At the bus stop.
Ichigo Kurosaki waited for the bus, looking thoroughly dejected.
He had been genuinely crushed by Ren.
In his entire life, he had never met anyone luckier than Ren.
On the way to the bus stop, two things had happened.
First, a 1,000 Yen bill had drifted down from the sky right into Ren’s hand.
It was as if the heavens were personally sending him money.
Second, Ren had found a wallet.
Just as a police officer walked by, Ren handed it over.
He thought that would be the end of it, but soon a sharp middle-aged man in a suit came looking for him.
He was the wallet’s owner.
It contained important documents.
To express his gratitude, he tracked Ren down and gave him a reward of 10,000 Yen.
It was utterly ridiculous.
Before experiencing it for himself, Ichigo would never have believed such absurd things could happen in this world.
It made him more and more convinced that Ren might actually be the protagonist.
If he weren’t the protagonist, how could he possibly have such ridiculous luck?
“Ichigo, open your bag.” Ren’s voice came through, his mouth stuffed full of food, making him sound muffled.
Without thinking, Ichigo opened his bag.
Before he could react, Ren shoved all the leftover uneaten breakfast inside.
Ichigo quickly pulled his bag back; his forehead covered in black lines.
“Don’t you have your own bag?
Why are you putting it in mine?” Ren smiled.
“Didn’t I say?
The rest is for you to eat.” Ichigo was speechless.
He retorted, “You need to see if I can even eat it all.” Ren was about to say something when his expression suddenly changed.
He looked at Ichigo.
“Did you hear that?” A strange pressure suddenly filled the air.
Ichigo’s expression also turned serious.
He nodded.
“Yeah.
I heard it.” They exchanged a glance, then wordlessly ran in the same direction.
They had both heard a Hollow’s roar.
Soon, Ren and Ichigo arrived at a commercial street that had already descended into chaos.
They saw a Hollow with sickle-like arms, resembling a praying mantis, hunting a single soul.
Buildings and vehicles in its path were being destroyed at will.
Only Ren and Ichigo could see the Hollow and the soul.
To ordinary people, it looked like buildings and vehicles were being destroyed by an invisible force.
This unexplainable sight threw them into a panic.
They fled in all directions.
Of course, the most terrified person right now was the soul being hunted.
Ren looked at that soul, his gaze flickering.
He didn’t recognize the person, but he recognized the school uniform the soul was wearing.
It was the uniform of South River City First High School, his school back in the real world.
That meant this soul was a Reincarnator.
Logically, Reincarnators had a 7-day newbie protection period from the Myriad Worlds Paradise.
They shouldn’t have died by accident.
He sighed inwardly.
You can’t save someone who is determined to die.
He knew this Reincarnator had most likely committed suicide.
Ichigo knew nothing of this.
When Ren transmigrated, he hadn’t been wearing his South River City First High uniform, so Ichigo didn’t recognize the clothes either.
Suddenly, the mantis Hollow hunting the Reincarnator’s soul seemed to sense something.
It stopped, turned its head toward Ichigo, and its eyes filled with instinctive hunger and greed.
Without a moment’s hesitation, the mantis Hollow abandoned the Reincarnator’s soul and charged straight at Ichigo.
If not for last night’s events, Ichigo might have panicked.
But now he knew Hollows and Shinigami existed, and he had faced a Hollow directly.
So he was completely calm, even a little contemptuous.
He couldn’t enter his Shinigami form like he did last night, but Ren was right beside him.
With Ren’s strength, killing this Hollow would take no time at all.
With that thought, Ichigo instinctively turned to look beside him.
But to his shock, Ren had taken half a step back.
Then Ren looked at him with gleaming eyes and struck a cheering pose.
“Go on, Ichigo.
You can do it.
I will be cheering for you~” Ichigo was bewildered.
That half step back, is he serious?
“GRAAAH!” The Hollow’s roar grew closer, exploding in Ichigo’s ears.
Watching the mantis Hollow get nearer, Ichigo panicked.
“Idiot!
I’m just an ordinary person right now!
How am I supposed to fight a Hollow?!” “You need to go!” Ren pretended to look troubled and let out a sigh.
Yare yare… I really have no choice, do I?
“But my powers are visible to ordinary people.
There are so many people here.
If I use them, I’ll definitely become the center of attention.” “Then the interviews with TV stations and news reporters will come one after another.” “My fame will skyrocket.
I’ll end up becoming a so-called uncrowned celebrity.” “Damn it.
I don’t want to live a celebrity’s life.
I wouldn’t even be able to go out comfortably.” Ichigo’s forehead darkened.
His veins bulged.
Was this really the time to care about that?
And the more he listened, the more it stung.
Wasn’t becoming a celebrity a good thing?
Ordinary people would kill for that chance!
The mantis Hollow roared again.
Ichigo turned to see it just three steps away, its sickle-like blade arms already swinging toward him.
He couldn’t help but shout desperately, “Forget all that!
Just go!
Or else you’ll be eating at my funeral!” Though teasing Ichigo was fun, Ren knew when to stop.
He sighed dramatically.
Yare yare… fine, I really have no choice, do I?
Before Ichigo could react, a mysterious figure appeared before the Hollow, clad in silver-white armor, wearing a silver-white mask, and wielding a bronze one-handed battle axe that radiated an epic aura.
Sshhk!
One clean, decisive axe stroke ended the mantis Hollow’s life.
[System Notify: +40 EXP] [System Notify: The Gilgamesh Character Template has reached Level 5.
Unlocked Passive: Charming Youth (E)!] The mantis Hollow was an ordinary Hollow, roughly four times as strong as a normal human, capable of easily tearing apart a normal human four times over.
Ren’s current strength was about twenty times of a normal human, and with the enhancement from the E Rank Noble Phantasm, he completely overwhelmed it.
Ichigo’s pupils sharply contracted.
In his eyes, the mysterious armored figure loomed, dominant and otherworldly.
An invisible pressure washed over him, and time itself seemed to slow.
Before Ichigo could even process what was happening, he asked, “Who are you?” Before he could finish, Ren’s familiar voice rang out.
“Ichigo, I’ll head back to the bus stop and wait for you.” Ichigo’s pupils began to tremble.
He recognized that voice, it was Ren.
But how can it be Ren?
The power he used yesterday was different from today’s.
And with that armor on, who would even recognize him?
Some “uncrowned celebrity,” huh… Ichigo was almost certain Ren had been messing with him on purpose.