The next day, Ryan hit the road—wait, no—Ryan set off. He was traveling with Sasha, the two of them sitting on a simple horse-drawn cart.
The driver was an old man in a blue-gray coat, kind and easy to talk to.
Ryan and Sasha came from a village called Dauper, located deep in the southern region of Wall Rose. It was a remote mountain hunting village with a very small population and far from any towns.
As the village chief, the old man was heading to town to buy daily essentials like oil and salt for the villagers. On the way, he gave Ryan and Sasha a ride. The training corps' headquarters was also in Wall Rose's southern area, just two hours on foot from the town.
On the open cart, Ryan glanced at Sasha Braus. She wasn't exactly a peerless beauty, but she was definitely quite pretty. The issue was… she really ate a lot.
Maybe it was because he wouldn't see his daughter for a long time, but Uncle Braus stuffed a bundle of food into Sasha's arms. It included bread, cooked sweet potatoes, and dried meat.
And during the whole one-hour ride on the cart, Sasha didn't talk to Ryan at all—she just ate. And ate. And ate some more.
Watching her, Ryan began to feel a little hungry himself.
Right now, he was trying to recall the plot of Attack on Titan. Back on Earth, when he was still a middle schooler, the show had gotten super popular, so he watched about twenty episodes. He was just getting into it when it got banned, and he never followed up.
[Aot Got Banned in China In 2015]
He deeply regretted not tracking down the rest later. He remembered Levi saving Eren from the Female Titan, but didn't even know who the Female Titan really was.
And after everything he'd been through, plus how long ago it was, his memory was fuzzy. He wasn't a hardcore fan, so he forgot a lot of details.
Ryan was technically sixteen now, though this body looked like a twelve-year-old.
He had been thirteen when watching Attack on Titan, fourteen when he transmigrated to that other world, spent two years there… That was nearly four years ago.
Thinking back now, he couldn't even remember who the commander of the Survey Corps was. All he recalled was that the main character was Eren Yeager, and the female lead was Mikasa Ackerman. Which… didn't help much at all.
He sighed and rubbed his forehead, deeply regretting his carelessness. Who could've guessed he'd end up in such a dangerous world?
Seeing Ryan hold his head like that, Sasha finally paused in her sweet potato-eating spree and asked hesitantly:
"Um, Ryan… does your head hurt? You hit it a month ago. You should rest more."
After a moment's hesitation, Sasha broke her sweet potato in half and handed part of it to him. "Eat something! You won't hurt as much if you eat."
What?
Ryan was dumbfounded as he took the half sweet potato. What did eating have to do with headaches?
He took a bite. Hmm… it actually tasted pretty good. Not bad at all!
Sasha gave him an innocent smile as he ate, feeling a bit more confident. Maybe talking to people wasn't so hard after all—look, she already had a friend! Well… even though they technically knew each other already.
Ryan had no idea he'd just become Sasha's first "friend." He was busy trying to recall details about her character. Forgive him for only now realizing Sasha was part of the actual story. As far as he could remember, she didn't come to a bad end, right?
Good. That was a relief. In this kind of world, if your "plot armor" wasn't strong enough, no amount of beauty would save you from dying early.
Watching Sasha continue to stuff food into her mouth, Ryan finally couldn't help asking, "Sasha, are you really that hungry?"
Looking a little embarrassed, she replied:
"Ah, sorry… I haven't eaten my fill in a long time. Ever since Wall Maria fell two years ago, the refugees poured in, and I've often gone hungry.
A lot of the forest inside Wall Rose got cleared. You're a hunter too, so you must know how scarce game has become."
['Game' is a term for food hunting]
Ryan nodded. "Of course. If there were more animals around, I wouldn't have gone deep into the woods and nearly gotten killed by that bear."
Exactly. With game becoming harder to find, the original Ryan had lost his life.
His father had also ventured deep into the forest two years ago and was killed by a tiger. That tiger was eventually hunted down by Uncle Braus and some companions.
Otherwise, Ryan might have gone for revenge himself. Since he had taken over this body, avenging the former owner was only right.
Besides, tiger meat probably tasted good—he had to admit that.
Sasha's eyes sparkled with admiration. "I heard you killed that bear half a month ago. That's amazing!"
