One Punch Man: Heroics Start with Dual Kamui

Chapter 160 160: Spacetime Traversal

At that moment, Shinji suddenly turned his head. He sensed something dirty watching him from behind, but when he looked back there was nothing to be seen.

Unsurprisingly, it was probably that so-called "god." Whenever it withdrew its power or dealt punishment, the god would appear for an instant. Strangely, however, it never moved to attack others. The specifics remained unknown.

For now, the pressing problem was what to do about Psykos. Shinji tried placing his hand on her forehead to transfer energy, the same way he restored Boros before. But it was clear Psykos did not need life support. Although the transfer eased some of her pain and her complexion relaxed slightly, she still showed no sign of waking.

[Alert! The Host has triggered the hidden quest "Psykos and the God," reward: Spacetime Traversal Device!]

[Quest details: Travel back to the timeline five years ago to uncover the truth about Psykos, the Third Eye, and the God, and find a way to change the past. Any alterations the Host makes in the past will cause corresponding changes to the current timeline.]

[Time limit: within half a day.]

[Note: After the Host uses the Spacetime Traversal Device, the current timeline will be temporarily frozen until the Host returns.]

The system's message made Shinji suddenly understand why Psykos had met him in the past. It was not that she had lost her memory; rather, a future version of him had traveled back in time.

That raised a question. Suppose the future him had already gone back and changed things, causing butterfly effects that altered the present world, and Psykos's memories already contained him. Does that mean his trip to the past has already been predetermined?

Shinji had no way of knowing the full truth. Only by traveling to the past himself could he find out. Looking down at the unconscious Psykos in his arms, he decided to use the Spacetime Traversal Device. After all, the mysterious "god" was something he would have to face sooner or later. Freezing the current timeline had no downside.

Just as he was about to activate the device, a question popped into his mind. "Can I take someone else with me when I use the Spacetime Traversal Device?" he asked.

[Besides Saitama, the Host may bring at most one human or monster when traversing time.]

[However, bringing different companions may lead to different consequences. For example, bringing Garou could erase everyone's memories of Garou in the past timeline, because Garou also exists in that past timeline. The Host should avoid such encounters if possible.]

Understanding the rules, Shinji nodded slightly. The system clearly treated Saitama as a bug. If he had taken Saitama back and simply told him to smash the "god" with one punch, many problems would not exist. What Shinji wanted was a helper. Aside from Saitama, the obvious choice was Boros. He was the strongest being below Saitama at present, and he would not run into the past version of Boros. Five years ago, Boros's whereabouts in the universe were unknown.

What Shinji did not realize was that asking Boros to join him would already create a deviation from the supposedly fixed outcome.

Shinji carefully laid Psykos on the bed, then went home and sought out Boros directly. "I need to travel to the past. Will you come with me?" he asked plainly.

"Time travel? You can actually do that?" Boros was surprised. In his understanding, such a thing was basically impossible. He had not expected Shinji to possess that ability.

"More or less. I plan to travel five years ago and return within at most half a day. During that period, time in the current world will be frozen."

Shinji's tone was calm as he said, "The process might be a bit dull, so it depends on whether you're willing."

"I don't really mind. But wait, doesn't this mean I could also track down my past self?" Boros suddenly thought of the possibility.

"In theory, yes... but it's best not to." Shinji gave a slightly awkward smile. If Boros really sought out his past self somewhere in the cosmos, who knew what consequences that might bring.

The butterfly effect was terrifying. The system wiping memories here and there would be nothing compared to the disasters a butterfly effect could trigger. Even the flap of a butterfly's wings could cause a storm. Once he entered the past, Shinji resolved to avoid interfering with other people's fates as much as possible.

….

City V, Ueno High School

After using the Spacetime Traversal Device, Shinji felt darkness wash over his vision. Moments later, he found himself standing at the school gates of a place called Ueno High School.

Looking up, he could clearly see the school's plaque: Ueno High School.

[Alert! The Host has traveled back to the timeline five years ago. Current identity: Ueno High School, Class 3-1's mysterious transfer student.]

Mysterious transfer student...?

So he was supposed to enroll here?

At the same time, it was morning rush hour, and students streamed through the gates. Boros's sudden appearance, however, caused no small amount of panic among them.

"W-what is that? Is it a monster?"

"I think it really is a monster! What do we do? The gate's blocked!"

"Forget school, we need to run for our lives!"

...

Realizing Boros's appearance had triggered widespread fear, Shinji was just about to tell him to move away when another system notification rang out.

[Alert! Boros has also been registered as a transfer student at Ueno High School. The Host and Boros are expected to take their studies seriously.]

...???

Shinji froze. How had Boros ended up as a transfer student too? The system was just messing with him now.

"Uh... it seems there's been a little mix-up. You and I are both students at this school now," he told Boros.

Boros blinked. "...Students? You mean I have to study here as well?"

"Well... if you don't want to, you don't have to," Shinji replied. The mighty ruler of the universe attending high school classes was just too absurd. It would be perfectly normal for Boros to refuse.

"It's fine. I'll take a look first." Boros showed no resistance. After all, he had no concept of what a school on this planet even was.

"Fair enough..."

Turning toward Ueno High School, Shinji thought to himself that in this timeline, Fubuki and Psykos were probably here as well.