Shuya and Saeko Busujima both attended Fujimi Academy. He was a second-year student—one grade below her.
Not long after enrolling last year, Shuya had applied to join the school's kendo club.
At the time, Saeko thought he was no different from the others who joined because of the famous Busujima name. Maybe his grades were a little better and he was better-looking than most, but that was about it.
She never expected that in less than a year, right under her nose, he would reach a level of swordsmanship comparable to her own—someone who had trained in kendo since childhood.
To most of the kendo club members, the two of them, who were often seen together, were the most compatible pair. All that was missing was for one of them to finally tear down that last thin wall between them.
After all, even setting aside their sword skills, both of them excelled in academics and appearance.
But only Saeko herself knew the truth. While she did harbor special feelings for her underclassman Shuya, their relationship was nothing like what everyone imagined.
If that incident had never happened during middle school—if she had never discovered the violent urges buried in her bones—she probably would have naturally ended up with him.
However, because of the deep self-loathing she felt toward her own violent nature, the girl didn't dare get too close to Shuya, the white moonlight she admired so much.
"Why?"
Saeko looked at Shuya in confusion.
She couldn't understand how someone as outstanding as him could secretly follow her at night and then grope her like that.
Yet for some reason, a tiny thread of joy secretly bloomed in her heart.
So Shuya wasn't the perfect being she had imagined. He had flaws too.
Maybe… this meant he could actually be closer to someone like her?
No, no. How could she be having such a despicable thought?
Saeko quickly shook her head, trying to banish those ideas from her mind.
"Saeko-senpai, how did it feel swinging your sword with everything you had?"
Instead of answering her question, Shuya looked at her confused face and asked one of his own.
Without waiting for a reply, he continued, "It felt good, right? The sincere smile on your face during our fight earlier couldn't be faked."
"What are you trying to say?"
Hearing his words, Saeko couldn't help but suspect that Shuya had already figured out her secret long ago. Was that why he did all this? To force her to confront the darkness inside her heart?
She was only half right.
After spending an entire year around her, Shuya was certain that Saeko had feelings for him. But every time he tried to get closer, she would unconsciously retreat and put distance between them.
After multiple failed attempts, he realized something important: if he truly wanted to form a deep bond with Saeko, he had to make her reveal her real self in front of him.
Second, the zombie crisis in this world was fast approaching…
"Saeko-senpai," Shuya said calmly as he materialized an old parchment scroll and held it up in front of her, "do you want to know the true meaning of life? Do you want to truly live?"
Yes—Shuya was a transmigrator.
How did he cross over?
Dead parents plus getting smashed by a truck. All the requirements maxed out. A perfect transmigration specimen.
If not me, then who?
All hail the legendary truck—no further comment needed.
When he first arrived in this world a year ago, he had been ecstatic.
Not only had he transmigrated, his body had become several years younger during the process. It felt like a dream.
Even better, he had arrived in 2009.
During that time period, even if he knew nothing, he could just dump money into Bitcoin and easily achieve financial freedom in a few years. Life was going to be amazing.
That happy mood lasted until he was picked up by a busty blonde ditz named Shizuka Marikawa.
That was the moment he realized he hadn't transmigrated into real early 21st-century Japan.
He had entered the world of Highschool of the Dead—a zombie apocalypse story.
Meaning this world could turn into hell at any moment.
The good news was that shortly after figuring out where he was, Shuya awakened Nen from Hunter x Hunter.
And not just any type—he was a Specialist, similar to the popular Phantom Troupe leader Chrollo Lucilfer.
Anyone who watched the anime knows Chrollo's ability, Skill Hunter, appears as a book. Once conditions are met, he can steal other people's Nen abilities and seal them inside.
Shuya's Nen manifested as an old parchment. Similar to Chrollo's in that it let him obtain other people's abilities through conditions.
The difference was that while Chrollo's theme was theft, Shuya's theme was trade.
Whether it was money, items, or anything else—as long as Shuya offered something the other party genuinely accepted as fair value and both sides signed a contract, he could trade for their Nen ability.
The restriction was that once the trade was completed, he could never take back what he had given in any way.
Because of this, he named his ability Equivalent Exchange.
Unlike Skill Hunter, Equivalent Exchange granted full ownership of the ability.
There were no annoying conditions like having to open a specific page, and even if the original owner died, the ability would stay with him.
The potential of Equivalent Exchange was terrifyingly high.
After all, how many people would value their Nen ability more than their own life?
Trading "I'll spare your life" for their ability was an absolute steal.
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So aside from the difficult early stage when he was weak and broke, once this ability started rolling in the mid-to-late game, it would snowball massively.
He could eventually reach or even surpass the level of Chairman Netero or the Chimera Ant King.
A true future powerhouse.
The bad news?
This world wasn't Hunter x Hunter.
Aside from Shuya himself, there wasn't a single other Nen user on the entire planet…
Who the hell was he supposed to trade with?