I woke up, or at least, I thought I did. There was no light, no sound, no sensation of air on my skin. Just an endless, suffocating darkness—a void so complete it felt like the universe itself had forgotten me. Instinctively, I tried to open my eyes, but nothing happened. No flutter of eyelids, no shift in perception. It was as if my body refused to obey, or worse, as if I didn't have a body at all. Panic crept in, a cold, clawing thing, but before it could take hold, a strange certainty settled over me, heavy and unyielding: I had died.
I didn't know how I knew. Maybe it was the absence of a heartbeat, the stillness where there should have been breath. But the memory of my last moments was clear—slipping into sleep in my old bed, the familiar hum of my apartment fading into silence. Here I was, conscious, aware, but untethered from the world I knew. This wasn't death as I'd imagined it. This was something else entirely.
I had always wanted to have an isekai experience for a major part of my life. My life wasn't very good, I was what you would call an introvert and then came the manga and anime period of my life. Then came the fanfiction period. Through it I came to have an immense desire to have an adventure like that myself, a better life than I had been granted this time around. I had wished for it for a long time. I knew it was pathetic but I really had nothing going for me in my life.
In my current condition I had only one wish that someone,anyone, any being or entity out there would listen to my wish and grant it. I tried to move, to reach out, to feel something, anything.That's when I noticed it: a faint light. Eventually that faint light came filled the whole space around me, then a sudden wave of drowsiness hit my consciousness. When I came to again, something had changed.
This time I could feel, with a slight discomfort which came when you wake up from a particularly deep sleep, my eyes opened a slight crack. The moment my eyes opened it was as if water rushed into them, along with the a low light. With some difficulty I forced my eyes to open again, this time they adjusted to my surroundings. What I saw gave me a sudden feeling of panic. There was water or some kind of a liquid all around me, this caused me to take a sudden sharp breath which forced me back into a focused state. That is when I finally noticed the mask which was attached to my mouth. As my breathing stabilized I finally tried to bring my hand infront of my face, what I saw was certainly not the hand which I was used to seeing all my life. This hand which I could see somewhat clearly in this liquid was bigger, much bigger and much more muscular than what I was used to all my life. I just stared at it for a good five second, I was in shock. Then I started moving it, wiggiling my finger and it responded perfectly, then I closed it to form a fist, then i squeezed it tight, that is when I finally noticed something else, I felt strong, i felt it in my arm now, the muscles of the forearm, my biceps, they were incredibly huge, I did not have this much muscle in all my life. This feeling of strength was foreign, utterly foreign but it felt good. I did the same thing with my other arm. It was now that I was certain this wasn't my body at all, not the one I'd lived in for years. This was different, not the frail like the one I had been struggling with, no this was something else entirely. Alien. I could feel it, my arms, my legs, my torso—they were there, but they felt… wrong. Stronger, denser, as if every muscle was coiled with potential I'd never known, like strength and vitality were packed into it. And then there was something else, something entirely new: an appendage, long and flexible, extending from the base of my spine. A tail, a long one at that. I could feel it, curled loosely, swaying slightly as if caught in a gentle current. My brain struggled to categorize this new source of sensations. My mind reeled, the sensation was foreign and new. A tail? Humans don't have tails. Not like this. I could feel it the same way I knew of the other limbs like my hands or legs. It was long, thick and it too felt strong, i could feel the whole length of it in my mind.
I once again got a little shock again but I forced focus again, 'Okay, new body, that means transmigration or reincarnation.'
The moment I thought of this it came like a freight train colliding with my mind. A skull spliting headche, the spike of pain was so intense that I immediately squeezed shut my eyes. Then it came, the memories, but they weren't those exactly, they played like a movie in my mind, fights, various fights, and in them I could see, various figures, figures I knew, they looked different ofcourse but I could still tell, they looked real, utterly real but I knew them. Goku. Vegeta. Piccolo. Krillin. And the others too, fighting in all of them. Ki blast flying, beam struggles, the whole thing but absolutely real. Then also came the command, the insistent command and a face which constantly flashed and a new language. The command said just one thing, kill Goku in Japanese, which absurdly enough, I could understand clearly now somehow. The command kept repeating continously without end, like it was trying to imprint itself on my mind. I resisted, but it just would not stop, that was when I knew what I had to do, I had to get out of this tank which held me, so with renewed focus I started.
