There was a status screen in front of me. A status screen with my name and a picture of my Mabinogi character above it: design-wise the whole thing was a mix between the status screen of Disgaea 4 and Disgaea D2, though it was more minimalist than either of them. Right now, apart from my name and picture, it only showed a Title instead of a Class, a Level but for some reason it was hidden, and a Skill with a very cool-sounding name and an equally cool description.

They also were vague enough that I had no idea what this Skill was supposed to do.

“[Utopia Di Anima Leggendaria]. It’s Italian, and translates into ‘Legendary Soul’s Utopia’.” Tsuna informed me after moving closer to look at the screen.

“You know Italian? Duh, of course you know it.” I slapped a palm over my forehead once I realized how dumb my question was. Katekyo Hitman Reborn, following its ‘mafia’ theme, was a manga full of Italian terms and references to Italian culture: it was only natural Tsuna, after becoming the Vongola Boss, would eventually learn the language. He probably also knew English and a few other languages, Hyper Intuition would surely be helpful even for that.

So. It appeared there was some weight to Laharl’s claim I was the protagonist in... whatever this was. Still, by the look of things the whole situation was starting to look less like an incident and more like something deliberately set this way.

Then I noticed Laharl was silent, an eyebrow raised and fingers of one hand tapping impatiently as he stared at me. What was he-oh. “Thank you, Laharl, for teaching me how to access my Status Screen.” The demon grinned smugly at my words, clearly pleased with his actions.

Peering close at the status screen I saw, on the top right, two arrows: one was greyed out and pointing left, while the other was white and pointing right. I was willing to bet everything they were used to switch between pages and display more of the info contained within the status screen.

“Everyone, it looks like there are more pages.” I informed the others. “I’m going to scroll through them see if they contain some useful info.”

I waited for everyone to move behind me, so they could see the screen too, and then tried to press the right-pointing arrow with the tip of one finger. I briefly felt something, like the button of a joystick, and then the screen changed.

Name: Lee

Title: In The Shadows Of Giants I Walk

Level: [REDACTED]

Current World: To Love-Ru

Current Avatar: Rito Yuuki

Stats:

[REDACTED]

Description: A normal dude like you can find anywhere. A number in a statistic nobody read. That changed when he awakened a power that surpass fantasy itself: [Utopia Di Anima Leggendaria]. What a lucky son of a bitch!

...I suddenly felt slightly annoyed, and I knew perfectly why: it’s true I was nothing special before coming here, but the way the description worded it was almost deliberately insulting. And why where my stats hidden just like my level?

I tapped the right-pointing arrow again.

Skills:

[Utopia Di Anima Leggendaria] Through #%##%%###%% and the intercession of #$()#*$#%#% you have awakened a power that surpass fantasy itself.

Description: Why you’re in the situation you’re in and the reason you’re reading this. Basically, the thing that makes this whole shebang possible.

“Well, that’s as useful as saying the sky is blue.” Ranma snorted.

“Not necessarily.” Minato slowly rubbed his chin. “We now know there are at least two factors behind Lee’s awakening of this ability, and from that ‘intercession of’ one of them is external. So the first may be something he had all along, a special quality or maybe just a particular dream, while the second may have used the first as a foundation.”

He was right. Maybe a bored ROB decided to grant one of my hidden desires? Because it has always been a wish of mine to live in the shoes of my favorite fictional characters. And to meet them too, which would explain why they were here with me. I really hoped it was the benevolent kind of ROB.

[Decavirate] There are ten guys now living in your head. Some are pleasant, others are assholes. They can also see, hear and feel everything you do, so I hope you have an exibistionism fetish!

Then again, if ROB was the one to write those texts he/she/it was clearly gaining a perverse pleasure from making fun of me so I may be wrong. I tried to ignore the possibility of those being messages from my subconscious, there was no way dwelling on that could foster healthy thoughts.

Description: Don’t worry, there are also advantages. Here’s the current list:

Finally some good news. I already had some suspicions from my interaction with Rito, but it was time to shed some light on this mystery.

* You retain control of your Avatar at all times. The Avatar’s original owner can take control of it in your place, but he must have your permission first. So try to get along with everyone, m’kay?

* You can use the skills of the people in your head as if they were your own, even if it shouldn’t possible for you to do so. Doing so also causes you to draw on some of the original owner’s character traits, so be careful to not channel too many people at once or you’ll feel very embarrassed afterwards.

