003 - Hunger Games: Soul Society Edition

The shantytown was a brutal maze. Ramshackle huts clung together, casting jagged shadows. Shiro trailed behind the girl - she moved like a shadow, navigating with practiced ease born of desperate necessity. Every creak of wood, every rustle behind a tattered curtain, made him jump. He was a city boy, used to sirens, not this eerie silence filled with untold dangers.

Did they reach a larger structure, less hovel, and more...tavern? Crude wooden signs depicted what could be food. The girl motioned him inside. Shiro hesitated. Did she expect him to pay? With what, lint? He took a deep breath and stepped into the dim interior.

The stench hit him first – a mix of sweat, sour alcohol, and something rotten. Grizzled men and women huddled over chipped bowls at rough-hewn tables. The girl led him to an empty spot in the corner, gesturing for him to sit. Moments later, a scarred woman slammed two bowls and a battered tin cup on the table and vanished with a grunt.

Shiro eyed the sludge in his bowl warily. Some kind of grey porridge, with a few unidentifiable things floating on top. His stomach churned in protest, but hunger gnawed at him stronger. He glanced at the girl. She was already eating, her thin fingers working with surprising speed. If she could stomach this, so could he.

Grimacing, he took a spoonful. It was bland at first, a gritty texture, then a hit of rancidness that nearly made him gag. Still, he forced it down, his body too desperate to care about taste. He finished the bowl and was rewarded with a surprising surge of warmth. Not great, but better than starving.

Once his immediate needs were met, a deep fatigue settled in. It wasn't the usual post-lunch slump, but something deeper, almost inviting. His eyelids drooped, and fighting it seemed impossible.

"Sleep..." he mumbled, knowing he should ask about the girl, about this place, about anything. But his will was crumbling."Safe..." The girl's voice was soft, barely audible. Then she slumped forward, her head resting on a thin arm, already asleep.

Shiro could barely keep his eyes open. The exhaustion tugged at him, and the scarred patrons barely glanced their way. It was safe enough… for now. He surrendered, letting the blackness claim him once more.

He woke not to a dusty shantytown, but that strange white expanse. Annoyance flickered. This was getting old. His body felt oddly recharged, though. He stretched experimentally, muscles moving with a smoothness he hadn't felt before.

Then, the words appeared. They shimmered against the blank backdrop, translucent but solid:

System Activated

Initial Energy Charge: Complete

Function Unlocked: Basic Parameter Review

Shiro gaped. A system? Like in all those fanfics? His heart pounded a mix of excitement and the prickle of the impossible. He focused on the last line, and a new list materialized:

Name: Shiro [Cannot be changed]

Strength: 3 [Average Human: 5]

Agility: 2 [Average Human: 5]

Endurance: 2 [Average Human: 5]

Reiatsu: 10 [Untrained Soul: 5]

He blinked. Was… was he seriously below average in everything except spirit energy? The absurdity of it made him laugh, a shaky sound tinged with a trace of hysteria. Then a sobering thought struck him; the Hollow had been toying with him. He was pathetically weak.

Determination hardened in him. This system, whatever it was, might be his only chance of survival. But first, he needed answers."System," he spoke aloud, feeling incredibly silly. "Explain yourself."A new message appeared:

The system is bound to User: Shiro

The system functions based on User's sleep

Additional details unlocked with further energy acquisition

Shiro swore under his breath. Cryptic much? One thing was clear, though: sleep was the key. That fight, and perhaps even his arrival in this world, had triggered it.

He was about to experiment further when a familiar face appeared at the edge of his vision. The girl. She was watching him, curiosity overcoming her constant wariness.

Time to get some real-world answers. It was time to start figuring out this whole 'reincarnated in Bleach' disaster.