Chapter 2: World Selection & Loot Boxes

Chapter 2: World Selection & Loot Boxes



Not that I'd want to be reborn in Marvel, anyway. I've only watched a couple of the movies- mainly to see what the fuss was about-and, if I'm being honest, I've probably read more

Marvel fanfiction between my surgeries than actual comics. Which, yeah, is a little embarrassing for a grown man, but whatever.

Moving along.

I still had plenty of other worlds to explore. "Search for Hunter x Hunter," I said.

The screen blinked, and one result popped up.

[1. Hunter x Hunter]

Only one? That was odd. Marvel had an entire multiverse of options, but Hunter x Hunter? Just the one.

"Search for Bleach," I tried.

[1. Bleach]

Same thing. Just one world.

I scratched my chin, thinking it over. Was Earth the only world with multiple versions? Maybe it was because of Marvel and its endless alternate realities. That, or maybe it was that the concept of "Earth" had been done to death. Literally, but at least this way, I wouldn't

accidentally end up in some weird offshoot version of an anime where everyone wore top hats and spoke in riddles.

Still, this was all a figment of my imagination, right? The result of some final, cancer-riddled brain spasm. No matter how excited I got, no matter how real it felt, I knew the truth: at any moment, I'd wake up in that cold hospital room, under those thin, scratchy sheets, with Delores standing over me, trying to steal a kiss.

A sigh escaped me. That little spark of excitement I'd felt, the butterflies in my stomach- they were long gone, replaced by the weight of reality. I wasted my life.

It might not seem like it, but I did. Regardless of my title, and profession, and amount of lives saved, here I was, an old man with nothing left to show for all my years. My kids? Gone. My ex-wives? Even further gone. And me? Brain cancer. Alone. Waiting to die in a dingy hospital bed.

Oh well. What could I do now? I had two choices: stand here and wait for the dream to end, or keep playing along with it.

I rubbed my temples. Screw it. I'm going to keep dreaming.

"Search for Earth. The world where I lived."

An error message popped up.

[Unfortunately, the host planet is no longer available. Please select another world.]

I frowned. Well, that's one way to close a door. It seemed I was officially cut off from returning to Earth. Not that I necessarily wanted to return to that crumbling reality anyway, but seeing the option flat-out denied was still weird.

Okay, so what are my options now? I could choose any world I wanted, but only a few even remotely interested me. Let's be real: I wasn't about to live in some boring slice-of-life world where my biggest concern would be whether I got a seat on the train. I needed action. I craved it.

I mentally filtered my options.

Top picks? Naruto, My Hero Academia, One Punch Man, Bleach, and Hunter x Hunter. That was the lineup.

Then there were the worlds I didn't care about as much-One Piece, Attack on Titan, Demon Slayer, Death Note.

It wasn't that I disliked those worlds. I mean, I liked them. I'd dabbled in One Piece, but I didn't exactly have the time to catch up on 1,000 episodes of pirate shenanigans. That anime was long. And don't even get me started on Attack on Titan. The last thing I needed was to spend my afterlife getting eaten by a giant naked humanoid. And as much as I loved Death Note and Demon Slayer, they just didn't seem like great places to be reincarnated. Too much drama. I could practically feel my stress levels rising just thinking about it.

So that left me with my top five:

I blinked, completely caught off guard. "Apollo? As in the Apollo? God of the sun, art, music, archery, poetry, disease and healing?" I muttered to myself. "That Apollo?"

I reached out, and the items gently floated into my hand. They were miniaturized, so they felt light-too light for something with this much power behind it. Legendary talent from a Greek god. It was... amazing. Bizarre but amazing. I wasn't exactl sure how art would help me survive in the Naruto world, where people throw fireballs at each other and summon giant

toads, but still, I had to admit, this was pretty cool.

Would this help me fend off an ambush from ninjas? Probably not. Could it make me filthy rich and famous? Most definitely.

"Alright," I said, "Open the second loot box."

This time, the second box glowed a bright pink as the mechanisms whirred and clicked into

place. The panels folded down like before, and as the light faded, I saw the item inside-a

kitchen knife.

"A kitchen knife?"

[Epic Item Acquired: Congratulations, Chef! You've unlocked Jōichirō Yukihira's Culinary

Package. We're not talking about your average cooking skills here. You've just been given the culinary expertise of one of the greatest chefs in the world. With this, you can whip up dishes so divine, they'll make people weep or scream, depending on the seasoning. You know your way around every ingredient and tool like you were born with a spatula in your hand. Bon

appétit!] Yukihira? From Food Wars? I knew I recognized that name. That anime was a bit too... fanservice-y for my taste, but I couldn't deny that the food looked incredible. With this skill, I

could turn ramen into a gourmet experience and probably cause people to pass out from how good it tasted.

Did this help in battle? Nope. Was it going to be useful if I wanted to live like a king? You bet

ya.

"Alright, I guess I'm set to become the world's richest ninja chef-artist. I'll cook your meals and paint your portraits, all while composing a sonnet about it." I said but quickly sobered as

I eyed the last loot box. This was it-the last one. My palms were starting to sweat from

nervousness.

"Open the last loot box."

The universe around me trembled. What the -? I staggered slightly as the very space around

me seemed to ripple and shake. A golden-orange light, almost too bright to look at, shot out from the box, streaming into the space around me like a supernova. The familiar clicking sound followed, and when the box finally opened, I saw it-a syringe.

A frown creased my brow.

Then the message appeared:

[QQQ Item Acquired: Limit Breaker Injection] [Congratulations! You've unlocked the QQ Limit Breaker Injection. This upgrade ensures

that every part of you-whether it's your mind, body, or skills-will continue improving. However, the journey isn't instant. You'll need to train hard, push yourself to the edge, and only when you reach your limits will you be able to shatter them. Intelligence, strength, learning-whatever you focus on will keep growing, no matter how high you climb. No plateaus, no ceilings, just endless potential waiting to be unlocked. Get ready to redefine what's possible—because with effort and persistence, there are no limits for you.]

My jaw dropped.

"What... the actual... fuck."

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[A/N] What's scarier than a shinobi with no limits? Trick question-nothing is scarier.