Updated (10/22/19) - Changed the direction of the story, and MC's abilities.

I apologize. First chapter is somewhat of an info dump, and a general idea of how I decided the MC's abilities. I wanted to include the thought process.

I really need a Beta Reader.

Chapter 1 – Transmigration Bus (Version 1.02)

I awoke to a white room.

"You died, Kid. It was like 'BAM!' You got hit by a bus." I was hearing a voice in my mind.

"What? I died?"

"Yup. I didn't expect that at all. Your death was pretty unusual."

I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It was aggressive, so I had already expected to die anyways in a month or so. I had already made my peace with it. "Did I commit suicide? How did my parents take it?"

"Nope. It was the transmigration bus. Unexpected, really. No one ever sees it coming. Not even me. And I can see everything coming. Cause of death was noted to be a hit and run in your world. Your parents grieved when they found your body. You had a very nice funeral."

"Who are you?"

"God."

"Oh. Cool." I guess I should have expected that.

"Yup. Full disclosure—all of the Gods of the Multiverse are watching what is going to happen on this bus."

"What? Why?"

"Obviously, because you're going to be a great source of amusement in the future."

"Oh crap."

"Yup."

I was silent for a minute. "So now what?"

"Now for the fun part. Since you're on the Transmigration Bus, you get to go to a different world!"

"Can I return to my own world?"

"Nope! It's not fun that way. Also, I don't control the rules of the Transmigration Bus. I only control things in this universe."

"So what kind of world am I going to?"

"I don't know. It's your pick."

"I can choose?" That was both surprising and interesting.

"Of course! This is like winning the lottery!"

"Cool! So what worlds can I choose?"

"There's just about anything you would like! You can choose any story world like Harry Potter or Percy Jackson and the Olympians. You can go to any anime world like Naruto or One Piece. You can even go to any game world like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Final Fantasy, or Assassin's Creed. You could even be a part of one of those Xianxia Novels that you love so much! Hell, you might even choose to be a part of the Marvel or DC universe."

"Woah…" That is a lot of choices. God apparently pointed out a majority of the ones I had always wished I could be a part of.

"I'd choose wisely if I were you. Some of those worlds are extremely dangerous, hopeless worlds. Would you really want to live in those worlds?"

He was right. I could only handle a certain amount of danger. I wasn't a super talented MC like in all of the stories and games.

I thought through all of my options for a while, but I couldn't decide on where I wanted to go.

Apparently God could sense my troubles. "There's also two other options. First, you allow the transmigration bus to choose for you. It'll choose the world most suited to you, with the potential of leading you towards a great life. Of course, in return, you must accomplish missions for the bus in that world, or you will die."

"That doesn't sound pleasant."

"It depends on your point of view. Is the best world in the multiverse worth doing these tasks? Also, are you willing to do anything the bus asks of you in that world?"

"How many missions would it send me on? Are there any rewards for accomplishing these tasks?"

"Unlimited number of missions. The chosen world is your reward. There are no additional rewards for completing tasks."

"That's not good, but I guess maybe I wouldn't mind if the bus was giving me objectives to save the world."

"Unfortunately, that's not how it works. The requests are generally random and chaotic. The missions are whatever it feels would be interesting for all of the Multiverse Gods to watch, whether for good or evil."

"So what you're saying is that one day it could ask me to save a city, and the next day it could ask me to destroy it?"

"Yes. Essentially similar in concept. Almost no one selects this option once they know that."

"Yeah, that option's a no. What's the last option?"

"You could choose the random draw function, and a random world will be chosen for you."

"So it could be a really crappy world?"

"That's right. This option is rare too and only chosen slightly more than the other one, but in exchange, you can choose a couple of 'cheats'. You can grant yourself a couple of abilities, which fit the world's theme, within reason, to give yourself a fighting chance in that world. Of course, it could be an easier world to live in, and you would still get cheats, however they would be scaled down accordingly. It's just the luck of the draw."

"Hmm. So, I have three actions I can take right now. I can choose my world, and be sent there with no strings attached. I can allow the bus to send me to a world that would be great for me, but become a system's bitch. Or I can choose a random draw, and try to set myself up for success in that world."

I thought about it for a while. Time had no meaning where we were so I could take all the time I wanted. I had two real options. One was choosing the world myself, and the other was to be thrown into a random world with various possible benefits that I could choose for myself.

The major problem I was having was which world to choose. I feel like it would be awesome to be on a Pirate Ship with Luffy, and party with those guys, but who knows where I would actually end up in that world, or whether I'd be able to keep up. I was thinking about the Naruto World, but I don't feel I would be able to make a difference among the main characters, and having to kill people for money in the future sounds depressing. Bleach is a bit too creepy in real life. I don't want to live a horror story.

