'I'd like to formally complain.'
'This is not what I meant when I said I wanted a break from reality.'
A formless blob of something, a soul maybe, was drifting aimlessly through a vast, soundless expanse of violet and pearlescent white.
"Hello child."
Then a voice cut through the void.
The soul jolted. Then turned toward the source.
'Morgan Freeman?'
The glowing figure before him certainly looked the part: calm expression, dignified presence, draped in a white, knee-length chiton that practically screamed 'divine narration voice'.
The figure laughed, amused.
"I am not Morgan Freeman, child. This form is merely what your mind associates with a godlike being. Though…" He paused, smiling faintly. "I admit it is a popular choice. You may call me R.O.B."
Ah.
'So it was that kind of trope.'
Elon would've smiled bitterly if he had a mouth.
'I read way too much fanfictions to not recognize where this is heading.' He thought. 'Guess that paid off something at least.'
'Confirmed. R.O.B trope exists, checking that off my bucket list.'
His last memory surfaced in his mind…
A normal high school student. Sitting on a mall bench to escape the brutal heat, enjoying an entertaining fanfiction reading session, then somehow a truck display on the ground floor started on its own.
It rammed into him.
Pinned him against the wall of a bubble tea with a splat.
"Unfortunate indeed." R.O.B. said mildly. Already used to this.
'So…' He hesitated, then mentally shrugged. Might as well lean into it.
'We spinning the holy three wheels? World, powers, traits, or whatever package deal?'
R.O.B. hummed in thought.
"That would be the traditional approach." He admitted. "But would you like to try something different?"
If Elon had eyebrows, one would've risen.
'Different how?'
"We'll still spin the wheel for the world you'll reincarnate into." R.O.B. explained. "However, for your power and traits, I will grant you ten points to allocate as you wish."
Ten points.
"You may divide them evenly for balance." The god continued. "Or invest them however you please. Power, trait, or otherwise. Whatever the outcome, it will be shaped, at least in part, by your own choices."
The soul flickered.
Randomness for the world. Control over himself.
'Hey.' Elon thought. 'That… actually doesn't sound bad.'
And for the first time since he died, he felt something dangerously close to excitement.
But, he calmed himself just as quickly.
'Is there a catch going this route?' Elon asked.
"None." R.O.B replied easily. "However, wherever you decide to allocate your points, nine will be the maximum, and one will be the minimum. Even if you go all-in on a single category, the other category must have at least one point."
Elon processed that.
'No zeroes. No saitama-mode. In exchange for control. Fair enough.'
'Got it. Let's do it.' He said or thought, Elon wasn't entirely sure anymore. He decided not to examine that too closely before it turned into an existential crisis. He bobbed himself anyway as a nod.
R.O.B snapped his fingers.
Reality bent.
The world around them flattened, three dimensions collapsing into two, before unfolding again into a massive roulette wheel hovering above them. Neon lights pulsed along its rim, symbols and names blurring together as it slowly rotated in place.
Elon blinked.
'Wasn't that Hero X's power?'
R.O.B noticed his reaction and smiled. "Yes it is. It's convenient, and you have to admit it's excellent for theatrics."
'Can't argue with that.'
Elon drifted closer, craning to get a better look at the wheel.
"Spin it."
"Aye aye."
The roulette launched into motion, spinning so fast the symbols and letters became nothing more than streaks of light. Elon couldn't even begin to guess where it would land.
His thoughts spiraled instead.
'Please don't be a high-mortality world.'
'No Berserk. No Attack on Titan. Naruto's cool, but I'd rather not start life dodging child soldiers and pedos.'
'And definitely not a dystopian nightmare.'
'Promised Neverland? Devilman Crybaby? BLAME!? Hard pass.'
Sure, the point allocation would help, but surviving wasn't the same as living.
'Give me something modern.' He thought. 'Advanced tech, maybe some fantasy mixed in. A place where 'normal life' is at least an option.'
The wheel continued to spin.
'Honestly.' he added. 'I'd pick Pokémon any day over Digimon. Bite me.'
The roulette began to slow.
Elon watched as the pointer ticked past Fullmetal Alchemist, Dragon Ball, Death Note, Detective Conan, Demon Slayer, Darling in the Franxx, and he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding when it slid past Neon Genesis Evangelion and Vinland Saga.
