Ch (0)Zero(0): Dead or Alive?

In a bustling and somewhat crowded city, an unknown male high school student can be seen walking by a remote part of the area with long hair covering many parts of his face alongside glasses obstructing his appearance to be seen clearly, but one thing is certain, under all of that disguise was a godly charm yet untapped.

But from a far, one could see his lean build. Not too bulky, large, but just right.

If a fellow cultured person can see him, they would try to link him to a protagonist of the H+ category, a certain man with hair covering his eyes.

Accompanied by an earbud on his right ear, leaving the left ear open for any noise or attention he might need to be alert for.

As he listens to Japanese songs/music that oddly enough sounds a lot more soothing than other genres. It's all according to his taste.

As streets are wide open, many cars go about in fast speeds.

"Oh! It seems that there are a lot of updates" The person said so in a dull tone yet a smirk emerges from his face thereafter.

Found on his screen is a website in a locked app that showcase certain 'books' or 'interesting mangas' displayed.

It was a collection of very inappropriate 'reading material.'

And for the remaining time on his way home, he kept staring at his phone silently checking out the cover of these newly updated materials.

All the while looking ahead with his phone tilted slightly to have the path ahead of him be in his line of sight to feel even a bit safe.

While crossing the road, he pulls his phone back and focus on walking across.

When all of a sudden a reckless driver in a truck can be seen in a hurry at a speed incomparable to other fast drivers.

"Beep! Beep!"

The truck started beeping seemingly being out of control, as if the brakes gave in.

"Hmm?—" The high school student noticing that car going at high speeds and looked unstable, can't help but question whether or not it was an emergency or something had gone wrong.

Before he knew it, the car seemingly stabilized towards him.

"Oh… Don't tell me—" The high school student seemed worried.

As he has watched and read many things in his life to know where his situation is headed.

A car speeding and hitting a person to an isekai life is what many dreamed of, but realistically speaking the high school student knew that reality and fiction is never meant to cross.

And if one does believe it exist, then either they are delusional or found a way to break through to make way for the 2D verse to exist, perhaps in a scientific way recreated or formed in some way.

After all the future holds an infinite amount of possibilities that one cannot imagine, whether or not humanity can reach a certain point that would've been considered impossible once in the past remains to be unknown.

The 17 year old high school student thought that, 'this might be why many famed and intelligent scientist, researchers, and other professors thought that maybe God existed.'

For sure this topic is controversial and rather possess a myriad of complex information difficult for the human mind to comprehend.

Like for example, the creation of a planet, a star, a solar system, a galaxy, and overall the entire universe as a whole can be significantly bewildering.

There were many speculations on this matter, one of them that is famous is the Big Bang Theory, where a huge explosion occurred and its happening resulted in the formation of these things.

Another is that a being, a higher-power or figure created everything as we know it.

A godlike individual so to speak.

The high school student believed in nothing, he was an atheist, an ambitionless person who sought nothing or rather had the potential for everything, but gave up in everything as he founded no value in doing so.

His desires and motivation were only reserved for his hobbies, as for the rest, it is all in the hands of his biological instinct for survival that kept him working on both his hobbies and of himself.

Anime, Manga, Novels, and even H+ content both the animated version or the readable type are all the things that interest him.

For many years, ever since he was a child had witness the real world.

No parents, no friends, in general no one to rely on. He himself was very observant of his surroundings, whatever others spoken of or were experiencing were listened in on him unintentionally, making his own thoughts of their matter.

And after that takes in their experience for his own use, by doing so, he gauges at how others react, perceive their own experience, and simulates in his own mind of being in that same situation.

At the end of it all, learns from that experience. Although it is not an experience he lived through, he grows and develop his form of common sense or what is normal.

It was an abnormal way to live life, but it was because he had done this, that he accumulated knowledge in areas he really didn't find interesting.

From socializing through the suffering or enjoyment of others, he takes in what they feel like and form a way to blend in society.

He desired nothing and just wanted to live peacefully with his hobbies.

In order to do that he must conform to societal expectations, or to be as normal as much as possible.

There are a few times where there have been little-to-no updates or he has watched the same series multiple times to find it all boring.

Which causes him to be listless at those days, even then his life is as uneventful as can be.

Not to mention, his unique memory that make it even more difficult to forget things, so much so, that he can easily anticipate and recall what happens in a certain scene.

