Nightmare Mode (Dragon Ball Z Gamer SI)

Evolution (25.2)

Game

Thoughts

"Talking"

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Is this... heaven?

"You failed?" His mother's voice rang out into the small kitchen. It was broken and run down - clearly a cheap room that had been weathered from years of use. The wooden table was scratched, with entire broken chunks missing. His chair was a flat, uncomfortable, wooden stool.

No, definitely not heaven.

"You can't even pass one fucking test?" His mother's annoyed voice continued, the woman stomping past him angrily, "Why can't you be smart like your brother? Why'd I have to have such a dumb kid? I should've stopped at one!"

The woman was short, with a slim face, and was wearing a casual T-shirt and long pants. Gray stared down at the table, his mind recalling where he was.

A memory.

His body was small because the memory was from when he was 11 years old. He'd spent the last week of his life studying, spending every waking moment with his face in a book. His family was poor and the options of middle schools nearby weren't numerous. His older brother had gotten into a private one by passing an exam - putting him on pace to have a successful future. Gray had failed.

"Stupid fucking kid," Gray's mother grunted from behind him, entering the kitchen again with a bottle of wine. Gray didn't want to remember what would come next, and luckily he didn't have to. He blinked, and suddenly the world in front of him had changed.

"I don't know why he even showed up," A tall man said, speaking not-so-subtly with another man. He was wearing a casual white T-shirt and shorts, and he had a sports cap on his head. Gray glanced around, taking in the gymnasium around him. There were basketballs scattered on the floor, with two worn-down hoops on each side. His small body had grown slightly.

"Right? I don't like talking shit about kids, but damn, he was ass," The other man chucked. He was wearing a similar outfit and had a whistle hanging around his neck. He was the basketball coach at Gray's school.

"I talked to his homeroom teacher," The first man responded, an amused look on his face, "She said he's struggling with his grades. Usually, kids got one or the other - good grades or being good at sports - but this dumbass doesn't have either!"

Gray silently clenched his fist, his eyes hardening as he watched the two men laugh. He remembered this day - the day of his High School basketball tryouts. Gray had never been good at school - as in, he struggled with all his classes. On this day, he'd decided he would turn his life around. Going to school every day and having no friends was a nightmare - he'd join the basketball team and finally make some! Clearly, that had ended in failure.

Gray blinked, and the world in front of him changed.

"Try again! Somewhere has to take you!" Gray's mom screamed, pacing around their small kitchen, "I won't have a son who can't even get into college! You're brother's going to fucking Harvard, and you can't get into a community college?! They take fucking everyone!"

Gray's body had grown again, becoming taller as he sat on the same uncomfortable wooden stool.

"How did I have such a useless kid!" His mom ranted, continuing to pace around the kitchen, "Your brother was so good! A full-ride scholarship to Harvard, a great athlete - fuck! Why did I have to go for another?!"