"Finally... I'm home."
Dean's voice could no longer hide his exhaustion as he locked the door behind him.
His black eyes scanned the apartment for a few seconds, before his expression betrayed a now-familiar loneliness.
"Sigh... I forgot again that I live alone," he muttered while heavily sinking into his modest armchair.
Dean Winchester.
A young office worker who recently joined a small company, in the accounting department.
As for the origin of his first name... it came from a childish bet between his father and mother.
Spoiler: his father won the bet.
This is how the latter chose to express his somewhat twisted love for the hit series Supernatural by giving him the name Dean.
An amusing situation... but slightly annoying on a résumé, for the young man.
Bip
"Again him? Is this rumor really... true?" he thought while opening his smartphone, after hearing the notification sound.
He already had an idea of its origin, but Dean preferred not to be paranoid.
Once the screen lit up, he saw the dreaded notification.
[Are you really satisfied with your life?]
"I'll avoid the Supernatural forum link on Reddit from now on," he told himself while typing another firm refusal.
An action Dean had repeated for three days, but his interlocutor seemed far too determined.
"What the hell was I thinking back then?" he thought, clicking his tongue in annoyance.
He had already blocked his phone harasser, but the guy always came back under a different identity.
As for contacting the police? Dean had already tried, but the traces of his harasser always vanished like magic.
The young employee was starting to feel exhausted, but also a bit scared at the idea that the Reddit rumor about this forum might be true.
Bip.
The notification sound rang again after he lay down on his bed.
[Are you really satisfied with your life?]
"Okay!!! I'm not satisfied with my life!" he finally blurted out, after the return of his supernatural harasser.
Even if he seemed desperate, Dean's words weren't false either.
At first, the young man had been curious about the rumor... at least, that's what he thought.
The real reason for his interest in this Reddit rumor lay in his current situation.
Dean was bored.
He led a decent life, but nothing truly exciting in his daily routine.
No women, no notable adventures, and even fewer exceptional experiences.
He was just an ordinary employee.
That's why the idea of another life, like in isekai stories, seemed terribly tempting to him.
As for the reason he fled for three days? The unknown had scared him a little.
His mind subtly avoided the idea that it could really be a genuine supernatural site.
Dean therefore considered the possibility of a hacker.
"But a hacker or an online scammer can't monitor me 100% and erase every trace of their activities every time I try to report them..." he told himself while watching the loading bar after accepting.
[Please choose a world for your next life]
Looking at the available options, Dean was overwhelmed by a colossal amount of information.
There were way too many choices.
"Fortunately, they have a sorting option," he muttered while tapping on it.
[Loading fictional-type worlds...]
[Loading technological worlds...]
[Loading worlds with supernatural traits...]
[Loading complete]
[Selected worlds list:
High School DxD, Solo Leveling, Tomb Raider, Lartna Saga, High School of the Dead, DC, Marvel, Jujutsu Kaisen, Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo, Konosuba (Japan and other world), Martial Peak, The Irregular at Magic High School, Mushoku Tensei (Earth), Murim Login, Pick Me Up...]
The list remained huge, but Dean recognized several familiar names.
Konosuba, for example.
"I'll avoid cultivation universes or those where fate is controlled by a third party, like Pick Me Up," he muttered while thinking.
Dean already considered this forum supernatural.
So he preferred to avoid any universe that was too... dangerous.
After careful consideration, he decided to choose Jujutsu Kaisen.
[Jujutsu Kaisen has been selected]
[Would you like to have a "gift" specific to this universe?]
[Yes / No]
Dean pressed Yes without hesitation.
The option without powers was out of the question for him.
He didn't want to die stupidly, like during the Shibuya incident.
That would simply be idiotic.
[Please select an available gift or customize one]
Several cursed techniques appeared before Dean's eyes, accompanied by special powers.
He even spotted Toji's Heavenly Restriction.
Dean hesitated to select Gojo Satoru's Six Eyes, but eventually decided to tap Customize a gift.
"Gojo is strong, but he wasn't enough against Sukuna," he thought while observing the new data displayed before his eyes.
[Client request processing... Please wait one minute...]
[Please describe your supernatural gift within the imposed character limit.
Any gray areas will be automatically filled without contradicting your initial intentions.]
[Warnings!!! Please pay attention to "balance"]
Dean had almost sent The Gamer as a power when he read the warning.
"Damn, I forgot about the 'balance' notion," he muttered while reading the information.
Balance.
It's an important concept in this universe, as it governs everything between humans and cursed spirits.
It has the particularity of balancing the power ratio between cursed spirits and humans.
That's why Gojo's birth was a problem.
"My power must not be perceived as too strong in this world, but it must guarantee me the title of 'strongest'..." he pondered before writing an underestimated power in fiction.
[Cursed Technique (custom gift): Liaris Freese]
[Description: Rapid growth as long as the user is obsessed with the title of 'strongest'. The intensity of the effects is proportional to the level of the user's feelings. Side effect: immunity to charms.]
[Would you like to make some adjustments?]
"Indeed, replace 'the user is in love' with 'the user is obsessed with the title of 'strongest''," he explained while typing on his phone.
[Analysis in progress...]
[Request accepted!!!]
[Please select the reincarnation procedure]
[Invocation, reincarnation, or transmigration?]
Dean wanted to click on Reincarnation, but stopped short.
"Becoming a baby again? No way! And living in someone else's place, or doing a transmigration... no thanks," he told himself, ultimately choosing Invocation.
[You will be summoned by your summoner in a few moments.]
[The administrator wishes to offer you a bonus, as you are the first to use his forum.]
[Please describe your human form]
Dean was confused by the notion of "human form," but decided to ignore it for now.
A countdown was displayed because the invocation was in progress. He had to think fast and well.
[The appearance of Bell Cranel from the DanMachi world has been successfully selected...]
[Have a safe trip!]
"Hm... that's it? I shouldn't have believed that thing..."
Before he could finish his sentence, the phone exploded violently.
Dean died instantly.
...
"Hm... how can I say this without hurting you, Megumi..."
Gojo scratched the back of his neck, looking perplexed after seeing the enormous quantity of rabbits that his adoptive son had summoned.
Megumi turned toward him with an impassive expression, his face far too mature for his young age.
"Did I fail the ritual again?" he asked in a bored voice.
Anyone could see that the young boy was adopted, if only by observing his manners toward his legal guardian.
Gojo shook his head negatively after hearing Megumi's words.
"Not quite. It's just that this thing is too weak to be really useful in direct combat," he admitted, while his eyes manifested slightly behind his dark glasses.
Megumi remained silent for a moment before deciding to reply. However, an agitation arose from the rabbits' side.
"Did you ask them to do that?"
"No."
The duo looked at each other for a moment, before a boy of about 14 years old appeared before them.
It took a few seconds for all the agitated rabbits to merge into a single being.
Dean.
"Was I really summoned?" he said in a calm tone.