The first thing Akira saw after “waking up” was an endless expanse of darkness spread in all directions. His first thought was that he was still asleep but as his last memories surfaced, that thought was crushed.

 

‘So I died huh..’

 

He really should have been more cautious. ‘At least I killed that crazy bitch’

 

He didn’t really think he would have survived with all those injuries but he had hoped for a miracle.

 

He couldn’t help but get angry at the world for his unjustly death. He knew that the world was unfair as he had experienced it many times but he still got angry. 

 

He had many ambitions to fulfill and dreams to bring to reality but here he was with nothing but remnants of expectations and hope bundled together as a product of an active imagination.

 

But alas there was nothing that could be done now so he tried keeping his calm. He looked around his surroundings but only saw the endless void everywhere.

 

This was not what he was expecting after death. His ego couldn’t tolerate the existence of a being having created him on a whim so suffice to say he was not religious. So he was not surprised to find that there was no heaven or hell but he was surprised to find himself in some sort of void. He had always believed that after death, there was nothing and you would just disappear forever.

 

‘Maybe this place was limbo?’

 

He was all alone here with nothing to see, hear, touch, taste or feel. Just him and his thoughts.

 

He didn’t know how long he had been here with there being no way to tell time but the complete silence was getting to him. He was reconsidering his opinion of this being limbo.

 

Maybe this place was hell. He didn’t know how long he would last here but the sensory deprivation was making things look grim. 

 

Just when he was wishing for something to happen when he heard a sound.

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Congratulations soul #245505, you have been chosen as a candidate for transmigration in other worlds and have the chance to gain extraordinary powers and travel through the multiverse.]

 

[Will you select?]

 

YES NO

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘What is happening?’

 

Akira was startled when out of nowhere a translucent blue box appeared in front of his eyes.

 

Reading each word carefully, he started realising where this was going. ‘Is this for real?’ he thought.

 

A rational part of his mind thought so too but the situation he was in was anything but rational.

 

He hesitated because he remembered how he ended up here in the first place and thus decided to be cautious. 

 

So before selecting anything, he asked, “Now..now, before I agree to anything, I have a few questions that I need answers to before further decisions.”

 

[....Initialising Question module….ding..]

[YOU MAY ASK YOUR QUESTIONS]

 

Thinking carefully, Akira asks, “Okay...so the first question, Why me?”

 

[..Processing…]

[Answer: You have been chosen because of your alignment.]

 

“My alignment?”

 

[Ding...Profile opening…..]

 

[Name: Akira Fujiwara

 

 Race: Homo sapien

 

 Alignment: Neutral Evil

 

 Traits: Narcissism, Charismatic manipulator, Potential Psychopath]

 

Another blue box materialized in front of his eyes and he calmly read his “profile”.

 

“Hmm...Why is this alignment necessary and who or what are you?”

 

[..Processing...determining chances of a mental breakdown...ding]

.

..

…

[Answer: The world you lived in is a planet underC̶̨̪̜̟͓̼̥̹̭̻̫̤͎͚̠̎̿́̃̃̊͒͂̂̂͗̀͂̋̽̓̈́̆̈́̈́́̾͘͘͝͝ͅt̸̢̛͈̖̟͎͚̳̟͎͇̥̘̘̭͓̰̗̜͓͖̳̝̟̜͎̞̱͔̐͋̉͋̈́̈́̓̉̓͑̅̎̌̊͗͊̆̌̃̍̓̃͑̐͛̓̇̀̚͘͜͜͜͠͝͝͠ȯ̸̧̡̻̤͔̺͍͉̺̬̤͍̘͈̻̰̺͒̂̂̀̚̚g̸̨̡̧̛͈̟͍̗̝͖͔̩̟͖̰̫̝̮̩̥̪̖̲͉͆̊͛̄̍̂̉̂̌́̇͆̕̕͝g̵͙̼̱̲͆͂̍̀̀̒̀͛̑̉͋͑̈́͋̃̀̈́͂̆́̀͌̀͗̇̒͘͘͝͝͠͠͠ḩ̵̨̢̧̢͕̲̺͉̥̝̪̱͓͕͔̻͖̺͎̹̟̟̠͔͈̬͈͉͖̙̦̼̭̉͌̏̀̔͆̌̏͒̓́̄̿̇̔̏̚̕̕͘͠a̷̡̡̛̠͚̘̼̼̬̹̣̰̰̻̞̪̞͓͔̻̟̙̮̟͕̼͔̣͕̭̣̭͍̾̔̑͌̎̍̿͌́̈́̈͋̊̄̉͆̐̇͆̈́̚̚͘͘͜͠͠͝͠ observation, a higher life form who is currently running experiments...]

