Disclaimer: Just in case nobody realized I don't own nor do I claim ownership of Highschool DxD, all characters and worlds belong to their real world respective owners. I'm just having some fun, that's all.
Highschool DxD: The Cursed King of Kuoh
S1 Ch 1: Wake Up You're Dead
"Where's the floor? Why can't I feel anything?"
A young man asked himself as he floated through the endless abyss. He tried to sit up but found his entire body bound by some kind of invisible restraints. He attempted to push against it, but as if it were a boa constrictor the more he struggled against it the tighter it became.
"Seriously what the actual hell is going on!"
He screamed as he thrashed about in the invisible straightjacket, his curses echoing throughout the void. Unable to free himself, the young man took a deep breath and calmed himself down. Slowly the restraints lessened and he was finally able to breathe comfortably enough to think.
"Okay, think," he said to himself as he continued to float about. "How did I end up here?"
The man immediately racked his brain trying to remember how he ended up in the seeming endless void.
o-O-o
It was a typical Saturday morning, and inside a standard three-bedroom apartment, an alarm clock could be heard going off.
BeepBeepBeep
"Zach! Sweetheart, it's time for you to get up!" An older feminine voice shouted from downstairs.
"Argh!" The boy responded, reaching one arm out from beneath his quilt trying to turn the alarm clock off.
Finally, after blindly reaching for it and pushing it around on his nightstand, he finally hit the off button. Slowly, a young man in his late teens sat up in bed. Squinting his eyes at the morning sunlight, Zach let out an exaggerated yawn as he stretched his arms out, making the quilt fall away, exposing his bare chest.
After rubbing the sleep from his eyes and smacking his lips, he looked around his room in a daze until his eyes locked onto the calendar he had mounted on the wall. Throwing the blanket off of himself, he quickly shot to his feet and ran straight to the calendar. Zooming in close like a magnifying glass, he carefully inspected the current date. Upon seeing the circled date of August 19, Zach nearly jumped with joy.
"Yes! Today's the day!" He squealed in delight.
He was practically fist-pumping the air when his eyes locked on his alarm clock.
"Shit, 8:40! They're gonna open in twenty minutes!"
He quickly began to get dressed, throwing on some deodorant rather than taking a shower whilst also getting dressed in plain blue jeans and a hoodie. Looking himself over in the bathroom mirror, he washed the rest of the sleep out of his eyes, and began to messily apply gel to his hair, giving it that classic bed-head look that girls supposedly went crazy over. After brushing his teeth and rinsing with some mouthwash, Zach made his way down the stairs, jumping over the wooden banister.
"Someone's excited today, isn't he?" A female voice asked from the kitchen.
"Morning mom," He responded, giving the older woman a kiss on the cheek as he took a prepared breakfast plate.
"Good morning, sweety," She replied with a chuckle before returning to her iron skillet.
Zach quickly made his way over to the dining room table where he found his father and younger sister already seated and eating.
"Good morning, son," his father said, setting down his newspaper for a moment to greet him. "I see you slept well."
"Yup, like a rock," he agreed as he bit into a piece of a waffle.
"About time you got up," His sister Sara remarked as she took a bite of fruit. "That alarm clock is super annoying! Why can't you get a new one?!"
"Are you out of your mind, Sara?!" He snapped back, his face filled with indignation. "It's a collectors item. There were only a hundred of them ever made!"
"You and your Japanese obsession," She said with clear derision. "Anyway, why'd you get up so late today? Did you stay up too late beating your meat to those cartoon girls you love so much?"
Zach's face became flushed red from embarrassment, but he didn't utter a word.
Tonk
Then their mother appeared behind Sara, striking her head with her metal ladle as she placed a plate of steamy biscuits down.
"I will not have that kind of language at the table, young lady," She said sternly to a teary-eyed Sara.
"Sorry, mom," She muttered back as she rubbed the sore spot on her head.
