[Kenji Sato (MC) POV]
I was two bites into the world's saddest slice of leftover pizza when the seven-foot-tall nightmare showed up in my living room.
One second it was just me, my tiny apartment, and the buzz of the refrigerator. The next second, there was this *thing* standing between the coffee table and the TV. It looked like a skeleton made out of white wax, all stretched out and wrong. Its face had no eyes, no nose, just this huge gaping mouth-hole that hung open like it was constantly surprised. It was tall, too. Like, almost seven feet. Tall enough that its head almost scraped my ceiling fan.
I didn't scream. I didn't throw my pizza. I just sat there chewing, because honestly? My brain was too tired to come up with a better reaction.
"Yo, my dude, that's whack, ain't it? You feelin' me? 'Cause I'm feelin' you, big time. This world's gone loco, no cap, straight up spitfire truth right there."
It spoke. And the voice—God, the voice. It sounded like a middle-aged guy who'd watched too many YouTube videos about slang, mixed with a grandpa from the 1920s, mixed with a robot that was having a stroke. Every sentence was a weird jumble of modern and ancient that made my ears hurt.
I blinked at it. "What?"
"Dattebaiyo!"
I dropped my pizza.
Okay. So, I'm Japanese. I was born there, but my parents moved to America when I was super little, so I grew up in a small town in California. That means I watched a lot of anime, okay? I knew what "dattebaiyo" was. That was Naruto. And this giant creepy skeleton man was standing in my apartment saying "dattebaiyo" like it was a normal thing to say.
"Dattebaiyo?" I repeated, my voice flat. "You're gonna come into my home at three in the morning, look like the Truth from Fullmetal Alchemist, and say *dattebaiyo*?"
The thing's mouth-hole stretched into a huge grin. Not a smile. Just the mouth getting wider and wider, showing me the empty darkness inside.
"The truth? That's a good one, my guy. I ain't no truth, though. I'm something way cooler. But I appreciate the reference. You got good taste."
"You still haven't answered why you're in my apartment."
The entity made a sound that was supposed to be a laugh, I guess. It was like a dying radiator. It slapped one long, spindly hand against its thigh.
"Alright, alright, I'll get to the point. I got a job to do, and I'm already behind schedule 'cause I stopped to watch a cat fight a raccoon. So let's cut to the chase, my dude."
It snapped its fingers. A little floating screen appeared in the air beside it, glowing blue like something out of a video game.
"You, random nobody, have been selected. Congratulations. You get three wishes. I'm the Isekai God. Well, not *the* Isekai God—there's a whole council of us, it's a whole thing—but I got the power to send your butt to another world. So what you wanna be? You wanna be a hero? A villain? A baker? A harem protag? The sky's the limit, baby."
I just stared at it.
"I... I'm not dead though. I'm literally sitting on my couch. Eating pizza. I'm alive."
The entity waved its hand dismissively. "Details. You're technically alive, sure. But the Isekai Distribution System doesn't care about technicalities. You've been chosen. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, my guy. Don't waste it."
I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it. Something in my gut told me that arguing with a seven-foot skeleton about metaphysical rules was probably a waste of time. Also, I'd been working retail for the past year, and my life was about as exciting as watching paint dry. If there was even a tiny chance this was real—if I could actually get out of this small apartment and do something cool—maybe I should hear the guy out.
"Okay," I said slowly. "Let's say I believe you. You're sending me to another world. What kind of world are we talking?"
"That's the first wish, baby!" The entity clapped. "What kind of world you want? You want something like a fantasy RPG? Giant swords, magic, dragons? Or you want something more slice-of-life? Maybe a mystery world? A sports world? The options are truly endless, my dude."
I leaned back on the couch, crossing my arms. My brain was still spinning, but I figured I might as well play along.
"You know what? I want a world like *The World God Only Knows*."
The entity paused. "...The what now?"