I stared hard at the second entry, breath caught up in my throat. I already expected the first one since Rito mentioned he felt like he needed my permission to move our body in my place, but the second one... I could access the powers of everyone? I really had a MC-tier special ability! The implications were astounding, and it caused me to break out into a shit-eating grin. “Sorry Laharl, but if what you said is true then I obviously fit perfectly as the protagonist.” I told the Overlord as I turned around to face the others, arms akimbo and legs spread apart to show my newfound confidence. “Way more than anyone here, especially you... Well Issei could be a candidate but he has his own issues."

"Oh?” He crossed his arms over his chest, a frown on his face as he stared right back at me. Despite how intimidating his aura was I could tell he was more interesting in hearing an actual explanation than to use violence in case I didn’t agree with him, showing more maturity than his canon appearances. “Pray tell why I, the great Laharl, wouldn't cut it as the protagonist of this story!?”

"Because...” I began before pointing a thumb at myself. “If this is a story with me in it then it’s obviously a smut, NSFW one. After all no matter what world I end in I’m earning me some waifu’s and there’s no publisher that can hold me back. So this is 100% a forum smut story starring me!"

“........”

I was answered with complete silence, the others staring at me with a myriad of different expressions.

Except for Issei, who stepped closer and put a hand on my shoulder. “Boy. You are wise beyond your years.” He told me with a kind, understanding smile.

Thank you Issei-sempai! If I ever went to Highschool DxD there was no way I was going to follow the stations of canon, but I swore I would do the title of Harem King proud!

“That’s not wisdom, that’s puberty.” Killua remarked with a dry tone.

Laharl seemed to mull over my words a bit more before suddenly turning angry, his hair antenna shooting straight up. “The great Laharl is within a story with 18+ content?! When I get my hands on the writers they’ll pay for this!”

“Can we tone down the meta jokes for the moment?” Rin asked with a polite and reasonable-sounding tone. I was pretty sure he was nursing the beginning of an headache. “It would be better to consider the implications after we finish reading the whole thing.”

“Yeah.” Sasuke nodded. “It’s incredible how much time can be lost when talking about women and romance. Especially when it’s meaningless babble that doesn’t lead anywhere.”

““Don’t I know it.”” Rito, Ranma and Minato said at the same time.

“Oh come on! I’m young! I’m allowed to have guilty pleasures.” You threw your arms in the air, though the annoyance in your voice was mostly fake. “Fine, let’s continue reading...”

* You and the people in your head can share memories. Yes, that include your respective incredibly large porn collections. You filthy degenerates.

“I DON’T HAVE AN INCREDIBLY LARGE PORN COLLECTION!” Everyone but Issei shouted.

I was lying my ass off, of course.

“I do have an incredibly large porn collection.” Issei stated with pride. “Though it’s entirely made up of material I recorded with my wifes, so there’s no way in hell I’m going to share it with you bastards!”

“Don’t want it.” Killua said with an even dryer tone than before. Beside him Tsuna looked slightly embarrassed at his earlier outburst, Sasuke and Riku were facepalming and Laharl was still angrily muttering about devs and violence.

I was probably enjoying those reactions more than I should, but what the hell they were too funny.

* [Additional Feature: Kage Bushin no Jutsu]: When making Shadow Clones the people in your head can take over them, allowing them to temporarily exist while disconnected from you. They still pop into smoke if struck hard enough, though.

* [Additional Feature: Henge no Jutsu] When using the Transformation Technique you can turn into any of the people in your head. It’s not just an illusion, but a real body transformation. Because fuck biology, amirite?

“That’s not how Henge works. Except...” Sasuke muttered before looking away and sighing. “The dobe.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You still call each other teme and dobe?” Some things just stayed the same no matter what. “And what do you mean with the last part?”

The ninja grunted. “I assume you know how Shadow Clones are made entirely of Chakra? It was eventually discovered that it makes their bodies more... malleable than flesh and blood. So every time Naruto’s Clones used the Henge they did more than just weave an illusion around themselves, they made alterations to their very own structure.” He snorted with palpable amusement. “Of course, that was only because he had no idea how the Henge is really supposed to work, and nobody bothered to correct him until much later.”

I snapped my fingers. “The battle against Zabuza! Naruto turned one of his clones into a Fuma Shuriken!”

“That’s right.”

“But how come Kakashi didn’t notice?”

