On Bun Mountain.
A small boy with a tail dangling behind him stood by a stream, his tail lazily swaying in the water.
Suddenly, a massive fish weighing nearly a ton burst out of the surface, its blood-red maw opening wide as it lunged straight for him.
The boy wasn't frightened—instead, his eyes lit up.
He kicked out.
The huge fish let out a pitiful wail and instantly rolled its eyes back, going limp.
The boy turned around with practiced ease, slung the fish over his shoulder, and casually headed toward the mountain peak.
As he walked, he sighed.
"Ah… my luck's terrible today.
Didn't catch a bear, didn't even catch that tiger.
Guess I'll have to eat fish again…"
Not long after he left, a tiger quietly crept out of the forest.
It stared in the direction the boy had gone, the deep fear in its eyes slowly settling.
The beast was enormous—three or four hundred pounds at least—but its belly was sunken flat, clearly starved for days.
Just then, its nose twitched.
It had caught the scent of weaker prey.
Its eyes instantly lit up, and it rushed toward the foot of the mountain.
…
At the mountaintop.
"Grandpa, I'm back…"
Hearing the call, Son Gohan stepped out of the little house with a warm smile.
"Oh, Goku's home?
Come inside quickly—the bead in the house suddenly started glowing."
"The Dragon Ball is glowing?"
The boy dropped the fish and rushed inside.
This boy was Goku—but not the original Son Goku.
In his previous life, he had been an ordinary person on Earth… and a hardcore Dragon Ball fan.
After an accident, he had been reborn on Planet Vegeta as Kakarot.
Before he could even speak, Bardock and Gine had sent him to Earth.
Later, he was taken in by Son Gohan and given the name Son Goku.
A Dragon Ball fan reborn as the protagonist himself.
Back then, he had sworn he would train harder than the original Goku—
step on Frieza, punch Cell, hold Bulma in one arm and Android 18 in the other…
But after growing up a bit, he realized how absurd a child's dreams were.
In this world, increasing one's strength was just as difficult as building wealth had been in his previous life.
No—strictly speaking, it was even harder.
At three years old, when children should be growing, Grandpa had dragged him out of bed at five in the morning to run—
ten kilometers around the mountains every day.
At five, when Earth kids went to kindergarten,
Grandpa was already making him split wooden stakes barehanded and smash stones with his chest.
After years of training, he finally understood—
Son Goku's strength didn't come from being born a Saiyan.
It came from endless sweat and relentless effort.
In the Dragon Ball world, what made someone truly powerful wasn't their race—it was Goku's pure, obsessive martial heart.
Geniuses and slackers were destined for completely different lives.
Only then did he realize… even if he became Goku, even if he tried his hardest, he might still never surpass King Piccolo.
But he didn't give up.
Since he was here, he'd go as far as he could.
So he stayed on the mountain, training with Grandpa.
And he always remembered one thing—never go out during a full moon.
Just like that, through the passing of seasons…
Eleven years went by.
He had completely become part of this world.
The Four-Star Ball was glowing again and again, radiating a soft orange light.
Son Gohan gazed at it lovingly and chuckled.
"After all these years, who knew this treasure could glow like this?
Looks like it's worth a lot of money.
Maybe we should take it to the city and sell it—save it up so you can get yourself a wife someday."
Dragon Balls only glowed when others were nearby.
Goku knew what that meant.
Bulma was coming.
Back then, he had waited for her day after day, time crawling by painfully slow.
Later, when he forgot about it, the years flew past in a blink.
Goku quickly shook his head.
"Grandpa, you start grilling the fish.
There's a girl coming up the mountain, and I'm worried that tiger might eat her.
I should go pick her up, just in case."
Before Son Gohan could reply, Goku had already dashed down the mountain.
Gohan scratched his head in confusion.
"That kid…
Out here in the middle of nowhere, how could a girl possibly be coming to visit?"
Seeing Goku vanish in the blink of an eye, Gohan could only sigh.
"Goku's really grown up.
With his skills now… maybe it's time he went out into the world."
…
Halfway up the mountain.
Bulma stepped out of her car and tapped her Dragon Radar a few times.
Following the signal, she looked toward the peak.
"The Dragon Ball signal is getting stronger…
It should be somewhere around here. A bit more to the west…"
She put the radar away and got back into the car, driving forward.
Suddenly—
A thunderous tiger's roar shook the air.
A huge striped tiger blocked her path.
Before Bulma could even hit the brakes, the beast slammed a paw down on the moving car.
"A-a tiger…!"
As that massive feline face loomed closer, Bulma curled up in terror.
In panic, she reached for her handgun—
But the tiger casually swatted the car, flipping it onto its side.
The gun slipped from her hand and fell into the gap beneath the seat.
Bulma's pupils shrank, every hair on her body standing on end.
"I'm… I'm going to die!"
At that instant, a figure shot in like a meteor.
Boom!
Before Bulma could even see what happened, the tiger was sent flying.
The overturned car was lifted upright, and the door was pulled open.
When she looked up, a clear-eyed little boy stood there.
Only then did Bulma realize—
She had been saved.
Relief flooded her pretty face as she looked at him.
Goku looked back at her.
At that moment, a message flashed through Goku's mind.
[In your previous life, you and Bulma went on adventures together, grew together,
yet never ended up together. She regretted it deeply.
Your life has restarted.
This time, protect her. Give her the sense of safety she never had.
Mission: Help Bulma escape danger.
Reward: +10 battle power.]
Goku's eyes narrowed.
"So this is… my cheat ability?"
"Still, only ten points of battle power… that's way too stingy."
Bulma opened the car door, still shaken.
"Did you… save me just now?
Thank you so much!"
At that moment, the tiger that had been knocked away suddenly stood back up, letting out a deafening roar.
Bulma screamed and hid behind Goku.
Goku snapped out of it and pulled out his Power Pole.
The tiger recognized him—and immediately turned to run.
A cold glint flashed in Goku's eyes.
"Where do you think you're going?"
He swung the Power Pole.
"Power Pole—extend!"
The staff shot out at lightning speed, slamming into the tiger's back.
Crack!
The sound of bones shattering rang out.
The tiger let out a shrill scream and was sent flying, smashing through rocks before crashing heavily to the ground.