"*The World God Only Knows*. It's an anime. The main character, he's this smart, charming guy who has to conquer the hearts of different girls, but the point is he's not the strongest or the most handsome. He's just... interesting. Everyone gravitates toward him because of his personality and his chemistry. You know what I mean? A world where the connections you make matter more than your combat power."
The entity tilted its head. For a long moment, it didn't say anything.
"Huh. That's a sweet pick. I like that. That's got real heart, my guy." It snapped again. "Okay, world type: sweet harem meets character-driven adventure. Got it. Now wish number two: what kind of body you want?"
I thought about it. In every anime I'd ever watched, the protagonist was always either ridiculously handsome or had some other gimmick—crazy hair, mysterious eyes, a scar, something. But I didn't want any of that.
"Actually, I'm good with average. Maybe slightly above average."
The entity's mouth-hole dropped open. "Bruh."
"I'm serious."
"You're really gonna turn down a six-pack? Rip's? A jawline that could cut glass?"
I laughed a little. "Yeah. I mean, think about it. In anime, the guys who end up with all the friends and all the girls aren't always the best-looking. They're the ones who make people feel comfortable. They have personality. They have charm. If I'm just average-looking, then people will like me for who I am, not for my face."
The entity was quiet for another long moment. Then it tilted its head in the opposite direction.
"You know what? That's the most logical thing I've heard all century. Most people want to be supermodels. You want to earn your popularity the hard way. I respect it."
"Thanks." I smiled a little. "So that's my second wish."
"Hold up, hold up. The body wish is the second wish. You still got one more for power. This is the big one, my guy. What kind of power you want?"
I opened my mouth, then closed it. This was the question I'd been thinking about since the entity first mentioned three wishes. I'd watched enough anime to know that a power system could make or break a story. If I picked something too situational, I'd be useless. If I picked something too broken, I'd be boring.
But I knew what I wanted.
"I want to be a doctor."
The entity's head snapped back like I'd slapped it.
"A doctor?"
"Yeah. Not just a normal doctor, either. I want to be able to cure anything. Like, literally anything. Disease, injury, sickness, all of it. And I want a system built around it—some kind of medical system that helps me learn, diagnose, treat, all that. Plus, I want people to trust me easily. Not through mind control or hypnosis or anything weird, but just through my vibe. I want to be the kind of person people feel safe around."
I paused, waiting for the entity to laugh or mock me. But it didn't. It was completely still.
"You're blowing my mind," it said quietly. "I've been doing this for a long time. I've given people world-ending spells, cheat skills powerful enough to topple gods, abilities that could rewrite reality. No one's ever asked to be a doctor. Not once."
"Is that okay?"
"It's more than okay. It's the most interesting request I've ever gotten." The entity shook its head slowly. "I'm giving you a healer build with a charisma bonus. That's your power. Anything else?"
I thought about it. "I don't feel like I need anything else. If I can heal people and earn their trust, I can find a way to survive anything."
The entity nodded. "Alright. I'll make it happen."
It looked at its floating screen, then back at me. Something in its expression shifted. It was hard to tell, since it didn't have eyes, but the mouth-hole curved down. Not like a frown. More like a smirk.
"You know, my guy, I really like you. You got a good head on your shoulders. You got a heart, too. A kindness that's gonna get you hurt in most worlds."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
The entity sighed, a weird sound that was more like static. "Just thinkin' too much, I guess. Anyway, your stats are set. You ready to get isekai'd?"
"Wait, that's it? You're just gonna send me off like that?"
"What else you want, a goodbye party?" The entity laughed, but this time it sounded hollow. "You got what you asked for. Now let's go."
I stood up, my heart starting to race. "I just want to know where I'm going."
The entity's mouth-hole stretched into a huge, cruel grin.
"You know what? I never said where, did I?" It tilted its head. "That's the fun part."
"What fun part?"
"See, here's the thing, my guy." The entity stepped closer, and I had to force myself not to step back. "You're the most plain, average male I've ever seen. Your power is healing. That's all you got. You're not strong. You're not fast. You don't have a single combat skill to your name. And I'm gonna send you to a world that's gonna eat you alive. A world so random, so horrible, so dangerous that your doctor powers won't mean a single thing."
