looking to the side Rob blew another bubble and murmured "Lets see, I guess we'll start with a low powered world to get him acclimated… lets see, lets see, ah here it is, my list of low powered worlds"

Grabbing a sheet of paper out of thin air he shook his hand and it was shredded on the air before falling inside a floating box which he offered Art "Come on take one out without looking and give it to me"

Art obeyed and took a piece of paper out but Rob snatched it away before he could see with another tsk "Nope, it is far more amusing if you don't know what to wait for"

The Rob looked at the paper and smirked his eyes crinkled with barely contained laughter before he waved his hand and said "Good luck Art you're really gonna need it"