'Okay. Good so far. Great, even.'
'As long as there's no inevitable psychological collapse or mass genocide.'
He paused, considering.
'Still… I wonder if any of these worlds have culture a man of my stature would appreciate.'
Then the pointer slowed.
Dangerously so.
It crept… and stopped.
Right on Warhammer 40k.
Elon's soul-form stiffened, the blob of his being hardening into a comically rigid mass.
'No. No no no, go over, damn it!'
For a split second, the wheel seemed to hesitate.
Then with a click.
The pointer slipped past the segment.
And landed on:
My Hero Academia.
Elon sagged in relief.
Thank R.O.B. That would've sucked a whole lot of balls.
'My Hero Academia… huh. I can work with this.'
Elon nodded to himself.
Modern setting. Superpowers as quirks. Heroes, villains, and stupidly high property damage.
Sure, there were more than a few mentally unstable weirdos who decided it was their divine calling to perform some form of 'ethical' or 'ethnic' cleansing.
Elon shrugged internally.
As long as I train hard enough to not die horribly, I can at least save my own butt.
"Are you satisfied with My Hero Academia?" R.O.B asked.
'Yeah. I mean, I'd take it over Warhammer 40k any day.'
"Very well." R.O.B said. "Then we move on to point allocation, between Quirk and Traits."
'Quirk? Shouldn't it be powers?'
"The universe you are reincarnating into will convert your 'power' into a Quirk." R.O.B explained patiently. "Its function, limitations, and biological expression will be redesigned to conform to the laws of that world."
'So… Whatever I get is gonna come with inherent drawbacks and biological nonsense like every other Quirk, huh?'
R.O.B smiled.
"Correct. If it didn't, it wouldn't be called a quirk."
He paused, tone sharpening just slightly.
"A quirk without weaknesses would be classified as an anomaly. And anomalies are… corrected."
Elon stiffened.
'…Yeah, okay. Weaknesses it is.'
"Alright then."
R.O.B nodded once, and with a snap of his fingers, reality bent again.
Space folded in on itself like paper, colors flattening before snapping back into depth. When the distortion cleared, a machine sat between them.
It looked suspiciously like a coffee capsule machine.
Elon stared at it.
'…He's really having fun with this theatrics thing, huh.'
The machine had two slots, one on the right, one on the left, and beside it sat a neat stack of ten coins.
Elon turned toward R.O.B, his amorphous body tilting in question.
As if anticipating it, R.O.B spoke first. "This will determine your Quirk and Traits. In the right slot, you will insert anywhere from one to nine coins for your quirk. The remaining coins go into the left slot for your traits. You may allocate them however you wish, as long as each category receives at least one."
'Got it.' Elon said, nodding.
He already mentally planned how he would allocate it.
He hesitated though; he wanted to confirm something.
'If we're talking in MHA terms.' He asked. 'How many coins would quirks like One For All, New Order, or All For One be worth?'
"Eight." R.O.B answered without hesitation. "But do not misunderstand. Coin value does not guarantee dominance. A quirk's versatility, compatibility, and the user's effort matter just as much."
He gestured vaguely. "Aizawa Shouta's quirk would only be worth about five coins, yet he remains invaluable even during the Final War Arc."
"Likewise, an eight-coin quality quirk in untrained hands other than brute forcing themselves is meaningless."
"This principle applies to your traits as well. No matter how much you allocate, 1 or 9, it's still going to be a 50-50 chance for whether it'll be good or bad; only the quality of what you'll receive changes."
Elon nodded slowly, processing all of those. 'Thanks.'
'Alright… here goes.'
One by one, he fed nine coins into the quirk slot.
He's going all-in on the quirk department; he'll worry about the trait later.
As each coin dropped in, the capsules visible behind the glass deepened in color, fading from pale hues into something darker, denser, almost luminous.
Finally, he turned the knob.
The machine whirred.
A single capsule dropped.
The moment it hit the tray, it split open on its own.
Light spilled out and letters formed in the air, etched in glowing script.
Quirk: Stellar
'Stellar. Huh. Sounds cool, but… girly.'
'What does it do?' Elon asked.
R.O.B smiled.
"You'll have to find out."
'It doesn't come with a description at least?' Elon sighed.
