Startled by the sudden appearance of an unknown voice, Ryuuji became alert. In his mind, this was all a sick game that his assailants were playing on him. Frustrated, he let out a bellowing cry.

"Alright! Whoever the hell you are, show yourself! What do you want from me?"

Only after saying it out loud, he wondered what kind of criminal would reveal themselves after someone asked them to. Instead of getting attention from his supposed assailant, all he got in return was the worried looks of the neighborhood housewives, peeking out from their windows.

"Well, that was embarrassing, wasn't it?" The voice returned in the shape of a glowing orb inside Ryuuji's mind. Listening to it more closely, it sounded playful, rather than malicious.

"Who are you? What do you want from me?" Retorted Ryuuji, this time being more mindful of the volume of his voice.

A couple of seconds passed and Ryuuji was given his answer.

"God."

"What?"

"I'm God. Well, I'm a God to be more specific. There are others as well. Although, none are as cool as me. So just call me God! Helps keep my ego high."

Not yet being able to fully come to terms with the situation that he was put in, it was no surprise that Ryuuji was reluctant in believing, or even listening, to whatever this self-proclaimed 'God' had to say. However, in order to not make light of the situation, and to get out as much information as he could, he decided to play along.

"Then, God." Once again, mindful of the volume of this voice. "Would you mind explaining to me what is going on here?"

The voice immediately responded. "Haha! Straight to the point I see. It's as you thought: this world is that of "Katekyoushi Hitman Reborn!" that was written in your world as a fictional piece."

"You read my mind?" Ryuuji suddenly interjected.

"Oi! What part of ‘God’ don't you understand?" God replied wittingly. "I'm just kidding! I respect your privacy, but I could tell that that was what you were thinking."

"I see…"

"Anyhow, I brought you to this world because I have some uses for you. Of course, you could choose to ignore me and just spend the rest of your life living here, but if you do what I ask, maybe I’ll grant you a wish. Bring you back to life or something." God chuckled.

"Back to life? So I'm dead!?" Ryuuji asked, panicking.

"Correction. You died. And I brought you back to life in a new body to help me out. Take a look."

Curious by the God’s words, he walked up to a nearby street corner mirror and was shocked by what he had seen.

"What the hell?" Screamed Ryuuji.

Instead of the husk of a man that he used to look like, he found himself looking several, if not many, years younger. His straight black hair reverted to being permed, his complexion revitalized, and as he moved around more vigorously, he realized that the sharp pain that existed in his spine was no longer.

"See what a God can do?" God remarked. "Here's another neat little thing for you. You've probably read a few of them right? Those novels about a person being transported to a different world and getting some sort of special power to help them assimilate?"

"I've heard of them, but I don't go out of my way to read them."

"And here I thought that that would make things easier. Anyways, I'm going to awaken that power in you now, so this will hurt just a bit~."

'I could have sworn I heard a giggle.' Ryuuji thought as a wave of intense pain circulated from his head all the way throughout his body. It felt as if his mind was breaking and all the nerves and muscles in his body were being torn apart. Screams that left the mouth of this man echoed once again throughout the neighborhood, alerting the already worried citizens. Ten seconds had passed as the pain immediately died down and his body felt revitalized.

“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” God asked sarcastically.

“What the hell was that? It felt like every cell in my body was committing suicide! Couldn’t you have done something to, I don’t know, ease the pain?”

“Hey! I’m a God, not a miracle worker!”

“...”

“Ok, maybe not the best choice of words.” God started to explain. “The pain you just experienced was the final step in rebuilding your body to accept external powers. I needed you to at least get somewhat used to your new body first so that I could calibrate it accordingly.”

“So, what is this power that I’m supposed to receive?” Asked Ryuuji, still panting from the near-traumatic pain he had just experienced.

“You should still be feeling a slight tingling in your head, no? Concentrate on that feeling and you should be able to draw some of it out.”

As per God’s instructions, Ryuuji did indeed feel a subtle tingling sensation in his head. Though he was unsure as to what was meant by concentrating, he closed his eyes, trying to ignore his other senses and surrounding stimuli, and focused solely on said tingle. Soon after, an interface, similar to that of a game, appeared in his head. There were five tabs in total, going from left to right: [Status], [Inventory], [Missions], [Shop], and [Exchange]. Despite the fact that this interface was shown in his mind, surprisingly enough, it did not affect much of his cognitive functions whatsoever.

“This… looks just like a game?” Ryuuji said, with clear confusion in his voice.

As if it was expected, God immediately replied. “The powers you received are designed to be most compatible to the user. While most people usually receive elementary abilities that grow over time, yours intrigues me.”

“You mean you didn’t choose this for me?”

“I merely provided you with a body capable of accepting it. The form is decided completely by your own soul.”

Ryuuji could do nothing but accept the facts presented to him. While he was confused as to why his abilities manifested in the form of a game’s interface, he wouldn’t relinquish it all together when he had yet to see what it was fully capable of. As he was about to delve further into the ability he had just received, God interrupted.

“I don’t have much time left, so I must be going. However, I have some things that I want you to do, but, like I mentioned before, you are free to decline if you so choose.”

After contemplating for a short while, Ryuuji did not refuse, but asked only a single question. “If I do what you say, can you send me back home? Back to Nana.”

“While I can’t make any promises on sending you back just yet, if you happen to bring me good enough results, I might be able to cure her if you so desire” God answered in an earnest and genuine tone.

Ryuuji was shocked by this statement, as emotions that he had kept bottled up for so many years started to resurface. With a slight breaking in his voice, he replied.

“I don’t know if this is just some messed up dream or not, but if it’s reality, I’d gladly do what you say.”

“Great!” God exclaimed in a merry tone. “Then here is your first mission:”

[Defeat Rokudou Mukuro]

“...Excuse me, what?”