[Main Quest (Stage One): Path of Ascension]
Quest Objective:
End Space has applied a disguise to the Explorer. To the inhabitants of this world, you appear to be a lifeform composed of high-density spiritual particles. You are currently a vagrant in North Rukongai District 80. Find a way to join Seireitei and open your path of ascension.
Time Limit: 3 natural days
Difficulty: Easy to Hard
Reward for Success: 500 Terminal Coins
Penalty for Failure: Erasure
---
Joining Seireitei… At first glance, this task didn't seem dangerous, and it didn't look particularly difficult. But the difficulty range marked on the menu caught Hao's attention.
In the Soul Society, the vagrants of Rukongai were the lowest class of existence. However, for those with talent, joining Seireitei wasn't that difficult.
After all, the Gotei 13 constantly needed new blood. In the original work, many outstanding Soul Reapers came from Rukongai. After being admitted to the Shin'ō Academy and receiving formal training, they were recruited into the squads.
He wasn't sure how his own talent measured up in this world, but he was confident he was stronger than most vagrants. Following the official path to admission shouldn't be a problem.
The issue was—he might not be able to reach the "Admissions Office" in one piece.
The higher the district number in Rukongai, the more chaotic it became. District 80 was on the very edge of Soul Society. It wasn't unreasonable to expect all kinds of dangers on the journey to Seireitei.
At present, Terminal Space had only informed him of his current location—it hadn't said anything about what point in the timeline he had landed.
After some thought, Hao concluded there wasn't enough intel to plan deeply. He might as well first check his own status.
After being deployed into this world by Terminal Space, some knowledge had been automatically implanted into his mind—like how to operate the system's basic functions.
Hao mentally called up the menu and began reviewing his own status.
---
[Explorer No. 404040404]
[Level: Lv.1]
Note: Except for Luck, the average stat for a normal adult is 5.
Note 2: The Explorer's body is not digitized. The following stats are for self-evaluation only.
Vital Source: 100%
Soul Source: 100%
Constitution: 15
Strength: 15
Agility: 15
Spirit: 20
Charisma: 6
Luck: 1
---
Since it was his first time checking, each attribute came with an explanation.
Hao was familiar with games, so he interpreted them easily.
Vital Source was his HP—his physical life bar.
Soul Source was the equivalent of MP—and also related to the soul.
Because he was a real, living being, these values couldn't be fully digitized.
Constitution determined the upper limit of Vital Source, endurance, physical resistance, and recovery speed.
Strength determined carrying capacity and attack power.
Along with Agility, it influenced sprinting and movement speed.
Agility also affected reflexes and reaction speed.
Spirit influenced control over techniques, damage output of some skills, perception, and resistance to abnormal status effects.
Charisma affected dialogue outcomes, summoning potential, and resistance to certain mental effects.
Luck impacted loot, item crafting, and all randomness-based elements. It was noted as difficult to increase.
Hao stared at his measly 1 point in Luck, falling deep into thought. He had no idea whether that was extremely bad—or just normal.
---
"Ahhh—!"
Just as he was thinking, a sudden scream in the distance jolted Hao into alertness. He turned toward the street corner.
There, a figure dressed in a Soul Reaper uniform flew through the air, trailing blood like a red mist, before crashing into the side of a crumbling wooden shack.
Even the few ragged vagrants on the street were startled. Their thin, sickly bodies somehow found the strength to get up and run.
Seeing how fast they reacted and how naturally they fled, it was clear how chaotic this place normally was… they were heartbreakingly experienced.
The ones who weren't? They'd probably already been "reincarnated."
Hao frowned slightly at the scene before him—he had just caught a clear glimpse of the person who was sent flying. That person was most likely a Soul Reaper. This wasn't a brawl between vagrants.
Was it a Hollow? Or a rebel faction from the Soul Society? He'd probably figure out which point in the timeline he was in soon enough.
By now, those vagrants had already rushed past Hao. They thought he was frozen in fear, but none of them stopped to warn him.
Before he could think more, two more bloodied figures stumbled out from the corner. The leading Soul Reaper was shouting into some kind of communication device:
"We've been ambushed by rebels in North Rukongai District 80—requesting backup! I repeat, requesting backup!"
That Soul Reaper had already lost an arm, and his remaining hand clutched his zanpakutō with a death grip. His eyes were filled with terror.
He and the other squad member were fleeing for their lives. It was obvious they were no match for the so-called rebels. When he saw Hao standing ahead, he didn't veer off course—he charged straight toward him.
Hao only needed a moment to analyze the situation to understand why the first stage of his main quest had such a wide difficulty range.
Clearly, if he hadn't paused earlier to check his stats and think, he likely would've avoided this incident altogether. With a bit of luck, he might have made it safely to Seireitei and completed the quest without a hitch.
Even now, if he chose to run, he could probably avoid the immediate danger.
But that wasn't what he wanted.
Blood splashed before Hao's face. A severed, spinning head—with eyes still frozen in terror—flew past him. The Soul Reaper who had called for backup never even got the chance to brush past Hao. Before he could reach out for help, he was beheaded by a rebel striking from behind.
The other Soul Reaper was impaled through the chest by another rebel, dying with eyes wide open, unwilling.
Ding—
The beheaded Soul Reaper's zanpakutō fell to the ground, landing right in front of Hao. Blood—both his and the enemy's—still dripped from the blade, soaking into the dry, cracked earth.
Hao stood there in his tattered hemp robe, silently watching as ten rebels gathered around to search the Soul Reapers' corpses.
Calling them "rebels" was generous. In truth, most of them were former Rukongai vagrants dissatisfied with Seireitei's rule. Only a rare few were part of any real organization—most were just a mob.
But the Soul Reapers who had just died before Hao's eyes weren't high-level fighters either. They were just regular squad members—unable even to perform a Shikai.
From the sounds and movements of the recent clash, Hao could roughly estimate the rebels' strength.
"What the hell are you smiling at?"
One of the rebels, his hair hanging wildly in his face, barked at Hao.
"Is he just a local vagrant? Kill him. The pursuit teams will be here soon."
The rebel leader glanced at Hao, his blade still dripping. The scar across his face made his expression even more brutal.
Hao reached up and touched his face.
"So… I was smiling."
As he spoke, his body trembled slightly. The rebel closest to him assumed the vagrant had finally snapped from fear.
That rebel raised his blade to strike Hao down. The others didn't even glance over—they were busy looting the Soul Reapers' bodies, checking for anything that might track their location.
The sound of a blade slicing through flesh echoed—but the one who fell wasn't the vagrant. It was the rebel assigned to "deal with" him.
Hao now held the zanpakutō that had been stuck in the dirt. He gave it a sharp flick, casting a crimson arc of blood across the ground.
His gaze swept over the startled rebels. His body still trembled, but now he bared his teeth in a wide grin, his white teeth flashing like bone.
"This place isn't bad at all… it's been a while since I felt this excited."
The rebel leader's expression twisted in alarm—but he quickly made a decision.
"All of you—kill him!"
A spear cut through the air, splitting the heat with a gust of wind. Hao merely tilted his head slightly, and the spearhead brushed past his hair.
In the next instant, under the stunned gaze of the rebel who had lunged at him, Hao's long blade swept upward from below.
Flesh, bone, and soul—cut in one stroke.
In a flash, two rebels were dead.
As Hao stepped forward, an invisible pressure seemed to spread out from him, forcing the surrounding rebels to unconsciously take a step back.
Under their stares, Hao tilted his head back, gazed up at the sky and the blazing sun, and took a deep breath—savoring the feeling of being alive.