My blood ran cold. "Wait, you're not actually—"
"I'm serious, my guy." The entity raised its hand, and its middle finger extended slowly. Thick, black tears started dripping down its pale cheeks. "I'm gonna send you to fight. To struggle. To scrape and claw for survival every single day. And you're gonna regret ever wishing for the healer class. You're gonna wish you'd picked the sword."
"You can't do that! I still have a third wish! You said three wishes! I only used two!"
"Oops!" The entity snapped its fingers, and a portal ripped open behind me. It was black and swirling, pulling at the edges of my shirt. "Looks like you used up your third wish with that whole 'people trust me easily' thing. That was extra. My bad, my bad."
"No—!"
"Have fun, my dude! I'll be watchin'!"
The portal yanked me off my feet. I fell backward, the apartment disappearing above me, and in that split second, all I could do was scream.
"I HOPE YOU DIE A VIRGIN!!!"
The entity's laughter echoed through the darkness.
"ALREADY DID, MY GUY! ALREADY DID!!!"
And then I was falling.
Not falling like tripping or slipping. Falling like I'd dropped off the edge of the world. There was nothing around me except empty, endless black. No light. No sound. No ground. Just me, spinning, my heart pounding in my ears.
I tried to scream, but the sound just got swallowed up.
"Okay, okay, I'm fine. I'm fine." My voice was shaking. "I have a healing power. That's not completely useless. Maybe the world is a fantasy world and I can still help people. Maybe it's not all bad."
The darkness didn't answer.
"Please don't be a death world. Please don't be a death world. Please let there be cute girls and a town full of sick people who need help. Please let me wake up in a bed, not in a monster's stomach."
The void rumbled.
And then, out of nowhere, the entity's voice came back. Soft. Almost gentle. Like it was right next to my ear.
"Before you go, my guy, I think you should know something about me."
I stopped flailing. "What?"
There was a pause. The void shifted.
"Because I'm—"
——
——
——
I woke up drowning.
My eyes shot open and I sucked in a mouthful of thick, heavy liquid that tasted like old pennies and burnt sugar. I thrashed, my hands scrambling against slick porcelain, and finally I grabbed the edge of something and hauled myself up.
I was in a bathtub.
A really fancy one, too. Golden faucet, white marble tiles, candles on a shelf that were still flickering like someone had just left the room. But the water—the water was black. Completely black, like ink, like oil, like someone had poured a whole bottle of darkness into the tub and left me to soak in it.
"What the hell," I croaked.
My head was pounding. Not a normal headache. It felt like my skull was too small for my brain, like something had been shoved in there that wasn't there before. I pressed my palm to my forehead and it came away streaked with black goop.
I climbed out of the tub, dripping everywhere. My clothes were weird, too. A loose white shirt and pants that were soaked through and stuck to my skin. I didn't remember putting these on. I didn't remember anything except falling through that void, and that creepy skeleton god laughing at me, and those weird last words—
'Because I'm—'
I shook my head. Nope. Not thinking about that.
I stumbled toward a mirror on the wall, leaving dirty footprints on the marble floor. I just wanted to see my face, make sure I was still me, still the same average guy from California.
I looked up.
And I froze.
The guy in the mirror wasn't me.
He had golden hair, bright and shiny like spun gold, messy in that perfect anime way. He had golden eyes, too, almost glowing in the candlelight. Sharp cheekbones. A jawline that would make sculptors cry.
I knew that face. I'd seen it in pictures, in anime clips, in fan art that my friends used to send me.
It was Arthur Pendragon. The male King Arthur from Fate/Prototype.
My hands flew to my cheeks, patting them like the skin would come off. It didn't.
"No, no, no, no," I whispered. My voice was a little deeper than I remembered, but still mine. "This isn't me. This isn't me!"
But it was. The guy in the mirror blinked when I blinked. I turned my head, he turned his head. I took a shaky step back, he took a shaky step back.