The Harry Potter world seems fun, but I don't want to do something so basic. The Pokémon world sounds like a really fun world, but maybe it might be a bit too vanilla. Sure, I could choose a Pokémon world that was dark and gritty, but that would take away the whole Pokémon charm, which would defeat the purpose. The Dragon Age and Mass Effect series were great stories, but I'd never actually willingly want to be a part of such hopeless worlds. I'm not insane.

The DC and Marvel Universes would be cool, if I could choose my origin. A Xianxia world would be cool too, but I'm not sure if I could take that cutthroat world without any advantages. I'd need to be born into that world and have all my memories wiped, to be able to fully adapt to that world. The Dragon ball universe is out for the same reason. Those people are crazy fighting maniacs. I wouldn't fit in.

I could keep going about all of the other worlds that I've imagined myself being a part of. But if you have to go into those worlds for real, you have to evaluate your own strengths and weaknesses.

On the other hand, I couldn't stop thinking about cheats. If chosen correctly, I'd be able to protect myself regardless of the world I fall into. Also, a leg up might be more important than choosing the world.

"I'll do the random draw."

"How exciting! I can't wait to see where you go! I'm getting messages from everyone! They are all excited about this!"

All of a sudden, the screen appeared flashing words so quickly that I wasn't able to read anything.

"Pull the lever whenever you're ready, and it will stop at that one. You are lucky that the Transmigration Bus is kind. It will only choose worlds that you are capable of understanding. Worlds that exist in more or less than three dimensions will not be included."

"Uh huh…" I didn't even know that was an option.

I took a deep breath and pulled the lever.

On the screen, the words stopped at Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka*.

"Not a bad world. Relatively peaceful. Game mechanics and growth make things easier."

That's what I remember too. "Why is there an asterisk next to the world?"

"It means that it's an alternate universe version of that universe. There will be some differences from the main story and world. You'll find out the details eventually."

"Okay…so that's totally not cryptic and ominous. So what's the next step?"

"Next, you get to choose your race, because that is an option. That will affect your starting point."

"What's the strongest race?"

"Each has their strong points. Any race can become strong with falna, so it doesn't really matter."

"What race has the longest lifespan?"

"None. In the original world, elves had the longest lifespan, but in this universe, they are all about the same. The stronger you become, the longer you live."

"Then you should just make me human. I don't want to be questioned about the culture of another race, especially since I won't know the answer."

"Whatever you want. Next, do you wish to be born into that world, or would you like to directly transmigrate?"

Damn, this was a hard one. I'm not sure I can endure another childhood. I just can't. And new parents? I don't think so. Mine were the best. They did everything humanly possible to keep me alive.

"I'll transmigrate. Same age—18 years old."

"Understood. Here is a copy of your current falna, or status."

My status appeared in the air.

Krishna Khanna

Level 1

Basic Abilities

Strength I0

Endurance I0

Dexterity I0

Agility I0

Magic I0

Developmental Abilities: N/A

Magic: N/A

Skills: N/A

"The only thing you are able to do is affect the last two categories, magic and skills. You are unable to affect your actual falna as that requires experiences that you don't have. You have 3 slots for magic and 5 slots for skills. Be aware that depending on what you ask for, you may not be able to fill up all of the slots. Think carefully on how you wish to proceed."

I thought about it for a while. Of course, when I said, "a while", I meant a day or two. I was able to come up with some good ideas.

"First, I want a skill that can automatically update my status without needing a god to do it."

"Oh, that's interesting. Why's that?"

"In case I get stuck somewhere, or spend a long time in a dungeon, I would like to be able to continuously get stronger without going back."

"Not a bad idea. Okay, what's next? List off everything you want and I'll give you your options."

"I want a limit break skill that will allow me to break successive stat barriers into the SS and SSS like Bell Cranel could do. It should also allow me to obtain 2 Developmental abilities per level up, and allow me to have more than 3 magic spells." If I am going to go into the dungeon, I can't fall behind Bell too much in terms of abilities. I also plan to join the Hestia Family, as apparently, joining another family is too hard and Hestia will accept just about anyone.

"Wow, that one was both well thought out, and greedy. Next?"

"I'd also like an inventory with an auto-loot function. Oh, I would also like a meditation skill that can help me recover my magic and improve it at the same time like in the gamer. Hell, if I could make that skill improve all of my basic abilities, then that would be even better. I can't think of any other skills."

"What about magic?"

