No One's POV
Age 767, May 1
Within a void-like space stood a small child with messy black hair that reached his neck, black eyes, and a blue gi with a white sash tied around his waist.
Another striking feature of his appearance was his monkey tail.
"Whoa! There's nothing here... ECHO!!!"
The young boy shouted into the vast void, only to hear his own echo.
As he continued walking, a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
"Wait! Didn't I fall from a high cliff back then? Am I dead? But why is there nothing here? The Otherworld has to be pretty gloomy compared to what Dad told me."
The young boy continued walking without a single trace of fear, instead displaying a sense of childlike wonder at his surroundings.
"Hello! Anyone here?"
"Stop shouting, kid. There's no one else here."
The boy heard a calm voice from behind him.
When he turned around, he saw a young man who appeared to be in his late teens, with dark silver hair and red eyes.
However, the clothes he wore were ragged and worn out, as though he had been through a lot.
"Hi! I'm Go—"
"I know who you are, Gogen. I've been watching you since you were born, from inside your subconscious."
The young boy named Gogen was taken aback by the man's words and immediately assumed a fighting stance.
"Who are you, mister?"
The unknown man simply sat down cross-legged and gestured for Gogen to do the same.
Gogen sat down and stared at him as the man fell into deep thought. After a while, he sighed.
"Sorry about that. Well, where do I begin...? Ah! First, I am what you would call your past life, Gogen."
Gogen had a confused look on his face, as he didn't understand what the man meant by past life.
"Um, can you tell me what you mean by that?"
The strange man chuckled softly before beginning to explain who he was.
He told Gogen that he came from an entirely different reality, where an incident on Earth had caused people to begin awakening unique abilities. Two hundred years later, everyone on Earth had powers except for him.
However, his younger sister possessed an ability that could rewrite the very laws of reality. Before she could fully understand her abilities, the government killed her when he was seven years old.
After that, he decided to seek revenge against the entire world for his sister's wrongful death.
One ordinary person without abilities against an entire world where everyone else possessed them.
And after twelve years, he finally achieved his revenge by wiping out everyone.
Of course, he died in the process of carrying out his revenge. Afterward, he discovered that he had reincarnated as Gogen. However, he possessed enough willpower to refrain from taking over the newborn's soul and personality, choosing instead to watch over him in silence.
He also told Gogen that his world and reality originated from a manga published over two hundred years ago, one that he used to read with his sister.
Gogen lowered his head, making it impossible for the man to discern his expression.
"Hey, Gogen, there's no need to feel sorry for me. I lived a full life, so I'm—"
Gogen immediately stood up and began shaking him frantically at his last words.
"Wait! So my whole reality is fictional!?"
The man was taken aback by Gogen's question about whether his world was merely fiction before bursting into laughter.
"Hey! This isn't funny! Uh, what was your name?"
"Sorry about that, but there's nothing to worry about. Your world is just as real as mine was. Think of it like this: If you've ever read a comic, there's a chance that comic has its own reality. That's what we call a multiverse. Or, in my understanding, since there's already a multiverse here, the one I'm referring to is a true multiverse containing every imaginable reality you can think of."
Gogen was a bit confused, but he felt an overwhelming sense of wonder at the man's words.
He jumped up and down with excitement at the possibility of someday visiting these other worlds and having adventures, just like his dad, who had gone on many adventures when he was a kid.
"So cool! I hope I can go to these worlds someday! And go on lots of adventures, too!"
The strange man gave him a light smile before standing up and patting him on the head.
"Gogen, can you make me a promise?"
Gogen stopped and looked at him with a smile.
"Sure! What sort of promise? Also, you still haven't told me your name."
The strange man chuckled softly before telling him about the promise he wanted him to make.
"This is a promise between men, okay? What I want you to know is that you aren't dead. You're just unconscious right now. And what I want you to promise me is that you won't tell anyone about this, okay? Whenever you see someone in danger, help them... Also, make sure to go on a ton of adventures. Can you promise me that, Gogen?"
Gogen smiled as he extended his hand, ready to shake on their promise.
"I promise, mis—"
"The name I'm normally called is Daemon, so just call me Daemon."