I tripped over the bathtub and landed hard on the floor. The impact rattled my teeth, but I barely felt it.
I looked like Arthur Pendragon. Why did I look like Arthur Pendragon?
My eyes drifted back to the tub. That black liquid. The same color as—
"Angra Mainyu."
The words came out before I could stop them. The curse of all evil.
I'd been lying in that.
I scrambled to my feet, pressing my back against the wall, staring at the tub like it was going to grab me. But it just sat there, black and still.
I put my hand over my heart, trying to feel something. Magic circuits. Mana. Anything. That's what Arthur would have, right? The dragon core, the magic circuits, the power to swing Excalibur. But I felt nothing. No spark. No energy. Just a normal heartbeat and a lot of panic.
"Okay, okay," I said, pacing across the tile. "I look like Arthur. I have no magic. I was in a bathtub full of cursed black goop. That doesn't make sense. Unless..."
My brain ran wild.
Homunculus. The word surfaced in my mind like a bubble. Artificial humans. Created in labs. Made to look like someone they weren't. I remembered the Einzbern family from Fate/Zero. All those dolls that looked like Irisviel. Made for a purpose, then thrown away.
And I remembered Manaka Sajyou. The girl from Fate/Prototype. The one who was obsessed with Arthur. The one who would do anything to have him.
What if I wasn't actually Arthur? What if I was a copy? A fake version made to imitate him, made to look like him, but with none of the power?
I looked at my reflection again.
"Am I even a person?" I whispered.
And then, right at the edge of my vision, something flickered.
A translucent blue screen. Floating in the air like a video game notification. The words glowing in crisp white letters.
[System loading...]
The screen flickered once, then twice, and finally, the words shifted.
[System loading complete.]
[Welcome to the Multiversal Group Chat.]
I stared at the floating blue text, letting out a massive breath of air. A Multiversal Group Chat. That was the system the god had given me! If I could connect with other people across different worlds, maybe I actually had a fighting chance at surviving this mess. I wasn't completely alone.
The screen shifted, pulling up a new window.
[Status]
[Name: Kenji Sato]
(Username: God's Chosen)
[Race: Human]
[Age: 16]
[Strength: Average]
[Endurance:Average]
[Mana: None]
I blinked, my eyes locking onto the race. Not a homunculus. Not an artificial puppet made by Manaka Sajyou to perfectly mimic Arthur Pendragon. Just a regular, boring human who had somehow been de-aged to sixteen. A wave of profound relief washed over me, so strong my knees almost buckled. I was still me inside this body.
But my username?
God's Chosen
That bastard skeleton was definitely mocking me.
I scrolled down to my abilities.
[Skills]
- Diagnosis (Lv. 1)
- Pharmacology (Lv. 1)
- Surgery (Lv. 1)
- Cooking (Lv. 1)
- Cleaning (Lv. 1)
My right eye twitched violently.
Diagnosis, Pharmacology, and Surgery. Sure. That was the doctor build I asked for. But cooking and cleaning? What was I, a medieval maid? The god had literally dumped me into a dangerous world and gave me *housekeeping* skills to survive.
Before I could start cursing out the void again, the blue screen flashed with a bright notification.
[Sending invitations to compatible participants...]
[Two participants located.]
[Invite accepted: Aura Demon]
I froze, staring at that first nickname.
Aura Demon?
My mind instantly flashed to the internet. To the memes.
The "Aura Demon" staircase meme.
"Wait," I muttered aloud. "If the system uses nicknames based on memes or traits... then Aura Demon has to be Subaru Natsuki."
[Invite accepted: Tragic Child]
Tragic Child?
[Aura Demon: YOOO! What is this?! A floating screen in my head? Is this my cheat skill?!]
[Aura Demon: I literally just got isekaied like five minutes ago! I'm standing in a fantasy street right now! This is awesome! Who else is here?!]
I winced. It was him.
[God's Chosen: Hey. I just woke up in a bathtub full of black water. Still trying to figure things out myself, but yeah, seems like a cheat skill.]