I reopened my eyes, the liquid was still all around me, I reahed for my head, that is when I felt it, a band of some sort was attached to it, some wires connected to it, I grabed it and yanked hard, but what happened was unexpected, you know what happens when you think you are going to lift something heavy and its not that heavy and it causes you to loose control? Same thing happened here. The band not only was yanked off my head but due to the totally extra-ordinary strength which came from my arm, my whole body was lurched forward in the liquid and the back of my hand struck the glass of the tank I was in.
The glass shattered without any resistance, like a hot knife through butter. With that I, along with the liquid burst forth from the tank. One moment I was trying to yank off the band on my head, the next I was face down on the floor.'Great!' I groaned internally.
I lifted myself into a sitting position, the liquidand was cThe mask was still attached to my face, I was a little annoyed by the whole ordeal so I with some annoyance reached for the mask, grabed it with my right hand and angrily yanked it off my face, it easily came off as the strap which was holding it to my face broke. As i saw it in my grip, I crushed it, it broke and cumbled in my fist.
'Okay, super strength is confirmed.' With that I took a steadying breath and looked around me. What I saw was an eerily quiet lab like space with dim lighting. To put it in short, the place looked abandoned. Exactly what I would expect actually, I knew I was a creation by Dr. Gero, that much seemed to have been inputed into my mind it seems, just like the message to kill Goku and the fighting techniques and language and some other stuff. That explained how exactly I now knew Japanese actually, sure I watched anime, but I didn't actively try to learn the language. I new some words, but that was about it, not now it seems, the language pack is installed into my mind it would appear. I spoke out to test it, and it came out naturally, but the voice, that was new, much deeper than my previous voice. Much deeper. I spoke some phrases in all the languages I knew, which weren't many just English and Hindi and now Japanese too I guess. My voice too was different now. I filed away that fact in the back of my mind.
I gathered myself and stood up, i felt a slight ache when I used the muscles of my legs, the type of ache which came when you used a muscle after a long time, that sweet ache but as I stood up straight, that is when I finally noticed, my height too had changed, I was taller, much taller than I was used to. As I juged the distance to the ground I came to a conclusion quickly, easily above 6ft and then some more to go, yeah easily about 6'4" to 6'6".
I once again looked over myself. I saw both of my hands, muscular beyond anything, I looked at my torso, packed full of ripped and buff muscles, an eight pack abs and as I looked down, I was shocked!, what the hell is that thing!!!! What I saw was an incredible! That is not a penis, no sir, that is a schlong, I mean I wasn't small in my previous life, I had a six inch penis when erect but god damn this thing is huge! I touched it, yeah, it was longer atleast 8 inches but that wasn't the only thing, this thing had thick viens on it, and it itself was thick, Thicker than I was when I was erect in my previous life. Just how big was this monster going to get when erect? The thought was distracting but exhilarating at the same time.
'Yeah, I am super gifted in the body department, gotta check the face card now' I thought to myself but I remembered the tail now, I commanded it, it felt a bit strange to me but it responded instantly and looped from behind me to infront of me. I raised it to my eye level, 'Its a tail alright!' It was thick, just like in the anime and covered in hair too. I then remembered the quirk about the saiyan tail so I reached for it with my right hand and touched it softly, I could feel it extremely clearly alright, just like if you touched your arm. I gave it a light and catious squeeze at the tail end of it, the sensation was instant, it wasn't just pain, it was like if a sensory overload happend in my mind and instantly I could feel the strength leave my body, I immediately released my tail and caught myself from buckling to the ground. 'Tail's sensitive as hell right now, gotta work on that one'. I made up my mind, gonna have to work on the tail, with that I commanded it again, it was akward, like a child learning to walk again but I managed to tie it around my waist, just like I saw in the anime. Alright, lets look if this place has something to wear.