“‘Cause Kakashi, duh.”

That... made way too much sense. Shaking my head at the inconsistencies of canon I turned back to the status screen. I had reached the end of the text explaining [Decavirate], it was time to see what else I had.

[Trono Di Anima Leggendaria] Within your soul is an inner world where the people in your head reside, and which you can visit when unconscious.

Description: All damage of any type heal almost immediately, making dying or maiming an impossibility. When someone hurt you the pain you should feel from it is instead transferred to your attacker, with the others simultaneously experiencing an uncomfortable feeling. This feature can be turned off if you want to engage in slapstick comedy, I won’t judge.

Someone told me they would judge alright. In fact, I didn’t even see a reason to engage in slapstick comedy: that stuff was funny when viewed from outside, but even with the assurance there was no serious risk I wasn’t so keen on getting kicked through a wall or being hit over the head by a giant mallet.

[Torre Di Paradiso] Even more potential lies within yourself, but you must prove yourself worthy of it. Find the Tower of Paradise and climb it, but remember: solitude will spell your doom.

Description: Gamers have quests. You have a dungeon in your soul. Go figure.

And that was the last entry on the Skills page.

“I don’t see a tower anywhere nearby.” Rito commented while looking around. “Then again, the text says to find it so...”

“Since this is an inner world space and time are relative concepts.” Tsuna mused. “The entrance may be one of the doors we see in the distance. I am not exactly sure what the ‘potential’ the description speaks of is, but that warning is clear: Lee is not supposed to explore the tower alone.” He looked at me. “Since this may take a while we’ll try to find the entrance while you go through your daily life.”

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“Got it. Thank you Tsuna.” I nodded before pressing the right-pointing arrow again, and I was rewarded with the Subskills page.

Subskills:

[Doorway To Infinity] Within your inner world are doors that lead to other universes. To open them you must use a Keyblade. This skill cannot be accessed if Riku isn’t present within your inner world. I hope you like cliffhangers, because I’m not telling you more until you actually try it.

[Save And Reload] The above statement is a lie. Tied to [Doorway To Infinity], this skill rewinds time when entering a new universe, allowing you to start from a point in the past of your choice. It’s like replaying a save file on a visual novel, except every universe you visit is an alternate version of the original one and will vary in some major/minor way. This skill cannot be accessed if Rin Tsuchimi is not present within your inner world.

This confirmed it, the game was a troll. Shaking my head in annoyance I thought about what I just read: the first skill made sense, traveling through different worlds was one of the Keyblade’s primary functions, and it explained the giant doors that could be seen on the walls. While the second... I have played Shuffle! multiple times, and I couldn’t remember even a single instance of Rin displaying a supernatural power, let alone one that let him rewind time. What was going on here?

Unless... could it be...?

“I would like to say I have no idea why my presence is required to use a skill to rewind time.” The black-haired boy raised a hand. “In case you wanted to ask questions.”

“I... I think I may know why.” It was a very meta explanation, but it fit with the theme going so far. “Do you remember how I said all of you were fictional characters in my world? In your case Rin, you were the protagonist of a visual novel. And since when you play one you can create save files and reload them whenever you want...”

“Oh.” He said, an unreadable expression on his face. “I... Honestly, I feel like the victim of a cosmic joke. What kind of visual novel I was the protagonist of?”

“...” I tapped my fingers together, suddenly aware that everyone was staring at us with various degrees of interest. “Weeeell, there were multiple versions but basically... an eroge.”

“Oh God.” He slapped a hand over his face. “I’m an harem protagonist. Kill me now.”

“You’re already dead.” Ranma answered with his usual tact. Which is to say, none at all.

“Dude, what are you complaining about?” Issei smiled brightly while raising a thumb-up. “Harems are great! Every true man should aim to get himself a harem! Except for pretty boys: those bastards need to die and stop hoarding all the pretty girls for themselves, leaving nothing for us poor, not blessed average guys!”

Issei, please stop talking. I like you, but you can be really obnoxious at times.

“Shup up peon.” As fast as lightning Laharl took out the Yoshitsuna and slammed the flat of the blade on Issei’s head. “Every time you speak it lowers the quality of this story.”

“Issei, I also feel the need to point out your hate for pretty boys is unfounded.” I added. “Come on, you must be aware most harem protagonists are losers or average-looking Joe’s that for whatever reason hit above their station and get a group of, on average, ten out of ten girls chasing after them.” Mostly because it was easier for the majority of the potential readers to identify with the characters, and that said something about Japan. “Plus, most pretty boys nowadays in anime sadly are yaoi bait or even traps, which makes them male waifus.”

