I wake up to a fist driving into my face. A dull crunch rattles through my skull, followed by a delayed bloom of pain. My head snaps back, vision blurring as I stagger.
Then comes the kick—sharp, brutal, right to my gut. My breath vanishes in a wheeze as I crumple, curling in on myself. Nausea surges, and before I can stop it, bile and half-digested something splatter onto the floor.
"Ewwww, gross! You got vomit on my fucking shoes!"
The voice is above me, sneering, but I barely register it before another boot slams into my back. My body jerks. Pain flares. But I don't react anymore.
Not because it doesn't hurt—it does. Every nerve is screaming. But because my brain is drowning in memories that aren't mine.
Chicago. My parents. The metahuman that killed them when I was eight. The orphanage. Late nights staring at a laptop screen, taking freelance programming jobs at fifteen. High school. A weak body. A cocksucker bully who made my life hell.
The whole protagonist package.
And then—the Guardians of the fucking Globe.
A sick feeling crawls up my spine, one that has nothing to do with the beating.
Fucking isekai. Striking when I least expected it.
I lie there for a while, groaning, waiting for the pain to settle into something dull and distant. Eventually, it does. When I finally pry my eyes open, I find myself staring at the empty hallways of the Reginald Vel Johnson High School.
Classes must have already started.
How long have I been lying here?
...Actually, I don't give a shit.
Fuck Mrs Johnson and her math class. I'm not Lee Smith—the poor bastard who used to own this body. I'm a fucking skinwalker or something, and I don't feel like playing along with this crap.
"Whoever put me here better give me a damn good reason not to jump off a building..."
One second.
Two seconds.
...
...
...Four hundred thirty-seven seconds.
I sigh in defeat.
Maybe hiding in a bunker would be smarter. I barely know anything about Invincible—just a few spoilers here and there. Not exactly a comforting thought.
Just as I start accepting reality and drag myself up to go clean off in the bathroom, a bell chimes.
And then—
DING!
A glowing blue screen pops up in front of me.
WELCOME TO KONOHA! YOUTH SYSTEM BOOTING UP!
1% complete...
Oh.
So there was a golden finger after all. That's nice. Feels like a weight just slid off my shoulders.
Wait. Welcome to Konoha?
Before I can process that, another message appears.
*Please perform push-ups to load the system.*
...Huh?