The blue screen hung there like a digital sword of Damocles, waiting for my response. I stared at it, my brain still trying to process the fundamental impossibility of my situation. Dead. Reincarnated. Anime world. Gacha system. It was like someone had taken every wish-fulfillment fantasy I'd ever had and crammed them into a blender with my anxiety disorders.
I reached out and poked the screen again, just to be sure. My finger passed through the translucent surface, but somehow I could still feel a faint tingling sensation where it made contact. Real. This was actually real.
"No way..." I muttered, and then louder, "No way this is actually happening!"
A grin spread across my face—not the careful, practiced smile I'd perfected for avoiding social interaction, but something genuine and slightly unhinged. The kind of expression that probably would have gotten me some concerned looks if anyone had been around to see it.
"I died from caffeine? And got reincarnated into DxD? This is like, the ultimate Isekai cliché, but it's real!" I was talking to myself now, but I didn't care. For the first time in years, I felt... alive. Ironically.
I caught my reflection in the classroom window and did a double-take. The face staring back at me wasn't quite the same one I'd seen in mirrors for the past twenty-two years. Still recognizably me, but... cleaner. Younger. The perpetual dark circles under my eyes were gone, replaced by clear skin that looked like it had never seen the inside of a convenience store at 3 AM. My hair was black instead of the mousy brown I'd inherited from my mother, and I was definitely taller. Not by much, but enough to notice.
"Akira," I said aloud, testing the name that had popped into my head like a file being downloaded. It felt right, like a jacket that had been tailored specifically for me. Along with the name came a strange, fuzzy collection of memories—a new family, a new school, a new life that felt both foreign and familiar. Like remembering a dream you'd had weeks ago.
My mind was already racing, cataloging everything I knew about High School DxD. Timeline, characters, major events. If I was here, then somewhere in this building was Issei Hyoudou, probably already harboring his Sacred Gear without knowing it. Rias Gremory would be running her devil household, Asia Argento would be... well, depending on when exactly I'd landed in the timeline, she might not even be in Japan yet.
"This is it!" I whispered, my excitement building. "My chance to actually be in an anime! Forget those boring lectures, forget my dead-end job prospects, I'm literally living the dream!"
But then my old pragmatism kicked in, tempering the excitement with a healthy dose of reality. "Okay, but a Gacha System? And DxD is dangerous. I need to get strong, and fast. Don't want to end up as stray devil fodder."
That sobered me up quickly. High School DxD might look like a harem comedy from the outside, but it was filled with beings who could level city blocks without breaking a sweat. Fallen angels, devils, angels, dragons—all of them operating on a power scale that made my previous life's problems look like a stubbed toe.
Before I could spiral too deep into strategic planning, the screen flickered, and a new notification appeared in bold, pulsing text:
[CONGRATULATIONS! AS A FIRST-TIME USER, YOU HAVE BEEN GRANTED 1x FREE GACHA TICKET! USE NOW? Y/N]
My eyes practically popped out of their sockets. A free pull? In any gacha game worth its salt, the first pull was usually garbage—a tutorial character or some low-tier equipment to get you hooked. But still, free was free.
"A free pull?! Hell yeah, use it!" I blurted out, probably louder than I should have. A student walking past the classroom window gave me a confused look, but I was too excited to care.
The screen exploded into light.
I'm not talking about a gentle glow or a subtle brightening. This was a full-on sensory assault of swirling colors and patterns that would have made a kaleidoscope jealous. The air around me seemed to hum with energy, and I could swear I heard the sound of a choir—not just any choir, but the kind of triumphant, angelic chorus that played during the most epic moments in anime. It was completely over the top, straight out of a high-tier gacha game's most premium animation.
The vortex of colors slowly coalesced, forming a shape that made my heart skip a beat. It was a fruit—not just any fruit, but one with a distinctive swirled pattern that I recognized immediately from countless episodes and manga chapters.
[ITEM: NEKO NEKO NO MI, MODEL: LEOPARD (ZOAN DEVIL FRUIT - ONE PIECE)]
[DESCRIPTION: GRANTS THE USER THE ABILITY TO TRANSFORM INTO A FULL LEOPARD OR A HUMAN-LEOPARD HYBRID AT WILL. PROVIDES IMMENSE PHYSICAL STRENGTH, SPEED, AGILITY, AND HEIGHTENED SENSES. WARNING: USER LOSES THE ABILITY TO SWIM.]
I stared at the screen, my mouth hanging open like a broken door. My brain, overflowing with anime knowledge, immediately processed what I was seeing. Devil Fruit. Zoan type. Leopard model. This wasn't just good—this was insane.
"A Zoan?! The Leopard?!"
The implications hit me like a freight train. Physical enhancement, transformation abilities, heightened senses—this was exactly the kind of power boost I'd need to survive in a world full of supernatural beings. Sure, there was the whole "can't swim" thing, but when was the last time I'd been near a body of water larger than a bathtub anyway?
"Wait, lose the ability to swim? Oh, right. The downside. Still, totally worth it!"
