The System's Three Options

"The [Path of Destiny] mission prompt says this is a special main quest with three branches. You may choose any one of them."

"Branch One: Kill Him, and I'll Be the Protagonist.

Kill Son Goku, take his place, and obtain the Destiny Gift Pack.

Warning: This choice may cause major changes to the story's future. Choose carefully."

"Branch Two: A Stepping Stone on the Road to Growth.

Keep defeating Son Goku and other characters from the original story, both heroes and villains. Each victory grants a certain number of upgrade points, and characters can be defeated repeatedly. However, rewards can only be obtained once a month, and there is a very small chance of a Character Skill Pack dropping.

Warning: The first victory is guaranteed to drop one Character Skill Pack. The pack may contain character skills from other timelines, as well as from the past and future.

Note: The more important the character you defeat, the greater the reward."

"Branch Three: I Am the Villain.

Kill all the heroes from the original story. Each one killed grants a mysterious gift pack. Killing the protagonist grants the Destiny Villain Gift Pack. You may also recruit the original story's villain bosses as underlings; each recruit grants one Villain Small Gift Pack.

Warning: This choice may cause spacetime to fall into chaos, bringing unknown people or entities into this timeline. The danger will then rise dramatically."

He Lingxuan stared at the system's three options, the corner of his eye twitching. Doesn't this leave me with no real choice?

Damn, these options were poisonous.

Wouldn't choosing the first one basically make him Son Goku? He had no interest in babysitting Earth. With the Chat Group, he was bound to venture beyond the Dragon Ball World someday.

And wouldn't choosing the third one make him some villainous demon king?

He'd have to kill his way through the world and recruit villains as underlings. Leaving aside all the other consequences, the people in the Chat Group might not accept him anymore.

His system required him to defeat creatures of different power levels to earn upgrade points, but that wasn't the only way. There were missions, too.

Besides, he didn't have to grind for upgrade points in the Dragon Ball World. The Heavens and Myriad Worlds were full of countless races and creatures. The infamous Zerg, for example, were practically innumerable.

There were so many that numbers could hardly describe them. Even the weakest Zerg could survive in space and evolve by devouring everything around them.

Creatures like that wouldn't rank low by the system's standards. If he ever ran into a horde and sent a blast of ki their way, he'd earn more upgrade points than he could imagine spending.

What was more, because of his past life, he had always thought well of the original Dragon Ball characters. From the moment he learned he'd arrived in the Dragon Ball World, he'd wanted to change the story's regrets. He'd never do something like this.

For example, he could make sure Gohan trained properly, so he wouldn't turn into Yamcha-Gohan, and see how strong he'd become by the Tournament of Power.

Then there were the legendary warriors: Vegito, the fusion of Vegeta and Son Goku, and Gogeta, formed by the fusion of Son Goku and Vegeta.

Just how powerful were those two invincible warriors?

Would he be able to fight them in an epic battle someday?

What boy hadn't imagined something like that?

Fighting alongside an idol, or battling one and either drawing or winning—it would feel incredible.

There were countless other reasons, too. Of the three options, only the second seemed viable.

The first didn't suit his personality, while the third could bring all sorts of unexpected trouble. Besides, he wasn't some bloodthirsty villain who did nothing but evil. There was no reason to choose it.

With the second option, he could keep defeating characters from the original story to earn rewards, with even a chance of getting a small skill pack. Since the interval was only a month, it meant he'd have a steady source of upgrade points.

Even if he didn't kill creatures for upgrade points, he could still fight an original character once a month and earn a handsome amount by defeating them.

It was a sustainable way to earn upgrade points, and a highly profitable one at that. As he grew stronger, it would only get easier.

He could even take the opportunity to interact with characters he'd only ever seen in anime and manga. As a longtime Dragon Ball fan, that had been his dream.

As his thoughts settled, he looked at Son Goku, who watched him warily from nearby.

He Lingxuan made up his mind and silently said, "System, I choose option two!"

At the same time, in the blink of an eye, He Lingxuan appeared in front of Son Goku. Before he could react, He Lingxuan drove a punch into his abdomen, the immense force punching straight through him!

Son Goku's eyes rolled back. He spat up bile and looked as though he might pass out at any moment, his body too weak to do more than drop to one knee.

"Kakarot, as a Saiyan, why are you so weak?"

He Lingxuan spoke with an indifferent expression, as if he hadn't been the one to attack.

A notification about the option rang out in his mind.

"Ding! The host has chosen option two: A Stepping Stone on the Road to Growth. From this moment on, defeating characters from the original story or other characters recognized by the system will grant upgrade points and skill packs."

"Ding! The host has defeated Son Goku. You have received 100 upgrade points. Since this was your first victory, you have also received one Skill Pack, which can grant one random skill related to Son Goku's present or future."

While He Lingxuan felt a flicker of delight, Son Goku felt utterly powerless—overwhelmingly so!

The gap between them was too great to make up for by any other means. Judging by how easily his opponent had defeated him, the man certainly wasn't friendly. At best, he might simply refrain from killing innocent people.

And there was something else: the man in front of him had called him Kakarot. Son Goku didn't know him, and that wasn't even his name. Why did he act as though they were acquainted, and attack him as if he were teaching him a lesson?

All those questions flooded Son Goku's mind the instant he was defeated. He felt the sharp pain in his abdomen and the vast difference between them, a gap that left him unable to fight back.

Son Goku had always been optimistic, but even he felt a trace of despair. Even when Demon King Piccolo had nearly killed him, he hadn't felt this way. The difference in their strength had to be enormous!

"Come on, Kakarot, get up. I barely used any force just now. You only have a little over 400 points of battle power, after all. I've always had precise control over my strength."

Even so, He Lingxuan knew that before he'd mastered his techniques, he might have killed Son Goku with a single punch. Back then, he simply hadn't been able to control his strength.