The Western Wastelands.
Endless mountain ranges rose and fell beneath a canopy of green. Forests thrived, and beasts roamed freely.
On the peak of a mountain lay a child dressed in orange.
He suddenly awoke from unconsciousness to find himself in the wild. Grass far taller than he was blocked his view, leaving him unable to tell where he was at first.
"I stayed up all night playing the World Martial Arts Tournament. How did it end up like this?"
Gohan sprang to his feet, instinctively scanning his surroundings, his eyes still clouded with confusion.
He realized he was standing at the edge of a cliff. Below him moved strange creatures whose forms he could not immediately comprehend.
"What are those? Dinosaurs? Is this really the twenty first century?"
When he took a closer look at the yellow brown beasts, a chill ran through his skull. They were unmistakably dinosaurs, creatures that should not exist.
Weren't dinosaurs supposed to be extinct? Had he traveled back hundreds of millions of years?
The thought of surviving in a prehistoric era made Gohan's head throb. He had never seen dinosaurs before, much less learned how to survive in such a savage age.
"Wilderness survival? Am I supposed to fight dinosaurs?"
He rubbed his head as dizziness washed over him, as though countless fragments of information were flooding into his mind.
Almost at the same moment, the energy field around him began to ripple.
At first, a gentle breeze circled his body. Then the wind rapidly intensified, forming a fierce gale.
Whoosh.
The violent airflow swept across the surroundings, sending dense bushes swaying wildly.
In the distance, a saber toothed tiger had been focused on a mountain goat, its muscles coiled for the kill. Suddenly, it sensed something wrong and slammed its claws into the ground.
Clear fear surfaced on the beast's face.
It turned toward the mountain peak and saw a child who seemed to be floating in midair.
Driven by instinct, the saber toothed tiger darted into the nearby brush. After a moment, it poked out its massive head, staring at the human child on the cliff with undisguised terror.
Ten miles away.
Piccolo hovered in the sky, meditating and training in preparation for the Saiyans who would arrive in one year.
Suddenly, he felt a powerful surge of energy erupting in the distance.
His eyes snapped open as he stared toward the mountain range in shock. "That energy… is it coming from that kid's direction?"
The stimulation caused his already green skin to deepen in color. Without wasting another second, he shot into the sky and flew toward the source of the disturbance.
On the cliff.
As the scattered information in Gohan's mind finally converged, he came to understand his situation.
He had been reborn into the world of Dragon Ball as Goku's son, Gohan. Because his soul had not been strong enough, the memories of his previous life had only awakened now.
Not long ago, his uncle Raditz had crossed the galaxy to Earth in search of comrades. Soon after, both he and his father had been taken away by Piccolo.
Then Piccolo had thrown him into this wilderness. Under the surge of intense emotion, the memories of his former life finally broke free.
Those memories fused together, linking his past and present lives and allowing him to awaken completely.
The merging of two lifetimes of soul and spirit unlocked more of his potential, triggering the earlier burst of power.
With the memories of two lives intertwined, dinosaurs no longer seemed so frightening.
This was indeed wilderness survival, but he was Gohan, a half Saiyan.
The so called predicament was hardly a predicament at all.
He gazed at the creatures wandering below and recalled what was about to happen.
For now, he needed to survive here and train under Piccolo to prepare for the Saiyan invasion one year later.
The coming enemies would be Vegeta, the Saiyan prince, and Nappa, a warrior of elite lineage.
In the Dragon Ball world, where powerful fighters were everywhere, these two might not seem overwhelming. But at this moment, they posed a catastrophic threat to Earth.
According to the original course of events, only his father could truly contend with them. Everyone else, himself included, would be toyed with and could be killed at any time.
That was exactly how the story unfolded. Aside from Krillin and himself, everyone else died with ease, leaving the entire battle tempo firmly in the enemy's hands.
Now that he knew all this, he had to change it. The first step was training.
After Piccolo's wilderness training, his battle power in a rage reached only 2800, far from enough to deal with enemies who were fast and deadly.
To avoid wasting his talent, he needed to train in a gravity chamber.
He would have to ask Aunt Bulma to build one. It might take time, but the results would be far better than before.
With his resolve set, he stood and looked out across the wilderness. Earth was beautiful, yet its future was anything but.
Cosmic crises would arrive one after another. Artificial humans from the future, an ancient demon embryo sealed underground, and even the possible return of a galactic emperor.
Thinking of the enemies he would soon face, Gohan let out a quiet sigh.
His talent was decent, and facing powerful foes was not the problem. The real trouble lay with enemies who could destroy planets on a whim.
"Congratulations, host. You have connected your past and present lives and received a gift of fate: World Martial Arts Tournament, Number One Under Heaven."
As a dull ache formed in his head, a voice echoed within his mind.
As a reincarnator, he immediately understood that his advantage had arrived. Still, the name sounded suspiciously similar to that game he used to play.
He focused and tried to sense more information.
"Dragon Ball Z: World Martial Arts Tournament, Number One Under Heaven. This system gathers all Dragon Ball worlds. You may be randomly matched with one of them to fight a corresponding powerful enemy. Upon victory, you will receive a random reward."
"Current available matches: one."
"One additional entry will be granted after one year."
The description was extremely simple, so simple that Gohan almost wanted to complain.
It did not seem to help his training directly. It merely matched him with opponents for combat.
It felt very much like a matchmaking system from a game.
The number of matches was limited, increasing only once per year.
And rewards were granted only upon victory. He could not use it recklessly, especially not now.
After all, he had not begun proper training yet. Even a draw would likely turn into a loss more often than not. It was better to wait until he was stronger.
What kind of rewards could he get?
"You may obtain anything from all conceptual dimensions, including potential release, Instant Transmission, various skills, Dragon Balls, and other rewards."
When he learned what defeating opponents could grant him, a spark lit up in Gohan's eyes.
Many of those rewards were exactly what he needed. If he could acquire them through matches, this system might truly be useful.
Time to eat and train.
Hunger stirred within him. He looked toward the dinosaurs in the distance. He had never tasted dinosaur meat before.
Whoosh.
As Gohan stepped toward the dinosaurs, a streak of white energy shot in from afar.
In the howling wind, a white cape snapped sharply. It was Piccolo. He rushed over in urgency, only to discover that the source of the energy was Goku's child.
The self proclaimed demon king's skin deepened to an even richer green.
He had left the child here to break his pampered habits, yet the boy's power had surged so dramatically. Had fear and anger strengthened him instead?
Just like what happened during the battle with Goku's brother?
Questions filled Piccolo's mind. He wanted to descend and take a closer look, but hesitated.
Because he could feel it.
That overwhelming energy.