The fruit materialized in my hands, solid and real and surprisingly heavy. It looked exactly like it had in the anime—purple with spiral patterns that seemed to shift and move when I wasn't looking directly at them. The surface felt slightly warm to the touch, like it was alive.
I didn't hesitate. I'd seen enough anime to know that overthinking the magical power-up was a rookie mistake. I bit into the fruit.
The taste was... indescribable. Not good, not bad, just wrong in a way that made my entire nervous system revolt. It was like biting into concentrated essence of "this should not exist." I forced myself to swallow, then immediately regretted every life choice that had led me to this moment.
But then the power hit me.
It started as a warmth in my chest, spreading outward like liquid fire through my veins. My senses sharpened dramatically—I could suddenly hear conversations from three classrooms away, smell the distinct scent of different people passing by in the hallway, see individual dust motes floating in the afternoon sunlight. My muscles felt different, coiled and ready, like springs waiting to be released.
I flexed my fingers experimentally and watched as they briefly shifted, becoming more claw-like before returning to normal. The transformation was instinctive, natural, like flexing a muscle I'd always had but never used.
"Holy shit," I breathed, then immediately looked around to make sure no one had heard me. "This is real. This is actually real."
I made my way out of the classroom on unsteady legs, still processing the sensory overload. The school corridors were bustling with students heading home for the day, and I found myself automatically cataloging details I never would have noticed before. The way that girl's breathing pattern suggested she was nervous about something. The faint scent of different perfumes and deodorants creating a complex olfactory map of the hallway. The subtle body language cues that painted a picture of social hierarchies and relationships.
As I rounded a corner, my enhanced senses prickled, and my eyes caught a flash of crimson hair disappearing through the gate that led to what had to be Kuoh Academy's old school building. I knew that shade of red. I'd seen it in countless episodes, manga panels, and fan art.
"Rias Gremory," I whispered, feeling a thrill run through me that had nothing to do with my newfound powers. "Okay, so this is definitely not a dream."
The sight of her—even just a glimpse—confirmed what I'd already suspected. This was real. I was really here, in the world of High School DxD, with actual supernatural beings living their lives just a few hundred meters away. The old school building where the Occult Research Club met, where devils conducted their business, where the main plot of the series would unfold.
I was tempted to follow, to try to catch another glimpse or maybe even introduce myself, but my practical side reasserted itself. I had no idea what the timeline was, what had or hadn't happened yet, and barging into devil territory as a complete unknown was probably not the best first impression. Better to observe and learn before making any major moves.
Instead, I found myself walking toward what my new memories told me was home. The route came naturally, like muscle memory, leading me through residential streets lined with modest houses and the occasional convenience store. Everything looked exactly like it should in a slice-of-life anime—clean, peaceful, almost aggressively normal.
The house I stopped in front of was unremarkable in every way. Two stories, traditional Japanese architecture, a small garden that someone clearly cared about. Looking at it triggered a warm feeling in my chest that had nothing to do with the Devil Fruit. This was home. Not the cramped dorm room I'd died in, but an actual home where people cared about me.
I opened the front door and called out, "I'm home," in Japanese that flowed naturally despite being a language I'd only half-remembered from anime subtitles.
"Welcome back, Akira!" came a warm voice from the kitchen. A woman appeared—mid-forties, kind eyes, wearing an apron that suggested she'd been cooking. My new mother. The recognition was instant and complete, like remembering someone you'd known all your life.
"How was school today?" she asked, wiping her hands on her apron.
"It was... fine," I managed, my antisocial nature clashing with this wholesome domestic scene. The old me would have mumbled something noncommittal and disappeared into his room. But this woman deserved better than that. She was genuinely concerned about my wellbeing, probably the first person to be in years.
"Just fine? You seem different today. More... energetic?"
If only she knew. I forced a smile that probably looked as awkward as it felt. "Yeah, just... had a good day, I guess."
She beamed at me like I'd just announced I'd won the lottery. "I'm so glad! Dinner will be ready in about an hour. Why don't you go rest up?"
I nodded and headed upstairs, my mind already racing with plans. I had a whole new life to figure out, a supernatural world to navigate, and a devil fruit power to master. But first, I needed privacy. I needed to experiment with my new abilities, to understand exactly what I was capable of.
My room was exactly what I'd expected—neat, organized, with just enough personality to feel lived-in without being cluttered. Anime posters on the walls, a bookshelf filled with manga, a desk with homework I apparently needed to worry about. It was like someone had taken my previous life and given it a complete makeover.
I locked the door behind me and looked at my reflection in the mirror. Same face, same body, but everything felt different. More alive. More capable. More... possible.
"Okay, Akira," I said to my reflection, "let's see what you can do."
I closed my eyes and focused on the warmth in my chest, on the coiled power waiting to be released. The transformation came easier than I'd expected—not painful, just... different. Like putting on a costume that fit perfectly.
When I opened my eyes, I was looking at a human-leopard hybrid. My proportions were the same, but everything had been enhanced. Stronger, faster, more agile. Golden eyes stared back at me from a face that was still recognizably mine but definitely not human.
I grinned, revealing fangs that could probably tear through steel.
"This is going to be fun."