[Detecting soul’s inability to comprehend name, switching to title Creator]

 

“Is he God then?” he asked, feeling a bit stifled.

 

[Incorrect. God or religion is a belief system with a coping mechanism established by Homo sapiens. Creator didn’t create humans directly. He created the conditions for your planet Earth and then planted the seed of life on it, He then slowly gave pushes at certain times to accelerate evolution and as a result, Homo sapiens were “created”. ]

 

Akira was quite surprised by the revelations he received. He just learnt how life on Earth was first created, something no one there was sure about. 

 

“So what are the experiments He is running?”he asked.

 

[Creator is observing how Homo sapiens behave when put in certain worlds with certain conditions. He takes the souls of people with certain traits or lack of traits too and then sends them to different worlds with their memories intact and records their actions.]

 

“Okay...so what happens if I select no?”

 

[Your memories of this encounter will be deleted and you will be sent for reincarnation. Your soul will be reset and all your traits and alignment will have chances of being different.]

 

It was an obvious choice now while saying no didn’t mean that he would be erased but would he be the same person if all his memories are erased?

 

Although being used as a lab rat made his ego flare, he knew he couldn’t question it so after careful consideration, he selected yes.

 

[..ding..choice made..]

 

[...Finding the world...World found...confirm..]

 

[World selected: Sp-250047 

 Traits: Inhabitable by homo sapiens, Superpowers.

 Other names: My Hero Academia

]

 

Now Akira was surprised because the world that was selected was a familiar one and was fictional. 

 

“Isn’t that world fictional? Or is the multiverse theory right?” he asked the system again.

 

[Incorrect. The world selected is indeed fictional but the Creator made it real. The Creator uses most fictional worlds as templates to create new ones. It is more time-efficient and also helps in more types of experiments. ]

 

‘Interesting’ he thought as he heard this piece of information. The Creator was a higher being and he probably had a different view of the world than humans so by using or making worlds based on a human’s imagination, he can set better conditions for them to adapt to.

 

“Wait...does every soul chosen by the Creator get the same type of arrangement as me?”

 

[Incorrect. Only souls after True Neutral Alignment get this type of arrangement as these souls are rarer.]

 

“What about the other souls then, the ones above True Neutral?” 

 

[Those souls are given different arrangements.]

[1.Neutral good: These types of souls are fairly common and are collected by using young homo sapien and truck method. That particular scenario trickles a small part of their heart and they rush out to save the young homo sapien and then are killed by the truck.

 

These people’s souls are collected and they meet a faux Ai generated by the Creator, the Ai is usually an old man who either misleads the souls by stating imaginary karma points or gives them three wishes.

 

Either way the soul has little to no restriction in getting what they want. 

 

They are also allowed to reincarnate in any world of their choosing and if the world they chose does not support harem, mind worms are let into the heads of all females the soul interacts with, the worm makes them accept harem without infighting. ]

 

“..Wait why am I not getting those terms?” he asks shocked at the free power being handed to such people.

 

[The Creator’s experiment requires those parameters. He wanted to test how a person acts when given free power. You already had power before arriving and you know how to use it so the Creator didn’t deem it fit for you.]

 

‘Well it has a point I guess..’he thought though he did feel slightly envious of those souls.

 

“Anyway I have another question, Is it alright for you to tell me all this information?”

 

[It is permitted. The Creator allowed permission to disclose information if enquired by souls of alignment below True Neutral as He knows that by keeping you more informed about your situation, you will cooperate better]

 

“Okay..you can continue..I am curious to see the system works.”He said while inwardly shocked that what it had said had indeed been true.

 

He was more inclined to trust the system if he knew more information as only the ignorant got cheated and the more he knew, lesser the chances of him being cheated.

 

[Acknowledged...Getting back to topic…]

[2. Chaotic Good: These are also a common type of soul and they are usually collected by truck accidents.Once collected, they meet another Faux AI named R.O.B. The AI doesn’t have omnipotence and neither does the Creator. True Unlimited power is impossible.

 

The souls meeting AI ROB are given three wishes similar to the Neutral Good but these have several restrictions placed upon them and if the souls are more Chaotic they are misled by ROB and are given missions to do or are told that they are being used for amusement to reduce their chaotic nature.

 

They may or may not get to choose their worlds and if they are too chaotic they may not even get to choose their powers.]

 

[3. Lawful Good: These souls are slightly rare and they are collected by either trucks or in some cases direct lightning.Once collected they meet different Faux Ai Goddesses and are granted wishes either as compensation in case of lightning or for their heroic deed of rescuing someone from the trucks.

 

These souls are not as restricted as Chaotic Good souls but they place restrictions on themselves most of the time. These souls usually choose multiple worlds as their source and require lots of mind worms.]

