Katsuki Bakugo struggled for breath, his eyes watered as the slow creeping realization of his death dawned on him. He was going to die. He was never going to get the chance to be a hero. He vainly clawed away at the thick mucous as it slowly tried to force itself down his throat. It stung, it hurt. His vision became cloudy even as the fear still etched itself on his quivering eyes.

Why was no one helping him? His surroundings were vague, he couldn't quite make them out, not through his panic nor the white spots. But he did recall that he was in a neighbourhood. The villain dragged him here for whatever reason. It was here that he thought he'd lash out, to attempt to generate attention.

It worked, and he was certain rescue was imminent. But after a minute, two then three of consistent struggling, the panic crept in. His lungs burned as if molten lava, how desperately he wanted a breath of air. The horror soon followed when his shaky gaze landed on the crowd of bystanders and heroes.

Someone help him!

His eyes pleaded, begged for help. It never came, the heroes were plagued by indecisiveness, too cautious to move. He understood, but it didn't do anything for his fleeting consciousness. His vision became hazy, and soon after his lungs gave out.

Everything went black moments later.

Katsuki woke with a jolt, his red eyes snapped open with a crazed quiver. His gaze immediately went to his surroundings, or in this instance, lack thereof. Everything was an empty void. Perception was muddled by the same black tone encompassing his every direction.

Only then did he realize he was breathing heavily. That startled him, breathing at all was something he didn't expect to do again. That's when the rest of his memories returned. The villain, the fires, the lack of breathing, his death. But most importantly the sense of vulnerability.

The helplessness, the fact he actually looked for others for help. It made him fume. His blood boiled in anger and mortification. In his final moments, he was nothing more than a coward.

"God DAMN IT!" Katsuki shouted angrily, hoping to release the bubbling frustration.

"Meep!" A voice cutely squeaked.

Cutely?

Katsuki whirled to the sound and came face to face with a silver-haired girl. She wore a purple and white dress, with a purple hat reminiscent of a nun headpiece. She seemed positively spooked by his outburst. Which, admittedly made Katsuki duck his head, but only for a moment.

He still has too many questions to feel ashamed for spooking the girl.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked.

Perhaps not nearly as tactfully as intended. But it got the message across, even if it made said girl flinch.

"U-uh, Katsuki Bakugo. You are in the afterlife. Your life was cut short, and you have just passed away. My deepest apologies. Now you are gi-"

"Answer my DAMN QUESTION!" He shouted, losing patience and admittedly not wanting to hear much about his apparent death.

"Y-Y-Yesss! S-sorry, my name is Eris, a Goddess. When someone dies, it's my duty to guide them on. However, since you passed away at a young age, yo-"

"SHUT UP!" Katsuki snapped.

"I'm sorry!" The goddess begged.

It was off-putting, and embarrassing, so Katsuki ignored it in favour of the other information presented to him. He was dead.

He didn't want to believe it. But, well, his surroundings were pretty telling. He couldn't think of a quirk that could do something this extensive. He also remembered his last fleeting moments with painful clarity. His body was…. He didn't want to think about it.

He clicked his tongue as he looked back to the nervous goddess. Predictably she didn't meet his eyes as she inspected her fingers in an attempt to appear nonchalant. A vein bulged at the imagery, but Katsuki managed to fight down his growing anger.

"Hey, you. Now what? Don't tell me I'm stuck with you forever."

"Oh, Gods no!" Eris responded far too quickly, waving her hands frantically before her.

Katsuki narrowed his eyes at the remark.

"I… I mean, you have three options. The first, you get sent to heaven. However, before you chose. I'd suggest against it. It's more suited for those who've lived long lives. Yours was unfortunately snuffed short."

Katsuki nodded his head and with his hand motioned for her to continue.

"The second option is to be reincarnated back into your world. You wouldn't have any memories nor the same quirk. Oh, but we will make sure you stay the same gender. Thi-"

"I refuse. What's the final option?" Katsuki interrupted with a wave.

There's no way he'd have any other quirk. Even if he wouldn't remember. Explosion is his. He'd rather stay in Heaven for eternity than give up his amazing quirk.

