Chapter 1: I Became Son Goku
Above Mount Paozu, a dinosaur soared through the air, hunting.
Suddenly, a flash of white light streaked across the sky, striking the dinosaur squarely.
The plump dinosaur shuddered, its eyes rolling back as it plummeted downward.
Its massive body bounced off tree branches, snapping them one after another…
But before the dinosaur could hit the ground, a small boy with a tail sprang into action.
In a few leaps, he scaled the treetops, caught the falling dinosaur, flipped mid-air, and landed firmly, hoisting it over his shoulder.
The entire sequence was fluid and effortless.
...
...
A short while later, smoke curled up from the mountaintop, and the air filled with the rich aroma of roasted meat.
"So fragrant!!"
"Should be done, right?"
The little boy tore off a piece of meat from above the fire and eagerly stuffed it into his mouth.
"Mmm, so, so good! Grandpa, you have to try this!"
The old man across from him also tore off a piece and took a bite.
With just one taste, his face lit up with delight.
"Mmm, truly delicious! Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, sizzling with juices—this roasted dinosaur is incredibly flavorful!"
The little boy grinned with satisfaction.
He ripped off two roasted dinosaur legs from the fire and began devouring them ravenously.
Between bites, he sighed contentedly, "Roasted dinosaur meat is way better than grilled fish!"
"If only I could hunt dinosaurs to eat every day!"
The old man watched him fondly. "Slow down, no one's competing with you. Don't choke…"
The old man was Master Roshi's disciple, Son Gohan.
And this child was the protagonist of the Dragon Ball world—the Saiyan Kakarot, whom Gohan had given the Earthling name Son Goku.
But he wasn't the original Goku. He was a reincarnated soul, possessing the consciousness of a modern person.
In his previous life, he had naturally watched Dragon Ball and knew Goku's destiny.
This world was fraught with dangers.
Without a powerful Goku to protect it, Earth would eventually be doomed.
Saiyans' innate talent was only slightly superior to Earthlings'.
Compared to other cosmic beings, someone like Son Goku's potential was actually quite mediocre.
Low starting point, slow growth, and incapable of surviving in space.
In the later stages, without transformations, he'd stand no chance against the true powerhouses.
How many genuine elites had the entire Saiyan race produced over the years?
Only Goku, exiled to Earth and retaining his pure heart, managed to reach cosmic-level heights.
Of course, the mutant Broly was an exception.
That guy was born overpowered—ordinary people simply couldn't compare.
After Little Goku understood his situation and gained the ability to walk and speak independently, he began pleading with Gohan to take him on as a disciple in martial arts training.
There was no other choice—to survive, he had to grow stronger quickly, at the very least not falling short of Son Goku's original capabilities.
However, the difficulty lay in...
When it came to innate comprehension, combat intelligence, or sheer obsession with martial arts, he couldn't match the original Goku.
Without an intense passion for martial arts, he didn't believe he could outperform the martial arts fanatic that was Goku.
But everyone has their own strengths.
Before his rebirth, he had been an extremely competitive modern individual.
To avoid falling behind others, he had competed fiercely since his school days and even more so in his career...
Though he lived at the bottom of society, he never let himself be inferior to those around him.
Unfortunately, in his twenties, he suffered a sudden heart attack and lost consciousness in an instant.
Luckily, the next moment he woke up, he found himself reborn—or rather, transmigrated.
And he had arrived in this incredible world, even becoming his idol, Son Goku.
In the early days of his rebirth, before he could speak, shortly after emerging from the incubation pod, he was sent to Earth by Bardock and Gine, avoiding the fate of perishing along with Planet Vegeta.
Inside the spacecraft, he couldn't help but marvel, "This world is far more exciting than the one where all I did was study and work."
Unable to guarantee he could break through his limits at critical moments like the original Goku, he had already made up his mind after learning about his circumstances.
He would emulate the later Vegeta, training diligently and competing fiercely.
Without any cheat abilities, he could only rely on step-by-step effort to grow stronger.
He wanted to survive; he truly yearned to improve.
As for future marriage, he hadn't given it any thought.
Strangely enough, ever since transmigrating into the underage Goku's body, it felt as though he was in a perpetual state of sage-like clarity.
Even though he knew that one day in the future, the infatuated girl Bulma would come up the mountain searching for the Dragon Balls, Goku still harbored no improper thoughts about her.
Perhaps it was because he was too young, his organs not yet developed, lacking hormone secretion.
But that didn't matter; growing stronger and surviving were what truly mattered...
Besides, when Bulma came up the mountain, she even shot him a few times.
At the very least, he needed to train until he was impervious to swords and guns, right?
After Goku learned to speak and walk, he begged Gohan to let him train alongside him, and Gohan naturally spared no effort in teaching him.
Thus, after over a decade of training with him, Goku naturally mastered Ki Control.
This was the essence of the Turtle School.
As for the Kamehameha, that was simple—Little Goku had already learned it long ago.
In this world, the physical body has its limits, but the power of ki knows no bounds.
With sufficient ki strength, the Kamehameha's power increases accordingly.
Goku understood this deeply and naturally focused more on ki cultivation.
His current combat power had already surpassed that of the original Little Goku at the same stage.
This was why this version of Goku, at such a young age, could use the Kamehameha to fight dinosaurs without having trained under Master Roshi.
After eating and drinking his fill, Goku rubbed his belly.
"I'm so full!"
Gohan, while clearing the plates, laughed and said, "If you're full, go train! Grandpa will take care of the rest."
"Mm, thank you, Grandpa!"
With that, Goku strapped on his weighted turtle shell and began running around the mountain.
Watching the diligently training Little Goku run off into the distance, Gohan's face revealed a peculiar expression.
"This child, Goku, trains as if his life depends on it—completely contrary to the philosophy of the Turtle School..."
"Who knows if it's right or wrong..."
At that moment, Gohan, having finished washing the dishes, entered the room carrying a plate.
Suddenly, he noticed something unusual about the Four-Star Ball.
The normally quiet Four-Star Ball was actually glowing, which greatly piqued his curiosity.
"Hm?"
"Why is this pearl glowing?"
He quickly turned around and shouted, "Goku! Goku, come back quickly!"