SSR Characters!!

Lin Xia returned to his shabby rental apartment.

His first attempt at climbing in through the window instead of using the door had drawn a chorus of monkey-like screeches from the neighbors.

After closing the window, Lin Xia eagerly opened the panel unique to Awakeners.

As an SSR-level Awakener, his panel glowed with the dazzling, regal gold of an emperor.

(SSR-SR-S-A-B-C-D-F)

[Dragon Ball Universe All Characters Encyclopedia]: The host's actions and decisions have a chance to earn character affection. When any character's affection reaches 100%, the host will obtain that character's Card!

"My actions can earn character affection?"

Lin Xia rested his hand on his chin as he browsed the encyclopedia.

Just as he'd expected, it included everyone from SSR-level Gods of Destruction to D-level Bulma!

But for now, all the Cards were gray.

Trying to inspect one more closely brought up an "unlocked" notice.

So Lin Xia opened the SSR character Card pack.

"Boom!"

As the pack opened, the entire room was flooded with brilliant light!

[Majin Buu · Fat Form (SSR)]

[Role: Control/Tank]

[Skill: Chocolateification]

[Chocolateification]: Fires a beam that turns the target into chocolate, leaving them unable to act for three seconds. If the target is weaker than the user, the user can choose to eat them, instantly killing them and restoring the user's health.

"This is great!"

Lin Xia's eyes lit up. Control characters were indispensable to any lineup.

Control characters were usually fragile.

A tank like Fat Buu... was incredibly rare!

Just imagine: in a fight, most people would choose to take out the healer and control characters first.

But what would happen when an opponent charged straight at Fat Buu, only to discover that he was unbelievably tough?

"Let's see his stats."

At Lin Xia's thought, a set of data appeared.

[OVR (Card Rating): 89]

[Physical Damage: 67]

[Energy Damage: 98]

[Physical Defense: 125]

[Energy Defense: 125]

[Speed: 30]

"Wait, his speed is only 30?!"

"His defenses and skill stats are high, but his basic attacks and speed... are way too unbalanced."

"But I guess that makes sense, given his role."

Lin Xia took the Card floating in midair. A cool, substantial sensation washed over his hand.

"Come on out and meet me, partner."

As soon as Lin Xia spoke, the Card turned into golden particles that drifted to the floor and began to gather into a human shape.

Before long, the chubby, pink Buu appeared before him with a simple-minded smile.

He wore a purple cape and golden gloves... and had those unmistakable little eyes. He looked exactly like the character Lin Xia remembered from the anime!

"I'm Majin Buu. I'm hungry!!"

Fat Buu blurted out his first words.

"Hungry...?"

Lin Xia was speechless.

He hadn't expected the characters brought out of Cards to have their own consciousness—or to feel hunger.

If he got Son Goku and Vegeta later, would he be able to afford to feed them?

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Just then, a series of hurried knocks sounded at the door.

Seeing the wooden door shudder with each blow, Lin Xia realized that this rude, unwelcome guest... had come looking for trouble!

Sure enough, the next second, the door was kicked open!

A tall, thin man in a suit appeared before him.

"Hm?" Zhang Heng frowned at the pink figure before him. "I didn't expect this dump to have a double door."

Then he tried to kick the door open the same way he had before.

"Thud!"

After a dull impact, Zhang Heng was shocked to find that his left foot had sunk into it!

He hurriedly yanked his foot free.

Only after seeing that it was still intact did he breathe a sigh of relief.

But then the pink wall began to move.

As Fat Buu turned around, Zhang Heng realized that the enormous pink thing was... alive?!

"Holy crap, what a huge pink blob of jelly!"

Zhang Heng's mouth fell open, and his hands flew out of his pockets. He stumbled backward, his earlier bravado cut in half.

"You kicked in my door..." Lin Xia slowly emerged from behind Fat Buu, his face cold. "You'd better have a good reason, or I'll give you one!"

Top-floor conference room, Zhang Corporation.

The lavishly decorated room was steeped in a heavy atmosphere.

The five people present sat in silence, each smoking a cigar.

They didn't look up until hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.

"Thud!"

The door swung open, and Zhang Ting rushed in, furious, carrying a corpse in her arms.

Everyone noticed the deep tear tracks on her face.

"Dad!" Zhang Ting dropped to her knees. "My brother's dead! You have to tear Lin Xia limb from limb!"

Looking at Zhang Peng's cold corpse, the chairman, who loved his son more than life itself, was heartbroken.

But because of the occasion, he kept up appearances and showed no emotion.

"This is the first time our Zhang Family has suffered such humiliation in all of City A!" said Second Uncle, Zhang Heng's father. "The future heir to the group was killed in broad daylight!"

The others continued smoking their cigars without a word.

Second Uncle went on, "I've already sent Zhang Heng to deal with that kid. Once he gets back... it'll be time to discuss appointing the next heir."

At that, everyone's eyes shot toward him.

They could all tell he was plainly trying to make Zhang Heng the heir.

"Second Uncle! You—"

Zhang Ting, who had a fiery temper, was just about to say something when a sudden shout cut her off.

"S-something's happened!"

The newcomer was Zhang Heng's driver. "Young Master Zhang has d-disappeared!"

Everyone looked confused, as if they couldn't quite understand what he meant.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Second Uncle said, displeased. "How could a grown man just disappear?"

"Sir, I'm not lying!" the driver said, his expression both terrified and sincere. "Young Master and I followed Lin Xia to his apartment building. He told me to wait in the car while he went up to take care of things...

"By all rights, killing a newly Awakened brat should have been easy for Young Master.

"But after waiting for a long time, I still hadn't seen him come back.

"So I went up to check.

"...When I got to Lin Xia's door, I found it standing open. At first, I thought Young Master had succeeded.

"But when I went inside, he was nowhere to be seen. Instead... instead, Lin Xia was perfectly fine, cooking!

"I looked carefully, and there weren't any signs of a fight...

"Given the Zhang Family's influence, I doubt anyone in City A would dare kidnap Young Master. So I could only come to one conclusion..."

As the driver finished speaking, Second Uncle slammed a hand on the table and shot to his feet. "Are you saying we failed to avenge Zhang Peng, and I've lost another son on top of that?!"