"O-okay… Well, the third option is a bit different," Eris pauses to clear her throat, and takes on a grandiose tone, "In another fantasy world, much like those RPG's youths like yourself play, there resides a Demon King. This Demon King plagues the country with his pillaging and destruction. Due to this, not many people reincarnate into this world and it's suffering from a birth deficit. You will be transported to this world with your memories intact and will be given the opportunity to be a hero!"

She finished with a small fist pump, sparkles in her amethyst eyes. Katsuki quirked an eyebrow in return, not particularly convinced. If it was such a shitshow, why the hell was she trying to send him there?

"What kind of hell hole are you trying to send me to?" Katsuki asked incredulously.

"Hellhole!? No, No! I mean, yes. But, in order to make up for it, those who pick to reincarnate in this world are given a magical weapon, or special ability to compensate," Eris explained frantically.

"Special ability?" Katsuki asked, his curiosity piqued.

"That's right, anything you could think of, we will impleme-"

"I'll go with option three," Katsuki interrupted, slouching as he slipped his hands into his pocket.

Eris nearly face vaulted at the sudden proclamation. She managed to recover and stare tentatively towards the blond. That's all she needed to do? She wasn't sure how to take it. Katsuki for his part looked confident in his decision.

"A-are you certain?" Eris asked, her skepticism still present.

"Hah?" Katsuki grunted, his eyes taking on a dangerous edge.

"Meep!"

"Any ability works? That includes my quirk too, then?" Katsuki asked, ignoring how the girl, no goddess shrunk in on herself.

"Y-yes, but you could have anything you want. I have a list of examples for you to cho-"

"My quirk."

"So fast! Are you- right, of course, you are, silly me, hee hee…" Eris corrected herself, seeing the pointed glare sent her way.

She giggled nervously before clearing her throat, "please stand in the circle."

Katsuki obliged, standing upright with his hands in his pockets. He may have been a bit excited by this turn of events, but he certainly wasn't going to show it. He masked indifference even as he began to float, his face a cool expression.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, you will learn the language of this new world. It'll be programmed into your brain. There's a small chance it'll explode, but you don't need to worry about it. Once you defeat the Demon King, we will grant you any wish you want," Eris called, a hand to her mouth as she watched the blond float higher and higher.

He nearly spun out of control, "oi, what the fuck did you just say? That sounded important you damn hag!"

"Indeed, but it's a justified reward for anyone brave enough to battle against the Demon King," Eris yelled-explained.

"Not that you bimbo, the other thing!"

"What other thing?" She asked way too seriously to be anything but intentional.

"My brain exploding!? What the fuck are you trying to pull here, bring me down," Katsuki answered anyways, not at all liking the prospect of dying a second time.

"Katsuki Bakugo, may your journey on this wonderful world begin!" Eris called, ignoring him easily.

"Don't ignore me! Bring me down. Down! You sonnavabiiiiiiii-"

Katsuki woke with a startle for the second time. However, instead of a blacken abyss all around him. This time he was greeted to a sun shining in his eyes. He squinted and brought an arm to shade himself. He then slowly raised, dusting himself in the process.

He was in the middle of a street, a medieval street. The road was made of gravel, not a car in sight. There were a few people wearing some odd clothes too. Well, perhaps it was the norm and instead his school uniform was the odd clothes.

It was a bit startling to see. Especially given how he died so very recently. It felt like things were progressing far more quickly than he'd have anticipated. Yet despite that, now that he found himself here, he had no idea what to do.

Well, there was one thing, he immediately realized. He raised a hand and willed his quirk to activate. Much to his relief, small micro explosions started to pop and dance across his open palm. He smirked, perfect. Just like he last remembered it.

Now, all he needed to do was find this Demon King and beat the shit out of him. It sounded simple enough. He scanned his surroundings, and eventually decided on asking the nearest person to him for directions.

"Oi, you, squarehead, where can I go to find the Demon King?"

"S-squarehe- DEMON KING?" The man squealed.

"Did I stutter? You know where to find him?"

"N-no, why would you…" The squareheaded man faltered, staring at the retreating figure of the rude blond that previously approached him.

