The world of Naruto.
Konoha.
Autumn winds blew, a gentle breeze brushing past.
Hokage Rock was quiet and deserted at that moment. Only a short-haired boy in coarse hemp clothing stood at the summit, his face contorted as he roared into the wind at the sky.
"It's been five years as of today!"
"Five years!"
"Do you know how I've spent these five years?"
There had been no car accident, no electrocution, not even a viewing of one of Miss Aoi's little dramas. Nothing at all, so how the hell had he transmigrated?
Liumu looked down at this immature body, wanting to cry but finding no tears.
He recalled his last night in his previous life with his girlfriend, the campus beauty...
They had eaten dinner, he had given her the gift, and he had finally coaxed her into a Home Inn. Just as they were about to turn off the lights and take that final step, this had happened!
"Haah..."
Venting with all his might had left Liumu a little dizzy.
He plopped down on the Second's nose and flopped heavily onto his back.
Although he did not know why heaven had played such a joke on him, since it had already chosen to have him transmigrate, why send him to this ninja world full of walking cheat codes?
Without those game-breaking cataracts, let alone a cheat-like case of red-eye, Liumu had spent these five years feeling thoroughly aggrieved as an ordinary person.
It was Year 42 of Konoha. Kakashi Hatake, who had been in his grade, had already graduated from the Ninja Academy. Might Guy, known as a physical-training fanatic, had become the strongest in the class. Even Obito Uchiha, that idiot who spent all day shouting about becoming Hokage, had already mastered the Clone Technique.
Yet Liumu, the only one who could score above an A+ on the class's theoretical knowledge assessments, had always ranked dead last in actual combat.
"In all the transmigration novels I read in my previous life, didn't every protagonist use his cheat to screw heaven above, earth below, and the air in between? So why did I inexplicably end up an ordinary person when it was my turn?"
Just then, while Liumu was cursing away, a sudden, intense headache struck him. Immediately afterward, a chilling electronic, mechanical voice rang out in his mind.
"The five-year period has ended. Detecting host's wishes. Connecting to the Strongest Template System..."
Liumu: ?
"Connecting, twenty percent..."
Liumu: ??
"Fifty percent..."
Liumu: ???
"Strongest Template System connected successfully. Time House generated automatically. Fate Roulette activated. Host attribute list constructed."
On the otherwise deserted summit, the succession of voices ringing in his ears left Liumu rooted to the spot.
Although he did not understand what "template" meant, Liumu was very familiar with the word "system."
He sprang up from the ground, looking dazed, his eyes and brows brimming with excitement.
It was here!
It was finally here!
This lousy system had finally deigned to pick me!
"Ding. Beginner's gift pack issued. Draw attempts increased by one. Please claim it promptly."
A beginner's gift pack? A draw?
As Liumu puzzled over this, the space in his mind suddenly warped, and an enormous roulette wheel appeared before his eyes.
"Would the host like to draw now?"
Before Liumu could examine it further, the electronic, mechanical voice sounded in his mind again.
Almost instinctively, Lin Ye nodded emphatically.
Whoosh...
The wheel spun rapidly, its brilliant radiance forming what looked like a circular rainbow before Liumu's eyes.
Thump, thump, thump.
As the wheel spun slower and slower, his heartbeat grew increasingly frenzied.
Finally...
Under Liumu's close scrutiny, the draw ended. A card depicting a bald man in a strange art style shot out of the wheel and appeared in his hand.
"Th-this is fucking... isn't this... One-Punch Man, Sensei Saitama?"
The card dissolved into specks of starlight and merged into Liumu's body.
Four hours later.
"Who's-who's there!"
At that moment, as an excited Liumu looked at his hands, a familiar voice suddenly came from nearby.
He looked up to see Might Guy, clad in watermelon-green, and Kakashi, who looked as though he never quite woke up, walking toward him with weary expressions.
"What brings you two here too?"
As the two approached, Liumu composed himself and asked curiously.
"Oh, it's you, Liumu. Kakashi and I were just racing to see who could get here first from the other end of the village." Might Guy gave a thumbs-up and looked proudly at Kakashi beside him. "I won this round. Counting our previous matches, I've got twenty-seven wins and twenty-six losses now."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're amazing. You're amazing!"
Kakashi brushed him off irritably, then turned to the dust-covered Liumu and asked with interest, "Your... hair. Where is it?"
"My hair?" At those words, Liumu felt the top of his head blankly. The touch itself was nothing, but what mattered was that only now did he discover that his once-thick hair had all... disappeared!
I've fucking... gone bald?
Before you continue