And to an unimaginable detail.

The difference that make his life more boring is the fact that he cannot relive the first time he watched or seen the actual work, as his most potent talent involves memory, he will never forget anything, and unlike others who do.

They simply forget most of it, enough for them to recall or revisit series they watched before with enthusiasm and sense of excitement that although might not be as great as prior to the very first, but at least compared to the unknown high school student, they will not be as bored as he can be.

Which is why everything he has seen over time becomes so bland.

These days where he has nothing to do or not feel a spark that can illuminate his boredom are his most disliked times.

He felt as if he had no purpose or reason to exist, like a plant simply waiting to wither, he just kept up with his days, constantly looking for an update to distract him from his colorless life.

As his life flashed in front of his eyes, he recalled every moment in his life, mainly the only light he found in his monotonous life.

"Heh…" A disgusted smile reaches across the high school student's face as the truck inches closer to him at fast speeds.

'if it were any other day… I might have just let this attempt at killing me actually succeeded.' The boy thought, with a dark gloom in his eyes.

"But I cannot die right now…" He muttered softly meantime clenching his fist and an unwavering spirit emerges out of him, a feeling rare to him as he looks at his phone hearing a faint notification, most likely an… update on one of the works he most anticipated.

'After all… hehe—I still have a reason to exist.' He finished as, a bright light can be seen in his eyes.

As he musters every ounce of his strength to the limit to move fast enough to avoid the truck headed towards him.

Watching the truck going closer, he hyperventilates, as if in a panic or rush.

And then took action, less than a second after he noticed the truck was not under control.

"Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move." He murmured repetitively, along the way tearing his muscles apart from the immense strain he was putting himself to move as fast and strong as possible.

And just as he was about to move out of the way, he found that it was too late.

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" As the sound of the horn of the truck sounds off loudly.

'Am I—truly late…' The high school student stops in his tracks as the truck cover his sight entirely.

But without knowing it, he instinctually jumps, and points his foot at the truck at lightning speeds. And pushes against the car, as the sound of bones snapping and muscles getting torn apart can be heard, unfortunately he had a limited amount of strength and it was not sufficient enough to use the truck as a leverage to kick off of and evade.

So, instead he was sent flying above the massive truck, and inflicting severe damage all over his body, yet managed to live through it.

"Tch!" The high school student mumbled weakly as he feels himself and his thoughts waning to the injuries he suffered, almost completely rendered unconscious.

If one can see the boy, they would see blood in many places in his body and his foot severely injured, dislocated and broken.

'Not yet—I can't pass out now…' A faint glimmer of hope passes through his eyes, thinking that there is a chance to live after suffering these severe injuries. 'At… the way… I'm falling.. My head.. will be the first to suffer.. And at this.. fatal speed…'

As this thought flashes by his mind, he thought about trying to land on his feet thinking, 'my feet are already messed up… how bad can it be hahah.' He thought with an abnormal laugh in his mind.

Eventually the pain subsides as adrenaline and shock overcomes his body, something he did not hope for as his control over his body will be limited by this feeling.

With that thought in mind, using the momentum from getting hit with the truck, he backflips using his last few passing energy in his body to get back to a safer landing.

Just as he thought he landed safely, all of a sudden his surrounding got a lot darker, as if a building towers him, covering him in a shade.

But as that thought crosses his mind, he peered over to what was casting that dark shadow.

He thought he was safe, but as soon as he looked over.

The sight of a rock, no a red f*cking hot meteor covers his line of sight.

"…"

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"All of that… for nothing huh—F*ck." He mutters weakly as he stares in contempt at this massive meteorite. 'Is God trying to assassinate me or what…' He jokingly stated, before being obliterated until nothing of him was left.

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And then he died. The End.

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At least that was what he thought, in the area that was hit by the meteor that sunken a few meters down, a bright soul stands in place, but unresponsive, as if in a coma.

Before the high school student knew it, a light so bright, pure, pristine, and divine looking appeared in front of the soul of the boy and disappears along with it as if they were never there to begin with or ceased to exist.

Some where in a dark void, the soul in a coma that was so unresponsive, was surrounded by a mysterious light so divine and bright with an unknown source, and with each passing second, the soul can be seen to regenerate, reform, and evolve. As if being nourished with the unknown light and growing bigger.

