Reincarnated-Starting Out as Gilgamesh!

Looking at the Japanese-style buildings all around him, Gil wore a bewildered expression. "Where... am I?"

"Where else? In Inuzuri, of course."

A lazy voice sounded beside Gil.

"Inuzuri? What's Inuzuri?"

Even more confused, Gil turned toward the voice.

The moment he looked, Gil froze, his eyes wide with disbelief.

He had actually seen Renji Abarai and Rukia Kuchiki alive!

No, to be more precise, he had seen them as children.

Oh, right. Rukia hadn't taken the Kuchiki family name yet. She should just be called Rukia.

Wait, then this place had to be...

Rukia reached out to stop Renji from saying anything else. "He's obviously new to Soul Society. Of course he wouldn't know what you mean."

Then she smiled at Gil. "This is Inuzuri, District 78 of South Rukongai in Soul Society."

"You could also think of this place as heaven, or the afterlife."

When Renji heard the words "heaven" and "afterlife," he gave a cold laugh. "This place is no heaven or afterlife. This is Inuzuri, where the law and order are terrible."

Then a look of yearning came over Renji's face. "If a place like heaven or the afterlife really exists, it has to be there."

As he spoke, Renji looked toward a distant place.

Gil followed his gaze.

Though he couldn't see the place Renji yearned for, Gil knew it had to be Seireitei.

Rukia looked a little helpless.

Renji was telling the truth, but telling a newcomer so bluntly was too cruel.

Gil finally came to his senses. His face filled with disbelief, and he blurted out, "This is Soul Society? Does that mean I'm dead?"

Renji found the question baffling. "Of course you're dead. You're a soul now. Humans can't come to Soul Society."

Gil had never imagined he'd transmigrate into the world of Bleach, die right at the start, and end up in Soul Society.

As someone familiar with Bleach, Gil knew full well that Soul Society wasn't a good place.

For the souls of Rukongai, the lawlessness was only the most obvious danger.

More insidious threats included Sosuke Aizen, Hollows, the nobility, the Wandenreich—even the Soul Reapers themselves.

Countless souls died here every day. Living a safe and healthy life really came down to luck.

Seeing Gil's grim expression, Rukia tried to comfort him. "It's okay. Death is really just a new beginning. Look at us—we're doing just fine, aren't we?"

Rukia's reassurance brought a faint smile to Gil's face.

Renji sounded a little jealous. "Rukia, why are you being so nice to some blond kid? Don't tell me you've got a crush on him."

Rukia's face instantly turned scarlet. She was about to say something, but Renji didn't give her a chance. "Still, this blond kid is really good-looking. Even I'm a little..."

The words had slipped out without Renji thinking.

He caught himself before he could finish and quickly clamped a hand over his mouth.

Rukia gave Renji a mischievous look and raised an eyebrow. "Even you're a little what? Don't tell me you're smitten."

"Renji, we've known each other for so long, and this is the first I've heard that your tastes are so unusual."

Renji shouted in embarrassment and anger, "No, they're not! My tastes are completely normal. I'd never fall for a boy!"

Gil edged away from Renji.

He'd felt a chill himself just then.

Ignoring the two of them bickering, Gil began calling for his cheat.

Transmigrators were supposed to have cheats of their own. There was no reason he shouldn't have one.

System? Hey, system? Mysterious old man in my pocket? Status screen? I want to spend points...

After trying everything, a text box suddenly appeared in front of him, visible only to Gil.

[Congratulations, host. You have successfully fused with the Young Gil template.]

[The King's Path System has been activated. Please strive to become the ruler of this world.]

Gil stared at the text box, stunned.

Before transmigrating, he'd been playing a newly released game about conquering the world through the king's way.

The game's central mechanic was a battle royale across dimensions.

At the start, each player drew a random young king's-way character template.

The one Gil had drawn was the Young Gil template, with S-rank growth potential.

It really was a strange coincidence: Gil's own name was short for Gilgamesh.

And S rank wasn't even the highest. There were also SS, SSS, and EX ranks.

Gil remembered that someone had drawn the Young Desolate Heavenly Emperor template and the Dragon Ball Omni-King template, both with EX-rank growth potential.

Gil was satisfied. Character templates with S-rank growth potential were already very rare.

Just as he'd been getting ready to make a name for himself in the game, he'd transmigrated into the world of Bleach.

He'd never expected the character template he'd drawn in the game to come along with him.

In that case, from now on, he'd go by Gilgamesh.

As for the King's Path System...

Gilgamesh looked into it and was instantly thrilled.

Young Gil's template had an S-rank growth ceiling, but with the King's Path System, Gilgamesh's growth wouldn't be limited to S rank. He might even surpass EX rank.

The King's Path System was simple and straightforward: spend points to upgrade or exchange for items.

The only requirement was having King's Way Points.

King's Way Points were based on the number of Gilgamesh's subjects.

Every time Gilgamesh recruited an ordinary subject, he'd gain one King's Way Point.

If he recruited a character from the story, the number of King's Way Points he gained would depend on that character's importance.

In short, the more important the character, the more King's Way Points he'd earn.

Once he had King's Way Points, Gilgamesh could spend them to upgrade his strength, speed, stamina, defense, and other attributes.

As for the exchange feature...

Gilgamesh had just glanced at the exchange shop.

It was crammed with all kinds of items, and it seemed to contain just about everything from the world of Bleach.

It even had Zanpakuto, the Hogyoku, and fragments of the Soul King's body.

On top of that, it offered plenty of young king's-way character templates.

For example, Young Desolate Heavenly Emperor, Young Primordial Di Jun, and Young Omni-King.

For now, though, Gilgamesh could only exchange for items from the world of Bleach.

The other items were there, but grayed out, locked, and unavailable.

He'd be able to activate them once he reached the corresponding worlds.

That's right—Gilgamesh could travel between worlds.

In the exchange shop, he'd spotted an item called "World Travel."

As the name suggested, exchanging for it would let Gilgamesh travel to other worlds.

But there was one condition: Gilgamesh first had to become the ruler of the world of Bleach.