"It's okay, darling, I'm not mad," She replied before kissing the top of her head where she had struck. "Dear, it would be nice if you'd join the breakfast conversation."
She said as she eyeballed her husband, who'd been focused on reading his paper. Understanding her meaning, the father simply snorted before folding up his paper and setting it down at his right so he could read it later.
"So any plans for today, Zach?" He asked as he cut into his breakfast waffle.
"Yeah, me and some of the guys are gonna meet up downtown," He responded excitedly. "Today the latest volume of Jujutsu Kaisen is released."
"Oh, that's nice so when are you, wait… That's not one of those Japanese cartoons, is it?"
"..."
Zach remained silent for a moment before he finally spoke.
"I-it's called anime, dad, and it's art."
His father, just like his sister, began to shake his head.
"Well call it whatever you want, I thought we've been over this?" He asked sternly, making his son squirm in his seat. "I want you to stop wasting your money on those comic books."
"I'm not wasting my time!" He defended, looking into his father's stern brown eyes. "It's my money and I'm not hurting anyone by reading it, so why do you care? Plus, it's the latest part in one of the greatest masterpieces of our time!"
"That's what you said about the pirate one last month." He pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Zach, you're going to graduate soon, which means you need to start thinking about your future. Either start applying to colleges or you need to enroll in a trade school, whichever one you want. But one thing is for certain, you will not be spending your life reading cartoons all day."
Zach was starting to grow sick of his parents badgering on how he spent his time. He knew it came from a place of love and a concern for his future, but that didn't make it any less irritating, especially with the frequencies having increased with each passing day. Seeing her son's annoyed expression, his mother decided to intervene.
"Dear, I think you've made your point." She said, making her way behind her sitting husband and placing her hands on her shoulders.
Holding his wife's hand while looking up into her green eyes, the man simply snorted while turning his attention back to his breakfast.
"Zach, you can go and buy your little comic book, but only if you promise to start sending out applications when you get back."
"I promise I will!" He vowed.
"Well then hurry up and finish your breakfast." She said with a motherly smile. "You don't want to be late."
Zach didn't need to be told twice as he immediately began to devour the breakfast platter with the ravenous hunger of a typical teenage boy. After finishing, he put his plate in the sink and after ruffling his annoyed sister's hair and giving his mother another kiss, quickly made his way out of the apartment building and down the street to catch the bus.
"Well, I'm gonna give Jessica a call," Sara remarked as she finished her plate as well before leaving the dining room.
Now alone at the table, the father decided to address his wife.
"You're way too soft on him, Marie," he remarked as he ate a sausage patty.
"Oh, stop it, John, like you weren't just as carefree at his age," She replied, waving off his concerns.
"That's precisely my concern," He said as he set his silverware down. "I don't want to see him struggle the way I had to. He needs to start thinking about what kind of man he wants to become."
"Alright, relax there, Yoda, he's a good boy and he has time."
"Time is not the issue, it's just that-"
But his wife stopped him with a finger to his lips.
"I understand, John, I really do," She said as she looked into her husband's eyes as she lovingly caressed his cheek. "But there's nothing wrong with letting him be a kid a little bit longer. If not for him, then do it for me."
Staring into his wife's sad green eyes, John let out a heavy sigh.
"I never could win in an argument with you." He said, exasperated, making his wife smile.
"And don't you forget it, mister," She said sweetly before kissing his cheek and then getting up and making her way into the kitchen to start cleaning up.
o-O-o
When Zach got down to the bus stop, he ran into his old childhood friend Emily who happened to be heading to the same stop as him. They ultimately decided to sit next to each other rather than risk another bus ride next to a sneezer or cougher. As they rode side by side, the two old friends began to catch up.
"So you're after the latest volume too, huh?" She asked.
"Of course, aren't you?" He inquired.
"Yeah, but if there's none left, I'll just get a new copy of Shiunji Family Children." She shrugged while Zach gave her a side glance.