"I would like to be able to have the Summon Elemental ability from the gamer that Han Ji-Han uses. I'd like a teleportation skill that can take to me to any floor of the dungeon that I've already been to. I'd also like a Spell for ultimate defense."

"That is a lot of cheat abilities. Unfortunately, you are unable to have all of them exactly as you wanted based on the world you will be going to. If you want all of them, their abilities will be reduced significantly. This is what that list of abilities would look like if you took all of them."

Magic:

Summon Elemental (10 minute casting time, one elemental at a time, immense power drain, Activated at Level 4)

Teleportation (1 use every week, Personal use only, escape the dungeon only)

Absolute Protection (20 minute casting period, effect lasts 15 seconds)

Skills:

Limit Break (Can break through S-Rank)

Inventory (2x2 ft.)

Auto-loot (magic stones only)

Automatic Falna Update (once per year)

Mediation (Recover mind power slightly faster)

These abilities all sucked. "Those don't really seem like cheats at all…"

God was amused. "Even if they aren't exactly what you wanted, each one of those abilities are all something all adventurers would love to have. The summons can be used as a distraction. Teleportation out of a dungeon is an amazing survival ability. Absolute protection would be extremely useful in a group battle.

Limit break allows people to get stronger. An inventory of even a small size is useful for carrying essential items such as food, water, potions, and loots. Auto-loot saves a bunch of time. Automatically updating your falna is useful for people in large families who rarely get to see their gods. Mediation allows mages to be able to use more magic faster."

[Note: I am going to call them families, not familia, so that I don't get annoyed by word check]

"I know what you're saying, but it's not what I wanted." God made a point, but if I choose these, then I would have a weak number of abilities all geared towards survival, rather than success in the dungeon. I wanted to succeed.

"I understand. You will have to remove abilities to improve the others. Perhaps you will need to add restrictions to some abilities. To make them work."

I went back to the drawing board. I had to choose one thing first that was absolutely necessary, which was Limit Break. Being able to break through the S-rankings to SS and SSS were important to becoming stronger. I also wanted to be able to choose double the developmental abilities. That was extremely important. I can let go of having more than 3 magic spells.

The Auto Updating of the Falna is also extremely important. As you get further into the dungeon, the more days you spend there. It would help a lot to be able to improve while there, even if it was once a week. Also, if I have to leave my family, my status will still keep updating. I'm keeping this one.

I can remove the meditation ability, as a watered down version isn't as useful, and I can raise my attributes continuously in the dungeon.

Now that I think about it, the inventory and auto-loot functions are great but too flashy. They would attract a serious amount of attention, and people would want me to become their supporters. I'll have to come back to that one, but it seems unlikely to happen.

In terms of the magic skills, I want all three of them, but they aren't as useful as I was hoping. I'm removing absolute protection because its casting time is way too long, and lasts for a really short time. It's not worth it.

"If I remove both the meditation ability and the Absolute protection ability, is that enough to improve the limit break to have 2 developmental abilities per level up?"

"No. It is enough to make your inventory 50 x50 feet though."

Damn. What else can I take off? Tsk. I guess there's no helping it.

"Take off the Inventory and Auto-loot."

"Done. That is more than enough for a second developmental ability per level up."

"Great, can you show me what I have now?" An updated screen appeared up in front of me again.

Magic:

Summon Elemental (10 minute casting time, one elemental at a time, Immense Constant Mind power drain, Activated at Level 4)

Teleportation (1 use every 3 Days, Personal use only, escape the dungeon only)

Skills:

Limit Break (Can break through to S-Rank, Two Developmental abilities per level up)

Automatic Falna Update (once per week)

Damn. I took off 4 abilities to get double the developmental abilities. The inventory and auto-loot would have been amazing for carrying capacity of loot and supplies. It'll be a pain without it.

Now that limit break is complete, I need to pick another skill to center my skills around. I want the Automatic Falna update, but even if I don't center on it, it isn't the end of the world. If anything, I want something I can use for combat. I guess the next step is centering around summon elemental.

"How bad is an immense mind power requirement?"

"Hmm. I shouldn't tell you, but I suppose it doesn't really matter. It means at level 4 with a magic stat at 999, you'll be able to use a single elemental for about 30 seconds."

"What? Damn! I wouldn't be able to use any magic till level 4, which would mean no magic gains at previous levels. That would make my magic weaker than normal. Okay, take off Teleportation. How much does Summon elemental improve?"

"5 minute casting time, multiple elementals at a time if you have the mind power to support them, immense constant mind power drain, with it being usable starting at level 3."