While time passes by, the soul develops, unknowingly to what extent or the changes that may come with this evolution. But then all of a sudden, everything stops, the white light then disappeared, and the soul that grew or evolved abnormally, ceased to make any movements.

"Where is this I wonder…" The soul of the high school student thought so dazedly.

And then he awakens from his trance-like state, snapping out of it.

Looking around? Feeling around? He tries to see where he is at, but…

His senses felt off. It was as if he never had any at this moment, he does not have the five senses that which makes him human. The sense of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch.

Yet at the same time, he can see? No, the correct word would be feel.

At least his surroundings can be seen as a very dark void in the middle of nowhere.

Imagine space but without the existence of things like stars emitting light from millions of light years away, including planets, moons, you call it. It was very dark, as it becomes hard to even perceive the existence of anything, even himself, was just a very dim light of a soul that exist in this dark void.

"So… that—was the end hmm…" The former high school student muttered, recalling what had just happened, coming to terms with his misfortune. "Now… What do I do about this…"

He stares around him in the void, where nothing exist but him.

Silently looking all around him for a way out, all for naught as nothing surrounds him.

"Sigh~" As he expressed boredom, he was getting irritated with the deafening silence and stillness around him.

Calming himself down, he just stand?

Rather float in the void in a comfortable position and tries to distract himself from the silent atmosphere, coming up with the idea of recalling his hobbies.

How is he able to have fun, one may ask.

Well, that is simple…

The high school student was born with an unparalleled memory, unlike any other, if a scientist was to test him, they would be in a state of shock, as such a talent or ability never existed.

No, rather many would claim it was nonexistent and only exist in the works of fiction.

His ability or talent was also renowned as Photographic Memory.

The ability to completely in its perfection recall or record any experience or information of any kind attained via the five senses down to the smallest detail without a flaw.

For example the sound, smell, look, the taste, and even the touch of anything he comes across becomes unforgettable.

Like a high-quality recording camera anything he comes across becomes engrained deeply in his memory

He had this misconception from the beginning that he just had strong memory compared to others.

But as he has gone more research on what makes him so different from others, he finds that it is not the case.

And as it turns out the memory of a completely average person is far far incomparable to him.

As for where others may forget things, be it short-term memory or long-term memory of a person.

Anyone besides him, not only can they have a difficult time processing or remembering memory of any kind.

The high school student can flawlessly recall anything at any time without an issue and to a detail unlike normal people.

Thereafter this research of his, he thought he had Eidetic Memory, but once again misunderstood his own abilities.

It was only a few years in his high school years that he had determined that his memory was something far greater than he had previously thought.

And with knowledge that he himself transcended what others are capable of, he first had the thought of abusing his memory to get all the necessary knowledge or skills that will set him for life out of the way, learning whatever book he got his hands on and comprehending them to the max.

He first started with learning knowledge taught in Elementary School, all the way to High school the moment he reaches the certain grade he advances to in its completion and by that he means fully, as teachers in high school are typically laid-back and unable to teach every little knowledge or skills they want to teach in their curriculum.

As he filled his mind with innumerable amount of basic knowledge, he thought that this much was enough and sufficient to already surpassing what others of his age needs.

He was finally getting bored of taking in information that he might not even use in the future, he decided it was enough studying until College came.

By the time he reached the minimum age to work at the age of 16, he started to be more self-sufficient on earning money, at the same time sooner or later he was able to leave the orphanage he resided in for many years and purchased a small apartment to live in.

After having earned a lot of money, he got used and proficient at doing stocks, in fact he got so skilled at it, that soon enough he did not have any trouble moving out of his orphanage or paying for rent.

Eventually he bought all the necessary furniture for a house and at that same day he bought a TV.

At that moment he came across his first encounter with his future obsession, his hobbies, it was an old show of Dragon Ball.

At first it interested him, then he got addicted to it, after finishing the entire series moved on to other works similar to it, finding out animation such as this was called, "Anime."

And as he watched further, on different devices, apps, he comes across comments of fellow individuals who calls out certain 'interesting' scenes that then got him involved in looking at H+ content.

As time passes he got attracted to another form of entertainment.

And now 17, he thought he will be able to live peacefully with his hobbies, but who knew that the next thing that would happen would end that hobby of his.

With that said, he abuses his memory, by recalling all the series he had seen in his mind, eventually coming to terms with the silence and boredom that came with the void.

