Kai had been waiting for this day for four long years. Graduation. The finish line. That sweet, sweet engineering degree was finally in his hands—or would be, once he walked across that stage in his slightly-too-big cap and gown.
He'd poured his soul into this, not just sticking to his core computer science engineering track but gobbling up knowledge like a starved gremlin at a buffet. Civil, mechanical, electrical, and even a bit of chemical engineering—he'd dabbled in it all. Jack of all trades, master of none, and proud of it.
He leaned back against a tree outside the auditorium, the warm spring sun hitting his face as he daydreamed. "With this degree, I'm set," he muttered, grinning like an idiot. "Land a cushy job, rake in the cash, maybe start my own tech startup. Then—boom—filthy rich. Buy an island, build a private villa, hire some… uh, highly qualified maids. Yeah, only the best. No dudes allowed."
He chuckled, already picturing himself sipping some fancy drink on a beach, surrounded by luxury.
Lost in his fantasy, Kai didn't notice the low rumble of an engine. The OG...The God of Isekai, Truck-kun.
It was coming towards him.
He stepped off the curb, still chuckling about his maid-staffed paradise, when—SIIII… BAM!
The world spun. Pain exploded, then faded into a weird, floaty haze. "Strange… why am I flying?" Kai mumbled, his eyelids growing heavy. "I feel… sleepy…"
"QUICK! SOMEBODY CALL AN AMBULANCE! A BRAT GOT HIT!" a voice shouted from somewhere far away.
Kai's thoughts blurred. "Is that… me? Wait, am I dying?" His mind raced, grasping at fragments. "My degree… four years for a stupid piece of paper… ugh, it probably wouldn't even get me a job." Regret hit him like a second truck. "I was such an idiot, dreaming so big. Doesn't matter now… I just hope Mom and Dad are okay. At least I saved up enough for them to live comfortably. That money was supposed to be for my big graduation party, but… whatever."
Darkness swallowed him.
---
Time passed. Could've been seconds, could've been centuries. Kai didn't know, and frankly, he didn't care. All he knew was that his head was pounding like someone had taken a wrench to it, and someone was yelling loud enough to wake the dead.
"KAI, YOU BASTARD! I TOLD YOU A MILLION TIMES NOT TO TOUCH MY MACHINE! IT'S STILL IN THE TESTING PHASE!"
Kai cracked open his eyes, wincing. An old man with a wild mane of gray hair and goggles perched on his forehead loomed over him, shaking a fist. The guy's face was red, and spit flew with every word. Kai blinked, his brain struggling to catch up.
He was lying on a creaky bed in a room that smelled like oil, metal, and… was that burnt rubber? Blueprints and schematics were tacked to the walls, and a half-disassembled gear contraption sat in the corner, looking like it belonged in a steampunk museum.
"Wha…?" Kai mumbled, his voice hoarse. The old man's words sounded like gibberish at first, a jumble of angry noises. "@#$@&#&$-@#$$…"
Okay, maybe the guy was just insane. Poor dude, Kai thought, probably doesn't even know how to speak properly.
The old man's eyes narrowed. "WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT? I'M NOT PAYING FOR YOUR TREATMENT THIS TIME! IT'S NOT MY FAULT THE PRESSURE VALVE BUSTED AND SMACKED YOUR STUPID HEAD! I TOLD YOU THREE TIMES—STAY AWAY FROM MY PRECIOUS BABY!"
Kai blinked again, slower this time. "Why's he so mad?" he muttered. The old man's face twisted into a scowl, and before Kai could react—*WHACK!*—a rolled-up blueprint smacked him square on the forehead.
Stars exploded in his vision, and the world went dark again.
---
When Kai came to, his head felt like it had been run over by a steamroller. Twice. But something was different. Memories—not his memories—flooded in, like someone had plugged a USB drive into his brain and hit "download all."
He saw flashes of a different life: a city of towering smokestacks and whirring gears, streets buzzing with steam-powered carts, and workshops filled with noise and strange machines.
He wasn't just Kai, the almost-graduate from Earth. He was Kai, a 20-year-old apprentice in a place called Gearhaven, a small town.
This world was called...well, everybody calls it with different names, so it doesn't matter. In this world, engineers were basically gods.
Kai worked under a cranky inventor named Master Cogsworth—the yelling old man, apparently—who was obsessed with building some kind of revolutionary machine. The memories showed Kai tinkering with steam engines, sketching designs for bizarre contraptions, and, uh, accidentally blowing up a pressure valve because he couldn't resist messing with Cogsworth's "precious baby."
