"Will he really succeed?"
A soft voice echoed in the air, it sounded like the gentle voice of a very kind woman.
"And why wouldn't he succeed? He already did it in the One Piece world, didn't he?"
This time the voice was rough and full of masculine strength, clearly belonging to a man.
"Even though he succeeded in One Piece, there's no guarantee he'll give us a reading experience as enjoyable as before. Can't we wait a little longer?"
A weak voice came from the far end of the hall, this time it sounded like that of an old man.
"Talk less, old man. Your health's been declining lately, it looks like you don't have much time left in this place… maybe just a million years before you're gone."
This time the voice belonged to a lively loli full of energy.
"A million years is more than enough for me to enjoy millions of new stories and worlds. Are you mocking me, child?"
The old man's words sounded angry, but there was a noticeable warmth in his tone toward the loli.
"Let's decide the old-fashioned way, shall we vote?"
At that moment, a voice came from someone who had remained silent the whole time, the person sitting at the head of the hall.
Before him were two long rows of men and women facing each other. Their faces were hazy, invisible to the naked eye, yet their clothes, shapes, and voices made it easy to tell who were men and who were women.
"We all share the same goal. So, let's trust a little in the man who gave us all this joy and created such a marvelous world in One Piece," said the man sitting on the leader's chair.
"I heard he managed to max out the system's levels, and even created a virtual One Piece world inside the One Piece world itself! Man, he really outdid himself this time…"
This time, it was a boy's voice, sounding no older than twelve.
"You heard? Don't joke with me, did you drop the novel?"
Beside him, a young man's angry tone erupted.
"I didn't drop it! I'm just collecting chapters! You know how boring it is waiting for the plot to move forward chapter by chapter… and he's so slow! Let's see… ohhh! I've got 250 chapters saved up! How many days has it been? Oh my God, looks like I took one long nap!"
The boy was shocked when he checked his phone and saw how many unread chapters he had in his favorite novel.
"Idiot, you've been asleep for almost two years…"
"Enough of that… who wants to give him a chance in the Naruto world? Those in favor, raise your hands. Those against, do nothing."
The leader spoke sternly, yet he was the first to raise his hand.
His gaze swept across the men and women before him, all of whom raised their hands.
"Since you all want to see this, then why all that nonsense earlier?"
"It's not that we doubt his ability to succeed! I just feel a little guilty… we already messed with the life of the first Rob… I don't feel good about playing with the life of a second one… Rob is just too kind."
The woman who spoke sounded sorrowful.
"What do you mean messed with his life? We're inspiring him, making his life interesting!"
Another man strongly rejected her claim.
"But we're dragging him into it without his consent…"
"Silence! We'll do it the old way, alright? We'll give him the choice, just like before."
"It's settled then. Discussion over! Now, begin."
The leader of the Divine Network sounded impatient to start the next project.
That man was a king among gods.
That's right, this place was the Divine Network Society, where gods made countless decisions far from the eyes of mortals. These gods gathered here after completing their duties, to play around with the lives of many.
That was what they did in their spare time, but Rob had surprised them. He made their free time precious.
So much so that many of them had secretly become obsessed with him.
The name of their small association was {The Network of Interesting Dreams.}
In a way, only interesting dreams truly interested them.
…
Earth — Late 2025:
Inside ADX Florence Prison, Colorado, USA, a man in his thirties was lying relaxed in his cell, reading Naruto manga with deep focus.
Even though he had already read it hundreds of times, he never got tired of rereading it again and again.
Not only that, his cell was filled with volumes of One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, and even a few of Hunter x Hunter.
His name was Rob.
He had been captured six months ago after being on the run for many years.
The reason?
He was a highly dangerous hacker wanted internationally for direct involvement in critical cyber operations.
He was charged in court with numerous crimes:
Money laundering, breaching national security networks (including the White House itself), leaking sensitive government data, and exposing many top-secret affairs to the public.
But the most dangerous thing he did — the act that caused relentless pursuit — was revealing the true identities of the real leaders behind the world governments.
In other words, he had stirred the hornet's nest.
And now, he faced a 20-year prison sentence.
But for him, his life was already over, he knew he could be executed at any moment.
"Just come for me already! I'm sick of this damned prison!"
Rob slammed the manga volume against the wall in frustration.
That would've been the path of Rob's life, if not for one boring day of browsing the internet and stumbling upon an 'interesting survey'.
But for the Rob of today, none of that had happened… yet.
At that moment, something caught his attention, a strange light surrounding the landline phone in his cell.
That phone was used by prison officers to notify him of meal and yard times.
Rob stood up and walked toward the wall-mounted phone.
On its small text screen appeared mysterious words:
[We meet again, Rob! Welcome to the Network of Interesting Dreams.]
[Here, your dream can become reality!]
[Click here to participate in the survey!]
[The decision to change your fate is in your hands!]
Rob rubbed his eyes in confusion, but the English words didn't disappear. They kept glowing.
"What the hell is this message? Are they mocking me?"
He felt anger toward the federal prison guards, yet something inside whispered that this was his chance.
He felt déjà vu, as if he'd seen this before.
Without thinking, he pressed the "participate" option, even though he wasn't sure the screen was touch-sensitive.
But he confirmed it when new words appeared:
[Get excited! Today is your lucky day!]
[Answer the following questions to complete your cosmic transfer successfully!]
'What is this nonsense?' Rob thought.
Though he desperately wanted out of this hellhole, his logic still worked, he knew someone was playing with him.
But that strange déjà vu feeling wouldn't fade, it only grew stronger with every passing second.
That's why he kept answering the survey questions.
[Question 1: In which anime or manga world would you like to live?
(Note: For reasons that cannot be disclosed, One Piece cannot be selected.)]
"What!?"
Rob's eyes widened when he saw that.
'Are they mocking my otaku culture now!?'
His anger grew as he grasped what was happening, yet something deep inside pushed him to continue.
Just keep going… keep filling it out.
He looked to the side, his gaze fell on an open Naruto volume showing the raging Nine-Tails.
'Well… since One Piece isn't an option, I'd love to live in the Naruto world… why not?'
He pressed the answer field, and to his surprise, a touch keyboard appeared.
Something that hadn't worked before.
Suppressing his amazement, he typed:
NARUTO…
Immediately, the second survey question appeared.
[Question 2: What is the most interesting thing you could do in this world?
(Warning: If your goal isn't interesting enough, your survey will be rejected. Think carefully before entering your answer!)]
This time, Rob fell deep into thought.
Realization began to dawn on him about what was truly happening here, yet that mysterious inner voice kept urging him onward, while the strange déjà vu feeling grew even stronger.
Without noticing, he started typing:
… Create the Naruto manga inside the Naruto world and let the ninjas know their own future…
Rob thought to himself,
'I've read a novel like this before… but its plot was childish. I feel like I can do much better…'
At that moment, the glowing screen froze, as if the people on the other side were thinking.