Nangong Ling sat at his computer desk, watching as the emblem on his League of Legends screen shattered and changed from silver to gold.
"Ahahahaha, I ranked up! Is this what it feels like to be a Gold-tier expert? Four whole days and three nights! Hahahaha, I did it!"
Nangong Ling had successfully ranked up and was dancing with excitement. Suddenly, he clutched his chest and muttered:
"Uh, could it be... this is the end for me?"
Nangong Ling, aged only twenty, died suddenly...
After Nangong Ling collapsed, he felt the world spin around him. He had no idea how much time passed before he opened his eyes again and saw blue skies and white clouds.
"W-where am I? Ow, ow, ow, that hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts~"
Nangong Ling's head throbbed as his memories merged with those of this soul, and their souls merged as well.
"Soul Reapers? Soul Society? Holy shit! A world from an anime like that exists?"
Nangong Ling knew a little about the anime Bleach, but only from some promotional clips on a movie streaming app, a few episodes he had watched, and plot discussions among his classmates who followed the show.
It seemed to be about the male lead, Uryū Kurosaki, and the supporting male character, Ichigo Ishida, going to the underworld and defeating the Arrancar boss Aizen, or something like that. Anyway, that was more or less it...
As for some of the later plot, he hadn't paid it any mind. Thinking back, he remembered he hadn't watched it because he couldn't afford a subscription to the streaming app...
But now Nangong Ling knew more. He had reincarnated in a bizarre manner into this world inhabited only by souls, and had merged with a soul that should have died and disappeared.
The unlucky fellow who should have disappeared was also called Ling, with no surname. He was only fifteen, and because he was hungry, he had gone to steal someone's persimmons. The owner caught up with him and slashed him with a blade, killing him on the spot.
Nangong Ling couldn't make sense of what had happened after he transmigrated either. When he reached behind himself now, there was no wound, and the burly man who had cut him down was long gone.
As the pain gradually faded, Nangong Ling began searching the memories left by the other soul that had merged with his. "The strongest are the Soul Reaper Captains... The best places to live are the lower-numbered districts? Uh, he'd only eaten one persimmon in two days? That's miserable..."
This world was called Soul Society and consisted of two main parts: Seireitei and Rukongai. Seireitei was where the Soul Reapers lived, and their job was to protect souls and bring the souls of the dead to Soul Society.
Ordinary souls lived in Rukongai. People who had become souls aged slowly here, and after they died of old age, they would reincarnate in the real world.
Food was scarce in certain areas of this world, especially those far from the Soul Reaper headquarters in Seireitei. The farther away an area was, the less food it had.
Only those with Reiryoku felt hungry. Everyone else could survive by drinking water every day.
Only those with Reiryoku could continue to grow and potentially become stronger, but most died fighting others for food. Only in districts where food was plentiful did more of them manage to survive.
And according to the unfortunate Ling's memories, there were also evil spirits called Hollows that preyed specifically on souls with high Reiryoku like theirs. The immense Reiryoku they possessed attracted Hollows as well.
Grrrrrr~
"I'm hungry. I need to find something to eat. Right now I'm in... uh, West District 68? It would take months to reach a district near Seireitei? Fuck!!!"
This latest piece of information left Nangong Ling somewhat speechless. When other people transmigrated, they became rich heirs or princes and princesses. As for him, not only had he landed in the middle of nowhere, he had to worry about food right from the start.
Actually, things could have been worse. At least he hadn't been sent to District 80, where nothing grew and people fought and killed each other for water every day.
"Heaven's messing with me, right? I've watched Naruto, so why send me to the world of Bleach?"
Grrrrrr~
His stomach growled again. Nangong Ling figured that rather than lamenting his situation, he should first find something to fill it...
In the forests and mountains of District 68, there wasn't a living person in sight, much less a village. Animals were scarce too. The only ones he could see were birds, but Ling couldn't catch them.
He walked for a whole day and did see a few colorful mushrooms, but he didn't dare eat them!
"I'm so hungryyyyy!"
His clothes were like gray rags, and the sash around his waist was already pulled tight, but his stomach was still growling.
Perhaps heaven had heard his cry, because a cloud of dust suddenly rose from a mountain peak several hundred meters ahead. Several strange waves reached him, mixed with screams.
"Is someone fighting? Could they be fighting over food? Surely I won't be hunted down just for sneaking over to take a look..."
Grrrrrr~
At the thought of food, Nangong Ling's stomach began growling again. He gathered all his strength... and slowly walked over...
On a path through the mountain forest, five or six large trees had been snapped, and there were three or four half-meter-wide craters in the ground. Having finally made it there, Nangong Ling couldn't help swallowing.
There aren't Hollows here, are there? What should I do? Maybe I should run? Nangong Ling's legs trembled. He was an ordinary person, after all, and the memories had left him deeply afraid as well.
It was said that even the smallest of those man-eating monsters called Hollows were generally over three meters tall, and their strength was not something ordinary people could contend with.
Some were so enormous that even a two-meter-tall burly man wouldn't be enough to fill the gaps between their teeth... His predecessor had seen an entire village eaten, with not a single person left.
I can't be that unlucky. If I go, I might get eaten by a Hollow, but if I don't, I'm bound to starve... I've been reborn, I'm the protagonist, I can't die... Buddha, please protect me.
Nangong Ling slowly approached the place where the battle had occurred, trying to convince himself as he went. The smell of blood grew stronger and stronger...