Dammit. This still isn't usable right away. I may need to give up even more. I can't give up any of the others. Those are too important. I have no other choice. I have to go all out.

"I give up any future use of my two other magic spell slots. I give up all future magic abilities. What can that get me?"

"That…let me see. Instant cast, multiple elementals (if you have the necessary power to control them), large constant mind power drain, and activated at level 2."

"What? How is this still not enough? This is bullshit!"

"It's not crazy. Elementals are beings with absolute control over their elements. You are asking for an insanely powerful army to fight on your behalf in a dungeon. It's also a world breaker ability. Even if you gave up all future skill slots, it still wouldn't be enough to bring it down to be usable to level one. The large mind power drain would only allow you to use the skill for a few minutes at S rank for level two anyways."

Damn damn damn damn! What can I do? Are there any solutions? Think, think, think! In this way, a few hours passed. I'm glad God was patient with me. Finally, a thought occurred to me. Wait…does it have to be elementals?

"Can I summon stuff other than elementals?"

"Of course."

"What about Pokémon?" Pokémon would be interesting and strong and usable for all occasions.

"Instant cast, multiple Pokémon, large constant mind power drain, and activated at level 1."

"What? Okay, what about Marvel heroes summons?"

"Instant cast, multiple heroes, immense constant mind power drain, and activated at level 1."

"What? That's worse than Pokémon! Why is there still an immense mind power drain?"

"Because they are both strong groups and their themes don't fit into your world. They would attract far more attention than normal. Elementals fit the fantasy theme of the world, otherwise they would be even more expensive."

God, this was so frustrating. I wish I could somehow get a version of this skill that had a lower magic requirement. At this point, I am willing to give up on summoning altogether and take up a simpler magic spell. Maybe take the inventory back with auto-loot, and a swordsmanship skill. But I came up with another idea. Something I knew that the bus would probably enjoy.

"What if we gambled on my summon type with a random draw. Would that make it possible to decrease the magic power of whatever I'm summoning from immense mind power requirement to a low mind power requirement?"

God communicated with the bus. "The bus is greatly intrigued and excited by your idea. He will allow it if whatever you summon is scaled by your magic power. For example, you might get the ability to summon Demon Gods, but if you're a level 1 with a magic stat of H101, your summon will be just as weak as your magic power."

"Then what's the point of having summons if they are just as weak as me?"

"Take or leave it." God was stoic.

The bus was amenable to bargaining, so I came up with a counter offer that would work to my favor. "I'll accept that, if you allow 3 things."

"State your terms."

"First, I expect loyalty no matter what. I don't want to end up in a situation where I get summons that won't listen or cooperate with me."

I got a feeling of discontentment. God laughed. "The bus was really hoping you wouldn't notice that he could allow the possibility of disloyal summons. That is, of course, against the spirit of your original request, so once you noticed the loophole, the bus has no choice but to agree to that. All options for summons that won't be loyal to you have been removed from the draw. Just so you know, when you summoned those elementals, they too would have had free will, and could have chosen to harm or help you."

I sweated. Dodged a bullet there apparently. "The second thing I want is that death isn't permanent for my summons. It just sends them back for a specified amount of time, and then they can be summoned for use again. No loss in memories if they are intelligent."

"That was going to happen anyways. Agreed. Time it takes to bring them back after they are gone depends on how strong your summons are. The stronger they are, the longer it takes. Memories are maintained. State your last one."

This one was what I really wanted, and the main benefit. "If my summons are going to be weak, then any fighting they do should be able to improve my stats as well. If they take damage, that should improve my endurance. If they use their power, agility, dexterity or magic, it should improve mine in those categories as well. Their experiences in the dungeon should be able to be added to my own falna."

Essentially, even if I don't fight, they can improve my falna by fighting for me. Of course, I plan on fighting too, because otherwise, I'd get killed while in the dungeon. I don't want to be the weak link.

"The Transmigration Bus states that it'll allow it, but only because your requests will change what is available in the random draw. It will balance out in the end. Whatever you get, whether if it ends up being the ability to summon dragons or slimes, Jedi or Hutts, teletubbies or Dora the Explorer, Blue's clues or Sponge Bob Square Pants, Mario World goombas or Sonic the Hedgehog…whatever it is, you have to live with it."

I hate random draws. I feel like I'm going to regret this. Once I agree, I can't change my status. Is this chance worth it? I'm not sure. Is it worth giving up on an inventory and auto-loot, and potential weapon using skills? The only thing I really know about the series is that it's lonely in the dungeon. I'm not saying that you should try to be stupid and actually pick up girls in a dungeon, but having comrades is necessary to stave off insanity.

