Zhang Si had been watching Spy x Family and reached the final episode, only to fail Bilibili's premium membership test. He couldn't activate VIP, so he couldn't watch it.
Sitting in front of his computer with his head propped on one hand, he cursed, "Goddammit!" Then a wave of dizziness and nausea hit him, and the world began to spin.
Zhang Si felt as though his body were in a plane making an emergency landing, or on a roller coaster.
Trying to figure out what had happened, Zhang Si struggled to open his eyes.
When he opened them, he found himself in a dilapidated orphanage.
Children filled the floor of the long corridor.
The younger ones were three or four, and the older ones five or six.
Their faces were filthy, and their clothes were badly worn.
They trembled in fear and unease, most of them looking dejected.
Zhang Si was surveying his surroundings, trying to understand how he had ended up here, when a sharp pain shot through his mind.
A flood of memories poured into Zhang Si's mind.
This was the world of Spy x Family.
The original owner of this body was named Richie. He was six years old, Experiment 700. Unlike the other test subjects, Richie was a perfect specimen.
This picture was provided by @A Little Seawater Is So Salty, Sweetie. Thank you, darling! It's a picture of Anya and Richie together. Sending hearts!
In other words, Richie's body possessed unlimited potential. He could develop any talent, as long as he wanted to.
Unfortunately, six-year-old Richie had no interest in anything. He didn't even want to live in this world. He refused to develop any of his talents and died of depression.
That had worked out in Zhang Si's favor: after transmigrating here, Zhang Si took over Richie's body.
Zhang Si was eight years old in the real world. As a clueless spectator who loved juicy gossip, he was always first on the scene.
His goal in life was to get the freshest gossip and slack off in the greatest comfort.
Since heaven had sent him into the world of Spy x Family, he figured he should at least meet the main characters. Ideally, he would become good friends with Anya, hold the pretty, adorable girl's hand every day, and watch Twilight and Yor get all lovey-dovey.
Then his trip to this world wouldn't have been for nothing.
Most importantly, Richie was a child who had died at six, a peripheral character who had never received any mention in this world.
Now that he had taken over Richie's body, he had to consider his own future.
He needed to find powerful parents who could protect him and help him survive in this war-torn world.
Without a doubt, Twilight and Yor were the best choices.
But he didn't want Anya to lose her parents, so Richie now had just one plan.
When Twilight came to adopt Anya, he would persuade Twilight to adopt both of them.
Having worked out all the stakes, six-year-old Richie shakily climbed to his feet and stumbled down the corridor, searching for Anya.
He didn't know whether Richie's orphanage was the one Anya had stayed in.
There was no trace of Anya in Richie's memories.
Richie must have been a withdrawn child before. His memories were full of things no child his age should have experienced.
Zhang Si still wasn't entirely familiar with the memories in Richie's mind.
With his head lowered, he was sneaking glances around the corridor when a hulking figure appeared before him.
Looking down, Richie could see only the man's thighs. Shocked, he tilted his head up.
It was that drunken old man.
The flushed orphanage caretaker narrowed his eyes. "Richie, what are you wandering around for?"
Richie hunched his shoulders. "I... I want to find Anya."
The chubby caretaker looked rather surprised. "What do you want with her? That kid's weird and unlikeable. Stay away from her."
Those words sounded strangely familiar to Richie, as though he had heard them somewhere before. Unwilling to give up on finding Anya, he let tears well in his eyes and prepared to make a scene:
"I... I just want to find Anya! I don't care! Waaah-"
Richie began sniffling, a flood of tears about to spill down his face.
The caretaker couldn't care less why Richie wanted to find Anya. Just to get him off his back, he pointed farther down the corridor:
"She's in there. If you want her, find her yourself. I've warned you, anyway. That kid's really strange."
Richie sniffled, broke into a smile, and ran farther down the corridor on his short little legs.
He was finally going to meet Anya. How exciting!
After running for quite a while, Richie found Anya.
Anya sat on the floor holding the Chimera, mumbling something to it that he couldn't make out.
Richie stood in front of Anya for a long time. He didn't know what his opening line should be to get her attention.
Should I say, "Hi, Anya! Let's be friends!"
Or, "Anya, I want to be your friend." Or maybe, "Anya, I'm older than you. Call me big brother..."
Standing in front of Anya, Richie considered several approaches and rejected them all.
He shook his head, discarded another opening line, and tried to think of the next one.
"You're blocking Anya's light."
At some point, Anya had stood up and walked over to Richie. Now she looked him in the eye.
Richie blushed and hurriedly moved aside to let the light reach her.
Only then did Richie realize that, at six, he was the same height as four- or five-year-old Anya. How embarrassing.
Richie stepped aside, and Anya followed him.
"Anya can't hear your voice." Holding the Chimera, Anya stood in front of Richie.
Richie looked puzzled. "I didn't say anything. Of course you can't hear me."
Anya showed tremendous curiosity about Richie. She kept bringing her ear close to his heart, trying to find out what made him different from everyone else.
"Anya just can't hear it."
Richie caught on. When Anya said she couldn't hear him, she probably meant she couldn't hear his thoughts.
After all, Anya could read minds in the anime.
It seemed likely that Anya couldn't hear Richie's thoughts because he was a perfect specimen.
Richie secretly rejoiced. Now no one would discover his little secret.
To test it further and make sure Anya couldn't hear his thoughts, Richie asked her, "Anya, what's my name?"
Anya was still trying hard to hear the sounds inside him.
Richie repeated silently, My name is Richie. Richie, Richie, Richie...
Anya stared at Richie, blinking her big, watery eyes. "Anya doesn't know."
"Please tell Anya. Anya wants to be your friend."
With a sincere expression, Anya held out her little hand to Richie. "Be Anya's friend."
Richie hadn't expected it to be so simple. He had thought Anya wouldn't play with him, yet he had succeeded so easily.
Richie parted his lips as wide as he could, revealing a mouthful of white teeth. The grin of someone whose scheme had succeeded spread across his face:
"Hi, Anya! My name is Richie. Let's be good friends!"
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