"But Captain, compared to Lieutenant Reikawa, I'm the real rookie here. I don't even have any actual combat experience against Hollows…"
Don't assume that going to the Human World on duty is some kind of cushy gig where you can eat and drink for free while sightseeing. In reality, the Soul Society requires a mountain of paperwork just to get clearance to travel there — and even more reports once you're back. Unless you're a clueless newbie, most Shinigami don't want to go to the Human World.
"Well, like you said, Reikawa may be a Third Seat, but she's also a woman. And Kaien really pushed hard for you, said your skills were more than enough."
The real reason Jūshirō Ukitake gave Yecheng this sudden mission wasn't because Reikawa was a cute girl and he wanted to go easy on her, nor because of Kaien's glowing recommendation.
During their earlier conversation, Ukitake realized something — Yecheng was way too laid-back. He was one of the most promising young talents in the squad, but he had the attitude of someone already in retirement mode.
After leaving Ugendō, Yecheng wore an annoyed expression. He had originally planned to go drinking with Rangiku tonight.
That big-chested troublemaker had entered the Gotei 13 the same year as him — she joined Squad 10, he joined Squad 13. Lately, with Squad 10 short a captain, a ton of work had fallen on her. She often drank at night to vent her job stress.
Rangiku didn't have many people she could really talk to in the Soul Society, and Yecheng barely qualified as one of her drinking buddies.
Her drinking habits were terrible. She'd often pretend to be drunk to dodge the bill. Out of ten nights she said she'd pay, Yecheng ended up covering at least nine.
And yet, he was always happy to drink with her.
Why? Simple — because she was open-minded. Even the loose Shihakushō couldn't hide her impressive figure. Her drinking posture was bold and unrestrained, and now and then, she'd "accidentally" give him a pleasant surprise.
After handling all the red tape, Yecheng finally set out for the Human World.
For the 13th Division — the Purification Squad — assignments in the Human World weren't uncommon. In fact, most stationed Shinigami across cities came from their division.
Shinigami are composed entirely of reishi (spirit particles), and since the Human World also contains some reishi, all they need to cross over is a Hell Butterfly and a Senkaimon.
The Soul Society's Senkaimon looks like a massive mountain gate, flanked by two towering square pillars. But when it appears in the Human World, it's just a simple wooden sliding door.
Yecheng didn't feel much pressure about this mission. Even though Menos Grande-class Hollows could overwhelm most rookies, with his current strength, slaying one of those wasn't a big deal.
But something strange happened. The moment he stepped through the Senkaimon, he suddenly felt a strong sense of unease.
Minutes later, gripping his Zanpakutō inside a dim corridor — and facing the monstrous Kōtotsu barreling straight at him — Yecheng's expression turned grim.
Using the Senkaimon isn't 100% foolproof. Since it links two worlds, a slight error in spatial calibration can cause rare accidents — like ending up in the Dangai Precipice World.
The Dangai is a space between the Human World and Soul Society, wrapped in torrents of high-speed time flow.
Because multiple dimensional gaps overlap here, time flows 2,000 times faster than in the outside world.
Meaning: Two thousand years pass in the Dangai for every one year in the real world.
And that's not even the worst part. Inside the Dangai roam entities called Kōryū and Kōtotsu. For most Shinigami, encountering them means certain death.
The Kōtotsu appears only once every seven days and acts as the Dangai's "janitor." It doesn't rely on reiatsu and exists to erase anything in its path — living or not.
Shinigami are made of reishi, which makes them extremely vulnerable to it. The Kōtotsu is literally their natural predator.
Aizen was able to obliterate the Kōtotsu — likely because of Hollow powers or the Hōgyoku.
But no matter how you cut it, Yecheng couldn't do that. Not even close.
First, a one-in-a-hundred chance of Senkaimon malfunction drops him into the Dangai.
Then, a one-in-a-thousand chance of the Kōtotsu just so happening to appear during his misstep?
If he hadn't been sure he had zero ties to the final boss, Yecheng would've suspected someone set him up.
He unleashed his full reiatsu, gripped his Zanpakutō, and mimicked Getsuga Tenshō, firing a dense wave of reishi straight at the oncoming Kōtotsu.
The result? Nothing.
The Kōtotsu devours all reishi. It's the janitor of the Dangai — and reiatsu-based attacks are completely useless.
Even attacks strong enough to kill a Menos bounced right off it without doing a thing.
Seeing this, Yecheng turned, ready to bolt — but that's when his body froze, and a flat robotic voice echoed in his mind:
"Host detected in a special dimensional environment. Conditions met. Interdimensional Travel System: Activating.Current Progress: 10%… 20%…During system initialization, host must remain immobile to prevent critical errors."
Hearing that voice, Yecheng cursed out loud. The third-party software finally booted up — a cheat system! Better late than never, right?
But the timing was absolute trash!
Worse, the system forced him to remain still while it activated — how was that fair?
Sure, the Kōtotsu wasn't all that fast. If he could move, he might have escaped. But now? He was a sitting duck!
No one knows what happens to a Shinigami swallowed by the Kōtotsu — it's not like every Shinigami is the protagonist with plot armor.
As the Kōtotsu drew closer and the progress bar hit only 50%, Yecheng grew more and more anxious.
"What the hell is this garbage system?! Other isekai protagonists get their cheat by chapter 1 or 2 — I had to wait eleven!And it couldn't activate earlier or later — no, it just had to start now!And it freezes my body while a death train is heading straight for me?!What is this, Luck Stat: E-Rank?!"