The sky was dim and colorless, a lifeless expanse of pale white clouds hanging low above an endless sea of dunes. Desolation stretched as far as the eye could see.
Raizen Kō slowly lifted his gaze.
There was nothing.
No vegetation, no water, no sound of wind or life—only endless bone-white sand, layered in ridges that vanished into the distant horizon.
He had wandered this barren land for an unknown length of time, yet not a single living creature had appeared. It was as though this white desert had been prepared solely as his final resting place.
"Is this… the world after death?"
His consciousness trembled.
Memory surged back in fragments.
A cramped hospital room.
The sterile stench of disinfectant.
A dust-stained ceiling above a narrow bed.
And the moment his breathing had finally stopped.
In life, Raizen Kō had been an ordinary man from a small town. After more than a decade of relentless study, he had finally escaped poverty, entered a prestigious university, and secured a position at a major corporation.
Years of desperate effort followed.
Promotion after promotion.
A car.
An apartment in a first-tier city.
For a time, he became the pride of his hometown, the "perfect example" whispered about by parents comparing their children to him.
He had thought his future secure.
Then came the diagnosis.
Advanced gastric cancer.
Discovered too late.
After the first round of chemotherapy, his parents sold everything—his car, his apartment—and brought him back to a small county hospital, clinging to the illusion of conservative treatment.
Two months later…
His body had failed.
"The past is over…"
The memories drifted through his mind like fading smoke before being quietly cast aside.
What mattered now… was the present.
…
Standing alone in the white desert, Raizen Kō moved instinctively.
A strange rustling echoed behind him.
The sand bulged.
Something massive shifted beneath the surface.
Segments of a huge body armored in pale bone writhed upward, revealing curved plates, blade-like ridges, and a long, coiling lower form.
"…What… is that monster…?"
His voice faltered.
Then he froze.
"…Wait."
"That's… me?"
Understanding struck.
Relief followed—brief, absurd relief.
"Then… that's fine…"
"I've turned into a monster with a human upper body… and a centipede's lower body…"
His voice echoed awkwardly in the empty desert.
Perhaps it had been too long since he had spoken to anyone. He muttered to himself for several moments before forcing calm and examining his new form more carefully.
Without water or reflection, he relied only on sensation and instinct.
His upper body retained a humanoid shape—broad shoulders, thick arms—but every inch of pale flesh was coated in hardened white bone, like natural armor.
Below the waist, a massive centipede body extended behind him, layered with segmented plating and ending in a powerful bladed tail. From head to tail, he measured nearly five meters in length.
Strength pulsed through every limb.
He clenched one clawed hand.
Raizen Kō was certain—he could crush a human skull without effort.
Then his gaze drifted downward.
At the boundary between his human torso and monstrous lower body…
There was a hole.
A perfectly round cavity piercing straight through his chest.
"…This is…"
Understanding dawned with chilling clarity.
"This form… this desert…"
"This is Hueco Mundo."
"And I… am a Hollow."
He raised a pale hand to his face.
Cold hardness met his fingers.
A mask.
Bone-white, etched with jagged markings, covering his entire face.
"So… I've truly crossed into the world of the Shinigami…"
In his former life, Raizen Kō had been an avid fan of Bleach. He knew this land well.
Hueco Mundo—the realm of Hollows.
A place where lost souls devoured one another to survive.
Strangely, fear did not come.
Nor disgust.
Instead… excitement stirred within him.
"…This is incredible."
But reason quickly followed.
Being a Hollow meant living constantly on the edge of annihilation.
If slain by a Shinigami, the outcome depended on the sins of his human life.
Reincarnation… or Hell.
If destroyed by a Quincy—
Erasure.
No soul.
No cycle.
Nothing.
And if this era fell under Sōsuke Aizen's dominion…
The experiments.
The Arrancar conversions.
Countless Hollows reduced to disposable material.
"This is dangerous…"
"I need to know the timeline."
"If it's before the main story begins, I still have time…"
"But if it's during… or after…"
His thoughts were cut short.
"GRRRRAAAH—!"
A low, feral roar erupted behind him.
The sand burst open.
A reptilian Hollow lunged forward—over two meters long, its mask elongated like a lizard's skull. Dark yellow saliva dripped from its jaws, reishi leaking in thick strands as it charged.
Before Raizen Kō could consciously react—
His tail moved.
The centipede blade erupted from beneath the sand like a spear.
BOOM!
The reptilian Hollow was smashed straight into the dune, its entire body buried halfway into the ground.
Raizen Kō turned.
Without technique.
Without thought.
He attacked.
His fists descended in a brutal storm.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Bone shattered.
Sand exploded outward.
The Hollow screeched once before its mask cracked under the impact.
"Gyaaah…!"
Claws snapped.
Armor plates fractured.
Dark green blood sprayed across the pale dunes and coated Raizen Kō's body.
He did not stop.
Only when the creature lay unmoving, its mask broken into fragments, did he finally withdraw his fists.
Silence returned.
"…Haa…"
Raizen Kō exhaled slowly.
The Hollow before him was unmistakably dead.
Though the battle had lasted mere seconds, his heart still pounded violently. In his former life, he had lived for thirty years without ever harming so much as an animal.
Now…
He had crushed a soul.
Yet revulsion did not come.
Only clarity.
This world had no place for hesitation.
If he wished to survive—
He must become stronger.
Without knowing the era, time itself was his greatest enemy.
Opportunity and danger coexisted here.
And transcendence…
Awaited those who dared to seize it.
His gaze slowly lowered to the corpse.
He remembered.
Hollows evolved by devouring one another.
From Gillian… to Adjuchas… to the legendary pinnacle—
Vasto Lorde.
Suppressing instinctive disgust, Raizen Kō reached down and tore free a shattered forelimb soaked in reishi and blood.
He raised it to his masked mouth.
And bit.
Crunch.
Bone and flesh dissolved easily.
To his astonishment, there was no nausea.
No resistance.
Only… satisfaction.
The taste was strangely pleasant.
Whether the creature itself was flavorful, or whether his instincts had changed, he could not tell.
As he swallowed, faint warmth spread through his core.
His spiritual pressure… increased.
Only slightly.
But undeniably.
Raizen Kō's eyes gleamed.
Without hesitation, he turned back to the corpse.
And began to feast.