'Now, if I had an infinite amount of series to recall or received, I might just be able to stay in here forever.' He thought, 'but unfortunately it is too boring to stay here and recall something you've watched over and over again…'

As he got interrupted with that thought, a bright light comes into his view, if the high school student was awake at the time he perished he might've known that this was the same light that brought him over to this void.

'What the…' As he stared at this light, he was soon consumed by it at unnatural speeds.

And pretty soon, the high school student fell into another coma. It was only for a short time this time however, as he later once again gains consciousness.

'Hmm… Where am… I now?' He asked himself, as he stares at his new surroundings, it was rather dark, creepy and very blood-curdling, literally.

As the place he found himself is filled with flesh and a few blood dripped at the wall of flesh all around him, while the space he is in beats or rather expands and then shrinks.

And then looked at his… small arms?

As the Five Senses he once lost in the void comes back, he notices that he is alive once again.

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But this time, as a baby?

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Perhaps a fetus?

He has no knowledge about this area, but he does remember one article he came across that babies are very sensitive and usually unable to even see, at most it is blurry shapes and lines of what he sees.

And… not like how he is perceiving everything around him now, to a clear detail.

'Weird.'

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'Its so dark, yet so… clear.'

He looks around again to find the logic behind his sight, in what he could only guess was the womb of his soon-to-be mother.

'Mother… huh.' The high school student felt surreal at that thought, as he never had parents, no one to rely on.

'I'll finally have parents of my own—'

At this thought, he can't help but recall his former parents, while others may forget many things the moment they were born and underdeveloped, he never had this issue.

As the moment he was born, only a few days after, he still had the memories of his actual birth parents in his past life, his photographic memory caught every second, their faces, expressions.

All the way until he himself was given up for adoption less than a year old at the time.

As he grew up, he couldn't help but question why he was abandoned, over time he forgot about it, no rather he stopped caring about it altogether, and ended up focusing only on himself, as he finds himself wandering about a boring and uneventful life, so—so colorless.

So much so, that if he were a normal person with a normal memory going through his own ordeals, he would find it hard to distinguish what occurs day-to-day.

Later on, he found parents a restraint observing the kids near his age as time progress, in every grade level, with their mothers and fathers.

Eventually, with age they remain rather innocent, stay in their comfort zones, and have lower tolerance to harsh or places they are inexperienced at, finding parents who make everything so easy for them, not developing their character to be resilient and tough.

At least not as conditioned as himself.

After all, the high school student thought of a certain phrase, 'Hard ***times create strong men***, ***strong men create*** good ***times***, good ***times create weak men***, ***and weak men create*** hard ***times***.'

'It is true as can be, I mean whether you like it or not, everyone uses stimulus that they experience or learn from to develop or grow, and in many aspects that it can influence you that you may not even know yourself… The crueler, more harsh situation you are put into, the more likely you will either collapse from overstraining your potential or condition yourself to greater heights.'

Some parents are just too easier on their kids, others are harsher on them, the effects that they held fascinated the high school student.

At times he often reflected on himself and thought, 'Am I perhaps treating them as research lab rats for my own benefit?'

A question of human ethics and morality at finding others as tools for his own growth, not that he cared so much in the first place, the only use and reason for why he tries to sympathize with others is for the purpose of blending in and conforming to society, so as to not stand out.

Otherwise, he would have long abandoned it by now.

In the end, this imitation or false sense of sympathy that he cultivated did have certain influence on himself, one being that he brainwashed himself to feel emotions he never had before without knowing it, suppressing his sociopathic tendencies, allowing further integration with society, fooling everyone including himself as he passed by.

'What a nuisance.' A slight feeling of disgust envelopes him at the thought of having biological parents.

A twisted world view was developing within him unbeknownst to him ever since he was a child, literally.

Right now as a newborn child and that of his previous life.

In the end, it was too late.

He found affection and attention useless and an absolute waste of time.

And with the addition of parents he had no idea of, he was finding it a bother to even face his current predicament.

But to blend in to society, he must display an illusion of one, a façade that imitate the feeling that, 'Everything is just right.'

From the very moment he was born.

With each passing second, his eyes get heavy, feeling drained and drowsy for some odd reason that he can only pinpoint to be due to being a newborn.

"…"

'I feel like… I forgot something…' His last few thoughts in his mind flew over his brain.

And then, everything went dark.

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