As Araki opened his system, a row of data appeared directly in his mind.
[Daily Task: Serve one customer – Completed. +1000 EXP]
[Training Task: 1,000 slashes – Completed. +2000 EXP]
[Main Task: Report to the Gotei 13 in Soul Society for service]
Note: Main task rewards depend on host's final position within the Gotei 13.
Araki calmly reviewed the task panel. In addition to the newly unlocked main quest, the two recurring daily tasks had already been completed.
Without any particular reaction, he used his mind to collect the rewards. Instantly, the glowing blue task panel dimmed and turned gray.
"Character Attribute Panel, open."
After receiving his EXP, Araki switched to his character panel.
Character: Araki
Title: Genryū Menkyo Kaiden (Master of the Genryū Style)
Fullbring: Flower of Eternal Life (Awakening conditions unmet)
Spirit Drive: LV1 (+)
Zanpakutō: Yakushi Ruriko (Shikai released)
Spiritual Pressure: Level 3 (+)
Spirit Body: LV10 (+)
Swordsmanship: LV10 (+)
Hakuda (Hand-to-hand): LV10 (+)
Footwork:
• Shunpo (Flash Step): LV1 (+)
Kidō:
• Hadō: LV1 (+)
• Bakudō: LV1 (+)
• Kaidō (Healing Kidō): LV1 (+)
Haki:
• Observation Haki – Advanced
• Armament Haki – Advanced
• Conqueror's Haki – Advanced
Devil Fruit:
• Ope Ope no Mi (Awakened)
Experience: 1,000,001,890 EXP
Looking at the long string of numbers under his experience total, Araki fell into silence.
A full billion experience... How many years did it take me to get here?
Without hesitation, he focused on the [+] sign next to his "Spiritual Pressure" stat.
"System, level me up!"
In the blink of an eye, his experience dropped to just 1,890, and his Spiritual Pressure advanced from Level 3 to Level 2.
Even though Araki's system granted him enormous power with every level-up, the cost was absurd—each level required ten times more EXP than the last.
To reach Level 3 in Spiritual Pressure—equivalent to the captain-class spiritual pressure standard in later generations—he had already burned through over 100 million EXP.
Now, after grinding 3,000 EXP daily for years, Araki had accumulated a billion EXP, finally pushing his pressure to Level 2 and unlocking the system's main quest.
According to the standards of the original Gotei 13, this level of spiritual pressure meant Araki had officially reached captain class.
Unlike the later Gotei 13—where barely scraping into Level 3 was enough to be made captain—the first generation was brutal. As Kensei Muguruma (who rarely shares details) once put it, the captains of the first Gotei 13 were all battle-hardened killers, not academy-bred flowers like those cultivated in the Shin'ō Academy of later times.
Now at Level 2, Araki couldn't help but get a little emotional.
"How many years has it been...? I finally hit second-level spiritual pressure..."
Araki had long lost count of how many years he'd spent in this world.
He only remembered that he had been playing an open-world One Piece game—a hot-blooded, free-exploration title. But after two and a half days immersed in it, he closed and opened his eyes... and woke up in a slum filled with wandering souls.
At first, Araki wasn't panicked.
After all, he hadn't just transmigrated—he'd brought along the character data from the game: maxed swordsmanship, full Six Powers (Rokushiki), insane regeneration, stamina that let him fight for days, awakened Ope Ope no Mi, and mastery of all three types of Haki.
It was, in his words, a cheat character.
With all that power, Araki had been confident. Even if he were dropped into the One Piece world, he could easily avoid the Admirals, the Four Emperors, and especially the Tenryūbito. As long as he stayed off Im-sama's radar, he figured he'd survive just fine.
But then... a figure in a black kimono, carrying a Zanpakutō, appeared before him.
It crushed him.
He realized instantly that he wasn't in One Piece. He was a soul, and had landed in Soul Society.
That meant only one thing:
"FUCK! This is Bleach!"
Though he'd never figured out why a One Piece-themed game landed him in the Bleach universe, the how didn't matter anymore.
This was his new reality.
He had reincarnated into the world of "Bleach" (死神 / Shinigami)—and worse, in the earliest, bloodiest age of Soul Society.
If he had landed in One Piece, he could have hidden in the East Blue, where the most dangerous pirate was Don Krieg. But Soul Society? You don't get to choose.
Here, if you want to survive, you become a Shinigami—or you disappear.
More importantly, the enemies he would face weren't just Hollows or ordinary rebels.
The final boss of Bleach, Yhwach, son of the Soul King, could rewrite the future. Even his underlings—with powers like "The Balance", "The Compulsory", "The Miracle", "The Deathdealing"—were nightmarishly broken.
Araki didn't even want to imagine facing them.
After Araki crossed into this world, still dazed and disoriented, he aimlessly wandered around the Soul Society while pondering his future.
