NOVEL WEB Chapter 2: Chapter 2 - Worlds
"Life is about making choices. Some we regret, some we're proud of. Some will haunt us forever. The message: We are what we choose to be."
— Graham Brown
...
I didn't really want to go to the Harry Potter World; I just wanted to check something.
To my surprise, when I confirmed the search, the list refreshed, and a filter dramatically shortened the list to only one world.
"Wizard World." I muttered, reading what was written out loud.
Apparently, it didn't matter if the name of the world wasn't exactly what I had typed; the world I had in mind would appear.
When I clicked on the name "Wizard World", the white holographic screen in front of me expanded and letters organized themselves into English words.
[World: Wizard World.
Description: An apparently ordinary world, with conventional technology, except for the fact that here there are beings called Wizards who can produce spells. Such ability requires practice and study, but has almost unlimited potential if you're the ambitious type.]
[Would you like to be reincarnated in the Wizard World?]
It seemed tempting at first. For much of my life, the only book I had touched was "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".
I even wished that an owl had delivered my letter to Hogwarts, or any other wizarding school, to my letterbox. Then maybe I could leave my home and my drug-addicted parents behind, just like Harry did with the Dursleys.
However, that dream ended when I turned twelve, and no letter arrived.
So living in the world of Harry Potter was no longer as much of an adventure for me as it had been when I was a child.
"There must be better options for me."
I put a hand to my chin and thought. A second later, I had an idea that could have made a light bulb go on next to my head if I had been in a cartoon.
So I quickly typed into the search bar: "Marvel".
Unlike Wizard World, the list became enormous. It was so big that it had to be divided into so many pages that I had to look at page after page until I found the world I wanted.
[Marvel Worlds:
1 - 2099
2 - Age of Apocalypse
3 - Dynasty M
4 - Marvel Zombies
5 - MCU
6 - Principal Comics
7 - Spider-Gwen (Earth-65)
8 - Ultimate
...]
The list went on for countless pages.
Marvel really was an interesting choice. Full of beautiful women, business opportunities, interesting worlds and... universal events.
Sure, I'd like to be a hero, and interacting with those fun characters would be great, but then I imagined that I'd have to fight villains every week, and once a year I'd have to save the world, or even the universe, from some great threat.
Just thinking about it made me feel a little lazy.
'There's got to be some world that's interesting, dangerous in the right way, fun, with a level of power that won't kill me immediately if I do something wrong and that has cool characters.'
Dragon Ball met almost all the requirements, except that the power level was too high and it suffered from the same problem as Marvel. I didn't want to have to save the world every time.
Bleach would be nice and even Frieren, but I think both would get boring after a few years.
One Piece? Erh... My stomach has never really handled boats, and I've only seen half the anime.
Analyzing my options and ruling out the ones that seemed the worst was the best thing to do at first. So, inevitably, I ended up thinking of Naruto.
Dangerous world just right, except for the Ninja World Wars. Fun characters, and a power system that I'd really like to understand more deeply and learn on my own. After all, who hasn't wanted to do a Rasengan, right? Yes, this seemed like the ideal choice.
So I typed "Naruto" into the search bar. Two results appeared.
[Naruto Worlds:
1 - Ninja World
2 - Infinite Tsukuyomi.]
My eyebrows rose. It was a big surprise that Tsukuyomi's alternative universe was listed, and choosing that option to reincarnate was tempting to me.
There were many differences between the normal Ninja World and the Infinite Tsukuyomi, big and small.
The biggest of these differences was that the world created by Madara's idealization of perfection, the world of Tsukuyomi, was nothing less and nothing more than a perfect world for all people. No wars and everyone fulfilling their dreams. Even Akatsuki was good in this universe.
Living in a world like that would be cool, especially to watch events unfold differently from the original work.
But I wouldn't just want to watch things unfold. I'd like to be the driving force behind the changes. To really experience the world of Naruto, and not watch them all have their happily ever after.
Since that was my goal, what I needed to do was as clear as the white clouds.
I clicked on the name "Ninja World" and after reading the brief description of the world of Naruto, the question appeared.
[Do you wish to reincarnated in the Ninja World?]
"Yes." I confirmed out loud, because there was no button to click.
Immediately, I felt everything around me shake. From the station tunnels, I could hear trains running down the tracks. Then a train stopped on the platform to my right.
When I approached the train, the doors didn't open. Instead, there was another holographic window in the door.
[Before leaving for A New Chance, you must choose the talents you will have in your next life.]
