In a small hospital room, a boy lay quietly on the bed, his body frail and weakened by a rare disease.
The steady beeping of machines filled the air, each sound a reminder that time was slipping away.
Outside the window, life moved on without him.
But inside this room, the world was fading.
The boy's tired eyes were locked onto a television screen where an anime marathon played.
He smiled softly.
He loved anime
The heroes who fought against all odds, the villains with hidden pain, the fantastical creatures in their worlds. Everything about it fascinated him.
In anime, no matter how hard the battles, there was always hope.
Something he had been desperately clinging to in his final days.
As his breathing grew weaker, the world around him suddenly shifted.
A warm, golden light filled the room, and standing before him was a being unlike anything he had ever seen, a god, radiating a calm, endless power.
The god looked at him with eyes full of sorrow and spoke gently:
"You have suffered greatly, my child, and so I want to give you two wishes."
The boy, stunned, listened closely.
"First," the god said, "you may choose a world to be reborn into."
"Second, you may choose a character you like. But remember, your soul will merge with that character's."
The boy took a deep breath, gathering what little strength he had left.
"I want to go to the Naruto world," he whispered, a faint fire lighting up in his dying eyes.
"And I want to reincarnate as Johan from Monster."
The god smiled warmly, as if pleased by his choices.
"So be it," he said.
A brilliant light enveloped the boy, lifting his soul gently from his broken body.
The pain, the sadness, the loneliness, all of it faded away.
Only a new beginning awaited him now.