Wanna know what it's like to struggle for 4 years after getting your degree?
I'll spare you the cute details and keep it short.
None of that "he fought for his dreams" or "despite everything, he kept hope" stuff.
No!!
Just a guy in a moldy studio crashing on a friend's couch who had already warned him:
"You can stay for a month, no longer."
Spoiler: I stayed eight months.
Name's Alex. Last name? Not important. Respect my privacy, please.
I'm 24, computer science graduate, no connections, zero network, and an impressive track record of interview rejections.
You know what it's like to send your hundredth resume and get the same automated response, like:
"We were impressed by your profile, but..."
Fuck, but what?!
Huh?!
Yeah, you're a loser, Alex.
Get lost.
That was their hidden message, well-wrapped in their corporate politeness... a bunch of hypocrites.
So I stopped trying.
I sold my books, and some objects related to my former studies.
After that, I worked in a fast-food joint... Yeah, I lasted a long time.
Just two weeks.
Still, I gritted my teeth.
And then, I started hitting a punching bag.
And after that, people.
Not because I enjoyed violence... No, far from it.
Out of necessity!!!
Underground fights don't pay well.
But they gave me an illusion.
Yeah, an illusion of control.
And me, I needed to hit something. To feel like I was still holding the wheel of that piece of crap car that was my life.
So, smashing something helped me hang in there.
Not walls.
Not myself.
Another guy like me.
Lost. Tired. No future.
Stuck in his own illusion to escape reality.
That's how I survived.
A cigarette in one hand, a bag of ice in the other to calm the pain of my swollen temple.
And a philosophical phrase in my head, to keep my mental health... at least, what little remains of it.
Why so much importance on philosophy?
Because we all need something to hold onto in this raging ocean that is our lives... right?
Mine?
If I can't find my place in this world, I'll create it with my fists.
Funny philosophical vision, haha.
Especially when you've never won more than three fights in a row.
But it was okay.
At least, this illusion was enough for me.
Because deep down, I didn't care.
I was already half-dead...
No. I was already dead.
Then, that night, it happened.
I was in an alley, pissing against a wall — yeah, not very classy — when a notification popped up on my phone.
The sound was weird. Too loud. Surreal.
[Would you like a new life?]
I burst out laughing reading this weird email.
A real laugh. A good one. Like I hadn't had in a long time.
"What kind of uncreative scam is this...?"
I wanted to click on no, but I slipped because of the wet ground, freshly frozen by winter.
So yeah...
I clicked on yes.
"Okay... I'll have to notify my bank, to avoid suspicious charges."
In the end, I went back "home"... No, to another friend's place. A guy too nice (or too stupid) to have let me crash "a few days" in his living room.
Lol, it's already been several weeks that I've been sleeping there, raiding his fridge and abusing his patience.
I half hate myself for it. The other half? Too busy surviving in this shitty reality.
And then it happened.
[Congratulations, you have been selected by "the Absolute".]
[Please follow the steps to benefit from the New Life program offered by the Absolute.]
New Life?
The Absolute? Like the god from the Solo Leveling manhwa or just another bargain-bin pseudo-ROB?
Questions raced through my head, then I shrugged.
I was lying on the old couch before finding myself in this weird black void, facing a holographic panel straight out of a cliché isekai with no real imagination.
So, I was sure I was dreaming.
"I must have really fried the three neurons I had left to dream something like this..."
Tch.
I clicked my tongue before reading this damn menu.
[Reincarnation World]
[Trait to select]
[Character Creation]
[Selection of an existing character]
[Disadvantages] / [Advantages]
[Available points: 0]
"Great... Even in my head, I'm poor."
According to this digital delusion, I was supposed to choose a host world, then create a character with traits and advantages... paying with points I don't have for certain paid options.
So yeah.
I have to take disadvantages to hope to have the right to exist with my head held high.
Fuck. Even other universes in my dreams don't want me.
It's official: I'm getting screwed without lube... by myself.
Do I have a mental problem? Very likely.
But that's not new.
Anyway.
"Come on, let's choose the host world..."
Kakegurui? Nope. I'm not smart enough for that, and gambling obsessives freak me out.
City Hunter? Not enough supernatural for my taste. Too many people reeking of free testosterone.
After scrolling through the list for a while, my finger stopped on a name:
"Jujutsu Kaisen..."
Yeah, why not?
A shōnen that stands out a bit.
A protagonist without a cheat power handed to him for free, a rich universe, well-written characters...
Normally, I would have just scrolled past it like any other generic shōnen.
But there...
"Weird... I never thought I'd want to live in a manga."
Maybe because my real life is hell?
Meh. It's not by thinking about it that my reality will magically change. And at worst, what do I lose here?
It's just a dream.
So yeah, I validated the Jujutsu Kaisen universe.
After choosing the world I wanted to be reincarnated into, I was asked if I preferred to be an OC or an existing character.
Personally, I've never really liked original characters in fanfics or isekai-type novels, so I checked "reincarnation into an existing character."
Except that...
"Damn, why did I instinctively want to select Gojo Satoru?"
Unlike some JJK fans who would choose Gojo without hesitation for their new life, I had other plans.
Other values...
So, I selected someone who better fits my vision of things... at least, according to me.
"Huh? I can choose when I get my memories back? Interesting."
Surprisingly, I could decide the moment and circumstances in which I recover my memories of my life on Earth.
"I don't really like that idiot Megumi, but his father is stylish... I'm going to have fun."
So, I specified that I wanted to reincarnate as Toji Fushiguro, at the peak of his form, directly at Shibuya, without the disgusting side effects of the old witch's technique.
Basically?
I don't start from scratch, and I appear right after Gojo Satoru's disappearance.