On a deserted island, also known as Midden, stood the largest junkyard in the world.
In the middle of it was a boy with bright blond hair that glowed in the sun.
He wore blue jeans and a faded white T-shirt covered in dirt and grime.
However, not a single speck of dust could be seen on his face.
The boy had lived in an abandoned, broken bus for as long as he could remember, with only crows as his family and friends scavenging around for food.
When he was younger, his crow parents provided him with food and water, but as he grew old enough to run on his own feet, he developed the habit of finding his own food.
He also discovered a pool connected to the sea where he would bathe.
His family still supported him, constantly worrying about their "useless son," who took a long time to grow up and couldn't even fly.
In his late childhood day to early teenage days, Hiro, a smart boy, compared himself to his baby siblings and noticed that he was significantly larger than them.
This made it impossible for his crow parents to have given birth to him.
As a result, Hiro concluded that his mom and dad weren't his real parents after all.
Rummaging through the trash, a crow landed on his right shoulder.
The crow held its beak closer to the boy's hand and placed a piece of meat in his palm with a proud expression, clearly wanting praise.
Hiro sniffed the meat and threw it away, causing the crow to protest, stomping its feet on his shoulder angrily.
The crow had spent a lot of effort looking for meat for his ungrateful human friend.
Another crow then perched on his other shoulder in time, offering a piece of slightly moldy bread and emitting a 'kaa' sound toward the other crow.
Warning him to stop bringing rotten meat to their big human.
Hiro sat on the ground, chewing on the bread, ignoring the "Kraa" sounds beside his ears.
Munch! Munch! Munc-!
-Kaaaa!!
The loud noise of crows flapping their wings in the sky interrupted his munching on the bread as he looked up, and both 'righty' and 'lefty' flew away.
Hiro's face turned into a confused frown, knowing it wasn't the time for the airplane to arrive and throw garbage, which always scared his crow family.
He got up and ran toward his usual hiding spot where he had been taught to always hide, as bad people would one day come to take him away.
The sound of the crows in the sky ominously grew louder, and he knew they were trying to warn him.
A lone feather landed on his hair, prompting him to look at the sky where his parents and family were gathering at the western part of the island in a dense, cloud-like shape, looking as if they wanted to kill.
Hiro hesitated for a bit but still rushed into his hiding spot like he was ordered to, crouching low under his makeshift bed, trying to make himself as small as possible, thinking he would be safe this time around as well, just like the countless times he was almost taken away.
Hoping that the quieting sounds of his family meant they also went into hiding.
* * *
Ryan had a dream about the original body owner, Hiro.
"Hhaaa..." He sighed, a tiny bit irritated that his dream was cut short. Though it seemed like he wouldn't be getting any more of Hiro's memories, he had already dreamt of that segment more than once in the span of half a day of confinement. And although the amount of memories he got was limited to no more than two months, he felt like his mental age was reduced by half.
He had already accepted the fact he had transmigrated.
'I need to find a way to prevent my death.' Putting his finger on his lips and contemplating, he realised that for the time being he could do nothing about his current predicament.
He had unexpectedly begun a second life and naturally didn't want to die again; he didn't have that much sense of responsibility toward strangers.
However, running away from the plot wasn't an option for the time being either. It would only result in finding himself surrounded by demons in the future, where no one could stop the demon king.
He had been thrust into the body of the only one who could kill the villain protagonist and was now a powerless captive.
Ryan thought about it.
The protagonist of this world was a man who loved toying with his prey. Cruel in a way that makes him seem harmless if one ignored his actions.
He gave a quick death to those whom he found weak and a slow, prolonged death to those whom he considered strong.
That cruelty was especially prominent against the only person that could match his potential, and subsequently tried to kill him time and time again.
Hiro.
Remembering how he'd slowly play with his victims made Ryan shiver slightly. However, he was not of any concern at the moment. Ryan shifted his eyes slightly; even though he couldn't see anything, the person he needed to worry about was...
"You're finally awake."
The voice he had first heard the moment his consciousness slipped into this world spoke to him again, bringing him back from his thoughts.
However, this time, he wasn't feeling as scared as before; those emotions receded like a tide that never was there, but the unease remained.
