Chapter One: A Truck, A Screen, and a Birth Cry
The dim lights of Tokyo reflected off his phone screen as he walked with heavy steps through the narrow alleyway. He saw nothing but Goku's silver eyes in his Ultra Instinct form. His heart raced with every strike his favorite hero landed on his opponents.
"God... if only I could have a fraction of that power in my dull reality," he whispered bitterly to himself, sliding his finger across the cracked screen.
Suddenly, the silence of the night was shattered by the screech of tires tearing through asphalt. He didn't even have time to look up. A blinding white light, the roar of a massive engine, and a sudden coldness piercing through his body. In that instant, his phone flew into the air, still displaying a golden explosion of Ki energy before it shattered completely.
Darkness. It was an eternal silence, until it was pierced by a cold, dry mechanical voice, as if coming from the furthest point in the universe:
[Compatible Soul Detected... "Dragon Ball" System Activating...]
[Host: Neuro... Reincarnation in Progress...]
The Awakening: The Shock of Existence
He opened his eyes, but he didn't see the stained ceiling of his room or hospital lights. Instead, he saw giant chandeliers hanging from a towering ceiling, made of crystals that radiated a warm, natural light. He wanted to scream, "Where am I?", but what came out was a sharp, loud cry that shook the corners of the hall.
"It's a boy! The Third Young Master of the Gudo Family has arrived!"
He felt rough hands carrying him with reverence, then he was lifted to face a massive man wearing a long robe embroidered with gold threads. An aura emanated from him that made the air heavy and difficult to breathe. This was Arkan Gudo, the Lord of the Great Family.
Neuro—who still retained his adult mind—tried to grasp what was happening. He looked at his small, soft hands, then touched the strands of his hair, which fell in a strange, icy blue hue.
"Look at his eyes..." one of the nurses whispered in a mix of terror and admiration. "They are as golden as the Emperors' vaults!"
But Arkan didn't care for beauty. He placed a thick finger on the infant's wrist, sending a pulse of cold "Qi" to inspect his veins. In that moment, Neuro felt something strange—his father's energy felt "filthy" and "weak" to him, as if his small body was revolted by it.
Arkan's expression changed instantly. Pride turned to deep disgust. He tossed the infant roughly onto the bed like a piece of broken furniture.
"Trash..." Arkan roared, the walls of the room shaking with the power of his voice. "Completely blocked veins. No trace of Qi, not even a glimmer of hope to build a foundation. The Gudo family has birthed a beautiful doll, but it is empty inside!"
The Calm Before the Storm
While everyone left the room in disappointment and the servants whispered about the "Beautiful Jinx" that had fallen upon the family, Neuro lay in his cradle, staring at the ceiling with a coldness unbefitting a newborn.
In the corner of his vision, a transparent screen appeared that only he could see:
[Status: Host unable to perform Traditional Cultivation (System Penalty).]
[First Annual Reward: "Gohan's Latent Potential" – Loading... (364 days remaining).]
Neuro smiled inwardly, his silent thoughts echoing: "No Qi? That's fine. I'll show you what 'Ki' does to your world when the time comes."
He closed his golden eyes, and his infant body began to absorb the first particles of energy from the air—not to store them in blocked veins, but to burn them inside his cells, which were slowly transforming into the cells of a warrior from an extinct lineage.