He had applied to join the school's kendo club shortly after enrolling the previous year.
At the time, Saeko didn't think he was any different from the others who flocked to the club just because of her reputation—at most, his grades were better and he was more handsome than the rest.
To her surprise, right under her nose and in less than a year, his swordsmanship had reached a level that rivaled her own, even though she had been practicing since childhood.
In the eyes of most kendo club members, the two of them, who were often seen together, were the perfect match.
The only thing missing was for one of them to finally confess and break that final barrier between them.
After all, even setting aside their skill with a blade, both were considered exceptional in terms of their academics and appearances.
However, only Saeko knew that while she did harbor a special affection for her junior, Su Yan, their relationship was nothing like what everyone imagined.
If that incident in middle school hadn't happened—the one that revealed the violent tendencies buried in her core—she might have naturally ended up with him.
But, burdened by an inferiority complex stemming from those violent urges, the girl didn't dare approach Su Yan, the person who represented an untainted ideal in her heart.
"Why?"
Saeko looked at Su Yan with confusion.
She couldn't imagine that a boy as outstanding as Su Yan would actually follow her in the dead of night and commit such a lewd act.
Yet, for some reason, she couldn't help but feel a flicker of secret joy in her heart at this moment.
It turned out that Su Yan wasn't the perfect existence she had imagined; he had his own flaws too.
If that was the case, maybe he could be a little closer to her?
'No, that's not right. How could I have such a despicable thought?'
Saeko quickly shook her head, trying to cast those thoughts aside.
"Saeko-senpai, how does it feel to be able to swing your blade with everything you've got?"
Looking at Saeko's bewildered face, Su Yan didn't answer her question. Instead, he countered with one of his own.
Without waiting for her to respond, he continued, "It was fun, wasn't it? After all, that genuine smile you wore during the fight just now couldn't have been faked."
"What do you mean by that?"
Hearing his words, Saeko couldn't help but wonder if Su Yan had guessed the secret in her heart long ago.
Perhaps he had done all this just to force her to face her own inner weakness.
Little did she know, she had only guessed half of it.
For one, after spending a year together, Su Yan was certain that Saeko had feelings for him.
However, whenever he tried to take a step closer, Saeko would instinctively pull back to maintain her distance.
After many attempts, Su Yan realized that if he truly wanted to build a bond with her, he had to force her to reveal her true self in front of him.
Secondly, the time for the zombie crisis to erupt in this world was fast approaching...
"Saeko-senpai, do you want to know the meaning of living? Do you want to truly feel alive?"
Su Yan manifested a piece of parchment in front of Saeko and spoke with a calm expression.
Yes, Su Yan was actually a transmigrator.
As for how he transmigrated?
Deceased parents plus a stroke of luck—all the classic tropes were there. He was practically a born candidate for transmigration.
'If I didn't get transmigrated, who would?'
All one could say was that Truck-kun was truly the greatest; no more needed to be said.
A year ago, when Su Yan first arrived in this world, he couldn't have been happier.
Although it was a physical transmigration, his body had suddenly become several years younger during the process. It was like a dream come true.
More importantly, he had arrived in the year 2009.
In this era, even if he knew nothing else, he could just take all his earnings and blindly buy Bitcoin. After holding it for a few years, he'd have achieved financial freedom. It was a perfect setup.
That good mood lasted until he was picked up by a blonde airhead named Marikawa Shizuka.
It was then that Su Yan realized he hadn't transmigrated to some ordinary version of Japan in the early 21st century, but rather into the world of an apocalypse anime called Highschool of the Dead.
In other words, a zombie crisis could break out at any moment.
From the anime's plot, the zombies he would face weren't as strong or varied as those in Resident Evil.
But for an ordinary person, there wasn't much of a difference; it was the end of the world regardless.
The good news was that shortly after realizing what world he was in, Su Yan awakened a Nen ability from another anime, Hunter x Hunter.
Specifically, it was a Specialist ability similar to that of Chrollo Lucilfer, the leader of the Phantom Troupe.
Anyone who had seen that show knew Chrollo's ability was called [Skill Hunter]. It took the form of a book, and by meeting certain conditions, he could steal others' Nen abilities and seal them within its pages.
Su Yan's Nen ability manifested as a piece of parchment. Similar to [Skill Hunter], it involved acquiring others' abilities by meeting specific conditions.
The difference was that the core of Chrollo's ability was theft, while Su Yan's was based on a transaction.
Whether it was money, material goods, or something else entirely, as long as Su Yan offered something the other person truly recognized as an equivalent exchange, he could trade for their Nen ability after signing a contract.
The restriction was that after the trade, Su Yan could not take back whatever he had offered in any way.
Thus, he called his Nen ability [Equivalent Exchange].
Unlike [Skill Hunter], [Equivalent Exchange] granted full ownership of the Nen ability rather than just the right to use it.
Therefore, it didn't have the same restrictions, such as needing to keep a book open to a specific page. Furthermore, the acquired ability would not disappear even if the original user died.
One could say the ceiling and potential of [Equivalent Exchange] were extremely high.
After all, how many Nen users would value their ability more than their own life?
Trading an ability for one's life was an incredible bargain.
It was almost a hilarious thought.
In short, while it was difficult to improve during the early stages when he was penniless and weak, once this Nen ability gained momentum, it would snowball.
He could quickly become, or even surpass, experts like Chairman Netero and the Chimera Ant King, the peak of power in Hunter x Hunter.
He was truly a warrior with a promising future.
The bad news was that the world he was in wasn't Hunter x Hunter.
Aside from Su Yan, there wasn't a single other Nen user in the entire world...
So, who was he supposed to trade with?