The alarm clock buzzed, a tinny, annoying sound that cut through the haze of Kaito's dream. He reached out a groggy hand, fumbling for the "snooze" button.
His thumb pressed down. There was a sickening pop—not the click of a button, but the sound of cheap plastic structural failure. The clock didn't explode; it simply caved in, the screen bleeding black ink as the internal components shifted.
Kaito froze, his heart skipping a beat. He looked at his hand. It didn't feel different. It didn't look like the hand of a martial artist. It was thin, the skin pale from too many hours spent indoors.
[System Initialized]
[Current Combat Power: 2]
[Status: Untrained Human]
[Daily Growth: 100% Increase at Midnight]
The blue text hovered in the air, shimmering with a cold, digital light. Kaito sat up, the springs of his mattress creaking ominously. He remembered the transition now. He remembered being told he would be "reborn" with a gift. He just hadn't realized the gift would start making the world feel like it was made of wet cardboard.
"Two," he whispered. "A five is a normal man. I'm a two. I'm basically a kid who skips PE class."
He looked at the ruined clock. At a power level of 2, he shouldn't be able to break plastic that easily. But he could feel it—a strange, jagged heat circulating in his veins. It wasn't that he was strong yet; it was that his Ki was "leaking." It was raw, unrefined energy that didn't know how to stay inside his cells. Every time he touched something, a tiny, uncontrolled burst of pressure followed his fingers.
He reached for his phone, moving with exaggerated caution. A text from Krillin was waiting.
Krillin: "Yo Kaito! Bulma's big birthday bash is in 3 months. She's renting out a whole cruise ship! You're on the VIP list, so don't give me that 'I'm busy' excuse this time. See you at the station later for a drink?"
Kaito felt a bead of sweat roll down his temple.
Krillin was a friend—one of the few people who didn't care that Kaito wasn't a fighter. But 90 days from now, Krillin wouldn't be looking at a friend. He'd be looking at a god.
He did the math in his head.
• Today: 2.
• Tomorrow: 4.
• Day 3: 8.
• Day 7: 128.
By the end of the first week, he would be stronger than Master Roshi was at the start of the original Dragon Ball. By the end of the second week, he'd be stronger than the entire Ginyu Force.
"I can't go to the station," Kaito said, his voice trembling. He tried to type a reply, but his coordination was off. The "heat" in his fingertips made the touchscreen glitch out, registering a dozen ghost-touches. He barely managed to send a thumbs-up emoji before he set the device down as if it were a live grenade.
He needed to get out of Satan City. If he stayed here, he'd eventually try to open a door and rip it off the hinges. Or worse, he'd try to shake someone's hand and break every bone in their palm.
[Warning: Physical Vessel reaching capacity for current Ki containment.]
[Milestone 1: 100 CP - Reward: Iron Internalization]
"I have to hit 100 to get control," he realized. Until then, he was a leaky battery.
He packed a simple bag. He didn't take much—just some sturdy clothes and a few jugs of water. Walking down the apartment stairs, he felt every muscle fiber twitching. He felt "light," as if gravity had been turned down by 10%.
As he stepped out into the morning sun, the city felt overwhelming. The smells, the sounds, the sheer number of people. He saw a group of teenagers laughing near a fountain. A week ago, he was one of them. Now, he was a ticking clock.
He headed for the bus station, intending to take the furthest line toward the northern wilderness. He sat in the back of the bus, his hands tucked firmly under his thighs to keep them from touching the seat in front of him.
Every time the bus hit a pothole, Kaito felt a surge of energy shoot through his frame. He was a 2, but he was a 2 that was rapidly becoming a 4.
At midnight, as the bus pulled into a dusty roadside stop near the mountains, the change hit. It wasn't a roar of power; it was a subtle tightening of his muscles. He felt his lungs expand, his vision sharpening just a fraction.
[Midnight Reached. Combat Power: 2 -> 4]
He stepped off the bus and onto the dirt path. He tried to take a normal step, but his leg pushed off with just a bit too much force. He stumbled, his foot digging a three-inch-deep furrow into the packed earth.
"Four," Kaito breathed, looking back at the mark in the dirt. "I'm almost a normal man now. But by tomorrow night, I'll be an 8. And then it starts getting scary."
He turned away from the road and began to hike into the dark silhouette of the mountains. He had 89 days left until the party. He had 89 days to learn how to be a god without destroying the world he was trying to live in.