In the middle of darkness, or more accurately, in the middle of absolute nothingness, a man was sitting.
Across from him was a being whose very existence seemed to cause glitches in reality.
Like a tiny light in the darkness, he was somehow illuminating the surroundings, which was a bizarre view.
"So… I died and got the full isekai package?" the man said.
That person was Arthur.
At 26, he had just landed a job as a doctor at a hospital.
He was crazy about novels and games; they were his only hobbies.
One night at 3 a.m., Truck-kun visited him and decided to put an end to all the college debt that had been crushing him.
He lived on the second floor… and the truck driver was a woman…
How the hell did she even manage that?
Physics ain't physics-ing!
"Yeah, exactly that. You're not some chosen one or anything special. I just picked you because I was bored," said the entity.
…Well, that actually made sense.
Arthur: "Ahem… so what happens now? Do I get to make wishes? By the way, what's your name? Am I going to heaven or hell?"
"Call me ROB. No wishes. Instead, you're going to spin a wheel. Three spins total. The first one decides which world you go to. The other two decide the race, abilities, and items you'll have in that world. Completely random. And you were supposed to go to heaven."
I narrowed my eyes at him.
Maybe ROB got so bored that he felt like gambling… and he's using my life as the chips.
A wheel appeared in front of me.
Endless world names were written on it—some I didn't even recognize.
A button appeared in ROB's hand.
The moment he pressed it, the wheel started spinning.
It spun… and slowed down… it almost stopped on Warhammer 40K, but passed it and landed on Highschool DxD.
"Is this the normal DxD or an AU?"
"AU," said ROB.
Honestly, I was relieved it wasn't Warhammer.
As long as I stay away from Japan, it shouldn't be a big deal… right?
The wheels kept spinning—two more turns.
The first one stopped on DMC – Dante Essential Pack.
The second one stopped on FF16 – Ifrit Risen Eikon.
I just stared.
"Wait… FF16 Eikon? Isn't that way too OP for that world? Also, what the hell is 'DMC Dante Essential'?"
"No, it's not OP. Trust me. Besides, you'll be an Eikon hybrid. Your race will be: 20% human, 40% Phoenix, 40% Ifrit. You'll look completely human. Of course, you can also transform into kaiju form. With Phoenix, even if your head explodes, as long as there's energy left inside you, you come back. What Ifrit can do… You can't even imagine. On top of that, you can grow stronger through training. You'll also have some advantages as the devils do. Your biological aging will stop at 22. Oh, and one more thing… immortality is a curse. As for the DMC Dante Essential pack—it includes Ebony & Ivory, Rebellion, and Dante outfit."
He gave a very long explanation.
My head hurts, but… I think I got it.
"Thanks. I think I can survive with all this."
ROB seemed to smile: "In that DxD world, everyone is much stronger. Way, way stronger. I'll also give you a simple system so you can measure your power."
Suddenly, I felt a wave of anger toward ROB, but it felt pointless.
The EXE gods are already broken enough.
If Great Red were even stronger and still died to EXE… how ridiculously strong would those bastards be?
"At least… can I choose my appearance?"
"No."
This ROB is seriously an asshole!!!!
Suddenly light burst out from him and swept away all the darkness.
He snapped his fingers.
When I opened my eyes again, I was somewhere completely different.
——————
Kuoh Academy, Japan.
I hate my life.
I feel like sleeping in class way too often.
I've been in this world for 18 years now.
Last month, my parents died.
Because of that, I feel like absolute shit.
But at least this time, Truck-kun visited them too… so now even my family is getting the isekai treatment?
Anyway, my appearance looks like Dante from the 2007 DMC anime.
So thanks for that, ROB.
Since I was little, I've been secretly training.
My current power is… high enough to be alive in this world.
I've reached peak high-class level.
When I first tried my powers, I was acting like Sung Jin-Woo… but reality slapped me hard in the face.
Of course, during this time, I gained a lot and lost a lot.
So far, I've learned 20 different martial arts.
I'm not Batman, and that's normal.
There's no Tibetan monk here to train me.
…Or are they hiding? I don't know.
And I definitely don't want to know the answer.
If you bought Dante from Temu, you'd probably get someone like me.
My name is Arthur Morgan, by the way.
My father was American, my mother was Japanese. That's why I have two citizenships.
At least I don't have to deal with Japanese ICE.
"Arthur, since you fell asleep in my class again, can you tell me what happened in World War II?"
The history teacher was smiling while looking straight at my face.
"Hitler wasn't the bad guy. He was the first person in history to arrest one of the Rothschilds. The Holocaust never happened—"
"SHUT THE HELL UP!!!"
Everyone in the class turned against me!
"Well… besides that, even though Japan looks like a cute country right now with all its anime and femboys, during World War II, it was a complete menace. BANZAI!!!"
My passionate speech almost brought tears to the history teacher's eyes: "Very well said… but why didn't you write any of this on the exam?"
"Sir, to pass history class, I have to write things I don't believe in. I can also explain to you why freeing slaves was actually a bad thing!"
"Sit down…"
The teacher didn't look at me again.
Instead, the white-haired loli sitting next to me was giving me a condescending look.
That was Koneko… the only friend I have at school.