The brown-haired boy quickly moved backwards with an horrified gaze. “There is no such thing as a male waifu!”

“Why not? Personally speaking here, but if a guy was girly enough and interested I wouldn’t mind-”

“LA LA LA LA!” Issei covered his ears and turned away. “I AM NOT HEARING THIS HERESY! LA LA LA LA!!!”

“Can we just ignore the horny moron and continue reading?” Riku asked with a tone that implied it wasn’t a question.

[There Are No Brakes On The Fourth Wall Train] The presence of Laharl allows you to view your status and abilities as if you were a character in a videogame. What kind of videogame you may ask? Boys, isn’t that a very important question?!

[Heart Is An Awesome Power] The presence of Riku and his Keyblade helps tie everyone’s hearts with their past and future versions. Thanks to it you’ll already feel familiar and close to people from the start. Once unlocked Social Links must still be raised the old-fashioned way. No pain no gain!

“So I can unlock Social Links eventually.” I mused. Social Links usually mean the Persona games, since that’s where they first originated from, but I could worry about it later. Right then I was most interested in the last page of the character sheet, which was titled Info.

And would you look at that? Info was exactly what I needed.

Info // Stats:

Description: Sorry chap, this isn’t that kind of game. If you want to see hard numbers and meaningful percentages go read the work of Sung Sang-Young or visit Spacebattles.

“Who is this Sung Sang-Young? Sounds Korean.” Ranma asked.

“From South Korea, yes.” I nodded. “He’s mostly famous for a webtoon called ‘The Gamer’, where the protagonist acquires the ability to experience the world like a videogame character and evolve the same way. It’s very good, so it gave birth to a trend where protagonists of fanfics and quests, many of which can be found on Spacebattles, acquire the same ability.”

Laharl was looking very unimpressed. “When was this webtoon first published?”

“Uhm...” I searched through my brain. “I think it was in... 2013?”

The Demon scoffed before grinning viciously, as if he just won a race after beating to a bloody pulp the other participants. “Pathetic! My own game addressed that set-up way back in 2003! This Sing Song Young is nothing but a talentless hack!”

I raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Do tell me, can you gain stat points or new skills without levelling up first?”

“What kind of madness is this?!” He howled.

“We’re going to be here all day...” Tsuna muttered under his breath with a resigned sigh.

After making sure the very powerful (and highly short-tempered) Demon wasn’t going to fly into a berserker rage I continued to read the Info page.

Info // Level:

Description: Same as above. Power levels is a silly concept anyway.

I respectfully disagreed. But it told me that this system, however it worked, didn’t use numbers to measure stuff like my strength and intelligence. Maybe because the others came from vastly different worlds? The original ability of Han Ji-Han may have folded all their skills under a single system, but the one I had was obviously not it.

Rin, Minato and Rito were normal people like me, only capable of feats strictly within human boundaries. The others... well it was a bit difficult to guess the exact extent of their power, especially after they had decades to refine their skills, but all of them were incredibly powerful, though not in the same way.

Food for thought. Especially since now I could channel those very same skills myself, and I knew a day would come when I would need to do it.

Info // Title:

[In The Shadows Of Giants I Walk] The title granted to those who haven’t accomplished anything noteworthy, yet can now access the abilities of people that boast great deeds to their names.

Even my title reflected that, uh? Still, they say you either walk in the shadows of giants or stand on their shoulders. And the only way for me to change that...

...Was to climb as hard as I can.

Info // World:

Description: The world you’re currently in, or better yet an alternate version of it. Sometimes the differences are minor, like the color of a pair of socks. Other times they are major, like the number of moons in the sky or who your mother is. And guess what? It's completely random!

That wasn’t reassuring at all! What was I going to do if the difference from canon was something ridiculous? Could I even trust my knowledge of future events or was it more wise to just discard it altogether?

“So it’s confirmed we’re in a parallel world.” Rito observed. “It means there’s no risk of fucking up the past and changing the future. That’s a relief.”

“Time travel is notoriously complicated and prone to give headaches.” Tsuna added. Now that I thought about it him and Riku were the only ones here with any direct experience concerning time travel. “Though, it is my understanding that parallel worlds can be just as tricky.”