Over the years, he slowly built a name for himself. By sheer chance, he stumbled into a swordsmanship dojo called Yuanzijuku, where he ended up becoming a disciple of the head instructor.
That marked the beginning of the most painful period of Araki's life since arriving in this world. His teacher's training regimen was harsh—so strict it was downright terrifying.
But the results? Totally worth it.
Thanks to his solid swordsmanship foundation from the One Piece world, Araki adapted quickly to the combat style of the Soul Society. Within just a few decades, he had mastered all the techniques passed down by his teacher.
At what might be considered a "graduation ceremony" in modern terms, Araki left a memorable parting gift: a scar across the already-receding hairline of his master—who was, quite honestly, on the fast track to baldness anyway.
At the same time, Araki was awarded the Menkyo Kaiden (full transmission) in Gen-ryu swordsmanship. The moment he received this recognition, his mysterious, long-frozen game panel finally updated.
No longer displaying the UI of the One Piece game world, it had transformed into a Bleach-style character panel—perfectly adapted to his new universe.
To Araki's surprise, the system also detected a rare latent trait in his body: the potential to awaken a Fullbring.
Of course, Araki had done his homework. He had researched the Bleach manga thoroughly and even read the official sequel novel Can't Fear Your Own World. He also binged numerous fan analyses and breakdowns on A-B Station.
Contrary to what Kugo Ginjo told Ichigo during the anime's Fullbring arc, Fullbring isn't merely a byproduct of Hollow influence. Instead, it's a manifestation of residual Soul King fragments embedded within the human body—a latent, divine spark capable of immense potential.
Naturally, Araki was thrilled. If his body harbored Fullbring potential, it meant that he might be able to unlock abilities comparable to those wielded by Orihime Inoue's Shun Shun Rikka or Tsukishima Shūkurō's Book of the End—top-tier Fullbrings capable of warping reality and fate itself.
"If I can awaken something on that level," Araki thought, "my survivability would skyrocket!"
Eager to see his fate, Araki opened the system tab that contained his Fullbring information:
Fullbring: Eternal Flower (Unawakened)
Ability: Binds the life of the user with that of a person who deeply loves them. As long as one of the two survives, the other cannot die. Regardless of the form of attack received, both individuals can recover by consuming spiritual pressure. Until both parties' spiritual pressure is completely depleted, neither can be killed.
Araki's eyes lit up.
"This is a god-tier skill! It may not have any offensive power, but in terms of survivability? It's unmatched!"
"It's like a mix of Gyutaro and Daki's linked life from Demon Slayer, and Hisagi Shūhei's Kazeshini Bankai from the later arcs!"
He analyzed the effect further: as long as either person in the bond retains spiritual pressure, both can recover from any damage. The ability only ceases when both are dead.
"In other words," Araki deduced, "the stronger the person I link with, the harder I am to kill!"
Satisfied, Araki gleamed with pride. Although it wasn't as flashy or versatile as Book of the End or Shun Shun Rikka, in terms of raw life-preserving potential, Eternal Flower was second to none.
"Alright," he whispered, "let's check the activation conditions..."
Fullbring Activation Condition:
A person with 80 or more affection for the user, who is also deeply loved by the user.
Araki froze.
"...A person?"
Most Fullbrings awaken through proximity to a meaningful object. But his required a person?
"…So this ability's activation depends on romance?!"
As an LSP (Love-Seeking Protagonist), Araki suddenly felt like his Fullbring was calling him out. He could lie to others, sure. Maybe even lie to himself. But he couldn't lie to the system—it had seen through his pure, beating heart.
Still, this wasn't a problem. Araki wasn't fussy about the means—as long as it made him stronger, he'd go through with it.
Besides, the description didn't say the bond had to be exclusive...
"In theory," he mused, "if I 'play' my cards right, I could create multiple bonds..."
Then he froze again.
"…Wait a minute. Doesn't that make me a scumbag? Am I really the type to use love like that for power?"
Cue dramatic inner denial.
"No! I'm a serious guy! Honest! Loyal! ...Ahem."
Shaking off the guilt, he noticed there was another note appended to the ability:
Note: The "Eternal Flower" will receive a power amplification based on the spiritual pressure of the first person it is bonded with. The higher the spiritual pressure, the more powerful the Fullbring's core skill—Spirit Particle Drive—becomes.
Almost as if the system was eavesdropping on his thoughts, this message flashed just as Araki considered multi-binding possibilities.
"I see… So the first person I bind to determines my base strength."
"In that case," Araki said with narrowed eyes, "I need to aim for the strongest woman in the Soul Society."
His mind quickly zeroed in on one name:
Unohana Retsu.
The original Kenpachi. A woman whose very existence radiated monstrous spiritual pressure and bloody history.
"If I can bind my Fullbring to her first…" Araki smirked. "Then I might just become invincible!"
His decision was firm. He clenched his fists and stood tall.
"The first thing I'll do in this new life—"
"Is go and marry Unohana Retsu!"