 

[4.  Special arrangement (TYPE- GAMER): This type of arrangement is compatible with all types of souls and changes itself to suit its user. It turns the soul into a gamelike entity and it is let free in random worlds.]

 

[Since your soul lies in the other alignments, information about arrangement for your soul types are {REDACTED}]

 

“Oh..not even a little bit?” Akira asked, feeling a little disappointed. “Oh well, it's better this way I suppose, it makes things more interesting.”

 

[Ding...Question system closing…]

 

“Alright...now that the world is selected, will I get a power?”

 

[Positive. You will be given a power selected according to the Creator’s conditions and you will have to use that to follow a route in that world.]

 

“What route?” Akira asked.

 

[The world of My Hero Academia is one with a society with superheroes and villains. You will have to be involved with at least one side of the society and then influence the world majorly.]

 

“Can I not follow any route and just do whatever I want?”

 

[No.]

 

Akira sighed as he realised that there was no free lunch anywhere and besides he didn’t have any choice so he decided to pick one but before that he asked another question, “Wait...before I pick a ‘route’, can I get my quirk first?”

 

“Oh and also what does influencing the world majorly even mean?”

 

[...Processing questions…]

[Influencing the world means you have to shape the world or at least change it due to your actions by advancing in your route. In simpler terms, you have to be at the top or would have to influence those on top in your route.]

 

[ding. Quirk selected... 

 

 Pain Illusion

 

 Pain illusion is the ability to trick an individual's mind into thinking they are in physical pain such that they can cause physical effects (cuts, bruises, burns, etc) to appear on the target]

 

‘Now that was unexpected’ Akira thought but remembering his last moments before death he felt it made sense.

 

He was kind of disappointed with his power as it was not the kind he was expecting but quickly recovered as while it was not flashy or ‘cool’, it was powerful enough.

 

The ability to inflict pain was a rather useful ability and he could immediately think of many ways to use it. Pain could be used to break a person both mentally or physically. If a person is strong mentally, you break him physically and vice versa. If the person was both? You overcome him or her by ingenuity.

 

Overall, he was satisfied with his power and he even decided his route so to speak.

 

If he had received a strong offensive power then he would have most definitely chosen the hero side even if he hated them as being a hero was the easiest way to achieve power in this world but alas with his very “villain like” power, he wouldn’t get far.

 

He could try to become a good hero but he will never be at the top, and getting into U.A would be very hard as robots don’t feel pain and he would be quirkless in the entrance exam. Also, his quirk would be deemed dangerous and would be heavily regulated by the Government. The people too wouldn’t love a hero who tortures villains to stop them.

 

With his power, joining the hero side had more cons than pros so he would pass on it. He also couldn’t influence the world as much as he wanted on the hero side with such a power.

 

And so villain route it was as it was only on this side that he could fully use his quirk unhindered and could become powerful and if he played his cards right and used his knowledge of canon...maybe he could even come on top.

 

Last but not the least, there was the vigilante route which in his opinion was the worst of the batch and had the least benefits and many disadvantages. Vigilantes receive the same treatment as villains, are hated by villains and shunned by heroes, have fewer resources and overall do a thankless endeavour.

 

Thus, Akira made his choice and selected the villains' route.

 

[..ding choice made..]

[ Next step...select a timeline in which you want to be reborn into..]

1. Canon era
2. Pre-canon era
3. Vigilante era

]

Akira quickly checked each and after reading about each era, he understood what they entailed. Canon era was being born in the same timeline as the canon characters, pre canon era was being born anywhere before canon and had a bigger range which ranged from just a few years before canon characters birth to at the same time as Nana Shimura.

 

Lastly, there was the vigilante era which was way before cannon when quirks were relatively new and the world was in a state of chaos. It was around the time All for one emerged so Akira instantly rejected this timeline as All for one was near unstoppable during that time and ruled Japan.

 

After thinking over the choices, he replied, “I would like to choose the pre canon era and as for the year, I want to be born four years before canon characters are born.”

 

Being born before canon characters would give him a slight edge in preparation and by the time Izuku Midoriya started going to U.A, he would be 20 or 21 years and if everything goes according to his plans, he should have established a rapport in the Underworld by then.

 

The system next gave him a piece of brief information about his background and stated that he would be born as an orphan and that it was the Creator’s order. It said something about Family creating many variables.

 

[Your choices have been made and processed. You will soon begin your rebirth and will recover your memories one year before you awaken your quirk.]

 

And it indeed didn’t take long before Akira was engulfed by a bright light. He was surrounded by the surreal feeling of gentleness and warmth which he enjoyed for a brief moment and then he lost his consciousness.

[An: An attempt to rationalize the common tropes. Its not accurate but I tried.]