Inside the 71st District,
The small soul of a six-year-old boy materialized near a tattered and abandoned building.
It is Eero who just traveled through; he was curling and sleeping peacefully in a corner, without any awareness of his surroundings.
Instantly, Eero's soul opened his eyes, revealing light purple-gold heterochromia pupils that can captivate anyone upon a single glance.
Along with his small, cute face with a doll-like emotionless expression, his appearance and demeanor will surely let him fall into danger in this lawless district.
'Did I arrive as a soul? I didn't expect that; thankfully I am already six years old, not a child smaller than that, or it will be harder to survive in such a world,' Eero thought to himself, looking at his small arms and legs. He is wearing simple clothes, a small t-shirt, and a trouser.
After searching his pockets, he found nothing inside them, then he glanced around thoughtfully, seeing the tattered building and moving souls among them; everyone was wearing tattered clothes and walking without any footwear. The pervasive scent of dust and desperation clung to the air.
Thud! Thud!! Thud!!!
"Ahhhh, help me. He is going to kill me."
Instantly, Eero heard a commotion. He turned and glanced at the burly soul beating a small boy about eight or nine years old with a pipe.
The boy is roaring agonizingly for help, but no one pays any attention to him. Slowly, his figure dims, and he falls unconscious, probably on the verge of death or dissolution.
'It seems this is the lawless district in the Rukongai,'
Eero thought to himself, seeing the scene in front of him expressionlessly. Then he backed away and walked inside the tattered house building, looking at broken rooms, a cracked roof, and damaged pillars, as if the whole building would scatter at any moment.
He walked and appeared near the corner, sat down calmly, and started thinking about his plans.
"First, I have to find the current timeline, then I will plan my future; by the way, what's my talent in this dimension?" Eero muttered and then became thoughtful and started sensing the new talent in his soul.
Instantly, a notification appeared in his mind. Eero smiled, sensing it, and muttered, "As expected, another matching and helpful talent."
[Psychic]
Eero started testing the psychic talent, and instantly everything around him within a hundred meters became visible to him; he could see 360 degrees with all-direction vision.
Not only that, in this range he can calculate everything, even future possibilities of everyone's movements; all these possibilities and calculations happen in a glimpse without pressuring his soul.
Also, he can sense the inner thoughts of everyone except those who can control their thoughts or strong-willed experts.
Eero then glanced at the small rocks on the ground; instantly, a few rocks started floating up and suspended in the air around him.
Eero's brow furrowed, feeling the exhaustion from his soul; he released the stone and retracted his esper consciousness.
"It seems this talent uses the reitsu in my soul as fuel," Eero muttered thoughtfully, then he glanced in the outside direction.
'I have to find Rukia to confirm the timeline; although I chose the timeline the same age as her, I am now six years old; I hope she is still in the 78th district.' Eero thought and then rested against the wall and closed his eyes in order to restore his condition.
…
Next day,
Eero walked outside the tattered house and then moved toward the south direction of Rukongai.
After a while, he halted in front of a group of people beating other souls, looking at them like spectators for a while, and then passed by them and decided to ignore it.
"Hey kid, stop right there." Instantly, Eero's footsteps halted hearing someone calling him. He turned and glanced at a burly person with tight muscles and tattoos on his body.
The man walked slowly toward Eero, his ragged clothes barely containing his bulk, casting a long, intimidating shadow. Eero's psychic sense registered the crude, violent intent radiating from him, dull and animalistic. The man looked Eero up and down, then his gaze stayed on Eero's small, doll-like facial features. An inexplicable, lecherous light flashed through his pupil, making Eero's stomach churn with a fierce disgust.
"After today, you are my slave; you will do exactly what I tell you to do." The man then spoke evilly, his voice grating like dry stone. Other henchmen around him smiled, toothy and cruel, looking at Eero.
Eero glanced at the burly man in front of him; a cold, clinical disgust flashed through his heart seeing the inexplicable light in the man's pupils. He focused his reitsu, a faint, imperceptible pressure coiling in his soul.
"I think you are tired of being a soul; you want another experience in the afterlife," Eero said calmly, his voice a quiet, flat monotone that was eerily out of place. He was suppressing his disgust, forcing it down with a will honed by infinity.
Instantly silence spread; the gangster along with the surrounding spectators were shocked looking at Eero's audacity, and then pity flashed through their hearts, while some among them laughed loudly.
"Ha ha ha, boss, this kid is interesting." The gangster around the burly man laughed, looking at Eero intriguingly.
The burly man's face sank, twisting into a furious snarl, and then an evil smile appeared on his face. He glanced at Eero and then raised his massive, calloused hand toward Eero's face.
'Although with my psychic right now I can't control him fully, but...' Eero thought, watching the hand progress toward him, every muscle fiber of the man visible to his psychic vision.
Crack!!!!! The sound was sickeningly loud, like dry kindling snapping, utterly disproportionate to the small boy standing still.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh," A heart-wrenching roar spread through the surroundings; it wasn't just pain... it was pure, visceral agony as the nerve endings screamed. Other gangster eyes widened in horror, and they backed away a few steps, their initial amusement dissolving into primal fear.
...
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