"I don't know why you are so into that taboo shit," He remarked, a little uncomfortable with his friend's "tastes."
"Oh? Like you're any better?" She said, raising an eyebrow. "Still beating your sausage to those fan-service anime girls of yours?"
"That's different!" He growled, having become flushed from embarrassment.
"Yeah, you're right," she agreed, nodding her head. "One of us is comfortable with their fetishes and you're not."
"Hey, don't say it like-"
Zach cut himself off, looking out the window as the bus sped along. Twenty minutes until the store opens. If I can grab the volume and head home fast, I can start those applications right after lunch. Maybe Dad was right... I should start being a little more responsible. Then suddenly Zach watched in horror as an eighteen-wheeler lost control and came barreling into their bus's lane.
"Emily, look out!" He screamed before the truck collided with the bus and everything went black.
o-O-o
Back inside the void, Zach's eyes went wide with shock after he remembered everything.
"Oh my god! I'm dead!" He wailed. "How?! How could this have happened?!"
His voice echoed across the void like an empty cavern.
"This isn't right, I'm not ready to be dead yet! I still have things I have to do! This can't be happening!"
He continued to scream and shout until his eyes became heavy, and slowly the darkness overtook him. The only sounds that could be heard was the boy's light breathing and the sounds of tears dripping onto the dark floor beneath him.
o-O-o
After some time, Zach managed to get onto his side, but remained curled up like a frightened child.
Some days had passed since the boy's "emotional" moment. In all that time, he'd hardly moved, spending his time softly muttering to himself against the floor as helplessness began to overtake him. Though soon came another problem. Despite being dead, he could still feel, and he quickly found that the void or wherever he was didn't have any food or drink.
Hunger soon began to replace sadness and fear as he would awaken from his sleep plagued by incredible hunger. During these torturous episodes of his body literally eating itself, dark thoughts entered his mind.
"Why do I have to continue suffering like this?" He wondered to himself. "I thought being dead meant an end to pain? Why can't it just end?"
His inner thought muttered before his consciousness fell into darkness again.
Another five days passed and the ravenous hunger grew in intensity. The phantom pain of starvation struck at his very spirit. The unbearable pain that felt as though one was cutting open his gut with a rusty dull box cutter.
"...Why?...Why am I still alive?...I don't want this…I just want it to be over."
Slowly, the boy's mind entered into a vicious game of tug of war between his desire to live and his desire to die. Zach now could no longer think clearly and would just mutter nonsense to himself in the darkness.
Another four days passed and Zach's mind began to experience some changes. Alternating between his two desires, he single-mindedly waited for this torture's existence to end, but then a murky dark thought from the darkness depths of his soul bled out. The black mud-like substance bleed out through the cracks of fear, sadness, and pain.
"...Why must I suffer?...What have I ever done to deserve any of this?"
"Why do I have to die when so many less deserving get to live?"
"Why am I in this position in the first place?"
"If there is some loving caring god out there, why did he kill me?"
Zach's thoughts grew gradually darker and darker. As the blackness of his thoughts began to erode the very being that was once Zach McCole. The intense pain and hunger only hastened the corruption as his spirit became as black as the space he was trapped in.
"Why won't anyone help me?"
"Why won't anyone save me?"
"How do I make the pain stop?"
On the fifteenth day, Zach began desperately trying to figure out a way to break out of his prison. Desperate to be free of the pain, he began ignoring all things he deemed unnecessary like his pent-up anger and rage. Now was not the time for those feelings, now was the time for a plan.
"What do I want?" He would ask himself. "I want to live."
"Who's standing in the way?"
"The enemy,"
"What's an enemy?"
"Those who stand in the way of your desires."
"What do you desire?"
"Power. I desire power!"
On the seventeenth day, there wasn't a shred of the old Zach remaining. His former life, his friends, even his family. None of it mattered anymore. In order to live, you had to earn the right to live. To survive. How does one survive? By being better! Stronger!"