Byakuran. Of course he was talking about Byakuran. I wanted to ask Tsuna about him but I had the feeling it wasn’t a topic to be addressed so casually. Later then, after I discover how to get some privacy in this world.

Info // Avatar:

Description: The body you’re currently inhabiting, which once belonged to one of the people in your head. When visiting your inner world and other dimensions you’ll instead look like your Mabinogi character. That says something about your self-perception, uh?

Oh look, the stealthy insults were back. I missed them.

“You play Mabinogi too Lee?” Rito asked.

“Yeah-wait.” I turned to him with an hopeful gaze. “It exists in your world too?”

“It will be in an year. And guess what?” He grinned while making a thumb-up. “I know Korean and how to get an account in the original servers.”

Wooo! Fuck yeah! Top of the ranking here I come!

Uh oh, the others were looking at us strangely.

Info // Decavirate:

Description: Down below is a list of the people currently living in your head and the skillsets they grant you.

* [Rito Yuuki] Protagonist of “To Love-Ru”. A failed Memetic Sex God with a deep knowledge of intergalactic bureaucracy. Grant increased lewd powers and abilities, the nature of which is mostly based around manipulation of probabilities.

Rito’s pleased expression morphed into one of incredulous shock once we got to his entry. “Failed Sex God?! What the heck is this! Forget about the failed part, I have never been a sex god! And I definitely don’t have lewd powers!”

“Well, there is the fact you kept accidentally groping girls, or strip them of their clothes.” I remarked, causing Rito to fold as if someone punched him in the guts. “And the fact that when you slept next to a girl you always molested her without even waking up.” He staggered backward. “I mean, there is a reason you’re known as the Lucky Pervert for excellence. Is it so absurd to think your suppressed libido can affect luck when properly stimulated?”

After I finished talking I realized Rito moved to kneel down, back facing us and an aura of depression covering him. Oops, I may have went overboard with the teasing.

“I understand your pain.” Issei knelt next to Rito and patted his shoulder in an understanding manner. “To be able to touch a girl’s breasts and failing to enjoy it because you’re asleep? Truly the height of misfortune.”

“Go away...” Rito pleaded miserably.

“Come on now Rito, there’s no reason to be depressed. It’s all in the past now.” I said while trying to suppress my laughter. “Let’s continue reading, I’m sure it will manage to lift you up.”

* [Sasuke Uchiha] Deuteragonist of “Naruto”. Once a brooding edgelord who edged so hard he was edging the edge. He didn’t change much while growing up. Grant the use of Chakra, Shinobi techniques and the Sharingan.

I stared wide-eyed at Sasuke’s description for a few seconds before failing to hold my laughter any longer. I was quickly imitated by Laharl, Issei, Ranma and Killua, while the others merely grinned widely.

“You know.” Sasuke, who had remained mostly silent until now, commented, one of his eyebrows twitching. “I don’t know what that means, but I can tell it’s an insult. And I do not ‘brood’!”

“‘Edging’ has gained quite a broad definition in popular culture, so instead of an explanation it would be faster if Lee share his memories with you.” Tsuna said with a mischievous smile that honestly reminded me of Reborn. “But I can tell you another thing about ‘edging’.”

“Which is?”

“It’s a sexual term.”

The next moment a jet of black flames pierced through the translucent screen, doing nothing whatsoever to it before blasting a hole into a distant pillar.

“I’ll find whoever wrote this shit.” The Ninja snarled, Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan in both eyes. The black flames continued burning the rest of the pillar. “And then I’ll make them pay.”

“Ah ah-Geez, calm down, will you?” I tried to stop laughing, but it was not an easy feat. I really hoped it was not my subconscious who wrote those texts, I knew for certain how scary a vengeance-drive Sasuke could be. “We’re -ah ah- all adults here, right?”

“You’re not very convincing.”

* [Riku] Deuteragonist of “Kingdom Hearts”. He was once lead astray, but thanks to his best friend he wisened up and became a reliable individual. There’s still some stick left within his ass, though. Grant access to the Keyblade, Kingdom Heart magic and the ability to travel through worlds.

“I don’t have a stick up my ass.” Riku crossed his arms and looked down. “Though I do admit I made poor choices of words in the past, but that’s all.”

“You mean, you were kind of a jerk?” I asked.

He looked up at the sky and sighed. “Yes.”

