"Spare me, spare me, boss! I'll never do it again!"
In a dim alley, a fierce-looking, tall and burly man who appeared quite intimidating was now trembling on his knees, begging for mercy from a youth who still looked somewhat green.
The youth's build didn't look particularly strong at all. His hands lacked the calluses that come from years of martial arts training, and his frame even seemed somewhat frail. Combined with his handsome face, he looked more like a pretty boy than the formidable person who had knocked this group of thugs to the ground.
"This is just a small lesson. Next time you dare harass my classmates, you'll end up like this."
After speaking calmly, the youth kicked the solid baseball bat the thug had brought.
Clang!
The baseball bat was kicked into a bent shape.
The burly man looked at the youth who clearly wasn't that strong, then at the L-shaped baseball bat on the ground, his eyes filled with fear.
'What kind of monster have I provoked?'
The thug nodded tremblingly, resolving in his heart never to harass female high school students in this area again.
"Get lost."
Ryuji waved his hand, telling the thug to scram.
As if granted amnesty, the thug quickly got up and was about to leave.
"Wait."
The thug's outstretched foot trembled, and as he turned around, he almost knelt down again.
"Take your lackeys with you when you get lost."
"Ah, yes, yes, yes."
The youth watched the backs of several people supporting each other as they left, his expression somewhat indifferent as he sighed:
"At least this is a society ruled by law, otherwise…"
The youth's name was Ryuji, and he was an orphan—not in the sense of being abandoned by his parents or losing them to an accident.
Rather, from the moment he arrived in this world, he had been an orphan.
That's right, Ryuji was a transmigrator who had physically crossed over from another world.
Before transmigrating, Ryuji was just an ordinary office worker. During a vacation, he chose to go to the top of a mountain at a scenic area to watch a meteor shower.
That night when the meteor shower came, a meteor glowing with golden light flew straight toward him.
When Ryuji opened his eyes again, he had arrived in another world, and his body had also become that of a child.
At the same time, he felt his physical abilities were exceptionally strong, so relying on his extraordinary physique, he went to collect "living expenses" from some street punks.
By middle school, this behavior provoked retaliation from some gang forces.
As he grew older, whether it was strength, speed, or endurance, Ryuji, who had long surpassed ordinary people, easily crushed that gang.
Even the gang's leader, a so-called ancient martial arts master, only took three hits from Ryuji's powerful physical prowess before kicking the bucket.
After dealing with the gang leader and several key members, the gang was dissolved, and Ryuji also obtained enough living expenses to last a lifetime. The disbanded gang naturally could no longer cause Ryuji any trouble.
From then on, Ryuji earned the title of "Devil Youth", receiving awe and fear from numerous gang members and thugs.
Watching the several people disappear at the alley entrance, Ryuji was about to leave when his vision suddenly went black.
Ryuji sat up abruptly, finding himself in a pitch-black environment, with only a strange orb of light floating in the air about ten meters ahead, bringing illumination to this space.
Seeing that strange orb of light, Ryuji's consciousness instantly cleared. He nervously felt himself up and down, and only after confirming there were no problems with his body did he breathe a sigh of relief, finally having time to observe his surroundings.
The entire space was gray and hazy, with nothing visible except the floating orb of light ahead constantly asserting its presence.
Ryuji approached the orb of light, and just as he was about to reach out and touch it, a soft chime rang in his mind.
[Ding! Reincarnator detected, ID number A/A1.]
"Reincarnator?" Ryuji was somewhat puzzled. Isn't this the reincarnation space from novels?
Could it be that he had been selected by a reincarnation space?
Just as Ryuji was both shocked and confused, the voice of the reincarnation space rang in his mind again.
[Ding! Reincarnator A/A1 detected as the first reincarnator. Special preferential policies granted.]
A stream of information instantly flooded into his mind, causing Ryuji to involuntarily clutch his head with one hand.
After a moment, Ryuji also understood what the reincarnation space's "preferential policies" entailed.
[Policy One: Due to the reincarnation space being newly created with no selectable worlds, reincarnator A/A1 is specially permitted to choose the arrival time before entering a mission world.]
[Policy Two: To encourage reincarnator A/A1 to help the reincarnation space incorporate various worlds, reincarnator A/A1 is granted eternal life and the ability to freely adjust appearance age. When reincarnator A/A1's points are negative, no penalties will be imposed.]
[Policy Three: When the number of worlds incorporated by the reincarnation space reaches the minimum requirement for full operation, reincarnator A/A1 may establish policies for other reincarnators within their authority range.]
[Policy Four: When reincarnator A/A1 enters a mission instance, they may freely choose their faction without causing the failure of previously accepted faction missions.]
[Note: Preferential policies are exclusive to reincarnator A/A1.]
After reading these four "preferential policies", Ryuji couldn't help but gasp, warming the entire reincarnation space by a few degrees.