[We'll start with... Normal Talents].
An infinitesimal number of skills appeared on the holographic screen. Like the worlds, these skills were listed in alphabetical order.
I went through tab by tab to better understand what this thing meant by a normal skill. To my surprise, I saw skills that I actually considered rare, such as [Sharp Aim], [Mother's Intuition], [Fearless], and many others like that. Sure, there were common skills like [Cutting Vegetables with Precision].
"A normal skill I'd like to have...?"
Well, there were a lot of other people's skills that I would have liked to have had in my past life, and that I envied some people for having those skills. However, I couldn't think of what my old self needed and wanted to have. Unfortunately, that old me was already dead and there was no going back. I needed to think about what my new self would need.
I didn't know which country, clan, or condition I would be born into. So, I needed skills to meet all my needs and to be strong. If this was true, then being fast or excellent at one thing wasn't the best. A skill that made me good in several areas, like an elite athlete, was better.
After a few seconds of thought and research, I found the most suitable skill.
[Talent Name: Superior Manual Ability
Description: Motor coordination so advanced that it allows for quick and precise maneuvers with your feet, as well as the use of any tool that uses your hands. Your body will adapt whenever it needs you to do something manually.
Rating: Normal.]
At first glance, it might seem like a bad skill, but it's not. With great motor coordination, it would be easier for someone unaccustomed like me to perform hand seals at high speed, handle ninja weapons, and move my body like a ninja.
[Do you want to choose this talent?]
"Yes, that'll be it."
[Talent "Superior Manual Ability" acquired.]
[Now, you must choose a Rare Talent.]
As I read the first few skill names on the new list that appeared, I realized this system understood "Rare" to mean skills that were rare in the omniverse.
At this stage, I was undecided between two skills. One was [Amplified Senses], while the other was [General Elemental Affinity].
In the world of Naruto, normal people have an affinity for one or two elements. The very talented can have up to three affinities. This meant that those who had affinities with all the elements were almost legendary figures for this reason alone. For this reason, [General Elemental Affinity] would usually be the obvious choice for me.
However, [Amplified Senses] allowed me not only to have hearing, smell, and sight comparable to those of the Inuzuka Clan, but also to pick up hostile or malicious intentions from subtle changes in someone's facial expressions or posture.
In my first life, I died not because I trusted someone too much, but because I couldn't spot the signs. I wouldn't want to go through that a second time.
So, with a little anguish, I chose [Amplified Senses].
If the clan I was born into was a civilian clan, at least I would have the innate talent to be a sensory ninja.
[Talent "Amplified Senses" acquired.]
[Choose your Epic Talent.]
[Talent "Perfect Control of Spiritual Energy" acquired.]
It was easy to choose this time. My options were fewer, and none seemed more helpful than having perfect control of my chakra. I was even looking forward to seeing how it would work out.
[Choose your Legendary Talent.]
This was the hardest one to choose because the skills that appeared were all related to the world I had chosen.
There were skills like [Absolute Natural Mastery], which allowed me to access a chosen Sage Mode without restrictions. There was also [Vision Beyond Space-Time], which involved perceiving combat movements that would occur moments in advance.
However, what really captured me was [Divine Chakra].
[Talent Name: Divine Chakra
Description: A chakra with unique properties, so dense and powerful that it increases the strength of all jutsus, including genjutsus and taijutsus. This type of chakra can frighten or intimidate ninjas with high sensitivity, as well as being recovered at a much faster rate.
Rank: Legendary.]
Combining this talent with the Epic Talent I chose, I would have practically infinite chakra.
[Talent "Divine Chakra" acquired.]
"Phewww! It was hard, but it looks like I've reached the end." I wiped the imaginary sweat off my brow. "I think I made some good e-choices."
[Choose your Systemic Talent.]
I frowned and saw a short list appear. To my surprise, this list had ten systems for me to choose from on my own.
[Systemic Talents available:
1 - Leveling System
2 - Extraction System
3 - Territory Domain System
4 - Shop System
5 - Survival System
6 - Villain System
7 - Simulation System
8 - Essence Gacha System.]
As I used to be an avid reader of novels and manhwas, I knew all the systems mentioned on this list, all except for one. The last one. Maybe I was an embarrassment for that one.
"What is an Essence Gacha?"
[Basically, you can get Gacha Points and spin a roulette wheel every day, with the chance of getting a Kitchen Knife or Thanos's Infinity Gauntlet, with all the gems.]