[Aura Demon: A bathtub?! That's rough, man. Wait, your username is God's Chosen? That's so sick! I'm super jealous! But man, we're gonna be unstoppable with a group chat!]
'Not gonna comment on your own name?'
As Subaru kept typing out his excitement, another message slowly popped up on the screen. It was hesitant, like the person on the other end was nervous to even use the chat.
[Tragic Child: Um... hello? Is someone there?]
[Aura Demon: Oh! Another person! Hi there! I'm Subaru! What's your name?]
There was a brief pause on the screen, the three little typing dots hovering for a few seconds before the next message appeared.
[Tragic Child: M-My name is Saki Yoshida. Nice to meet you...]
I stopped breathing.
Saki Yoshida.
Why did I know that name? It wasn't an action anime. It wasn't an isekai. It was a name tied to a deep, visceral sense of disgust and sadness. My brain scrambled through my memories of the internet, forums, and dark jokes until—
Metamorphosis. The infamous manga about a normal, slightly shy girl who goes through the most horrifying, soul-crushing descent into drugs, abuse, and tragedy, ending in her absolute ruin. Saki Yoshida.
I stared at her name glowing on the blue interface, my heart pounding in my chest.
"...it couldn't be?"
[Aura Demon: Saki Yoshida! Nice to meet you! Like I said, I'm Subaru Natsuki! I just got summoned to a fantasy world out of nowhere, so I'm basically gonna be a hero! What about you guys? What's your deal?]
I rubbed the bridge of my nose, feeling a massive headache coming on that had nothing to do with the black sludge I was covered in.
[God's Chosen: I'm Kenji Sato. Just a normal guy, I guess. I woke up in this weird mansion looking different than I used to. Still trying to get my bearings.]
[Tragic Child: I'm just a normal high school student... I was just in my room getting ready for school, and then this blue screen appeared. I haven't been summoned anywhere... at least, I don't think so.]
I let out a long, quiet groan, leaning my head back against the cold marble wall of the bathroom.
Great. Just great. Out of all the people in the infinite multiverse the system could have connected me with, I got placed in a chat with an isekai tragedy and an SA tragedy. Subaru was about to suffer endless, agonizing death loops, and Saki was... well, she was at the start of a horrifying downward spiral that I didn't even want to think about.
I couldn't exactly just tell them, 'Hey, both of your lives are about to become literal torture for the internet,' so I decided to take a step back and figure out my own situation first.
[God's Chosen: I need to check my surroundings real quick. I'll be right back, guys.]
[Aura Demon: Take your time, man! I'm gonna go see if I can find a guild or a beautiful half-elf to save! Talk later!]
[Tragic Child: Okay.]
I swiped the chat window to the side, letting it minimize so I could look at the rest of the system interface. At the top of the screen, there were four distinct tabs glowing in white text: [Chat], [Gacha], [Inventory], and [Skills].
I tapped the [Inventory] tab in the air.
The screen shifted, revealing a grid of empty gray boxes. However, the first two slots were occupied by glowing, wrapped gift box icons.
[Starter Gift 1: Free 10x Gacha Pull Ticket]
[Starter Gift 2 (Extra): Care Package]
"Nice," I muttered, quickly tapping the second box to open the extra package first.
A notification popped up, listing three items that materialized directly into my inventory slots.
[Item 1: Bypassing Random Servant Catalyst] (Description: A randomized relic used to summon a Heroic Spirit...Can even summon servants out of the throne)
[Item 2: Mana Awakening Pill] (Description: Consuming this will forcibly unlock the user's Magic Circuits/Mana Core, allowing them to possess and generate mana.)
[Item 3: Character Copy Token] (Description: A one-time use token. Use this on any target to create a randomized, temporary copy of them. Defeating or interacting with the copy grants you one random item or Skill possessed by the original target.)
I stared at the third item, my heart suddenly hammering against my ribs.
A Character Copy Token. Gain a random item or skill from whoever I used it on.