Consolidating all of his thoughts there was only one answer he could come up with.
"Become the strongest and slaughter any who get in your way!"
It wasn't malicious or insidious. There was no anger or rage in those words. Just a pure instinctive fact. A simple fact that every creature that walked their earth knew in their very bones and only humans were dumb enough to forget it. Survival of the fittest.
"Greetings, newcomer!" A voice rang out inside Zach's mind. "Sorry it took so long to greet you, things have been hectic around the office lately." It remarked.
Suddenly a man or something taking the form of a man appeared before Zach's eyes. The thing was dressed in a long black cloak that covered its entire body, and wore a round strange hat atop its head. Its hair was black with the tips constantly wisping like they were alive, but its most distinctive feature was the black and white jester mask it wore over its face.
"Who the fuck are you and why are you inside my head?!" Zach snarled at the newcomer.
"Us? Oh, we have many names but you may address us as the Mediator." It said more cheerfully than Zach would like. "And as to why we're speaking inside your mind, well, if you heard our true voice, your little human brain would melt. Trust us, this is easier for everyone."
"...Well…Thanks for the explanation," he swallowed slightly, looking at the being in front of him in a new light. "Now would you mind telling me what the hell you want?"
"To make you an offer you can't refuse."
"A Godfather line." He scoffed. "Nice, real original."
"You don't like it? The last one of you thought that was hilarious."
"Yeah, well maybe the last one of me wasn't left in this empty pit for a month starving!" He snapped back.
"A Month?" It sounded confused. "Is that how long it has been? Oh right, time runs differently for you lower beings. Apologies about the delay, but our work load has been crazy lately."
"Look, you obviously did drag me down here to talk about your work schedule. So please do me a solid and just tell me what the fuck it is you want from me."
"Well, see that's where you're wrong since we didn't bring you here at all."
"What do you mean?"
"Only the Will of the Universe has the power to bring someone here and only if they've been deemed worthy."
"Okay, what exactly?"
"To receive the Celestial System and for the chance to fight for the prize!" It shouted excitedly.
"...Okay," he said after a moment of silence. "And what pray tell is this prize exactly?"
"Nobody knows for sure," It responded immediately. "Only the members of Upper Management know the exact nature of the prize."
"Upper Management?" He wondered to himself.
"So let me get this straight," he said, trying to gather his thoughts. "You want me to agree to fight in a tournament for some great prize, but you can't tell me what the prize is or even what it does. Did I get that right?"
"Yes," It affirmed.
"Yeah, thanks but no thanks." He waved off.
"We beg your pardon?"
"Look, I'm not interested, alright, so just send me off to the afterlife or something."
"We don't think you understand your position here. You've been chosen personally by the Will of the Universe. There's no going back now."
"What do you mean?"
"We mean regardless of how you feel on the matter, you nevertheless have to participate."
"Oh really now and what if I refuse?"
Suddenly the being's aura became much more frightening, as if fear itself was emitting from its presence.
"Failure to comply will result in the participant's complete deletion, and we mean that very literally."
Despite technically not having a body, Zach could feel sweat form on his brow while his hair stood on end. Yet he refused to back down, staring at the robed figure defiantly. He wanted to yell, he wanted to curse it, but he knew all of that would be pointless and if there was one thing his father always told him was never waste your time with a pointless activity. As he mentally prepared himself for the decision he was going to have to make, it studied him carefully. Seeing the young man's growing anxiety, the mediator decided to extend an olive branch.
"What if we told you we could send you to one of those adult cartoon worlds you seemed to enjoy?"
His ears immediately perked up upon hearing those words leave whatever was behind its mask.
"I'm listening." He said as he gave the being his undivided attention.
"So how about this: We will allow you to select a world in which you may reincarnate into. Then afterward, you will be bestowed spectacular powers to do with as you please."
"Oh yeah? And what's the catch?" He asked, remembering his father's words about free meals.