I looked around, walking barefoot, avoiding the broken glass on the floor, why you ask? Habit, I don't wanna, check durability just yet. I looked around, strangely this place unexpectedly had a bathroom. As I entered into it I saw that the lights turned on, on there own. That was a little surprising but not that much, I mean Gero was a super genius to boot. Everything was there in the bathroom, I carefully opened ths cabinet, I didn't want the Amazing Spiderman scene happening to me. But yeah, the handle did get cracked regardless, gotta work on that control, inside I saw, towels, clothes, lotions, shampoos. I took the towel and shampoo and headed for the shower, luckily the water was coming, I gave myself a through rinse, then I washed and switched off the shower. I quickly dried my hair, they were super long, while doing so I came to the sink where a big mirror was present.
The first look at my new face gave me a surprise, first of all, I had to bend to see myself in it, second I was handsome, extremely handsome. Better than supermodels and actors in my previous life. Anime beauty is really next tier.
'Alright, clothes' I rummaged around in the cabinet and found some cloths, I picked out the largest t-shirt, it was plain white but had a Red Ribbon army badge on the chest, it was barely fiting but it had to do for now. As for pants, luckily there were cargos, they too were short but they had to do too.
'Now that clothes are done, time to look around.' As I moved around the lab the light automatically came on. I saw the computer in the corner. It was archaic to say the least, I still checked, password protected, I ain't no hacker, dead end. Well lets work on finding Ki next.
I sat on the ground in the lotus position. Meditation came easy to me, I did yoga in my past life. It took a little while but eventually I reached a tranquill state. As I focused deeper, another feeling began to emerge, rising from deep within my core. It was warm, vibrant, almost alive—a pulsing energy that seemed to hum through my being, like a living flame. It wasn't blood, or breath, or anything I could name from my old life. It was something more. Something primal. It was Ki. I was feeling Ki, the life energy from the anime I'd spent countless hours watching.
I focused on the energy within me, the Ki. It was slippery, elusive, like trying to catch smoke with my hands. I could feel it, swirling in my core, but every time I tried to grasp it, to direct it, it slipped away, leaving me frustrated and exhausted. It was like trying to flex a muscle I'd never used before, one I didn't even know existed until now. I didn't have eyes to close or a body to sit cross-legged with, but I turned my attention inward, sinking into the sensation of that energy.
Hours passed—or maybe it was minutes. I pushed through the frustration, focusing on the warmth in my core. Slowly, I began to sense it more clearly. It wasn't just a single point of energy; it was a network, flowing through me like rivers of light. I could feel it branching out, pooling in my chest, my arms, my legs, even my tail. But it was wild, untamed, and I was far from mastering it.
The effort was draining, the mental strain of wrestling with Ki was overwhelming. After a while I began to understand how to approach it now.
I approached it with more patience. I didn't try to force it; I let it flow, observing its rhythm. It was like learning to breathe all over again. I focused on a single point in my core, imagining the energy as a glowing orb. Slowly, I nudged it, willing it to move. It resisted at first, but then, like a dam breaking, a trickle of Ki flowed toward my right arm. The sensation was electric, like a spark racing through my nerves.
I repeated the process throughout the body. I cycled the Ki throughout my body. Each time, I got a little better. The Ki became less elusive, more responsive. I could direct it to my hands, my feet, my tail. And as I did, something else began to change: the numbness that had plagued my new body started to fade. It was as if the Ki was strengthening me up. Syncing my consciousness with this unfamiliar form. The sensations grew clearer—my fingers, my toes, the weight of my tail. I could feel the strength in my muscles, the potential coiled within them. I was becoming whole. My senses were getting sharper too.
As I meditated I began to think about what I would do now? I will definitely get on par with Goku, or atleast try too. Gotta explore the world too. There are extinct dinosaurs here too. Its gonna be wild.