Katsuki clicked his tongue in frustration. Wouldn't be that simple. He guessed he'd really need to treat this as an RPG after all. Although that may be a bit interesting, he knew just how long and tedious RPG's could be. Not to mention convoluted, At least it's not like an MMO. He hoped at least if he needed to fetch for an arbitrary number of arbitrary items to trade for an arbitrary key to an arbitrary dungeon or something he'd riot.

The Demon King would have to wait. Katsuki sighed at the thought. He was hoping to be done by the day. Perhaps a little ambitious. Katsuki surveyed the buildings and stands as he walked down the streets. It looked like a market, with produce and even equipment being sold. Said equipment being armour, shields, and weapons. It drew his attention momentarily; he wouldn't deny being a little excited at the prospect.

But ultimately, he ignored the stands in favour of walking some more. As far as he knew, he didn't have any money. Well, besides some yen. But, he doubted any of that had monetary value here. He really should have strong-armed that stupid goddess for some cash.

Money makes the world go round. Without any, Katsuki doubted he'd be able to do anything, let alone defeat the Demon King. But how could he accumulate any? Who in their right mind would hire some weird looking kid like himself? It was a bitter truth to accept.

It occurred to him then, that he needed to approach this like he would an RPG. Assuming he was located in the starting town or starting zone. Then, there should be some guild or hall he could go to find some jobs. He could take out quests and make cash. With his quirk at his disposal, clearing small-time quests would be a walk in the park.

Confident with his rudimentary plan, Katsuki followed the streets until they led to a massive building. Asking around, concluded that it was the adventuring guildhall. He shrugged, not wanting to look the gift horse in the mouth as he entered through the double doors.

He was immediately introduced to a massive skeleton of a dragon dangling from the ceiling. It looked very impressive and only further cemented the fact he was in a fantasy world. Although, admittedly a dragon wouldn't look too out of place in his own world either.

"Here to eat? Take a seat at the tables, here to work, you can head to the counter," A waitress called out to him.

He turned and mutely nodded, his gaze drawn more to the revealing nature of the uniform more than anything else. He shook his head, clearing himself of those thoughts before heading to the counter. His eyes bugged at the ridiculous amount of cleavage showing.

He coughed into his hand and quickly buried any and all reactions to the attire.

"Hello, my name is Luna, how may I help you?" The woman greeted professionally.

Her uniform was anything but!

"Right, I'd like to take out a quest,"

"I can help you with that, but first, could you show me your adventuring card?"

"Adventuring card?" Katsuki questioned confusedly.

"You don't know?"

"Enlighten me," Katsuki gritted, put out at the thought of not being able to do some jobs immediately.

"Right, well, first an adventurer needs to register with the guild before they can take out jobs. Then, an adventurer will be given an adventuring card that they can use to keep track of their stats, class, and skills. We use this machine here," Luna concluded, gesturing to a golden globe looking construct.

Katsuki nodded wordlessly. Like an RPG was downplaying the similarities it seemed. This system was identical to the most recent RPG he played. What kind of on the nose bullshit did that Goddess feed him? This world was a bloody RPG!

"Hm, I'll register then."

"Certainly, that'll be 20 eris,"

"What?"

"Eris, you don't know?"

"Enlighten me…" Katsuki repeated, his gaze hardening as a vein threatened to burst.

"Well, eris is the name of the currency, named after the Goddess of Fortune, Eris."

That shitty-forgetful-nervous goddess was that important! Just anybody could become a god it seemed. Where the hell was his invite?

Katsuki thumped his chest as he recovered from the revelation. It was twofold, as he discovered that his yen was in fact, useless and that he needed eris if he wanted to register at all. To think they'd send him to this alleged hellhole without even the bare minimum to work with.

Even RPG's gave you a little money to use to get your baring! This was simply ridiculous. What was he supposed to do? He needed money to work. That was intuitively backward!

"Excuse me sir? I'm guessing that since you didn't know of eris, that you don't have any. I'm sorry, but without any money to pay, I cannot register you," Luna explained, looking solemn but resolute.

