[So, out of every hundred billion people, only one actually manages to transmigrate, and I did it.
But I only ended up in a parallel universe?
Or maybe I just swapped bodies in my original world…]
[Still, it looks like I ended up in the U.S…]
Standing in a living room completely different from the Chinese-style layout he was used to, Morty, who still had not fully adjusted to having crossed over, left the lights off.
By the glow from outside the window, he stared at the family portrait hanging on the wall and fell into a brief silence.
There were four people in the photo.
Dad, Mom, his older sister, and himself.
That, along with the Banana 12 smartphone in his hand, told Morty one thing very clearly.
He had not even traveled back by a single year!
Morty was a little disappointed.
Since he had transmigrated, he had thought he might use the little knowledge in his head to rewrite his life.
Who would have thought…
Even transmigration had different tiers.
Some people really did get the most half-baked version possible.
[Forget it.
It’s already midnight.
I should go to sleep.]
[I’ll think about everything else tomorrow…]
With that thought in mind, and with his head aching slightly from what might have been an aftereffect of transmigration, Morty quietly slipped back into his room and went straight to bed.
By the next morning, while eating breakfast and looking at the three faces around the table, Morty gradually realized something was wrong.
Why did these three look so much like…
the people from the cartoon Rick And Morty?
Wait…
wasn’t his name Morty?
Morty!!!
Did it have to be this much of a coincidence?!
The instant a very likely possibility crossed his mind, Morty’s face went deathly pale.
Eyes wide, he carefully studied all three of them.
His dad, Jerry, had short hair, a polo shirt, an honest-looking face, and a timid air about him.
His mom, Beth, had long hair over her shoulders, a pretty face, and a reserved temperament.
His older sister, Summer, was basically the standard American high school mean girl…
Feeling that disgusting, sleazy little brother staring at her, Summer lifted her eyes from her phone, glared at Morty, and made a throat-slitting gesture.
[I’m screwed…]
[With that much disgust toward me, there’s no doubt about it.
I crossed over into Rick And Morty.]
[Otherwise, these details couldn’t possibly line up this perfectly…]
At that moment, Morty wanted nothing more than to shoot himself in the head.
Or buy a ticket to some unfamiliar city and spend the rest of his life living under a fake name.
Because in the title Rick And Morty, the first name, Rick, belonged to his Grandpa.
And if he had to describe Rick…
Most things a system could do, Rick could do.
Even things a system could not do, Rick could still do.
Traveling across distant universes?
Souls?
Time?
Space?
Even the terrifying Schrodinger’s Cat, enough to directly draw out Fourth-Dimensional Beings, was something he could play around with!
In the truest sense, he was at the peak the moment he appeared.
Any person who crossed over and had a Grandpa like that would not need any bullshit cheat or system at all.
All they would need to do was sweetly call him Grandpa and act cute.
He could grant every wish at the limits of your imagination.
Provided he was willing…
And given Grandpa’s personality, he should currently be in a state of complete nihilism.
Thinking of that, Morty asked his mom where Grandpa was.
At the mention of her father, who had been missing for twenty years, his mom, who had still been smiling and getting ready to head to work, instantly went cold.
“Why are you bringing him up?
He’s been missing for twenty years.
As far as I’m concerned, he’s dead.”
Hearing that Grandpa had already been missing for twenty years, Morty immediately relaxed.
After all, he knew that infinite universes meant infinite Grandpas, and naturally, infinite Mortys and infinite versions of this family of three.
In the universe he was in, Grandpa had been missing for twenty years.
Either he had gone off to work in the Citadel Of Ricks, or he was already dead, or he had simply run off to another universe.
In short, if he had not come back in twenty years, then he definitely was not coming back.
With his mind at ease, Morty happily turned his attention back to the breakfast in front of him.
His family might not be especially rich, and his sister might be incredibly annoying, but as long as Grandpa was not around, his life would stay perfectly peaceful.
Because staying around Grandpa meant testing the limits of his heart every single day.
After breakfast, Morty, who was currently a freshman in high school, picked up his backpack and got ready to take the school bus with his sister.
But his sister, who had always found him irritating and even got physical with him from time to time, had no intention of going to school with a little brother who dragged down her cool factor.
So the moment they stepped out of the house, his own sister said, “You can walk to school by yourself.”
Morty was instantly furious.
Schools in the U.S.
were not the kind of places you could reach after walking a few steps or taking the subway.
The low-density residential area meant there was no subway here at all.
And because of that low density, going anywhere even slightly far away basically required either taking the bus or driving.
So, less than twenty-four hours after crossing over, he was already being bullied by his own sister.
But Morty, who had already fully integrated the original Morty’s memories into his own mind, was not going to choose the former Morty’s timid, submissive approach.
You dare make me walk?
Then let’s fight.
Morty, who was half a head shorter than his older sister, said with impressive backbone, “Walk?
Why don’t you walk?
I’m taking the school bus today.
If you’ve got a problem with that, then let’s fight!”
Seeing that her younger brother, who usually did not dare make a sound when she yelled at him, had the nerve to defy her today, and even directly challenge her to a fight, Summer exploded in anger.
She reached out to grab Morty.
Seeing that this woman really had a hair-trigger temper, Morty cursed inwardly, then met her head-on.
Since Grandpa in this world had been missing for twenty years, and might never come back, then he had to live with some backbone.
The two of them wrestled right in front of the house, punching, kicking, and swearing at each other.
Only after they alarmed their mom and dad inside the house were Morty and his older sister finally pulled apart.
“What are you doing?!
It’s bad enough that you fight at home, but now you have to start something the moment you leave for school too?”
“Summer!
You’re Morty’s older sister.
Can’t you rein it in once in a while?”
“Morty!
You’re Summer’s younger brother.
Why do you always have to embarrass your sister?”
As the backbone of the family, their mom scolded them both for their stupidity.
Until she noticed Morty’s face growing paler and paler…
“Are you sick?
Are you feeling unwell?
Your face doesn’t look right.”
Seeing that her son’s complexion was off, his mom immediately stopped scolding him and turned her concern toward his health.
As a Horse Surgeon, she reached out and checked Morty’s eyes and mouth.
She was used to hearing her husband mock her for being “just an animal doctor,” so after examining Morty today, she found it strange that she did not hear that familiar taunt.
Why was her husband, who usually loved making sarcastic remarks, silent?
Then she saw him staring straight behind her.
[Could it be…]
She turned around.
A thin, frail old man was standing behind her.
He had silver hair, a knee-length coat worn over a crew-neck T-shirt tucked into his pants, and a pair of khaki trousers.
And finally, there was that familiar face, though it had already grown old.
“Dad…
Dad?!”