Jack Hills was no ordinary man.
In Rudra's world, he had been a famous scriptwriter—a man who, by sheer coincidence, once witnessed the legendary battle between Cell and Gohan. Instead of being horrified, he turned that fight into a fictionalized comic. That comic spread like wildfire, earning him both fame and fortune.
But here, in this reality, Jack Hills was not yet that legend. He was merely the spoiled son of a wealthy businessman, living in one of the most populated cities on the planet—a vast island metropolis.
Rudra thought to himself as he walked through the dimly lit streets of East City,
"So… in this world too, I could earn money by writing fictional stories. But… what if I went one step further? What if I took the place of that famous scriptwriter himself?"
The idea planted itself in his mind like a seed of ambition.
Without hesitation, he used the money stored in the smartphone he had "borrowed" from the man whose house he'd been teleported into. Rudra bought transport out of East City and set off for Lenturn City—the place Jack Hills called home.
Lenturn City wasn't just any city. It was originally a fan-made location—a creation from manga forums of his old world. Yet here, it stood towering and real, a neon-lit kingdom of glass and steel.
After two long days of travel, Rudra finally arrived. With the help of a fake ID, he managed to slip past the checkpoints and enter.
The city overwhelmed him at first sight. Towering skyscrapers stretched into the clouds, holographic billboards lit up the streets, and neon lights bathed everything in a cyberpunk glow. The air was thick with the buzz of technology and the murmurs of wealth.
"Wow…" Rudra whispered, staring around in awe. "This city… it feels like a mix of Blade Runner and Cyberpunk 2077. Unreal."
He soon learned that the richest families lived in a massive central tower, a vertical city within the city. His eyes narrowed as he imagined the scale of destruction that beings like Cell or Majin Buu could unleash on a place like this. One ki blast could wipe the entire tower, the city, the world… even the solar system.
"Humph. What does it matter?" he muttered under his breath. "In this world, power is everything."
Then he paused. A strange thought crept into his mind.
"…Wait. Am I… actually starting to think like a villain?"
The realization startled him. But before he could dwell on it, he boarded a bus headed west, where the central tower loomed like a fortress.
When he finally stood before its gates, a uniformed security guard stepped forward. His eyes swept Rudra from head to toe with open disdain.
"Beggar trash like you isn't allowed in here," the guard sneered, his voice dripping with arrogance.
Rudra's jaw tightened. Rage bubbled within him, but he forced himself to swallow it.
Calm down. Not now.
He turned away, choosing to bide his time. But even as he walked, an idea sparked in his mind.
What if I became a security guard myself? At least temporarily. That would give me access inside.
The thought made sense. But there was one problem.
Rudra looked down at his own body, thin and untrained.
"Tch. I don't exactly look like security guard material…"
Then it struck him. His lips curled into a grin.
"Wait. That's right… my chakra system. The power I chose. If I can absorb energy from the world around me, I can rebuild my body. Make myself stronger."
Without wasting a second, Rudra returned to his rented room. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, he began to focus. He recalled the ancient scriptures—the Yoga Sutras, the Eightfold Path, the meditation postures passed down for centuries. In Murim novels, they called it cultivation. Here, it would serve as his awakening.
He remembered what he asked from Zalama.
There were seven chakras within the human body, seven gates of power. To overcome each stage meant walking closer to the divine, closer to nirvana—the escape from the endless cycle of rebirth.
Because Zalama had granted this system, Rudra, though human, could rise to a level rivaling even the Saiyans.
"If I awaken the first stage," Rudra muttered, his voice steady with resolve, "I can reach the power of a Super Saiyan… at least stages one or two."
But awakening came with a condition.
To open the first chakra, he would have to overcome his most basic weakness—hunger.
"Damn… so I can only absorb chakra when my body is desperate for energy. I'll have to starve myself until my very cells scream for survival."
It was risky. Deadly, even. But Rudra had no other choice.
---
For seven days, he ate nothing. He meditated endlessly, ignoring the stabbing pain of hunger, ignoring the dizziness, ignoring the whispers of death. His body shrank, skin clinging to his bones, until he looked like a skeleton on the verge of collapse.
There were moments he thought he'd die. But every time, he clenched his teeth and muttered,
"No. Not yet. I won't give up."
His meditation never broke.
On the fifteenth day, something inside him changed. His body, for the first time, drew energy directly from the environment. The air, the trees, the faint pulse of nature itself—chakra began to flow into him.
By the thirty-fourth day, the first stage had fully opened.
Rudra rose to his feet, trembling. His body reeked of sweat and filth. He stumbled into the bathroom and washed himself. But when he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror, he froze.
His face glowed faintly, his skin vibrant as though light itself radiated from within. His eyes burned with life.
"The meridians…" he whispered. "They've opened. The chakra flows freely now."
He glanced down and blinked in shock.
Six-pack abs lined his stomach. His once-weak frame had transformed into something lean, sharp, and powerful.
"Unbelievable…"
Needing to test his strength, Rudra stepped outside. With a single jump, he leapt into the air and landed hard on the ground. The earth cracked beneath his feet. Not as much as he had hoped, but enough to confirm it.
"I'm stronger now. Definitely stronger. But still… bullets can kill me. I'm nowhere near untouchable yet."
He clenched his fists. Money would be necessary. Training, too.
---
The next day, Rudra returned to the tower. Once again, a security guard stopped him.
"Oi. Stop right there. Where do you think you're going?"
This time, Rudra didn't hide his intent. He smirked.
"I heard you're recruiting. Are you looking for new guards?"
The guard burst into laughter.
"Hah! You? Don't make me laugh. A weakling like you could never be a security guard here."
The words stabbed at Rudra's pride. His eyes darkened. He could no longer restrain the fury boiling inside him.
Before the guard realized it, Rudra's fist shot forward.
BAM!
The punch was so fast the guard never saw it coming. His body flew backward, crashing into the glass wall behind him with a thunderous shatter. Shards rained down as he slumped against the ground, dazed.
Rudra stepped closer, looking down at him coldly.
"So… what do you think of me now?"
The guard scrambled for his radio, his hands shaking.
"B-backup! We need backup at the gate! An intruder is here!"
"Tch." Rudra clicked his tongue in irritation. With a swift kick, he knocked the guard unconscious before he could finish.
"I came here looking for a job," Rudra muttered, glaring down at the fallen man. "And you just had to turn me into an intruder instead?"
His journey into Lenturn City had only just begun.