Katsuki remained silent, unsure of how to react. It'd sound way too pathetic to ask where to get eris or for any exceptions. Instead, he grumbled in place and kicked at the dirt. Eventually, he decided to leave the building without so much a single word.

He needed cash asap. Quickest way? Well, like most RPG's. through mobs. But how to find any, or to attract any? Simple. Katsuki shifted his gaze from the stands to the buildings, then the small gaps in between them.

Alleyways.

He just needs to mug his muggers, he concluded with the infallible wisdom that comes from continuous hours of video gaming. Hey, it would be done in self-defense. He'd be doing this town a favour too, putting down villains was what he wanted to do in his previous life anyways, might as well actually do it now that he's given the second chance.

Katsuki slipped away from the crowds into an alleyway, he followed the zigzag paths until they eventually led to a dead end. That should do it, now, normally if this was a video game or manga, the event flag should have flared. And since this world was basically an RPG, logic dictated that the moment he turned around, a few slimy bastards would be trying to intimidate him.

He spun on his heels, feral smirk plastered on his face. To the sight of no one. Okay, that was unexpected. He visibly deflated at the empty alleyway. Where was his walking walle- villains, walking villains? What the hell was he supposed to do now? Katsuki dragged his feet as he exited the alley. What a waste of time.

"Oh look at that poor homeless boy with his funny looking clothing,"

"He looks dangerous though, probably why he's homeless."

"Youths this young on the streets, how horrible."

"Here, take my money!"

"Mine too, you poor animal-looking child, you need it more than I."

"He does look like a feral dog doesn't he? Here, take something to fix that face of yours."

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Katsuki roared, finally snapping at the bystanders ridiculing him.

No one mocked Katsuki, not after what Deku did. He woudln't stand for it!

"Oh, look, he's a tsundere! I thought they didn't exist," An older man said, tossing a few coins in front of him.

"This is his tsun side huh?" An elderly lady said secondly, gently plopping a bill on his head.

"Aweeh, he's kinda cute in a homeless ugly kind of way," a young fox looking lady said, tossing coins at him.

The last comment made him twitch violently more so than the first two. Tsundere? TSUNDERE? Also, stop pelting him with fucking coins! Holy hell, are they pitying him or stoning him?

He picked up the coins, grumbling how he refused to use them. Instead, he'd rather beat the bastards who'd mock him. He didn't need their pity, he didn't need their help he- holy hell how much money did these idiots give him?

Katsuki paused to count the coins and bills. They use bills at all was a bit shocking. But, the fact they were given out was even more so. He spent a few more minutes recollecting himself returning back to the safety and privacy of his alleyway. He was left dumbstruck after discovering these people tossed away roughly 400 eris. Just what in the hell was wrong with the people here?

He needed to return this. These weren't the mobs he wanted to steal from. Now he just felt like a degenerate. But, as he attempted to return the wads of cash, he came to the realization that the people already left. His mouth thinned. Guess he had no choice… left him in a foul mood though.

"Hey, lookie here, kid's loaded," Someone said, clamping an arm around his shoulder.

"Indeed he is, let us help count it for you, over there sounds good right?" Another said, pointing to the alleyway.

Katsuki only needed a second to realize his situation. And the smirk that formed on his mouth was positively sinister.

"Lead the way extr- I mean, bastards."

Katsuki slammed down the 20 eris with more force than necessary, startling the distracted Luna.

"H- Ah, I…oh, hello again…" She choked out after a momentary respite.

"Register me as an adventurer."

"Right away, please put your hand inside this machine," Luna recovered professionally.

Katsuki obliged. The machine scanned his hand, then a small prickle was taken from his fingertip. He ignored it in favour of pointedly looking elsewhere with a grumble. Who hired the slutty secretary anyways? Why was she leaning over her desk to inspect the machine, couldn't she be normal and just leave her station for one god damn second?

"Katsuki Bakugo… strange name, ah, your strength stats are quite impressive. Same with your Agility... Intelligence…. Wisdom…. Defense…. my word, all of your stats are well above average!"