My mind immediately raced. I had Arthur Pendragon's face. I woke up in Angra Mainyu's black mud. I was undeniably somewhere in the Nasuverse, probably a Fate timeline. That meant certain people existed in this world.
If I could find Gilgamesh—the King of Heroes himself—and use this token on him... I could potentially copy the Gate of Babylon.
"Holy crap," I whispered, a grin breaking out on my face. "I hit the jackpot. If I can get a skill like that, I won't just be a squishy doctor. I'll actually be able to protect myself. And maybe... maybe I can even help Subaru and Saki."
I reached out to press the Mana Awakening Pill to get my magic circuits started.
Click.
I froze.
The sound of a heavy door unlatching echoed from the hallway outside the bathroom. Footsteps—slow, deliberate, and light—tapped against the hardwood floor, heading straight toward the room I was in.
Panic spiked instantly in my chest. I was completely unarmed, drenched in cursed black mud, and technically trespassing in what looked like a rich person's mansion.
Pressing myself flat against the cold floor and holding my breath just as the bathroom door slowly creaked open.
The footsteps grew louder.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
I pressed my back so hard against the marble it felt like my spine was going to fuse with it. Through the crack beneath the door, a shadow slid across the floorboards of the hallway. They were right outside.
My eyes darted around the bathroom. Hiding behind the tub was a terrible idea. There was a massive mirror right above the sink that reflected the entire room, and my sloppy, black-mud footprints were painted all over the white tile leading straight to my hiding spot. Whoever was walking in would see me immediately.
I only had one option. It was the worst option imaginable, but it was the only one that provided total cover.
The bathtub. The opaque, cursed black liquid.
I let out a silent, agonizing groan, mentally cursing the Isekai God, the system, and my own terrible luck. Moving as quickly and quietly as I could, I hoisted myself back over the gold-rimmed edge of the tub.
The black sludge swallowed my legs, thick and freezing cold. I pinched my nose, squeezed my eyes shut, and slipped completely beneath the surface just as the bathroom door swung wide open.
Underneath the black water, everything was dead silent. The liquid pressed against my ears, heavy and unnatural, making my skin crawl. It didn't burn, but it felt... wrong, like wrapping myself in a blanket made of pure malice and bad memories. My lungs immediately started burning, begging for air, but I forced myself to stay completely still at the bottom of the tub.
I felt vibrations through the porcelain. Someone had stepped into the room.
I squeezed my eyes tighter. 'Just grab a towel and leave. Wash your hands and leave. Please, please, please...'
The vibrations stopped right next to the tub.
There was a sudden, sharp gasp from above the surface.
Before I could even react, the water violently shifted. A hand—strong as a steel vise but completely desperate—plunged into the freezing black liquid, clamped tightly onto the collar of my soaked white shirt, and hauled me upward with incredible force.
I broke the surface with a massive splash, gasping and hacking up black water, my limbs flailing wildly. I was suspended in the air, dangling from the grip of whoever had just fished me out of the cursed mud.
"Hold on! Are you alright?!" a voice cried out, filled with urgent, heroic panic. "You mustn't stay in that mud, it's corrupted—"
The voice abruptly cut off.
Still coughing, I frantically wiped the thick black sludge away from my eyes, blinking against the harsh bathroom light to look at my savior.
My breath caught in my throat.
Standing in front of me, holding me up with one arm like I weighed absolutely nothing, was a young man. He had bright, perfectly messy spun-gold hair. He had striking, fierce green eyes. His jawline was sharp, his posture practically radiating a noble, overwhelming aura of chivalry and strength, even though he looked incredibly worried.
It was Arthur Pendragon.
The silence in the bathroom became deafening.
I stared at him, dripping with the cursed black mud of Angra Mainyu.
He stared back at me, his intense, worried gaze melting into absolute shock as he looked at my face—the exact same golden-haired, sharp-featured face that he saw in the mirror every single day, just with golden eyes instead of green.
The King of Knights, and the guy who had literally just stolen his face.
We both blinked.
"Eh?" we said at the exact same time.