"The catch is that you will be required to fulfill missions, or tasks whenever Upper Management calls upon you."
"What kind of tasks are we talking about here?"
"It'll depend on the world you select, until you make those choices we couldn't say." It remarked.
Zach was clearly distrustful of the being's intentions.
"Would you please just relax." It remarked, getting annoyed by the young man's continued hesitation. "The amount of times we'll call on you will be quite rare. Most of the time, you'll be free to do as you wish. But yes, you're correct on those rare times we do call, we expect you to answer."
"So you're offering to bring me back to life with superpowers and skills into an anime world of my choosing, and all I have to do in exchange is agree to accomplish some mission whenever your bosses ask?"
"Yes, now do we have a deal?"
A silence hung between them for a brief moment. Zach had to decide; take the deal or face annihilation. The choice took him all of ten seconds.
"We most certainly do." He finally said.
"Finally! Alright, let's begin."
[Please select your new world]
Naruto
Overlord
One Piece
The Rising of the Shield Hero
Highschool DxD
Fate Stay Night
Berserk
Zach looked over the options and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed by his options.
"Why couldn't I get Jujuitsu Kaisen?" He wondered to himself as he looked over his options. "Well, we definitely don't want to go with either Overlord or Berserk. Also, we can toss out One Piece and Fate Stay. I don't like boats and with my luck, I'll run into Gilgamesh.
That only left him with a world of magic-casting ninjas, a world overrun with waves of monsters, and a world of supernatural fan-service. So, understanding all of these different worlds' circumstances, Zach made the wisest choice he could.
Player has selected: Highschool DxD
Yup, a truly wise choice indeed, it of course had nothing to do with all the ecchi scenes he'd heard so much about among his anime community. Nope. Not. At. All.
"Alright, so you picked your destination, now let's get a look at your stats."
Immediately, a game screen appeared inside of Zach's mind reading off his "stats" like he was a video game character.
Zack McCole
Race - Human
Strength - E
Dexterity - D
Speed - D
Intelligence - A
Wisdom - B
Charisma - B
Luck - C
Zach had an incredulous expression as he read over his "stats," specifically his physical abilities.
"You probably should have spent more time on the treadmill and less with your nose in a book."
"Fuck you," he snorted back.
"Alright, now choose your race."
[Human] [Toad] [lady bug] [pigeon] [dung beetle]
"Okay, are you shitting me? What happened to it being my choice?"
"It still is, we're not telling you which to pick."
"Yeah, except it's not much of a choice now, is it!" He snapped.
"Just shut up and pick your race already."
"Urgh fine!" he then of course picked the human icon
"You've chosen Human as your race, good pick. Now please choose your class."
[Fighter] [Monk] [Mage] [Barb] [Rogue] [Cleric]
"Why do all of these seem like DnD classes?" He wondered.
Saving those questions for later, Zach decided to focus on what was in front of him and the best options for his survival. Immediately he tossed out Monk and Cleric, he needed power in his new life not clemency. Barb and Rogue were next to go leaving only two options: Fighter and Mage. So after a lot of contemplation and weighing the pros and cons of what he knew of each class, he ultimately picked Mage.
"You've chosen Mage as your class. Please select your subclass."
[High Enchanter] [Necromancer] [Sorcerer] [White Mage] [Dark Mage] [Conjurer]
"Hm, now this is getting tricker." He remarked as he read through each of the options.
Each had strengths and weaknesses that he could see himself utilizing. That's when he noticed the title Sorcerer and remembered his favorite anime.
"Hmm," Zach's finger hovered over the sorcerer icon as memories of other types of sorcerers entered his mind. Memories specifically of a white-haired, blue-eyed young man that could tear up entire cities with a flick of his wrist. Or a certain pink-haired four-armed monster who was a literal walking calamity, and could wipe out entire countries as easy as blinking. Just the thought of it made him wonder how intoxicating that feeling must have been. Imagining Sukuna Yuji's face, Zach suddenly received a notification.