Daemon shook Gogen's hand, sealing their promise. As he spoke once more, his body began to evaporate.
"Ahh! Daemon, you're disappearing!?"
"Don't worry about it, Gogen. I've decided to go to sleep, and since you're waking up now, once you wake up, you'll have a second set of memories flow into you. My memories... our memories. So don't feel sad, because I'll always be a part of you. Just keep your promise, okay?"
Tears began to stream down Gogen's face as he nodded, acknowledging Daemon's words.
"I promise you, Daemon! I'll keep my promise and help others who are in trouble, a-and go on many adventures! So please watch over me and have good dreams!"
Gogen shouted as loudly as he could, just as Daemon finally disappeared, leaving behind one last message.
"Take care, Gogen."
And just like that, Daemon disappeared.
Gogen also began to feel strange, realizing that he was waking up. He could feel Daemon's memories flowing into him.
Gogen could only cry as he experienced those memories. But by the time they had finished, he was smiling and wiping away his tears.
"Well, looks like I'm waking up now. Hopefully, Mom doesn't get too mad at Dad for not watching me properly, and I hope big brother Gohan doesn't feel responsible for my own recklessness."
And just like that, Gogen disappeared from the void.
Gogen opened his eyes and looked around. Realizing that he was in his bed, he immediately got up and headed for the door.
The moment he opened it, he caught the smell of his mom's cooking and headed toward the kitchen. There, he saw his dad and older brother sitting at the table while his mom was still cooking.
"Mom, Dad, big brother, I'm awake!"
The sound of a spoon dropping echoed through the kitchen.
A woman wearing a purple Chinese dress and an apron, with her black hair tied in a high bun and strands hanging down on either side of her face, immediately turned around.
Her name was Chi-Chi, and she was Gogen's mother.
"Gogen, my baby boy! You're awake! Waahhh! Don't ever scare me like that again!"
Chi-Chi held her son tightly and cried, while Gogen tried to hug her back to calm her down.
"G-Gogen, you're up!"
Gogen's older brother, Gohan, who was wearing casual clothes and had black spiky hair that stretched below his neck and black eyes, joined in and hugged him.
Gogen then looked at his dad, whom he considered the strongest person in the world.
His name was Goku. He wore his orange gi and had spiky black hair and black eyes.
Gogen looked at his dad, who wore a smile, knowing that his son was going to be okay.
"GOKU! Stop smiling! This is your fault for not properly watching him when you took him to the forest!"
Goku immediately took a step back, afraid of his wife's wrath. He calmly tried to reassure her, while both Gogen and Gohan grew a little scared of their mother.
"C-Chi-Chi, calm down. I tried to find him by sensing his ki, but Gogen has gotten so good at hiding his ki that even I couldn't find him."
Gohan then spoke up.
"It's not Dad's fault, Mom. When we went to the forest, both Gogen and I were playing hide-and-seek, and Gogen was the one who was supposed to hide. It's my fault that Gogen fell off that cliff."
Gohan lowered his head as tears began to well up in his eyes, until Chi-Chi pulled him into a tight embrace.
"Oh, my Gohan, it's not your fault. It's your FATHER'S fault for not properly watching you both when he was supposed to!"
Goku moved closer to his wife to calm her down, trying to find a way out of the situation.
"Hehehe! I'm sorry, Chi-Chi. I promise it won't happen again on my watch. So please, let's eat for now, because I know Gogen is starving after being unconscious for an entire day."
That only made Chi-Chi angrier.
"Is that the only thing you can think of right now!?"
Before Chi-Chi could reprimand him further, all three of them heard Gogen's stomach growl loudly.
Gogen wore an embarrassed expression.
"Sorry, Mom, but can I go eat? I'm extremely famished," Gogen said as he held his stomach.
Chi-Chi could only sigh, while both Goku and Gohan laughed.
The three males of the family headed to the table to eat, while Chi-Chi returned to the kitchen to prepare a huge feast for her youngest son.
A single thought crossed her mind.
'I swear, my youngest boy is just like his father.'
And just like that, the rest of the day was spent eating together as a family.