At last, Nangong Ling saw a long-haired man in black robes slumped against a tree. The man still held a bloodstained blade, and there was a hole in his chest, from which blood was flowing. Nangong Ling recognized him as a Soul Reaper at a glance.
The sight gave Nangong Ling a fright. If he didn't count what the other Ling had seen in his memories, this was the first time in his life that Nangong Ling had seen a dead person.
This time, Nangong Ling had the influence of those memories to thank. Because of them, he didn't run away at the sight of the corpse, nor did he throw up.
"Forgive me, forgive me. Lord Soul Reaper, you must have some rations on you! Let me borrow a little..."
Muttering to himself, Nangong Ling reached into the man's robes, and his face lit up with delight. When he withdrew his hand, he was holding a small, bloodstained rice ball.
Nangong Ling paid no attention to the blood on it. After swallowing it in one bite, he reached in again. There were several more inside...
"Aha, I'm finally full!"
Having swallowed four rice balls, Nangong Ling took out the Soul Reaper's water flask and drank a mouthful. He finally felt his strength return and had the leisure to examine his surroundings.
When he looked to the left, he saw another corpse with its entire head missing. He was a Soul Reaper too, and an Asauchi resembling a katana lay broken beside him.
That wasn't all. There was another one farther away, and this man was in even worse shape, missing an arm and a leg. Like the headless one, he appeared to have been bitten by something, giving Nangong Ling a fright.
"It must have been a Hollow. I need to run..." Alarmed, Nangong Ling was about to flee when he realized something was wrong. "If a Hollow killed them, it would have eaten them. Soul Reapers seem to have more Reiryoku as far as Hollows are concerned, right?"
"The Hollow must have ambushed and critically wounded the three Soul Reapers, and then they fought to the death and killed it, only to die themselves. My luck hasn't completely run out yet, haha..."
Convinced his reasoning was sound, Nangong Ling immediately began looting the corpses again. This time, he knew what he was doing and found ten rice balls. As long as he rationed them, they would last him a few days.
"These clothes look so good... Brother, let me borrow your clothes!"
Nangong Ling stripped the headless brother of his Soul Reaper robes. His were the only clothes still reasonably intact, and aside from the collar, there wasn't much blood on them.
Nangong Ling found the sleeves uncomfortably long, so he used an Asauchi to cut them shorter. The lower part of the robe was a little long too, so he shortened that as well.
He had surely become shorter because he had taken after the original soul. The original Ling was only fifteen. Before Nangong Ling died, he had hidden at home playing games every day, but he had at least been 1.8 meters tall...
"They're just ahead! Hurry!"
"Damn it, I can't sense their Reiatsu anymore!"
A commotion came from the distance, startling birds into flight. Knowing it might be Soul Reaper reinforcements, Nangong Ling hurriedly ran in another direction.
He had stripped their companion's clothes off. If he were caught, he would surely lose his life, and he didn't want to be cut down by a Soul Reaper.
According to the local Ling's memories, Soul Reapers had done plenty of bullying too. Some Soul Reapers on missions outside would resort to robbery when they ran out of food.
There were also severe class divisions among them. Many Soul Reapers from noble families looked down on those from Rukongai...
"The Hollow's been killed too. They must have taken each other down. There's only a tiny trace of the clothes thief's Reiatsu at the scene. Damn it, Cuisi's Asauchi was taken too..."
"Those damned thugs from Rukongai dare desecrate Soul Reapers! If we catch him, we'll make him pay!"
Those two idiots were doomed never to catch Nangong Ling. Their loud voices had arrived before they did, and Nangong Ling had headed toward an area even farther from Seireitei.
Along the way, Nangong Ling spotted one or two corpses from time to time. They would remain for two or three days before turning into Reishi and disappearing. He had heard that they reincarnated back into the World of the Living.
Two days later, Nangong Ling arrived at a small village where people had gathered. As soon as he entered, he noticed several thuggish-looking fellows at the entrance eyeing him with ill intent.
As Nangong Ling made his way through, he saw that the Pluses here all wore expressions of fear and numbness. They had no Reiryoku and needed no food, only water to survive.
But some people with Reiryoku enslaved them and forced them to look for food, slaughtering them if they refused.
"Hey, brat, hold it..."
"This is our turf. Hand over your food if you want to go in!"
"Hehehehe!"
Three skinny men with obvious traces of Reiryoku blocked Nangong Ling's path. One held a broken blade, another a dagger, and the third had only a sharpened stick.
The ordinary people sunning themselves nearby immediately looked alarmed when they saw the three men, then hid in their dilapidated houses and watched through the windows.
"I don't have any food on me either... Wait, why am I bothering to explain myself to you? I can just cut you down."
Nangong Ling drew his Asauchi. He had cut his black Soul Reaper outfit beyond recognition, and it was dirty too, so the three thugs naturally didn't take him for a Soul Reaper.
As for the Asauchi, anyone with good luck could pick one up these days. Quite a few Soul Reapers died in battle every year.
Nangong Ling looked imposing on the outside, but inwardly he was panicking. Stay calm, stay calm. I can definitely bluff them. I need killing intent...
"Hehehe, brat, you're courting death!"
But killing intent wasn't something he could fake. The man with the stick sneered and lunged at him, only for Nangong Ling to turn and run. The man with the stick nearly fell flat on his face.
"Ahhh, I really don't have any food!"
"You little bastard, stop and let me search you!"
"Then leave your sword!"
"And your clothes too!"
Nangong Ling shouted as he ran, while the three skinny men chased him like vicious dogs after a meat bun, pursuing him all the way out of the little village.