It was none other than the man who made himself a guardian of his. The man who brought Hiro, the original body owner, from Midden, the largest junkyard on the planet.
Ryan slowly turned his head to look at him when the man's voice sounded beside his ear, sounding like it came from two sides at once: "I'm over here."
He turned his head to the other side, and the man said with a benevolent smile as he came closer, patting him on the head and helping him sit upright, "I'm glad you're awake."
Ryan nodded but couldn't see his smile. He may have been fooled if he could, but he knew this man was not a kind person.
'I'm sure Hiro wasn't blind.' Ryan touched his eyelids.
In this unfamiliar space, the darkness began to truly bother him. No, even if he had somewhat lost his eyesight, was it normal for him to be completely in the dark?
He wanted to ask the man to turn on the light, but he should have been able to see even with the lights off.
As if living rent-free in the youth's thoughts, the man said, "You've slept since yesterday evening, and now it's already afternoon. It's bright outside and inside."
Unbeknownst to Ryan, the man was holding his hand in front of Ryan's eyes, looking at him with a scary glint in his eyes.
Ryan flinched due to the cold sensation, feeling as if something terrifying was crawling under his shirt.
The old man said, "Are you okay?"
Ryan tried to say something, but when he opened his mouth, only incoherent "kaa" sounds could be heard.
Confused, he remembered that Hiro, at the age of 16, couldn't speak.
Hiro hadn't been taught to speak. He had been abandoned by his birth parents in the farthest place they could think of.
Suppressing the growing anxiety and foreboding feeling inside him, he tried to focus on the man who had been patting his head just a second ago, much more gently ever since he made that sound.
The man's name was 'the Seer.' His real name was never mentioned in the novel.
A superhero who could see the past and the future and eyes that could detect lies from truths, a once-in-a-century genius.
Also known as the headmaster of Erou Academy, a place that fostered humanity's future heroes in their struggle against villains.
He was not a kind, benevolent person as the masses believed him to be; he was the one who had brainwashed Hiro with a specialised ability card, forcing him to dedicate his life to killing the protagonist.
Ryan felt a sudden, unexplainable rage building up inside him.
'Why was he being treated like this? Why did he have to suffer? Why did 'the Seer' do this to him? Why did he take away his freedom and make him a tool?'
Ryan blinked in confusion, trying not to change his expression.
'What was that just now?'
These emotions felt like they belonged to him, yet they didn't at the same time.
Ryan doubted what he was feeling. Maybe he was indignant on Hiro's behalf? He felt doubtful.
Or was it Hiro's remaining emotions left behind?
The last possibility sounded more plausible, as this was the second time he reacted to the seer's voice.
The older man's gentle voice snapped him out of his thoughts: "Can't you see me?"
Ryan shook his head, and 'the Seer' came closer, putting his hand on his face and examining his eyes.
Ryan reflexively retreated, yanking himself out of bed and falling onto a soft, thick mattress that cushioned his fall.
He warily looked in the seer's direction as if he hadn't messed up in his anxiousness.
Dying out of nowhere, transmigrating suddenly, and ending up as a captive on top of losing his eyesight caught him off guard.
The heart that had been caught in his throat for a while now began beating frantically as his mind spun.
In the novel, Hiro acted like a berserked monster who had to be pinned down by a dozen or more servants and maids, demanding angrily in words no one could understand to be sent back home.
Ryan acted nothing like Hiro against a monster who could detect lies, someone who could control his life and death.
If the seer became wary of him, he was all too aware that his life would become increasingly difficult. It was a good thing he couldn't speak; otherwise, the seer would have interrogated him on his suspicious behavior and his cover would have been blown the moment he opened his mouth.
"Don't be scared. No one is going to hurt you."
The seer's tall and robust body, unbefitting of an old man his age, held the 16-year-old like a child and placed him back in bed.
He added comfortingly, "It may just be temporary blindness. Don't be anxious. I will arrange for a doctor to examine you tomorrow..."
Knock! Knock!!
A knock on the door interrupted the conversation, indicating that the awaited guest had arrived.
The seer walked out, leaving Ryan alone, opening his eyes in bewilderment.