"Ken Kaneki~ Open your eyes..."
"Uh, who's there? You're so loud... Where am I?" Ken Kaneki had apparently been asleep for a long time, and his thoughts were a muddle. He finally managed to open his eyes, only to have the fluorescent lights overhead dazzle him until they nearly brought tears to his eyes. He raised a hand to block the glare and waited a while before he could take in his surroundings.
Ken Kaneki. Yes, that Ken Kaneki—but not the one you're thinking of. Before Tokyo Ghoul came out, he'd been an utterly ordinary middle schooler living a normal life. Then that heartwarming, healing anime came along, and his whole world came crashing down.
By the time the anime's popularity had finally died down, he'd grown into a college student who was great at singing, dancing, and rapping... This particular day, he'd decided to skip class and go shopping with his goddess. On the way, he'd been lucky enough to be chosen as one of the transmigrators—or, to put it another way, he'd hit the jackpot, in every sense of the word.
When he opened his eyes again, everything around him felt strange and unfamiliar.
"Hello, is anyone there? (Japanese language)..." Before he could finish, Ken Kaneki clapped a hand over his mouth, his pupils shaking in shock.
"Something's not right. I was a perfectly healthy, upstanding young man from China, so how did I end up in this unlucky place? Why am I still speaking Japanese? And why am I lying in a hospital bed? With this name, I really shouldn't be lying in a hospital bed! Could there really be a kindly math teacher waiting for me, ready to teach me what 1,000 minus 7 is??" Ken Kaneki felt like his world had come crashing down too soon. The maddening "wash the seaweed" song had already begun playing in his ears.
"Oh, you're awake!" A pink-haired girl walked into the hospital room, looking as if she knew him. Beside her, a dark-skinned boy stared at him with a disgruntled expression.
"Hello. May I ask who you are?" Ken Kaneki found the pair somewhat familiar, but couldn't remember who they were.
"Hello, Ken Kaneki. I'm a first-year student at Teiko Junior High School, and my name is Satsuki Momoi." The pink-haired girl cheerfully introduced herself, then pulled the dark-skinned boy beside her closer. "This is my friend, Daiki Aomine."
"Satsuki Momoi... Daiki Aomine... Teiko Junior High School..." Hearing those familiar names, Ken Kaneki fell into thought.
"What is it, Ken Kaneki? Do you know me?" Momoi asked curiously, watching his reaction.
"Ah, no. You just seem familiar. I can't remember where I've heard those names before," Ken Kaneki answered honestly.
"Oh, could you have lost your memory?" Momoi looked at him with concern, then turned to Aomine with a reproachful expression. "This is all your fault, A-Dai! You knocked Ken Kaneki out and gave him amnesia!"
Aomine suddenly felt a huge weight land on his shoulders and realized he couldn't carry that much blame. He quickly protested, "You're slandering me! You're slandering me! I was just riding you home from school on my bike and accidentally brushed against him. He shouldn't have passed out from that!"
"It's okay, Momoi. I just woke up, so I'm feeling a little unwell." Seeing Aomine looking so wronged he was about to cry, Ken Kaneki hurried to explain.
"Phew." Momoi let out a long breath. "In that case, I'll leave you to rest. I left my contact information in the bedside table drawer. If you need any help, feel free to contact me!" With that, she turned and left, pulling Aomine along with her.
"Daiki Aomine, Satsuki Momoi, Teiko Junior High School..." After spending some time sorting through the vast information in his mind, Ken Kaneki finally remembered who they were. "Holy crap, it's... No, wait, Kuroko's Basketball!"
"Thank goodness, thank goodness. At least I don't have to study math." Ken Kaneki cried tears of joy as if he'd narrowly escaped death. The last time he'd been this excited... um, well, that was the last time.
"Ah, being alive is what matters. Even if I've gone from being a Chinese rabbit to a Japanese chicken, better to live badly than die well." Ken Kaneki thanked the heavens for their generosity. He'd hit the jackpot and still woken up—what incredible luck.
As for why he wouldn't play basketball after arriving in the world of a basketball anime—come on, in his previous life, Ken Kaneki had been a shut-in. Basketball was just a hobby for keeping fit. This Ken Kaneki didn't look like he was in great shape either, or he wouldn't have passed out from getting brushed by a bicycle. Play ball? What was the point? How was he supposed to compete with that bunch of basketball freaks? Especially that Purple-haired natural airhead. If he bumped into him, with a body like this, it'd be just like getting hit by a truck...
"Ah, just being alive is great. I'm not expecting to be like all those other transmigrators, with some system or some amazing encounter. That stuff isn't scientific. I'll study hard and work hard. If I can't make money, I'll just slack off. That's not such a bad life, either." Ken Kaneki lay spread-eagled on the hospital bed, reassuring himself.
But as he kept reassuring himself, Ken Kaneki started to feel cheated. "Science? I had to believe in science before I transmigrated, but now I've transmigrated and I still have to believe in science? Then what was the point of transmigrating? Why don't I get a cheat? I want a cheat!"
"Bzz... bzzz..." Just as Ken Kaneki's resentment was about to bring an evil sword spirit to life, a broken, crackling sound of static came from beside him. Startled, he hurriedly checked the nearby outlets and appliances, but nothing was wrong.
"Bzzz... crackle..." Just as Ken Kaneki thought he was imagining things, the inexplicable static grew louder—so loud that he nearly started singing "Nocturne."
As the static grew clearer, an electronic voice rang out distinctly in Ken Kaneki's mind: "Bzz... System loading complete. Worldline scan complete. Human body data conversion complete."
"!" Ken Kaneki was stunned. "Did I awaken an ability that makes whatever I say come true? I said 'system' and now I've got a system?"
"And I want a million dollars!" Ken Kaneki immediately made another wish. What a joke—if he could make anything he said come true, who needed a system? But Ken Kaneki's prayer to the gods received no response.
"Fine, if I don't get one, I don't get one. At least I got a system, so it's not a loss." Ken Kaneki waited until his neck was stiff, then finally gave up on the idea that he was a wishing-pool turtle. He turned to trying to communicate with the system in his mind.
"System?" Ken Kaneki called out cautiously, afraid that the whole thing had just been a dream.
"I'm here." The system's clear voice rang out in his mind.
"Hand it over!" Ken Kaneki held out his claw, as if it were only natural. "What's in the system starter pack? I'll take as many as you've got."
The system in his mind fell silent for a long time, as if Ken Kaneki's shamelessness had left it speechless.
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