"Akira, wake up. It's time for uni!" The cheerful sound of a girl's voice echoed in his ears, pulling him from a sweet dream.
His eyes fluttered open to gaze at the stunning young woman leaning over him.
She had light blonde hair and bright, vivid blue eyes with a hint of pink in the irises—a shade so vibrant it was borderline unnatural for any human.
Her outfit was sleek, futuristic, and stylish, reminding him of the sci-fi anime he'd watched in his past life.
He stretched his arms and let out a yawn as she held out a glass of mineral water she'd already fetched for him.
"Thanks, Yugure. You really didn't have to go that far, though…" Akira said sheepishly, taking the glass and gulping down the cool water
"But you and mother are our creator, Akira. We care about you. Both of you." Yugure replied, a bright, sincere smile lighting up her face.
Yeah.
She was an android, modeled after Tosawa Misumi—his girlfriend and lover in this life.
This world was a fusion of slice-of-life and rom-com anime tropes, and he'd been reborn as Akira from Dusk Beyond the End of the World.
Unlike his pathetic android counterpart in the original story, the real Akira was the GOAT.
Not just smart—decisive, capable, a legend.
When he'd watched the anime in his past life and saw Akira get shot by Misumi's stalker, only to wake up in the future as a weak, hesitant shell of himself, it felt jarring.
Then the twist came: that wasn't the original Akira at all, just a flawed android replica.
He'd breathed a sigh of relief. His GOAT hadn't been ruined—it was just the android that had all the skill issues.
After all, no matter how many memories that fake android inherited from the original, how could some ordinary mortal program ever hope to replicate a true GOAT?
Even in his old age, on his dying day, the original Akira was still the fucking GOAT.
And his android version? Still lame as ever—especially for taking the girl who tried to kill him and his love interest into his harem just because he pitied her.
What a joke.
He'd ruined the GOAT, and it was unforgivable.
So, in this life, he made sure never to create that male android version of Akira. He never would. He refused to soil his own eyes with that level of pathetic.
"Hmm… What're you thinking about, Akira? You look so serious," Yugure teased, tilting her head
"Nothing. Just thinking about the future. Anyway, I'm awake now. You can go," Akira said, his tone casual but firm
"Don't you want… extra service? For your bath?" Yugure winked, a playful glint in her synthetic eyes.
Akira deadpanned. "I will spank you if you keep teasing me, Yugure."
She stuck out her tongue cutely, then quickly slipped out of the room—partly in fear that her creator would actually follow through.
After all, he had spanked her in the past, and the sting still lingered in her memory.
But that wasn't what really made her avoid a repeat.
For some reason, the sensation hadn't just been pain.
A weird, confusing pulse of pleasure had shot through her systems instead, leaving her flustered and secretly eager in a way she didn't understand.
It was that reaction—more than any fear of punishment—that now made her instinctively retreat.
Akira finished washing up and brushed his teeth, the morning routine feeling both mundane and surreal.
He leaned closer to the mirror, examining the face staring back.
It was a classically handsome face—sharp jawline, clear eyes, the kind of looks you'd expect from the protagonist of a story.
The kind of handsomeness that, coincidentally, resembled the author of this very story.
It was also completely different from his face in his past life.
Back then, he'd been unemployed, but he was the luckiest kind of unemployed—the sort who never had to worry about money or the future because his absurd luck handled everything.
He'd never bothered to find a job or work hard.
Why would he?
Every time he bought a lottery ticket, he'd win first or second prize.
The few times he'd stepped into a casino out of boredom, he'd walk out with such staggering winnings that management would politely, then firmly, escort him out before permanently blacklisting him.
In mobile game gachas, his luck was legendary. He'd pull SSR after SSR, his streams becoming salt-inducing spectacles that left viewers in awe and despair.
Everyone preached the pay-to-win formula, but Akira?
He was the living embodiment of luck-to-win, acquiring every good thing without a shred of effort.
Yeah, you can't imagine the happiness of the truly rich.
Beautiful women?
They flocked to him.
Luxury cars, sprawling mansions, private swimming pools, his own island—all acquired through bizarre, chance encounters and windfalls.
A collection of sports cars, supermodels on speed dial… everything was possible through luck alone.
But of course, everything has its drawback.
Just as you can't imagine the dizzying heights of that kind of wealth, you also can't fathom the profound, gnawing emptiness that comes with it.
The hollowness that follows when every desire is instantly gratified, when challenge is nonexistent, and when every "achievement" feels unearned. The world became a bland, predictable vending machine where he just had to press a button.
So, he'd sought sensation elsewhere. He'd frequent bars, looking for a night with any gorgeous woman who caught his eye, chasing a feeling, any feeling, to fill the void.
But one night, instead of a woman, he was approached by a shady blonde-haired man in an impeccably tailored black suit.
The man didn't ask; he stated, spouting cryptic promises about granting him an "opportunity for a wonderful life."
Before Akira could even process a refusal, his consciousness blinked out like a switched-off screen.
And then he woke up here.
In this anime world.
Not as a side character, but as the GOAT himself.
It could be said his new life was the ultimate template for a winner.
His sister wasn't just a genius who pioneered androids and AI in this future—she was also obsessively, devotedly in love with him, her little brother. (The fact they were adopted, not blood-related, was, of course, a canonical setting detail he was acutely aware of.)
The hollow luck of his past life had been traded for a scripted destiny of brilliance, legacy, and complicated affection.
The game had changed entirely, but the player, at his core, remained a man accustomed to having the universe bend to his will.
After finishing brushing his teeth, he washed his face, dressed in his bedroom, and headed to the dining room, ready to meet his girlfriend for breakfast.
Maybe even a quickie before heading off to uni.
The thought brought a slight smirk to his lips
But as soon as the idea crossed his mind, his body froze mid-step.
The world around him stuttered, then dissolved into a blinding, sterile white.
Everything halted.
His eyes widened, nearly popping out of his skull at the sheer impossibility of the phenomenon.
[Congratulations, Player. You have been invited to Dimensional Game Online.]
[Awakening Initialized…]
[You have been granted 'Unlimited Gacha' as your awakening power.]
[Happy Gaming, Player!]