I know it's almost illogical to go through with the draw, instead of just choosing a bunch of survival abilities, but I'd rather be good at something, than mediocre at everything.

And then it hit me all of a sudden. I didn't even realize that I had gone into my own world.

Why was I being an idiot? I could just get companions the normal way, by making friends in real life and connecting with my family. Summons aren't true companions at the end of the day. They are forced to be loyal and obey commands. They didn't get to choose whether they want to follow you or not, so you'll never be sure if they are true friends or not.

Half of the abilities I had chosen were geared towards surviving along. I asked for a summon skill to have beings forced to be my companions and fight on my behalf, an inventory and auto-loot function so that I wouldn't need a supporter, and automatically updating Falna skill so that I wouldn't even need my God. Despite knowing that there would be a wonderful god if I joined the Hestia family along with reliable companions, I still was choosing that direction.

It turned out, the unreliable one was me all along. "I'd like to withdraw my request for a draw."

"Fine." I could practically hear God pouting. "That's too bad. The bus thought it would have been really amusing to see what kind of summons you would have gotten."

"I'm sure it would have been amusing for you all", I replied back dryly. "I'm going back to the drawing board. Clear the list completely." God reverted my falna back to the beginning when everything was clear.

I need to rethink my overall strategy. I would no longer ask for any skills that replaced people. That took away my summon skill, the Falna Skill, auto-loot and inventory. Teleportation is unnecessary since that would be ditching the rest of my team. Technically, it can be used to call for help, but help probably wouldn't reach in time for the dungeon anyways. An absolute protection spell that has a long cast time and low working time generally isn't useful, and something more useful can probably be chosen.

I'll keep my limit break skill, but I needed to think of something else that would be useful. I didn't know how to fight or any real useful skill. "I guess being able to learn fast would be great…"

"That can be added to your status."

"Really? How?" I was just thinking out loud. I never heard of any skill that made people learn faster from that story.

"You can receive the Developmental ability Insight. Not only will your learning ability increase, but you will also have bouts of enlightenment that can rapidly increase your skills."

"That sounds…amazing! That's even better than I thought it would be. I don't know what else I should add in…"

"Since everyone is getting impatient, I'll make a suggestion. You have just enough so that you can have 3 developmental abilities with each level up." I guess that Limit Break was out then. I suppose that was okay.

"Let's go with that then. I guess we are done then."

Krishna Khanna

Level 1

Basic Abilities

Strength I0

Endurance I0

Dexterity I0

Agility I0

Magic I0

Developmental Abilities: Insight (I)

Magic: N/A

Skills: Developmental Genius (Three Developmental abilities per level up; Locked and hidden until level up)

"That's excellent then. Your origin story will be a human that lived with his family in a town called Talvin, until they passed away from a monster attack. You decided to pursue your fortune in Orario and join a family to pursue whatever goals you want. Your first day in Orario will be the same day that Bell Cranel meets Ais Wallenstein in the dungeon for the first time. As that is when the novel originally starts. Is that okay? If you wish it, we can send you at some other time of your choosing."

They were surprisingly accommodating about the timing.

"Honestly, I would like to start like a year earlier, but then it's highly likely that Bell wouldn't get his Liaris Freese skill. So I guess it's fine."

"Alright. I believe we talked about almost everything. When you get your falna, it will be blank. After you go into the dungeon for the first time, you will obtain your Insight Developmental ability. Lastly, when you level up, you will receive the Developmental Genius Skill. That's everything. You will be sent on your way in 30 seconds. Thank you for participating, and enjoy your stay in the next world."

"Thanks for helping me out and being patient with me. I really appreciate it. I'm glad I got this world. Doesn't seem too bad, among everything I could have gotten."

"Don't be too sure. Who knows how that'll work for you?"

"Are you saying there is more to this than meets the eye?" When God hints at something, you pay attention.

God laughed. "Anything that looks simple, usually has a lot more to it. It just isn't as apparent."

"Wait! What should I—" I was cut off as I was transported to another dimension.

Meanwhile, after I left…

"Hey Transmigration Bus, is it okay for him to be given that world? You even nudged the random draw a little to change the original choice. Yes, I know it'll be more amusing than Final Fantasy 7. Okay, whatever. Just be glad I decided to go along with your plan and didn't tell Krishna. He would have been pissed. After all, I think it was his dream to go to Midgar, fight with Cloud, and use materia. Anyways, I'm leaving to go watch the spectacle. Those changes you made to the danmachi world are pretty interesting. I hope it's a good show!"