It must be said, these four "preferential policies" really suited Ryuji's preferences. After all, in many worlds, by the time the plot begins, many frustrating or even toxic events have already occurred. Being able to choose the timeline to arrive in could prevent many such occurrences.
And eternal life would allow Ryuji to live until the plot began. After all, to avoid certain unpleasant developments in many worlds, one would need to arrive years, decades, or even centuries before the plot started. If his lifespan were the same as an ordinary person's, Ryuji couldn't possibly survive until the plot began.
As for changing appearance age and having no penalties when points were negative, this removed any unnecessary restrictions on Ryuji's actions.
The third policy wasn't something Ryuji needed to consider right now, so he temporarily set it aside.
And the fourth policy allowed Ryuji to freely change factions in instances without causing accepted missions to fail, which meant more ways to earn reincarnation points.
Ryuji opened the reincarnation space menu and activated his reincarnator privileges. Reincarnator privileges were granted based on strength level.
Ryuji immediately opened his current attributes in the reincarnation space.
Reincarnation ID: A/A1
Reincarnation Nickname: Unnamed
Strength: G- (Strength determines physical damage dealt unarmed or with weapons; average adult value is H-)
Intelligence: G- (Intelligence determines damage from magic, psychic powers, techniques, and other energy-based attacks; average adult value is H-)
Constitution: G- (Constitution determines resistance to physical damage, body strength, and attribute resistance; average adult value is H-)
Spirit: G- (Spirit determines mental strength and resistance, soul strength, and resistance to abnormalities; average adult value is H-)
Talent: Immortality
Skill: Age Appearance Control
Items: None
Overall Rating: G-
Reincarnation Points: 0
"Why is it G-???"
Seeing that big G- rating, Ryuji's expression was somewhat bewildered. His physical abilities were clearly so strong—even stronger than some bodybuilders who worked out year-round. How could it only be G-?
"Oh, there's still an H rank… never mind then…"
It turned out that below G was another H classification. An average healthy adult was H- rank, professional fighters and special forces were H, and elite soldiers or ancient martial artists were H+.
If compared by combat power, a person rated G- could take down more than ten people rated H+.
Seeing this, Ryuji immediately felt much more balanced.
Upon first entering the reincarnation space, one could build a personal space with an initial size of 80 square meters within the reincarnation space, similar to a safe house, where reincarnators could freely arrange the most basic configurations. To have refined decorations and expand the personal space required reincarnation points.
After a brief tour of the apartment, Ryuji sat down on the living room sofa, planning to initiate a world mission.
He opened the world missions.
[About to enter Bronze-rank instance: Highschool of the Dead]
[Choose timeline for entry? Yes/No]
"I remember Hisashi Igou's confession to Rei Miyamoto was the day before the outbreak, right…"
After recalling his pre-transmigration memories, Ryuji immediately chose to enter one day early.
As his vision went dark then bright, Ryuji arrived in a somewhat dim alley.
Perhaps because this was his first time crossing worlds, Ryuji felt somewhat unaccustomed.
But an incoming stream of information caused his head to ache.
What?
A system?
Looking at the grayscale world around him and the information appearing in his mind left Ryuji somewhat dazed.
A cheat ability? Wasn't being the first reincarnator enough?
But the three options before him definitively proved the existence of a cheat ability.
It turned out that this system had been with Ryuji since before his birth, but because it lacked energy, it had remained in a dormant state.
Not until Ryuji was selected by the reincarnation space and passed through during transmigration did a wisp of energy leak from the chaotic currents between worlds, finally activating the system.
The system had no name; what appeared in Ryuji's mind was simply the word "system".
The system's functions were also quite simple: five features including transmigration, world rewards, energy points, lottery pool, and achievements.
Transmigration was divided into targeted transmigration and random transmigration, with targeted transmigration only allowing travel to previously visited worlds, requiring 1000 energy points; world extraction meant that each time a new world was entered, one could choose to obtain one item from among the three best items, talents, or skills existing in that world; energy points were gained by killing enemies or converting special items; the lottery allowed spending energy points to draw items from previously visited worlds, with the current system level only allowing 100-energy-point draws; finally, achievements—Ryuji didn't quite understand how they worked yet and could only explore them gradually in the future.
"This system seems different from the reincarnation space. The reincarnation space has some intelligence, but this system of mine is quite rigid, seemingly lacking any intelligence."
After understanding everything about the system, Ryuji turned his gaze to the three options before him.
[1. Japanese Kendo (Grand Master Level)]
[2. Dead Body Virus Research Data]
[3. Dead Body Virus Reagent]
'First, eliminate option [Dead Body Virus Research Data]. What use would I have for that data?'
As for [Dead Body Virus Reagent], it was also useless to Ryuji.
"I choose 1!"
In an instant, decades of Grand Master level kendo experience flooded into Ryuji's mind.
"Hiss! That's a lot of information."
Ryuji felt his body improve slightly, and at the same time, he could clearly remember every sword movement of Grand Master level kendo, and how to use minimal force to achieve maximum effect against enemies.