A crowd started to stir and draw in nearer. They just finished hearing something incredible, of course, they'd be curious. Said interest died a writhing death the moment the blond opened his mouth.

"Haha, obviously! I'm going to be the best fucking adventurer in this damn world!" Katsuki shouted, manic laughter followed as he found himself on top of the counter.

"Except Charisma, this is the lowest score I've seen in all of my time working here, so abysmally low. Are you perhaps a shut-in?"

Katsuki managed to catch himself before tumbling to the ground. He recovered swiftly enough and stared at the receptionist.

"Perhaps you should shut the hell up and continue reading the damn card!"

Luna wilted under his glare, "well that explains that. Almost every class is available to you, except Bard. I'd sooner quit my job then let you take that class," she said the last part to herself.

"Oi," Well mostly to herself.

"Here's a list of all the greater classes available to you, feel free to take your time," Luna said taking a long scroll from out of somewhere.

Again, once recovering from his slight power-craze, Katsuki didn't really want to look at the woman. He grunted as he grabbed the list and inspected it.

Archwizard, archpriest, magic knight, grand druid. None really appealed to him. He had Explosion already, magic would be inferior in comparison. No, he'd pick a class that perfectly catered to his already high strength and agility.

His gaze scanned through the multiple classes until they fell on one, he couldn't pass up. His mouth formed into a feral smirk. This was it, this was the class for him.

"Hey you, I want this class," Katsuki said abruptly, promptly drawing Luna's attention.

"Hmm, the Berserker class? It suits you."

"The hell does that mean!?" He shouted irritably.

"A perfect match!" The receptionist exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

"Tch, whatever, just give me my damn card."

"Here you go Katsuki, I'd recommend forming a pa- I'd recommend you take on simpler quests until you've increased your level high enough to take solo standard ones," Luna explained with a closed eye smile.

Katsuki nodded, agreeing with her assessment. He pointedly ignored her slip up there. Even as his veins threatened to burst.

"You have one skill available to you, it's called 'Explosion', but it isn't the same as the strand of magic it's named for, how odd. I don't think I've seen a skill like this before."

"No shit, it's my personal skill, mine, and mine alone."

"That would explain it, one final thing. Since you're already level 2 for some reason, you have 5 skill points available to you. You can use these to learn some class-related skills," Luna responded mechanically not taking any offense to his crass manner of speech.

Katsuki grinned menacingly at the thought of those extra- no, pardon, bastards that tried to mug him. He felt less guilty about the money he took from them than the money given to him for his perceived homelessness.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, I'm going to take a quest now," The teen dismissed easily with a wave of his hand.

He marched towards the bulletin board with the swagger one would expect from someone owning the place. He bumped into a waitress, but didn't so much as look at her, let alone apologize as he blazed towards the posted quests. Luna sighed.

What an interesting, read: ridiculous group of newbies she's had recently.

Adventurer's Card

Name: Katsuki Bakugo

Race: Human

Class: Berserker

Level: 2

HP: 25/25

MP: 120/120

Strength (STR): 29

Defense (DEF): 19

Resistance (RES): 13

Intelligence (INT): 25

Wisdom (WIS): 17

Agility (AGL): 28

Dexterity (DEX): 14

Charisma (CHA): 2

Luck (LCK): 8

Skill Points: 5

Skills:

Explosion (lvl1)

The more the ability is used, the stronger it becomes. A powerful quirk that allows the user to use his sweat to create explosions. Overuse will cause strain. This transitions to mana exhaustion if overused now. The ability is unheard of in this world and is given divine properties that bypass all defenses and resistances sans skills or abilities that negate damage. Modifiers and buffs stack on top of Explosion's damage calculations before mana consumption.

Damage Calculations: Explosion does complete 100% true damage. Damage is dictated by MP consumption. Damage: 0.2xMP used. Explosion does 4% shredding to DEF and RES and stacks per additional attack up to 20% of total DEF and RES.

AN: What is this you ask? Good question, a little idea that nestled into my head. Not likely to be updated often, which says something because I don't even update my other stories often. Also, Explosion is a broken skill. Might have pitiful numbers now, but let's just say he's a scaling hyper carry.