Chapter 34: The World Of The Living III
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Chapter 34: The World Of The Living III
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The Human World, also referred to as the World of the Living, or the Real World, is the material plane where living Humans reside.
It is home to Pluses, and a few more groups and races.
Even Hollows, which normally reside in Hueco Mundo, often visit the Human World to hunt Souls, which they feed upon. This is where Shinigami come in.
Shinigami are regularly stationed in the Human World. The duties of such Shinigami include finding and sending Pluses to Soul Society and slaying Hollows in order to protect Humans and Pluses.
Akashi's duty was a Shinigami's most common responsibility, Konsō duty.
It is the process by which a Shinigami sends wandering Pluses in the Human World to Soul Society if they are good in life or Hell if their life was full of evil acts.
'Is it just a coincidence?' Akashi had to wonder as he stood before the Senkaimon or World Penetration Gate.
'Have Karakura town already fallen under Aizen's sight?' Indeed, Akashi was sent to Karakura town, and he found it hard to believe this to be merely a coincidence.
'But why? What's so special about Karakura town? Is it Kisuke Urahara? Does Aizen know that he's there?' Akashi was utterly confused and alarmed.
Just why are so many dangerous characters paying so much attention to him when he hasn't done anything just yet?
'In gaming terms, it feels like I've been transported to an endgame zone instead of the novice village... I'm definitely dead.'
Akashi stepped into the gate along with a Hell Butterfly, a very special creature that guides Shinigami safely through the Dangai and suppresses the dimensional barriers.
It also helps prevent the Kōtotsu from attacking during travel, a massive sweeping entity that erases anything it touches.
Those are the dangers of traveling through the Dangai, the dimension between the two worlds.
The Dangai was a dark corridor that seemingly goes for infinity. It was a horrific place that if traveled without a hell butterfly would mean death.
Therefore, Akashi kept up closely with the butterfly, not daring to stray afar.
Emerging from the Dangai, Akashi found himself in Karakura Town, a settlement in the Human World located in Western Tokyo.
The town appeared ordinary, with bustling streets and unaware humans going about their daily lives.
However, Akashi knew that beneath this facade lay a hotspot of spiritual activity.
Karakura Town is referred to as District 3600 by the Shinigami and is situated on the current jūreichi; an area with the greatest concentration of spiritual energy.
'That should be the primary reason why this place was chosen by Aizen and Urahara.' He mused before flashing away, observing the human world first before taking any actions.
People walk beside him, unable to see him, but he can observe them as closely as he wants. It was quite the peculiar experience.
'Now, I can see if the stories from my previous life also exist here,' Akashi stroked his chin, contemplating his future plans, 'But how? The internet has yet to start.'
The story he is specifically thinking about is the Call Of Cthulhu. It should already be released in this world, provided that Akashi's previous world mirrors this one.
However, he knows it does not. There are many many similarities, but there are differences such as Karakura town which didn't exist in his previous life.
Akashi was curious about if Call Of Cthulhu exists here as well. If it does, then in the eyes of other Shinigami, his practice of writing about Soul Society would be plagiarism.
That isn't a big deal. The problem begins only when stories written by him now appear in the future, written by others; for example being the Harry Potter series.
That would be difficult to explain for til has now, he merely copied stories from his previous life.
The only ones he didn't fully copy are most mythical and folklore horrors, such as Dullahan, In Irish folklore, he is said to be a headless rider on a black horse who carries their own head, serving as a harbinger of death.
Akashi cannot possibly hope to remember all the movies and stories he had read or watched.
Moreover, even if he had stumbled upon a story with a Dullahan, he doesn't remember it. He merely knows the general idea of the creature.
The same could be said for most Eldritch stories. He merely remembers the general ideas and proceeds from there, introducing horrific creatures into his other stories.
For all of those reasons and other precautions, Akashi must have influence in the entertainment business in the real world.
'Ahh,' Akashi let out a sigh, 'I'm thinking too far ahead. I'm not even sure if I will wake up tomorrow, so why am I bothering with such messy stuff?'
And so, Akashi got to work as he flashed toward what he perceived to be a Plus, one of his responsibilities here as a Shinigami.
The plus was floating about, seemingly aimlessly. No human around could see it, and the soul didn't seem interested in interacting with them either.
From the Plus' chest protrudes a chain known as the chain of fate. It usually connects a soul to its body, but in this case, the chain was broken, and clear signs of corrosion were apparent on its end.
"Hey," Said Akashi as he appeared before the Plus, carefully sensing the latter's Reiatsu, what little of it the Plus had.
This is possible because every spiritual being emits a certain amount of his/her own Reiryoku in the form of Reiatsu, which can be sensed.
However, Akashi couldn't really sense much through Reiatsu's sense alone, but Kurayami told him a different story.
Kurayami allowed him to see the negative emotions within the Plus, the deep loneliness, and fear as he walked aimlessly among people who could not see him.
When Akashi spoke to him, He was first stunned, then doubtful as he looked behind him, believing him to be speaking to someone else.
Pluses get so used to loneliness that when spoken to, they can not help but doubt their ears... Then he got fearful.
"Please, don't be afraid. I just want to talk," Said Akashi gently, "I'm like you, they can not see me, so I understand your situation quite well."
"H-hey... Why are you like this? Where is your chain?" The plus was a middle-aged man, and his curiosity far surpassed his fear, thus Akashi did what he does best, asking questions.
The responsibilities of a Shinigami were the main focus of the first year, thus, he has been taught a lot about Pluses in the academy. He was still curious though.
Pluses are the benign ghosts in the Human World. They are the spirit of a person who has died.
Once the chain on their chest is severed, the soul can no longer return to its body and live.
They can only move freely if the chain is broken, but this also causes the chain to slowly corrode, and when it's corroded entirely, the Plus will become a Hollow.
Still, he learned a lot from the Plus, how the latter tried all kinds of methods to break the chain further, then how he tried to fix it to no avail.
Akashi was further curious about how it feels to be a Plus, if he had met another Plus, and the interesting things he saw while he was a Plus.
"Well, it was a pleasure meeting you. Now, I have to send you to the afterlife lest you turn hollow," Said Akashi as he rested his hand on the hilt of his blade.
The Plus visibly tensed, his shoulder trembling as he asked, "Hollow?"
"Monsters that fed on souls... The likes of you," Akashi answered before pulling out his blade, "Don't worry, you won't feel a thing."
Before the Plus could react, Akashi performed Konso by tapping the hilt of his Zanpakutō against the Plus' forehead, leaving an emblem at the point of impact that began to shine brightly.
The Plus proceeded to sink into the ground in a pool of blue light, the process of being sent to Soul Society.
"That... That's so interesting," Akashi stroked his chin in deep thought, 'It all looks so wrong, soul society, this world, everything about how souls work.'
Akashi noticed long ago, how broken and inefficient this world is. It feels to him as if a Shinigami's job is to bandage the numerous fractures of this realm without treating the source of the issue.
'So... What the hell is the point of Hell in this godforsaken realm?' Akashi had to wonder, 'Even the Voices are confused.'
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