The fluorescent lights of the hospital room flickered overhead, casting harsh shadows across Marcus Chen's gaunt face. At twenty-four years old, he never imagined he'd be lying in a hospital bed, listening to the steady beep of monitors that measured what remained of his life.
Cancer. The word had hit him like a Kamehameha to the chest six months ago. Pancreatic, stage four, inoperable. The doctors had given him a year at most. He'd barely made it halfway.
His PlayStation 4 sat on the bedside table, a gift from his younger sister who thought gaming might help pass the time. She wasn't wrong. In the weeks since his condition had deteriorated to the point of permanent hospitalization, Marcus had found solace in one game above all others: Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2.
He'd been a Dragon Ball fan since childhood, growing up watching Goku and the Z-Fighters save the world countless times. There was something comforting about that universe—a place where death was rarely permanent, where determination and training could overcome any obstacle, where even the weakest could become legends.
His character, a Saiyan named Kaelen, had become his escape. Standing at six feet with wild black hair that spiked backward in the traditional Saiyan fashion, Kaelen had sharp features, a distinctive X-shaped scar across his left cheek, and the confident smirk of a warrior born for battle. Marcus had spent hundreds of hours perfecting him—maxing out his stats, collecting every skill, unlocking every transformation up to Super Saiyan Blue.
The controller felt heavy in his weakening hands as he navigated Conton City one last time. His vision was blurring now, the morphine drip doing its work to ease the pain that had become his constant companion.
"Just... one more mission," Marcus whispered to himself, selecting a Time Patrol quest. The screen displayed the mission parameters: a distortion in the timeline during the Cell Games. How fitting—the tournament where Goku had sacrificed himself.
As the loading screen appeared, Marcus felt his grip on the controller loosening. His eyes grew heavy. The beeping of the heart monitor seemed to slow, each tone stretching out like taffy.
Is this it? he thought, surprisingly calm. I guess I always knew this was coming.
The last thing Marcus saw before darkness claimed him was the loading screen of Xenoverse 2, Trunks and the Supreme Kai of Time standing ready for action.
Then there was nothing.
Nothing, and then everything.
Light exploded across his vision—not the harsh fluorescent of the hospital, but warm, golden sunlight. Wind rushed past his ears. His body felt... strange. Wrong, but in a way that was somehow right.
Marcus opened his eyes.
Blue sky stretched endlessly above him, dotted with fluffy white clouds. He was lying on something hard and warm—stone, he realized. Sitting up slowly, he found himself on a circular platform overlooking...
His breath caught in his throat.
Conton City spread out before him in breathtaking detail. The massive central hub with its mushroom-shaped buildings, the towering statue of a Saiyan in the center of the plaza, the various districts branching out in all directions—the recreation area, the time nest in the distance, the shopping district with its familiar storefronts. Flying cars zipped through the air, and dozens of people—no, warriors—walked the streets below.
But they weren't just people. He saw Namekians with their green skin and antennae, Majins of various colors bouncing along cheerfully, Frieza Race members with their sleek tails, Humans in battle armor, and Saiyans—so many Saiyans—going about their business.
"What the hell?" Marcus breathed, and then froze.
His voice. It was different—deeper, more resonant. He looked down at his hands and felt his heart skip a beat.
They weren't the pale, thin hands of a cancer patient anymore. They were strong, calloused, the hands of a warrior. He was wearing blue and gold Saiyan battle armor over a black bodysuit. On his wrists were golden bracers, and he could feel the weight of boots on his feet.
With trembling fingers, Marcus reached up to his face. His fingers traced across defined cheekbones, a strong jaw, and there—an X-shaped scar on his left cheek.
"No way," he whispered. "No fucking way."
He scrambled to his feet, nearly stumbling as he adjusted to a body that moved with a fluidity and power he had never experienced. Looking around frantically, he spotted a reflective surface—a decorative metal panel on a nearby structure.
Marcus—no, Kaelen—stared at his reflection in disbelief.
The face looking back at him was the one he had spent hours customizing in the Xenoverse 2 character creator. Wild black hair swept backward, sharp onyx eyes, the X-shaped scar, the confident features of a Saiyan warrior. He was taller, more muscular, his body practically humming with suppressed power.
And behind him, swaying gently with a life of its own, was a brown Saiyan tail.
"I... I'm Kaelen," he said aloud, watching his reflection's lips move. "I'm actually Kaelen."
His mind raced, trying to process the impossible. Was this a dream? A dying hallucination? Some kind of afterlife? Or had something truly miraculous occurred?
He remembered the stories he'd read online—isekai, they called it in Japanese media. Tales of people dying and being reborn in fantasy worlds. But this wasn't just any fantasy world. This was Dragon Ball. This was Xenoverse.
He was in the game.
A notification sound chimed in his head—not audible, but somehow perceived, like a memory of a sound. Instinctively, he knew how to access it, as if the knowledge was hardwired into his new brain.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
WELCOME, TIME PATROLLER KAELEN
PLEASE REPORT TO THE TIME NEST FOR ORIENTATION
THE SUPREME KAI OF TIME IS EXPECTING YOU
Marcus—Kaelen—felt a laugh bubble up from his chest. It started small but grew until he was doubled over, tears streaming down his face. He didn't know if he was laughing from joy, shock, or the sheer absurdity of the situation.
He had been dying. He had been ready to accept the end. And now?
Now he was a Saiyan warrior in Conton City, with a new body, new power, and apparently a job waiting for him.
"Okay," he said, wiping his eyes and straightening up. "Okay. If this is real—if this is actually happening—then I'm going to make the most of it."
He looked toward the distant Time Nest, visible on the horizon as a floating island of verdant green.
"Time to meet the Supreme Kai of Time."
Taking a deep breath, Kaelen focused on the energy he could feel coursing through his body. It was instinctive, like flexing a muscle he'd never known he had. Power surged through him, and with a burst of white aura, he shot into the sky.
The wind whipped past his face as he flew—actually flew—toward the Time Nest. Below him, Conton City sprawled in all its glory, and Kaelen couldn't keep the grin off his face.
His old life was over. His new one had just begun.