The Start: Choosing Super Saiyan 4

Chen Hao had not fully woken up yet. His consciousness seemed to be floating in a dark sea, and his entire body felt as heavy as if it had been filled with lead. His tinnitus buzzed noisily for a few seconds, like a broken radio, before an icy electronic voice suddenly stabbed into his mind like a steel needle piercing his brain.

"Ding! The Sign-in System has been activated! Welcome, Host, to Dragon Ball World."

The voice was frighteningly mechanical, carrying an authority that made resistance impossible. It echoed through Chen Hao's mind three times before fading away.

"Please select your new identity in Dragon Ball World..."

As soon as it finished speaking, a translucent screen suddenly appeared in his mind, displaying four glowing options. Each one shimmered in a different color, as if tempting him. Beneath them were vivid little icons—Supreme Kai Shin wore a halo and held a divine sword; Baby looked sinister and cold, with a flicker of red in his eyes; Dabura wore an evil grin, his fangs faintly visible; Super Saiyan 4 was covered in red fur, golden flames of aura surging around him.

[Option One: Supreme Kai Shin!]

[Option Two: Baby!]

[Option Three: Dabura!]

[Option Four: Super Saiyan 4!]

"What the hell is this?" Chen Hao froze, as though someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over his head. He blinked hard several times. His eyelids felt as heavy as iron gates, and only gradually did his vision clear.

What entered his sight was a completely unfamiliar primeval forest—towering branches intertwined into a web, vines coiled around tree trunks like giant pythons, and green leaves rustled in the wind. Sunlight streamed through gaps in the canopy, mottled shadows dancing across the ground as though they had come alive with the breeze. The air carried the mingled scent of damp soil and wildflowers, while the distant growl of some beast drifted from who knew where.

"Hey, hey, hey, what the hell is going on?" Chen Hao habitually reached up to rub his temples, his fingers brushing against cold sweat. His head kept buzzing, as if a swarm of bees were crashing wildly against his eardrums. He tried taking a step, and a dead branch snapped beneath his foot. Several birds in the bushes flapped away in panic. His heart pounded in his chest, nearly drowning out the birdsong.

"Just yesterday, I was playing Dragon Ball Fierce Battle, waiting for the five a.m. reset to get Super Saiyan 4 Goku... Did I play too long and start hallucinating?" Chen Hao muttered, his voice sounding especially abrupt in the empty forest.

Looking down, he saw that his hands were still his familiar human hands. His nails were neatly trimmed, and the veins across the backs of his hands stood out clearly. He pinched his cheek hard, and pain shot through his nerves like an electric current—not a dream, nor a hallucination. Everything was real enough to terrify him.

Memories quickly flooded back. That was right. Last night, he had forced himself to stay awake until five. His eyes had burned as though rubbed with sandpaper, and his eyelids had battled him countless times. His coffee had boiled, cooled, then boiled again, all so he could wait for the refresh and gather the last card fragments. He had watched Super Saiyan 4 Goku's progress bar with his own eyes: ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine... He only needed three more fragments to get the SSR.

Second by second, time passed. At four in the morning, it was pitch-black outside the window, with only his desk lamp casting its dim yellow glow. Chen Hao kept refreshing the shop and dungeon rewards, his fingers flying across the screen. Finally, at exactly five, he had gathered all the fragments and tapped the exchange button—then, in the next instant, the screen flickered violently, the portrait emitted a blinding white light, and it felt as if his head had been smashed by a sledgehammer. His vision went black, and he could no longer feel anything.

When he woke up again, he was already in this primeval forest, with some so-called "Sign-in System" stuffed into his mind.

"Ding! Welcome, Host, to Dragon Ball World." The cold electronic voice rang out again, even more insistent than before. "Please complete your identity selection as soon as possible. Countdown begins. Remaining time: three minutes. When time runs out, an identity will be assigned automatically."

Chen Hao stood still and took a deep breath. The smell of damp grass cleared his mind somewhat. He raised his hand and looked at the four flashing options on the screen, his gaze gradually hardening. Since he was already here, he might as well accept reality. Dragon Ball World—he was here, and he was going to make a big splash.

The icy electronic voice echoed through the mountains and forest, every word hammering into his mind with absolute pressure.

"Please select a new identity..."

[Option One: Supreme Kai Shin!]

[Option Two: Baby!]

[Option Three: Dabura!]

[Option Four: Super Saiyan 4!]

The mechanical voice came again, this time roaring right beside his ears, each word slamming into his cerebral cortex. Even the air seemed to retain the humming vibration of an electric current.

Chen Hao jerked violently, springing to his feet like a coiled spring. His muscles tightened, and his eyes widened. He swiftly scanned his surroundings—soft black mud lay beneath his feet, crunching as he stepped on it, while his movement kicked up several dead leaves that spiraled down. Layers of canopy spread overhead, sunlight darting through them and scattering patches of light across the ground. Ancient trees surrounded him, their trunks covered with moss and vines, their roots coiling across the earth like giant pythons.

The air was damp, carrying the scent of earth and grass, mixed with a faint trace of pine resin. Every breath reminded him that this was not a dream.

"Wait, wait... I transmigrated?" Chen Hao's heart hammered so hard it nearly drowned out the wind and birdsong. He instinctively touched his face—it was warm, he could feel it, and it could hurt.

His pupils contracted. A layer of cold sweat covered his back, and it felt as though his spine had been drenched in ice water.

"Did I die from staying up all night? Damn it!"

The thought coiled around his nerves like a venomous snake, making him shudder. His fingers trembled slightly, while his toes curled inside his shoes, the hard grains of dirt prickling at the soles of his feet.

But before his fear could reach its peak, an even fiercer emotion exploded inside him—excitement, wild joy, unbelievable exhilaration—like a volcanic eruption. Dragon Ball! It was the Dragon Ball World he had followed from kindergarten through college, from black-and-white manga to high-definition TV adaptations! If he had really entered this world...

He was nearly going mad. Joy flushed his face red, the corners of his mouth rising uncontrollably as he breathed fast and heavily. He could practically hear his blood roaring through his veins. He wanted to shout, to leap into the air, to plunge into this world he had only ever seen through a screen—but reason held him back by a thin thread, reminding him that none of this might be real.

Chen Hao suddenly raised his hand and slapped himself hard across the face.

Slap!

The crisp sound exploded through the forest. Sparrows flapped away in fright, while fallen leaves drifted down in rustling showers.

The sound echoed between the trees several times before fading.

His face burned with pain, and his palm was slightly numb—the sensation was undeniably real.