My eyes snapped open.
"…Huh?"
Instead of a dungeon, instead of stone walls or creepy statues, I saw… a ceiling. A normal one. Smooth, white, clean. Kind of expensive looking, actually.
I pushed myself up.
"…Where am I?"
The bed felt way too soft. The sheets were silk. The room was huge. Like, bigger than my entire apartment back in my original world.
I stumbled to my feet and headed toward the mirror on the wall.
My reflection stared back.
"…Huh. It's just me."
Dark blond hair, the usual tired eyes, the same slightly handsome face. Nothing changed.
Just… me.
Then my eyes drifted to something hanging on the wall.
A school uniform.
A very prestigious-looking one. The fabric was so clean it sparkled. And on the chest…
A name tag.
I grabbed it.
"Ken Yotsuba…?"
I blinked.
"Ken… Yotsuba…? That's not me…"
Next to the name tag was a small crest, fancy and shiny, with gold embroidery circling an emblem that looked like a phoenix.
Rizen International Academy
I stared.
"…High school? I'm… in high school??"
No, no, no—hold up. I'm definitely not in high school. I'm definitely not named Ken Yotsuba. And this house... no, this penthouse is way too luxurious for someone who's supposed to be a student.
I walked around, flicking lights on, opening doors.
Marble floors.
A private kitchen bigger than most restaurants.
A balcony with a view of a sparkling nighttime city.
A glass-wall bathroom with a rainfall shower.
My jaw practically fell off.
"Bro… what kind of high school kid lives like THIS? Did I transmigrate into a billionaire's son or something?"
Then a thought hit me.
"…Wait. Is this how it works? When I jump worlds… the system just gives me a whole backstory here?? Interesting..."
That was… insanely convenient.
But I wasn't complaining.
Would've been awful if I had to be homeless in this world... Yuck...
I found a digital clock on the counter.
January 1st.
January.
First.
In MHA… if I remembered right… the Entrance Exam was late February, right? Around the 26th?
"So I'm early… way early."
I let out a sigh of relief.
"At least I didn't spawn in the middle of a USJ attack or something… I would've missed my chance to enroll."
The penthouse was quiet. Peaceful.
My body suddenly felt heavier.
"…Man. I'm tired."
Everything caught up to me. The dungeon, the death, the system, the jump, the world shift.
My brain was fried.
I flopped back onto the ridiculously soft bed.
"High school… billionaire… Ken Yotsuba… whatever. I'll deal with it in the morning…"
My eyes closed slowly.
Outside, the city lights sparkled.
Inside, I drifted back to sleep.
Jumping to a new world could wait.
For now…
I slept like a rock.
A very confused, very exhausted, multiversal rock.
* * *
Morning sunlight stabbed me awake like it had beef with me.
I groaned, rolled out of bed, and stared at the uniform hanging neatly on the wall.
"…So I really gotta go to school now? In a whole different universe?"
It was Monday after all...
The uniform actually looked pretty decent. Dark navy blazer with gold trim, a clean white shirt, and a phoenix emblem on the chest. Way fancier than anything I ever wore back home.
I slipped it on.
It fit perfectly.
"…Ken Yotsuba, huh. Guess that's me now."
I grabbed the matching tie, fixed it up the best I could, and stepped outside.
The hallway was… a maze.
Like, rich-people-maze.
Long hallways, sculptures everywhere, polished floors reflecting my face so clearly it was basically a mirror.
And the weird part?
There wasn't a single sign of another person.
"…So this Ken guy lives alone? In a penthouse? At this age…?"
MHA world privilege hits different, damn.
I finally reached the elevator, rode it down like twenty floors, and stepped out into the lobby.
Outside, I took out my phone.
I typed "Rizen International Academy."
A map pin popped up instantly. Close enough to walk.
"Alright… let's see what an elite anime school looks like."
I shoved my hands in my pockets and started walking.
The moment I got onto the main street, I had to register the scene in front of me.
Because there were walking around in bright, flashy, corny-as-hell outfits.
One guy had literal shark fins growing out of his arms.
A hero ran overhead, leaping across rooftops.
I couldn't help it.
"…I'm really in MHA, huh?"
A weird mix of excitement and disbelief churned in my chest.
I kept walking toward my school, admiring everything.