"Oops," Kai said, sitting up gingerly. His head still throbbed, but the new memories were settling in, like a puzzle snapping together. "Looks like I transmigrated… into an Engineer's world?"
-----
Kai sat there for a moment, staring at the wall, letting the weirdness sink in. Gearhaven, huh? A small town full of inventors and machines, where blowing stuff up was just another Tuesday. He flexed his fingers, feeling the calluses that weren't his but kind of were now. "Alright, let's see what else this brain's got," he muttered, closing his eyes to dig deeper into the memories.
The door creaked open before he could get far. A girl walked in, maybe his age, with long dark hair tied back in a messy ponytail and a smudge of grease on her cheek. She was pretty, no doubt—sharp eyes, a smile that could light up a workshop, and curves that made Kai's brain short-circuit for a second. She carried a tray with what looked like a steaming mug and some bandages.
Kai blinked, realizing the old man was gone. The room felt quieter, and weirdly, everything made sense now—no more gibberish. The words in his head clicked into place like a gear locking in.
The girl—Kann, the name popped up from somewhere—set the tray down and crossed her arms. "I told you not to go poking around in there, and especially not to irritate the old man. Now you've got yourself a double coma. Hahaha!" She burst out laughing, her eyes crinkling at the corners.
'Well, she looks cute when she laughs,' Kai thought, a dumb grin tugging at his lips despite the headache.
But he played it dumb, testing the waters. "Well... who are you?"
Kann's laughter died instantly. She glared at him, her face turning stormy. "You bastard... did you lose your memory or something?" Before he could answer, she snatched up the rolled-up blueprint from the bedside table—the same one the old man had used earlier—and chucked it at him. It bonked right off his forehead, stinging but not knocking him out this time.
"Ow! Hey!" Kai yelped, rubbing the spot. But oddly, the hit jolted more memories loose, like shaking a vending machine to get the stuck snack out.
"Ohh... she is Kann," he murmured to himself. "Old man's daughter and my only friend."
"I'm going..." Kann huffed, spinning on her heel and stomping out, slamming the door behind her. The room shook a little from the force.
Kai sighed, leaning back against the headboard. He closed his eyes again, pushing for more details. The memories came in waves now, clearer and more painful.
His parents—or this Kai's parents—had died in a botched experiment a couple years back. Some kind of steam reactor overload, the kind that happened way too often in this world. It was almost normal here; folks tinkered with dangerous stuff all the time, chasing the next big invention.
They'd been the best engineers in Gearhaven, respected and loaded, but their kid? Total dud. No talent, no spark. Just a guy who hung around workshops, fetching tools and getting in the way.
After the accident, Kai was left homeless and orphaned. The family home had gone up in the explosion too, reduced to scrap metal and ash. He'd sold off the land for a pittance, just enough to scrape by for a bit. The town folks whispered about him, calling him useless, a burden. And now, with no parents to back him up, it was even worse.
Seeing him like that, pitiful and broke, Master Cogsworth had taken pity. Gave him a job as an assistant and a place to crash in the workshop's back room. It wasn't charity, exactly—the old man needed cheap labor—but it kept Kai off the streets. And Kann? She was the bright spot. Cogsworth's daughter, sharp as a tack, is always helping with the builds. She'd drag Kai into games or force him to help with chores. His only real friend in this dump of a town.
"Ohh... well... I think I took the body of a useless guy," Kai said aloud, piecing it together. "Maybe he died because that valve smacked his head three times in three days? Rest in peace, buddy, and thanks for the body."
A wicked smile spread across his face. Back on Earth, he'd been a nobody with big dreams. Here? In a world run by engineers, with all his random knowledge from Earth in his head? This was his shot. "Hehe... I think it's time to fulfill my desires," he whispered, his voice turning dramatic. "I will dominate this whole world... hahahahaha!"
He threw his head back, cackling like a cartoon villain, imagining empires and islands of his own design.
SMACK! Something soft but solid nailed him right in the side of the head—a flying slipper, tumbling to the floor.
"Oof!" Kai rubbed his temple, glaring at the door. Kann stood there again, hands on her hips, looking equal parts annoyed and worried.
"Stop freaking me out, you weirdo," she snapped, retrieving her slipper. "What's with the evil laugh? You sound like you're plotting to blow up the town hall."
'WTF... is she some Asian mom reincarnation?'