I ran. I ran like my life depended on it.
At first, I thought I just needed to put enough distance between myself and that monster until it was out of sight. But every time I stopped to catch my breath, a Hollow would appear. I'd bolt again, stop, and—there'd be another one….
I don't know how the hell the 'random encounter' rate got this glitched, but every time I paused, a human was either turning into a Hollow or one that had already donned its mask would leap out at me. I had no choice but to keep running for what felt like an eternity.
Luckily, the universal rule of transformations—that both heroes and villains are immobile while they're 'changing'—seemed to apply here too. Putting aside the ones that had already finished their transformation, I could easily give the slip to the people who were still in the middle of becoming Hollows.
Go ahead, call me a coward. Mock me for running away the moment I dropped into a manga world instead of standing my ground. I have no excuse. The fact is, I ran.
But seriously, let's be real—how many people could actually square up against a screaming psychopath with a gaping hole in his chest who's busy devouring someone right in front of them?
And it wasn't just that. If you stand still, a Hollow at least twice your size charges at you with its eyes rolled back, desperate to take a bite out of your skull. You think you could just sit there and take it?
Even Ichigo, the protagonist of this world, would've run. Well, assuming we're talking about the pre-Soul Reaper awakening Ichigo, anyway.
…Actually, knowing that guy, he'd probably get some 'Main Character Buff' and hold out until Rukia arrived, or somehow manage to suppress the damn thing.
'But so what? I'm not some orange-haired protagonist.'
I am not a main character. I have no special powers, no innate talent. All I have is the knowledge that this world belongs to a manga called *Bleach*, along with some hazy memories of the characters and the plot.
Sure, it's a bit ridiculous to complain about a lack of talent before I've even tried anything, but even Ichigo got his ass handed to him and was on the verge of death before Rukia saved him.
Me? Could I really beat a Hollow with my bare hands? I don't even have a stick, let alone a sword. All I have is information.
But looking at the state of things around here, that information was currently about as useful as a screen door on a submarine.
"This is a total clusterfuck."
The reason my knowledge of the original series was useless was simple: there were no Soul Reapers.
I thought they were just late, but I was wrong. I'd been running for at least thirty minutes, maybe an hour, and not a single Soul Reaper had shown their face.
Wait, surely that can't be it.
With that nagging thought, I hid and observed my surroundings. I saw souls with chains on their chests, living humans with no chains, and Hollows with holes in their chests—all milling about together in a chaotic mess.
That's when it hit me.
It wasn't that the Soul Reapers were missing. It was that this was a timeline from *before* Soul Reapers even existed.
I wondered if the people without chains might be Soul Reapers, so I watched them closely from the shadows, but I was wrong again.
They were just ordinary living humans.
How did I know? I saw one of the chainless people get devoured by a Hollow, and suddenly, a chain appeared on their chest.
Well, since they were killed by a Hollow, the chain shattered almost instantly and they turned into one themselves, but that's beside the point.
The one thing I knew for certain: there are no Soul Reapers here.
If my hypothesis was correct, it meant the Seireitei didn't exist. And if the Seireitei hadn't been founded yet, it meant I was at least two thousand years away from the start of the original story.
Maybe even longer. I didn't know the exact timeframe.
What I remembered were a few major incidents from the 'canon' plot and the faces of my favorite characters—not how the world was built or the deep lore of its prehistory.
If I knew that, I'd be the one writing *Bleach*.
'Wait a minute… a world where souls, living humans, and Hollows all live together...?'
Does that even make sense? It's been a while since I read the manga, but I remember the world being divided into four realms: the World of the Living, Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and Hell.
Souls go to Soul Society, Hollows go to Hueco Mundo, sinners go to Hell, and the living stay in the World of the Living. That much I recalled.
Layered worlds are a common trope, and since I'd read *Bleach* until I was sick of it as a kid, I remembered the basics.
But if this wasn't that… if this was a world where all those realms were one and the same…?
No way. I mean, seriously… if this timeline is really from before the Soul Society or the World of the Living were even created…
Just how much time am I going to have to spend here?
The Head Captain was over two thousand years old, so… No, wait. If there's no Soul Society, doesn't that mean the Soul King is still alive?
How old is the Soul King?
What about the Zero Division that guards him?
Actually, even before that—the Five Noble Families?
…I don't know any of it. Nothing comes to mind.
"Haa…."
Even though I thought I knew the settings, I'd only ever skimmed wikis for fun. No matter how much I racked my brain until it throbbed, no useful memories surfaced.
All I knew for certain was that an staggering, mind-numbing amount of time remained until the start of the original series.
A chill ran down my spine. I blinked, lightheaded, and slumped into a crouch.
I had no idea what to do from here.
'First off, no suicide, and definitely no getting murdered.'
Actually, let's just scrap the idea of dying altogether.
It'd be one thing if Soul Society existed, but it doesn't. I have no idea what happens if you die in a world like this.
So, the only thing left to do is….
'Survival.'
Building enough strength to stay alive had to be the priority.
I let out a heavy sigh that felt like it could sink into the earth and stood up.
I wasn't sure what to do, but I figured I'd just start *something*. I certainly had nothing but time.
"Maybe I'll start by swinging a sword ten thousand times a day."
It was an absurd plan, but since this wasn't reality but a manga world, maybe those impossible manga training methods would actually work.
Alright, let's do this.
"…I don't have a sword."
Now that I think about it, yeah. I don't.
…Guess I'll start by swinging a branch.