Ryan smiled. That so-called "Aura" did help a bit when attached to arrows. After waiting in a tree all morning, he finally managed to kill the bear with three arrows.
Dauper Village was incredibly remote.
The cart had to travel over two hours to reach the nearest town. Along the way, aside from a bit of small talk, Sasha went right back to eating.
The food Uncle Braus gave her was enough for three full meals, and she almost finished it all in one sitting.
Terrifying. No wonder her father was sending her to the military. The training corps might not pay wages, but at least it provided food and housing.
Finally, they reached the town. The cart stopped, and the old village chief looked at the two kids curiously peeking out. He smiled and said, "Alright, youngsters, this is it. Work hard in training. Don't embarrass our village."
"Got it!" Ryan replied quickly. Then he looked helplessly at Sasha, who was still chewing. "Sasha, we're here. Time to get off."
"Wait a sec! Just one more bite!" she shouted, trying to shove half a yam into her mouth.
This girl…
With a sigh, Ryan grabbed her food bag and jumped off the cart, yelling, "Sasha, if you don't catch up, I'm eating all of this!"
Sasha panicked. With half a yam in one hand and her clothing bundle in the other, she jumped down and gave chase.
"Ryan! Don't eat it all! I'm coming!"
The old chief shook his head as he watched them run off. "Ah… youth."
After a bit of chasing, Sasha finally reclaimed her food and couldn't help but complain:
"Ryan, that was so mean!"
Ryan shrugged. "You should've hurried up. The registration window closes in two days. Next time we have snacks, I'll share half with you."
Sasha's eyes sparkled. "Really? You promise? No sneaking snacks alone!"
What else could he say? This girl was beyond saving.
About two hours later, Ryan and Sasha arrived at the training corps base—nestled in a small mountain valley within southern Wall Rose.
The valley was basin-shaped, with three dirt walls and a sloping granite road on the other side leading to outside towns.
That afternoon, they entered the registration office. The signup period was five days, and this was already the fourth, so there weren't many people left.
A bald middle-aged man in uniform sat behind the desk. He glanced up at them and handed over two forms.
"Fill out your personal info. Then go pick up your two sets of training uniforms. Someone will come later to assign rooms. Don't wander."
"Understood!"
After finishing the forms and collecting their uniforms, they said goodbye and went their separate ways.
Ryan headed for the boys' dormitory. Conditions in the training corps were basic. Some rooms had four bunks, others eight, twelve, or more. Big communal dorms, really.
Ryan got lucky—he was assigned a four-person room.
He strolled in and looked around. The floor was clean, clearly already tidied up by someone who'd moved in earlier.
There were two bunk beds. One of the lower bunks was still empty, so he casually tossed his stuff on it and claimed it.
Just then, the door opened and someone walked in.
Ryan turned—and blinked in surprise. The newcomer had blond hair, blue eyes, and a cute face. A girl?
He offered a polite reminder: "Hey, you've got the wrong room. Girls' dorm is on the other side."
The person froze, awkward. "Actually… I'm a guy."
…What?
Ryan looked stunned. He stared at the neck and finally noticed an Adam's apple.
Alright. So cute, Shame he had to be a boy.
"Oh, my bad, must've been seeing things. I'm Ryan Ackerman. We're roommates. Nice to meet you."
The blond boy looked a little surprised but smiled. "I'm Armin Arlert. Nice to meet you too!"
Huh… Ryan's expression turned odd. That name rang a bell. Wasn't this the second male lead?
If Armin was here, that probably meant Eren was too, right?
Not bad. Maybe things were finally turning around for him? He could stick close to the main characters and get some protection, right?
…Wrong. Even Eren's plot armor barely saved himself. As far as Ryan could recall, that guy went through hell.
So, no. Not reliable.
While Ryan was thinking all this, another boy walked in with a bucket of water—brown hair, green eyes, perpetually scowling.
Eren Yeager, the protagonist with the tragic fate. Sure, he had childhood friends, loyal bros, and mysterious powers… but he still had it rough.
Not because he was weak, but because this world was merciless.
At least Ryan felt this place was far worse than that fantasy world he'd been to before. Sure, the orcs there were brutal, but the border knight regiments could hold their own—sometimes even win.
Here? Humanity was hopelessly outmatched.
Tough world to survive in.