Suyan was a student at Fujimi Academy, just like Saeko, though he was a second-year student, one grade below her.
He had submitted his application to join the Kendo Club shortly after enrolling last year. Initially, Saeko assumed he was just another amateur lured in by the Busujima name. At most, he seemed slightly smarter and significantly more handsome than the rest of the rabble.
But against all expectations, right under her watchful eyes, he achieved a level of swordsmanship in less than a year that completely rivaled her own lifelong training.
To the rest of the Kendo Club, the two of them, who naturally gravitated toward each other during practice, were the perfect, undisputed couple. Everyone assumed they were already dating and just hadn't made it official yet. After all, setting their terrifying martial prowess aside, both of them were at the absolute top of the school in both academics and appearance.
Only Saeko knew the truth. She definitely harbored deep, affectionate feelings for her junior, but their relationship was strictly platonic.
If that traumatic middle school incident had never happened—if she hadn't discovered the vile, violent rot in her own soul—she likely would have confessed to him naturally. But how could a broken, violent girl ever dare to taint the flawless white moonlight shining in her heart?
"Why?" she whispered, her voice trembling in confusion.
She simply couldn't fathom how someone as brilliant and perfect as Suyan could sink to stalking her in the dead of night and sexually assaulting her in an alleyway.
Yet, amidst the confusion and horror, a twisted, secret spark of joy fluttered in her chest.
So, Suyan isn't the perfect, flawless existence I thought he was. He has his own dark, twisted flaws too.
Did this mean she could finally bridge the gap between them? Could they fall into the darkness together?
No! Stop it. How can I think something so repulsive?
Saeko forcefully shook her head, violently suppressing the toxic thoughts.
"Saeko, how did it feel to swing your blade with absolutely everything you had?"
Instead of answering her question, Suyan calmly countered with one of his own. Without waiting for her response, he continued, "It felt amazing, didn't it? I saw it. That ecstatic, genuine smile on your face during our fight. You can't fake that."
"What are you trying to say?"
Hearing his words, Saeko couldn't help but wonder—had he known her secret this entire time? Had he staged this entire horrific scenario just to force her to confront her own inner demons?
In reality, she was only half right.
For one, after spending a year together, Suyan was entirely certain she had feelings for him. But every single time he tried to push their relationship forward, she would instinctively back away, throwing up an emotional iron wall.
After multiple failed attempts, he realized that if he ever wanted to forge a genuine bond with Saeko Busujima, he had to force her to expose her true, violent self.
Secondly, the countdown to the apocalyptic zombie outbreak was almost at zero...
"Saeko, do you want to know the true meaning of life? Do you want to truly feel alive?"
As Suyan spoke, a weathered piece of parchment materialized in his hand, hovering gently before her.
The truth was, Suyan was a transmigrator.
How did he cross over? Orphaned parents plus getting hit by a runaway truck. It was the textbook, ultimate transmigration starter pack. If he didn't cross over, who would? All hail the almighty Truck-kun.
A year ago, when Suyan first woke up in this universe, he had been ecstatic. Though he crossed over in his original body, the process had physically de-aged him by several years. It was a literal dream come true.
More importantly, he arrived in the year 2009. Even with zero specialized knowledge, all he had to do was dump his savings into Bitcoin, wait a few years, and secure infinite wealth.
His blissful delusion lasted exactly until the moment he was scraped off the pavement by a famously clumsy, blonde-haired woman named Marikawa Shizuka.
That was the moment Suyan realized he wasn't in an ordinary version of early-21st-century Japan. He had been dropped straight into Highschool of the Dead, a brutal, apocalyptic zombie anime.
Any day now, society was going to collapse.
Sure, according to canon, the zombies in this world weren't nearly as terrifying or mutated as the bio-weapons in Resident Evil. But to an unarmed civilian, a zombie was a zombie. The apocalypse was still the apocalypse.
The only silver lining was that shortly after realizing his dire situation, he awakened a power from an entirely different anime: a Nen Ability from Hunter x Hunter.
Specifically, it was a Specialization Type ability strikingly similar to the one wielded by Chrollo Lucilfer, the infamous leader of the Phantom Troupe.
Anyone familiar with the series knew that Chrollo's ability, Skill Hunter, manifested as a conjured book. By fulfilling a strict set of conditions, he could permanently steal another person's Nen and seal it within its pages.
Suyan's Nen manifested as a single sheet of parchment. Like Skill Hunter, it allowed him to acquire other people's Nen abilities by fulfilling specific requirements. But where Chrollo's core concept was 'theft,' Suyan's core concept was 'trade.'
Whether it was money, material goods, or something entirely abstract, as long as Suyan offered something the other party genuinely believed was of equal or greater value, they could sign a contract. Once signed, Suyan gained their Nen ability.
The only restriction was that Suyan could never reclaim his traded offering in any shape or form.
He named his ability Equivalent Exchange.
Unlike Skill Hunter, Equivalent Exchange granted him total ownership of the acquired Nen, not just the right to borrow it. He didn't have to keep a book open in his hand to use a power, and the ability wouldn't vanish if the original owner died.
The potential and ceiling for Equivalent Exchange were astronomically high. After all, how many Nen users would value their abilities more than their own lives? Trading their powers for survival was a bargain anyone would take.
Once he got past the vulnerable early stages, he could snowball his strength to god-like levels, eventually rivaling or surpassing monsters like Chairman Netero or the Chimera Ant King. He was guaranteed to become an absolute powerhouse.
There was just one fatal flaw.
The anime universe he was trapped in wasn't Hunter x Hunter.
Other than himself, there wasn't a single other Nen user on the entire planet.
Who the hell was he supposed to trade with?