* [Laharl] Protagonist of “Disgaea: Hour Of Darkness” and “Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness”. An arrogant and self-centered demon of incredible power, and a rare example of male tsundere. Weak to large boobs. Grant access to Overlord Skills and the zany features of Disgaea.

“Who dares to call the great Laharl a tsundere?!” The demon roared in outrage.

“How can someone be weak to large breasts?” Issei muttered in confusion. “What a sad existence…”

Truly, the one who love breasts more than anything else and the one who really don’t like them at all. Why did I think they could be anything else but a comedic duo?

* [Tsunayoshi Sawada] Protagonist of “Katekyo Hitman Reborn”. Once a pathetic waste of skin, a truly sadistic mentor shaped him into a strong-willed and charismatic criminal. Grant access to Dying Will Flames and the Vongola’s Hyper Intuition.

“That is perhaps the most accurate description of my life I have ever read.” Tsuna chuckled quietly. “The Mafia does engage in criminal activities, after all. Even if I tried to tone it down after I took over the Vongola, there is no denying I have broken the law multiple times.”

“Same here.” Ranma shrugged. “But hey, there’s crime and crime, isn’t it?”

“It’s not as simple as that, but I do agree with the sentiment.”

* [Issei Hyodou] Protagonist of “Highschool: DxD”. A pervert that sacrificed the brain cells dedicated to intelligence in order to be able to experience even more perviness, thus turning into an idiot savant of perversion. Extremely addicted to large boobs. Grant Devil magic and Boosted Gear.

Issei began sputtering, while Laharl laughed. “This thing I basically saying my perversion turned me into an idiot! That’s patently false!”

“I don’t know.” I crossed my arms. “Remember I read about your adventures, Issei, and there were more than a few times when you failed to grasp even simple concepts unless you were given an example related to boombs.”

“Name one!”

“That time, during the Three Factions Conference at Kuoh, when Azazel asked you if it was better for the three factions to continue their war or to make peace.” I replied immediately. “You immediately chose peace when Azazel pointed out that with a war going on you wouldn’t be able to enjoy Rias’ breasts.”

“Sorry I’m an idiot!” He howled while leaning back, hands covering his eyes.

* [Ranma Saotome] Protagonist of “Ranma 1/2”. A martial artist who is a bit of a jerk and has a large ego. While he frequently put his own foot into his mouth, he’s not truly evil and will sacrifice himself to protect others without hesitation. Due to a magic curse he was once half man and half woman, an experience that taught him the ins and outs of the female body. Grant access to very bizarre but effective Martial Arts.

“I DO NOT!!!” Ranma shouted as the others stared at him with various degrees of ‘what the fuck’ on their faces. “I mean, I am not half woman! Not anymore! It was a stupid magic curse that brought me nothing but pain, and it sure as hell didn’t teach me anything about girls!”

“How did you manage to finally remove it?” I asked in honest curiosity.

“A cursebreaker from Europe. Yeah, it took us years to realize the best solution was to search for an expert of breaking curses.” He put a hand over his face. “Of course, that was just the beginning.”

“Everyone started throwing wrenches in each other’s plans?” I guessed.

“Almost immediately. It got much, much worse after that.”

* [Minato Sahashi] Protagonist of “Sekirei”. He has a genius-level intellect, but his inability to handle pressure often causes him to fail. Very knowledgeable about the correct ways to handle a harem. Grant access to Sekirei DNA and “Ashikabi” status.

“You’re half-wagtail?” Rin asked to Minato.

“No, no. Nothing like that.” He waved a hand in denial. “In my world Sekirei is the name given to a race of human-looking aliens. It turned out some of them arrived to Japan in the past and mingled with the population. Any ancestry link I have is very distant.”

“Mh. And the harem part?”

“For now, let’s just say my biological father was crazy and leave it at that.”

* [Killua Zoldyck] One of the Main Characters of “Hunter X Hunter”. While he was born in a family of notorious assassins and demonstrated incredible talent in the family's trade, he soon grew tired of killing and chose to forge his own path in life. He still remains incredibly ruthless and deadly, so provoke at your own peril. Can be easily bribed with sweets. Grant access to Nen and the Zoldyck’s family techniques.

“I am not easily bribed with sweets.” Killua scoffed. “Seriously, I just have a sweet tooth. Is that so strange?