If he had a Japanese sword in hand right now, Ryuji could swing it dozens of times in one second, and with concentrated focus, could even unleash sword energy capable of cutting objects ten meters away.
Shaking his somewhat swollen head, after clearing his mind, Ryuji discovered that the grayscale world from moments ago had returned to normal, and he could also hear youthful, energetic voices coming from outside the alley.
"1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, hurry up, you can rest after ten laps."
"Hai!" ×N
Walking out of the alley, Ryuji's eyes fell upon a school playground where a group of boys and girls were running laps.
There wasn't much to see on the boys' side—a muscular male teacher was supervising the boys running laps nearby; while on another playground over a hundred meters away, a rather plain-looking but curvaceous female teacher was blowing a whistle and calling out cadence to the girls.
"If their figures were in the real world, wouldn't eighty percent of women worldwide be green with envy."
His superhuman vision allowed Ryuji to clearly see the girls a hundred meters away. What surprised Ryuji most was that the girls here all had figures that any woman would envy—exaggerated busts that, as they ran, created undulating waves beneath their athletic wear, and their bottoms in athletic shorts bouncing continuously as their thighs moved.
"Too bad their faces are too ordinary."
Ryuji secretly compared them to his standards and immediately lost interest in them.
Just as Ryuji was about to leave, the reincarnation space popped up with a mission announcement.
[Welcome to Bronze-rank Reincarnation Instance: Highschool of the Dead]
[Main Mission: Survive seven days after the Dead Body Virus outbreak, reward: 2000 reincarnation points.]
[Side Mission: For each member of the protagonist group successfully kept alive until the end of the main mission after the Dead Body Virus outbreak, reward: 500 reincarnation points.]
[Special Mission: After the virus outbreak, establish a shelter with 100+ people, reward: ownership of the "Highschool of the Dead" instance world]
[Special Note: 1 day until Dead Body Virus outbreak, corresponding world identity has been given to Reincarnator A/A1.]
[Time Limit: 8 days. Due to Reincarnator A/A1's 'preferential treatment policy', this instance allows Reincarnator A/A1 extended stay up to one month, with option to continue staying after one month.]
[Depending on mission completion rate, one treasure chest of corresponding rank will be awarded.]
Duang!!
Just as Ryuji was thinking about his next plan, he felt a soft impact from behind, followed by the 'thud' of soft-soled shoes hitting the ground.
"Ow… it hurts, hurts, hurts…"
Turning around, Ryuji saw a beauty with dazed eyes and golden hair spread on the ground, wearing a white lab coat and with an exceptionally curvaceous figure, sitting on the ground crying out in pain.
Although her appearance was slightly different from his memories, Ryuji still recognized who the beauty on the ground was.
Shizuka Marikawa—the woman with the most exaggerated figure in the entire Highschool of the Dead anime. Her appearance was even more beautiful than in his memories, and her face wasn't as pointed as in the anime but rather rounded, which didn't make her look worse but rather more gorgeous.
Now that he recognized who she was, Ryuji naturally wouldn't just leave her there, and immediately extended his hand.
"Mm… thank you."
Still seeming to be in some pain, Shizuka cried out softly, then noticed the young man's extended hand and placed her own hand in his at just the right moment, followed by a powerful pull that lifted her up.
Perhaps she was still dazed, or perhaps the pulling force was too strong—Shizuka failed to steady herself and fell directly into Ryuji's embrace.
Duang! Duang!
Ryuji immediately felt like he'd taken two heavy blows, soft and yielding, nearly losing his balance.
Fortunately, his Grand Master kendo experience allowed Ryuji to steady himself instantly, though his hands involuntarily applied some pressure.
"Mmm…"
Shizuka, pressed against Ryuji's chest, suddenly felt her bottom being squeezed out of shape by a pair of large hands, and couldn't help but make a strange sound.
"Hiss!"
Ryuji felt the sensation in his hands and reluctantly let go.
"Marikawa-sensei, are you alright?"
The reincarnation space had just arranged Ryuji's identity as an international student, so he addressed Shizuka as teacher.
"Eh!? I'm fine! I'm fine!"
Smoothing her clothes, Shizuka then blinked her dazed eyes at the handsome face, the height of over 180 cm, and the male uniform of Fujimi Academy.
Shizuka's face immediately turned somewhat red—this was her first time being so close to a member of the opposite sex. When treating male students, she always wore medical gloves and used tweezers to hold the disinfecting cotton.
"Marikawa-sensei! Marikawa-sensei!"
A girl's voice calling out came from a classroom in the distance.
"Um, student, the teacher has something to do now, so I'll be going first. As for the help just now, next time you come to the infirmary, the teacher will properly… properly thank you, okay…"
After speaking, she even winked at Ryuji with her golden eyes, then hurried toward the first-floor infirmary.
Watching her bottom bouncing as she ran and her bust that was visible even from behind, Ryuji clicked his tongue.
"Truly lives up to being Boob-schol of the Dead."