"Medic Horn, this kid's vitals are dropping rapidly. If we don't treat him soon, he won't last much longer. Hurry up and prepare the recovery fluid and nutrient solution—we need to at least keep him alive... Ugh, this expense is going to be added to the training corps' budget again."
"How did he end up so badly injured? Looks like a newbie in the training corps."
"Exactly. This was his first time in field training, and he already ended up like this. What bad luck. Oh well, if we can save him, we'll save him. If not, then that's that. I'll report to Lord Parapi."
"Heh, don't worry. You know the quality of our treatment center. Many newborns are raised here."
"Yeah, yeah, everyone knows your services come with a clear price tag."
"By the way, don't use the high-quality recovery fluid. The training corps' budget is tight lately."
"Understood."
This was a scene unfolding in the treatment center. The Yugalian, Horn, smiled as he saw off the Saiyan squad leader. Then, he turned to look at the heavily injured young Saiyan—a child around three years old, his body extremely thin, showing clear signs of malnutrition.
"Saiyans really have incredible vitality. Even after suffering such severe injuries, he's still alive."
"Hah, that's why they're called a warrior race. If I had a Saiyan's physique, I'd have become a powerful fighter instead of working as a medic here." The Yugalian, Horn, examined the injured child with his scanner, his octopus-like head shaking in disapproval.
"Severe internal damage, multiple internal bleeding points, sixteen fractured bones, and the most critical injury—severe trauma to the skull. The chances of survival are slim."
"Pull up this kid's records."
With a beep, the medical system connected to the energy detector on the child's ear, pulling up his database. Soon, a holographic projection displayed information about the young Saiyan.
Name: Raiga
Parents: Talens (Deceased in battle), Alicia (Deceased in battle)
Aptitude: Mid-tier
Power Level: 1,344
"A mid-tier warrior. If his parents were still alive, he wouldn't have been sent to the training corps." Lifting the heavily injured Saiyan child, Horn, with the help of an assistant, placed him inside a transparent medical pod and began filling it with green recovery fluid.
This recovery fluid was of rather average quality, but it was cheap.
As per the training corps' instructions, they were not to use high-quality recovery fluid due to budget constraints. In reality, orphans like Raiga, unless they possessed extraordinary talent, were given little special care. After a simple training period, they would be assigned missions and sent off-planet from Vegeta.
The training corps was, in essence, a facility where orphaned Saiyan children were trained in basic survival and combat skills.
The training method was brutal—they would be thrown into dangerous wilderness areas, forced to fight savage beasts to survive. Despite Saiyans ruling Planet Vegeta, the planet's wild regions were still home to ferocious creatures.
The mortality rate of such training was self-evident.
Because of this, Saiyan parents who were still alive would rather train their children themselves than send them to the training corps.
…
Nighttime.
Raiga remained submerged in the recovery fluid. Suddenly, a stream of bubbles floated up in the green liquid. The monitoring system detected an abnormality in the subject's vitals, and warning alarms began blaring.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
"What's going on?"
Horn and his assistant rushed over, checking the medical monitor. Although Raiga's body had mostly healed, his brainwave activity had gone flat.
"Dispose of him. He's beyond saving. Stop the recovery fluid input and drain the chamber for recycling."
"Who's handling the body disposal?"
The treatment center often encountered Saiyans who died despite treatment. Typically, family or close friends claimed the bodies, but orphaned children were handled by the center—either cremated on-site or buried by disposal robots.
After signing off the death certificate, Horn called for a disposal robot.
The robot packaged Raiga's body and transported it over a hundred kilometers away to a small forest. There, it dug a hole, dumped the body inside, and buried it.
Task complete, the robot compacted the soil with its treads, reported mission completion, and returned to the treatment center.
The night was dark, the stars sparse. A dim celestial glow decorated the sky.
At the burial site, something miraculous was happening.
Raiga had no idea how long he had been unconscious. When his awareness returned, a sharp pain from deep within his soul tormented him.
His body felt unbearably heavy, so much so that even using all his strength, he couldn't open his eyes.
It was agonizing. In his hazy state, he saw a massive light before him.
He struggled for a long time and finally managed to open his eyes.
The scent of soil filled his nostrils. Wait… was he buried underground?!
Raiga's mind jolted awake. As he gritted his teeth, a wave of excruciating pain washed over him, causing sweat to pour down his face.
Gritting his teeth, he clawed his way out of the dirt. Every movement was a massive effort due to his injuries.
Crawling out of the ground, Raiga gasped for breath, gulping in the fresh air. His lungs, deprived for so long, greedily absorbed the oxygen, revitalizing his body.
Where am I?
His head was still dizzy, but the next second, a flood of memories surged through his mind. He let out a pained cry as he absorbed the past experiences of this body.
When he finally grasped the truth, his youthful eyes flickered with disbelief.
"This is Planet Vegeta… and I've become a Saiyan child? And I already died once?!"
Raiga was in shock. He never expected that after going to sleep, he would wake up in the world of Dragon Ball. According to this body's memories, he was Raiga, a young Saiyan who had just joined the training corps and died due to an accident.
His parents had perished on a mission a year ago. Though they had received a death pension, all the money had been spent on his early-year nutrient fluid expenses.
On Planet Vegeta, newborn Saiyans spent their first three years submerged in nutrient fluid, a process designed to enhance their physique and unlock greater potential.
Since Raiga's parents had died early, the quality of his later nutrient fluid had been subpar. Compared to other Saiyans of his age, he was "underdeveloped."
This sucks.
Raiga yanked up a handful of grass in frustration.
Compared to other Saiyans his age, he was already at a disadvantage.
Even in "death," they couldn't bother giving him a proper burial.
Stay calm. Even though he wasn't an elite warrior, he was still mid-tier. Mid-tier wasn't bad!
Raiga reassured himself. Compared to being born as a weak Earthling, he should be grateful—being an Earthling would have been true nightmare mode.
Wait… I died once already. That means, thanks to the Saiyan near-death power boost, my strength should have increased!
That thought lifted his spirits.
No, wait! That's not the priority right now.
If this really was Planet Vegeta, he needed to figure out how much time was left before the main story began. He didn't want to die a second time.