"Congratulations, you've selected sorcerer as your class." It proclaimed.
"What? No, I didn't-" But the system cut him off.
"Beginning Class Skill download."
Class Gained
[The King of Curses]
Abilities Gained
[Basic Player bundle]
~Language Comprehension: This passive skill allows the user to speak and understand any language they come into contact with. Both written or verbal.
~Combat Intuition: This passive skill grants excellent hand-to-hand combat capabilities and enhanced reflexes. This skill also grants the user's body access to hundreds of techniques from various martial arts.
~Limitless Growth: Allows users to break their race's natural limitations, specifically their magical energy reserves capacity. This skill also grants the user the ability to recover from harm in a short amount of time during which the user will imprint the injuries and experiences and learn from them.
"Not bad," he remarked. All three seemed both useful and practical. "At least I'll be able to talk with someone wherever I end up.
As he began to wonder about the class title, the notifications began to ring off in his head again.
[Active Powers/Skills]
~Metamorphosis Level 1: Allows users to adjust and alter their body, its aspects, and processes are capable of being enhanced, diminished, altered, and removed according to the user's needs and desires.
~Cursed Energy Manipulation Level 1: Users can create, shape, and manipulate curse/cursed energy. The user can use this energy form to project energy bolts, blasts, force fields, and weaponry.
~Cursed Energy Output Level 1: Allows users to increase the amount of cursed energy they put into their techniques, vastly increasing their effectiveness.
-Magic Eye of Perception Level 1: Grants the user unparalleled perception allowing the user to deconstruct and "learn" techniques along with other objects they are presented with. While at the same time enhancing their thought processes and their fields of vision.
~Cursed Energy Battle Arts Technique 1 Reinforcement Level 1: Allows the user to strengthen their body, while enhancing both their physical abilities as well as their body's durability against attacks.
~Innate Technique Shrine Technique 1 Dismantle Level 1: Grants the wielder the ability to launch invisible slashes at various ranges to cut through objects and space.
-Reverse Cursed Arts Technique 1 Restoration Level 1: Takes cursed energy and allows the user to turn it into positive energy to regenerate their flesh and heal injuries.
"Huh, aren't these all powers from Jujitsu Kaisen?" He asked aloud but the administrator wouldn't answer him.
"Well, that's everything so goodbye and good luck. We'll be in touch soon, until then, have fun, kid. Hope things turn out better for you than the others."
"Wait what-" but before he could even get the words out, his body turned into particles of light that lit up the entire void for a brief moment before it dissipated.
"God, what a douche," It remarked, now that it was alone once again in the abyss. Suddenly it pulled up a video screen displaying 12 other user icons. "We've recruited another."
"Well done, T%$*7@!^," the one congratulated. "With this, our little experiment should almost be ready."
"Indeed," agreed another. "Soon all will be in place. Continue your work, T%$*7@!^."
"Of course, my lords," it bowed its head as the screen vanished from sight.
Soon a light started to flicker into the abyss, signaling the next arrival.
"Alright, better get ready for the next one," It said to itself as it straightened its hat and adjusted its mask, making a few of its tentacles slip out as it reset it.
A/N: Hello my loyal readers and welcome to my next story set in the world of draconic deus. This is basically gonna be a story about an otaku's wet dream of being reborn in another world with amazing powers. I ended up going with a villain styled character because frankly good guys are kinda boring at least to me. I am driven by praise and a little interaction so please let me know what you think in the comment section and give me your opinion.
This Story will be released every Tuesday consistently, if you find yourself enjoying my work and can't bear to wait an entire week for the next chapter and would like to read up to 10 chapters ahead then please visit and support my Patreon at Rougueprince69 so I can escape my corporate hellscape and devote myself to writing full time.
Thank you and thanks for reading and supporting my work and dreams, you guys are one of the few reasons I get up in the morning and your support means the world to me.