The first thing Shinichi Kisaragi felt when he woke up was an overwhelming sense of wrongness.
His bed felt different. His pillow smelled different. The ceiling above him was definitely not the one he remembered.
He sat up abruptly, glancing around. The room was too clean, too unfamiliar. There were bookshelves, a desk, and a window showing a quiet Japanese suburban neighborhood.
It took a few seconds for his brain to connect the dots.
Wait. This wasn't his room.
This wasn't even his world.
The memories rushed in. His past life. His death. And then—
[Welcome, Shinichi Kisaragi. You have been selected as the host of Omniscience Relay.]
A blue screen popped up in front of him, floating in midair.
Shinichi stared at it.
Then, with the wisdom of a man facing something completely beyond human comprehension, he took a deep breath and said:
"…Oh, hell no."
Step One: Denial
This had to be a dream. Some kind of lucid nightmare caused by binge-reading Bleach until 4 AM.
Yeah. That made sense.
He reached out, hesitantly trying to swipe the screen away. It didn't move. He tried punching it.
[Error: Self-inflicted damage detected. Congratulations, Host, you just punched air.]
Shinichi blinked. "…You little—"
[Please refrain from attempting violence against the system.]
"Then stop being a smartass."
[Request denied.]
Shinichi closed his eyes. "Fine. Where the hell am I?"
[You are in Karakura Town, Japan.]
Okay. Deep breath. He needed more information. "And what year is it?"
[2001.]
Shinichi's stomach dropped. That was the same year Ichigo Kurosaki's story began.
In other words—he was in Bleach.
Step Two: Acceptance (Sort of)
For the next few days, Shinichi tested the limits of his new reality.
• This was Karakura Town. Everything looked just like the anime.
• He was now a high school student, complete with a new family history and school records.
• Omniscience Relay was a system, but it wasn't an overpowered one.
It was stingy as hell.
[Current Status: Weaker than an average human.]
[Would you like a tutorial?]
"…Do I even have a choice?"
[No.]
The tutorial explained that Omniscience Relay wasn't a spoon-feeding system. It wasn't going to hand him power on a silver platter or boost his stats overnight.
If he wanted to get stronger, he'd have to grind for it.
Every ability, every skill, every ounce of power—he'd have to earn it through sweat, blood, and effort.
To gain his first ability, he had to complete the following:
• Train your body to surpass a human athlete (0%)
• Gain a basic understanding of Reiryoku (0%)
• Survive a near-death experience (0%)
That last one was concerning.
"Define 'near-death,'" Shinichi asked cautiously.
[Near-death: A situation where the probability of survival is less than 10%.]
"…That's just 'death' with extra steps."
[Correct.]
Now it clearly establishes that the system is a grinding-based one, without suggesting that it only provides knowledge. This makes it clear that Shinichi has to work hard to gain power instead of being handed abilities.
Step Three: Blending In
With no immediate way to power up, Shinichi focused on fitting in.
Karakura High wasn't too different from schools in his past life—same noisy students, same boring classes. The only difference was the protagonist of a battle shonen sitting a few rows away from him.
Ichigo Kurosaki. Orange-haired, constantly scowling, and exactly as sarcastic as advertised.
Shinichi made it a priority to befriend Ichigo and his group. Not in a weird "I know you're the main character" way, but naturally.
Surprisingly, it wasn't hard.
Ichigo was rough around the edges, but he appreciated blunt honesty. Shinichi wasn't overly friendly, but his dry humor meshed well with Ichigo's.
At lunch, Mizuiro leaned over. "Man, you and Ichigo really have the same energy."
Shinichi scoffed. "Don't insult me like that."
Ichigo smirked. "Yeah, one of me is enough."
Keigo threw an arm around Shinichi. "He gets it! Unlike this grumpy bastard!"
"Get off me before I throw you out the window."
Yep. Friendship secured.
For a while, Shinichi thought things were going too smoothly.
No signs of Soul Reapers. No Hollows. Just normal school life.
And then, one night—
He felt it.
A pressure in the air, thick and suffocating. A spiritual presence so overwhelming it made his skin crawl.
The streetlights flickered. Shadows stretched unnaturally.
Shinichi slowly turned his head and—
A Hollow stood at the end of the street.
His heart stopped.
It was massive—twisted, mask-like face grinning unnaturally. Its claws scraped against the pavement as it sniffed the air, searching.
Shinichi held his breath. It hadn't noticed him yet.
Okay. No need to panic. He just needed to—
[Warning: Host is currently too weak to fight. Immediate escape recommended.]
"Wow, thanks for the update, genius."
[You're welcome.]
Shinichi slowly backed away—
CRACK.
His foot landed on a loose piece of pavement.
The Hollow's head snapped toward him.
"…I hate my life," Shinichi muttered.
The creature lunged.
Before Shinichi could even think of running—
A shadow blurred past him.
A flash of black. A sword glinting in the dim streetlights.
Then—
SLASH.
The Hollow's mask cracked as the creature let out a horrible screech, collapsing into nothingness.
Shinichi stared.
A girl stood in front of him, sword still raised. Short, dark hair. Piercing violet eyes. A black kimono.
He knew exactly who she was.
"…You..?" he blurted.
She turned to him, equally shocked.
"…You can see me?"
Shinichi groaned.
Crap.
To Be Continued...