"Where's the fun in that?"
'If you say so.'
But if it's worth 9 coins then it has to be something, Elon can't wait to find out what it can do. However, based on the name itself, he's already making some assumptions.
R.O.B gestured toward the capsule machine again, redirecting his focus.
"There is still one coin remaining."
Elon looked down.
Sure enough, one lonely coin sat on the side, glinting like it was judging him.
'…That's for traits, right.'
"Correct."
Elon floated over and picked it up, rolling it between what passed for his fingers.
'One coin.' He muttered. 'Man. That's either gonna be something stupid or a curse.'
He glanced at R.O.B and sarcastically said. 'So what are in the capsules for one coin? Psyduck Intelligence? Zoro's sense of direction? Levi's height? Saitama hair loss?'
R.O.B tilted his head, amused. "You will receive what best aligns with the needs of your disposition."
'That's ominous.'
Elon shrugged. 'Well. Can't be worse than being lazy, right?'
"Exactly."
He slid the coin into the left slot.
The machine made a much less dramatic sound this time, no glow, no color shift. Just a dull clunk.
A capsule dropped.
It cracked open.
Floating letters appeared, far simpler than before.
Trait: Not Lazy
Elon stared.
'That's it?'
R.O.B nodded. "Yes."
'That's not even fancy.' Elon protested. "No 'Indefatigable Will' or 'Relentless Drive'?"
"You did only allocate one coin."
'Touché.'
He squinted at the words again.
'Wait. 'Not Lazy' doesn't mean I'm hardworking.'
"Correct."
'It just means I'm not… lazy.'
"Also correct."
Elon went quiet.
'Hmm.'
'…Honestly?' He said after a beat. 'That might actually save my life.'
R.O.B smiled wider at that.
"It's not power that changes the world." He said sagely. "It's people who have the will to use it."
'Yeah… that tracks.' Elon nodded slowly. 'But was that quote from Sinbad?'
"I binge a lot of anime between reincarnations."
Elon quipped. 'Of course you do.'
R.O.B raised a hand.
Seeing this, Elon knew he was about to be sent off.
'One last question.'
R.O.B raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
'Will I be starting as a niche baby? Because I really don't want that to happen. Sucking on someone's nips for sustenance and having somebody change my diapers and all that jizz jazz isn't really my thing.'
"You don't have any other option, I'm afraid."
Elon exhaled, resigned. 'Alright. If there's really no way around it, then I suppose I can endure it for a few years.'
R.O.B chuckled. Then he added a reminder.
'Oh. And one more thing before I send you off to your world.'
'What is it?'
"The quirk you received." R.O.B continued, voice steady. "Any quirk produced from a nine-coin allocation will be a timeline-altering existence."
Elon blinked. 'And that means… What exactly?'
"It means that your presence alone, even the time leading up to your natural creation, every action, whether big or small, will ripple through the flow of time, causing changes in the timeline."
"Canon will diverge before you'd even notice it. Outcomes will shift. People who lived may die. People who died may live. People who may haven't been there are there."
Silence stretched.
'That sounds different from all the fanfictions I've read.'
"Change frightens writers who have nothing new to say. True creativity is in the art of change and authenticity."
'So, my canon knowledge might be drastically different just because I'm added into the world?'
"Exactly. Though you may still find your canon knowledge useful regardless."
Elon nodded slowly. 'So I'm a walking butterfly effect with a face. Noted.'
R.O.B chuckled.
"Now then, let's get this over with."
He raised a finger. "And remember…"
"With great power, comes great responsibility."
Elon groaned. 'You had to say it.'
"I did."
'Legally obligated?'
"Cosmically."
The space around them began to fracture, light peeling away like glass.
'Alright.' Elon said, bracing himself. 'Modern World. Quirks. Heroes. Villains. School. Dictators.'
He paused.
'…No trucks, right?'
R.O.B snapped his fingers.
"I make no promises."
'YOU—'
Reality collapsed.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
This is my first fanfiction on Webnovel. Hope you liked this Prologue.
What to expect: No-Harem, Overpowered but gradual progression, Slice of Life, Comedy, Romance, Character Development, a bit of smut, a whole lot of dynamic comedy, and some sense of creativity I know you'll appreciate as a reader.
You can think of it as being an AU of MHA Academia.