* [Rin Tsuchimi] Protagonist of “Shuffle!”. A normal boy whose kindness is both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. He eventually got a little better, though it left behind a very embarrassing past. Grant the ability to rewind time by switching to alternate dimensions, though it can be used only under specific conditions.

“We already covered the last part. For the rest, I tried too hard to make everyone around me happy and as a result made a lot of mistakes. That’s about it, really.” Rin sighed. “Nothing exciting.”

I tried to press the right-pointing arrow again but it has turned grey. “It seems that was the end of the character sheet.”

“Even if we didn’t find an answer we now have plenty of hints to investigate.” Tsuna pointed out. “While Lee and Rito go through their daily life we can explore this inner world. Finding this Tower of Paradise and the doors that lead to other dimensions may provide us with the answers we need. There isn’t much else we can do at the moment.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll try to come here every time I can to help you guys out.” I added. “That’s the least I can do. After all, I want answers too.”

“One moment Lee.” Killua called out. When I looked at him I saw the white-haired boy had a very serious expression on his face, one finger pointed at me while the other hand rested in his pocket. “I’ve more or less confirmed this is not a plot aimed to inflict harm to those I care about so I’m willing to collaborate. But there’s that thing about being able to use our powers.”

He crossed his arms and frowned. “I don’t think I can do anything to stop you from channeling my skills. But still, I want you to promise me to not use them for evil purposes. I worked hard to overcome the stigma of being a Zoldyck: this may not be my original world, but I still care about that.”

“Absolutely.” I nodded sharply, determination radiating from my expression. I greatly respected Killua, there was no way I would shame the incredible gift that was given to me by discarding my moral sense like a power-drunk tyrant. “And if you need one more reassurance I’m willing to swear a Vow.”

“You know about those uh? Forget about it, that kind of thing is dangerous.” He waved a hand in dismissal. “To earn trust you must first be willing to offer it yourself, that’s one of the lessons I learned thanks to Gon. For now your promise is enough.”

“I have a similar request.” Ranma walked closer to us and pointed a thumb at himself. “It’s a martial artist’s duty to protect normal people. I’m not going to ask you to risk your life, but if you decide to use my amazing skills I insist you don’t put innocents in danger.”

“I will not, I swear it.” Ranma may have been immature and a jerk but he never hesitated to protect those in danger, even if they were his enemies. The least I could do was to match his own resolve.

“If you can really use my Keyblade then I don’t need reassurances.” Riku snorted, a half-grin on his lips. He raised Braveheart and pointed it at me. “This guy is the best judge of character there is.”

“If you know about my life then you must also know about the dark secrets of the Sharingan and the Uchiha Clan.” Sasuke said without even looking at me. “Abuse them at your own risk and peril.”

“Now don’t be so melodramatic. I know the risks, don’t worry.” I replied with a confident grin. Then I looked at the others. “What about you?”

“I am positively not happy that someone else get to enjoy my hard-earned levels.” Laharl grumbled. “However this [Decavirate] Skill is obviously one of this story’s plot devices, so there isn’t much I can do at the moment. But remember this!” He pointed one finger at me. “This is just a loan! If you want to use the great Laharl’s strength then you better do it in a battle against a worthy opponent! I will not tolerate my skills being used for something beneath an Overlord’s dignity!”

Oh, I knew exactly who was a worthy opponent for an Overlord. I wanted to become Emperor of the Galaxy, and now I had the chance to realize my wish in the way I wanted.

“I have nothing against you using my powers. Go ahead.” Issei shrugged. Oi oi, wasn’t that a little too much careless? “Oh, but if you can manage it I would like a cute busty maid to take care of me while I stay here.” Aaand, that was the Issei I knew, guess even old age wasn’t enough to calm down the Oppai Dragon.

“My Hyper Intuition already told me I can trust you.” Tsuna simply said with a knowing smile.

“And we don’t really have powers, even if that status screen says the contrary.” Minato shook his head, Rin and Rito doing the same.

“You got it. Issei, I... will try looking out for that maid, just don’t get your hopes up.” I sighed before rubbing my chin. “Now that everything’s sorted out, can any of you tell me how I am supposed to-” I trailed off as I feel something wet and squishy run over my face. I put a hand over it, but the phantom feeling continued. “Wait, what’s going on?”

I blinked.

And then I was back in the park, my body having fallen from the bench to lay on the ground. The source of the previous feeling turned out to be a dog with a stupid expression, which was currently busy licking my face and slathering it in spit.

“GAH!”