Until—
"HEY! SOMEONE CALL A HERO!"
A shout ripped through the street.
People turned.
Screaming erupted.
Cars screeched.
On the other side of the road… smoke rose.
A villain?
A Quirk gone out of control?
Some idiot exploding stuff?
I didn't know yet.
But my heart jumped.
"…Seriously? Already?"
I stepped forward.
And the crowd parted just enough for me to see what was causing the chaos.
The crowd was gathering near the edge of the sidewalk, and I could hear people whispering with that mix of fear and curiosity you only hear when something seriously messed up just happened.
I pushed my way forward a little and finally saw what everyone was staring at.
A guy lay in the alley. Totally still. His skin looked way too pale, and there was a dark patch under him where the blood had pooled.
Except… the scene was weird. The blood wasn't splattered everywhere like a normal attack. It looked like it had been cleanly pulled out and left behind, almost like someone drained him and walked off without bothering to hide it.
I crouched down a bit, taking a closer look. The smell was sharp, metallic, still fresh. Whoever did this hadn't been gone long.
There were small, light footprints leading away from the body, turning around the corner of the alley. Almost like someone skipped off without a care in the world.
My eyebrow twitched.
"…Huh."
I stared at the blood trail for another second, and something about the whole scene clicked together in my mind. The way the victim was drained, the careless footprints, the almost playful way the blood was left behind.
"Hmmm…" I murmured under my breath. "Maybe this could be…"
I didn't say the name out loud, but the idea was already forming.
A certain girl.
A certain quirk.
A certain habit.
More heroes started showing up one after another, shouting for people to step back.
I take one last look at the scene before the heroes completely push everyone back. No one even notices me standing at the edge.
I lower my voice, barely above a breath."Igris… find out who did this. Track them."
A ripple of darkness slides out behind me. If anyone looked directly at it, maybe they'd notice the faint red glow of his eyes, but no one does. Igris dips his head once, then melts straight into the cracks of the pavement, slipping into the shadows like he was never there.
I straighten my new uniform, brushing off imaginary dust. First day wearing it and I'm already dealing with a dead body. Nice.
"Great… perfect start," I mutter as I turn and walk out of the alley.
The street noise slowly returned to normal as I walked.
It took maybe twenty minutes of walking before the buildings around me started looking more and more like a high-end neighborhood. Even the sidewalks here felt expensive.
Then I saw it.
The academy.
A massive campus surrounded by tall white walls, with a sleek glass entrance and a shiny metal emblem on the gate.
Rizen International Academy
Guess that was the fancy name on the uniform badge.
Students in matching uniforms were streaming inside, chatting, yawning, complaining about Monday. Totally normal. As if there wasn't a drained corpse sitting in an alley fifteen blocks away.
I fixed my tie, took a breath, and stepped forward.
"Okay…" I muttered. "Let's see what kind of life this Ken guy used to live."
And I walked into the gates of my brand-new school.
* * *
This was not what I was expecting.
"Yo, Ken! What's good!"
I blink as this dude. He looked straight out of an anime delinquent starter pack. He struts toward me with four other guys who look exactly like his DLC skins. Pompadours, loose jackets, dumb grins… the whole package.
He slaps my shoulder like we've been homies since birth."Bro, we're hittin' the club later tonight. You coming? We're gonna… y'know… meet some company."His tone makes it very clear he doesn't mean studying partners.
I raise a brow. Clubbing? In high school? This Ken guy seriously lived like that?
Still… I let a slow smirk spread across my face.
"Why not? Sounds fun," I say, shrugging like it's nothing.
They cheer like I just agreed to join their biker gang. Honestly, I have no idea what kind of backstory this "Ken Yotsuba" dude had, but judging by these guys... yeah, he was definitely a menace.
Before I can say anything else, a sharp voice cuts through the hallway behind me.
"So you're still in school and already talking about going to clubs? Unbelievable."
My body freezes for a second. I turn around slowly.
My eyes go wide.
Standing there with that perfect posture, long black hair, and the most judgmental expression a rich girl can legally have...
Momo Yaoyorozu.
No way. So this is the school she attended before U.A.
She crosses her arms, staring straight at me like she's about to file a complaint to the principal and my ancestors.
…Great.