Ever since he was in the 8th grade, Mickey had always cherished his life. If anything could help him prolong his life, he would use it. On Earth, where immortality was just a dream, he tried to make himself a cyborg so he could live longer while enjoying music, video games, anime, manhua, and novels that were released.
Even now, that dream still lingered inside him.
Mickey cautiously navigated the streets that resembled the early 2000s. Whichever way he turned, he always ran into a group of humans being attacked by a pack of blind hyenas.
'I think I have a cerebral hemorrhage.'
Seeing that he now had a frail and pale body affected by the blazing sunlight, Mickey did not attempt to run. Instead, he casually walked and found a spot to hide as he watched a man screaming while being chewed alive by the eyeless hyenas.
He stood at the corner, his body protected by the shadows, waiting—waiting—for a chance to reach higher ground and plan a safe route.
He silently checked the items in the pockets of his blue school trousers. There was a pencil, a razor that resembled a knife used to sharpen his pencil, and a student identification card.
The letters on the student identification card were a mixture of various Asian symbols, but there was one part he could read: "Mickey, Gu Mickey…"
Mickey was originally his name; it was an old-fashioned name barely used in today's world. It also didn't carry any particular meaning.
It was a plain and simple name, but this time he felt something familiar about this new name, 'Gu Mickey, where have I heard that name before?'
The combination of 'Gu' and 'Mickey' was odd. The former was a name from Eastern culture, while the latter was a variation of the Hebrew name Michael.
His brows knitted into a frown as he recalled something he saw during his last year in high school. 'Could it be that… 'Gu Mickey'…'
He shook his head to clear such ridiculous thoughts from his mind. What were the chances of him dying and waking up in a popular anime 500 years before the main story as a stepping stone in the new era?
None.
The more he tried to deny it, the deeper the feeling grew. It was a lump in his heart that needed to be carefully examined.
Mickey decided to ignore the feeling and focus on surviving.
He looked at the man surrounded by five eyeless hyenas. Two were biting his hands, another two were holding his legs, and the only white hyena was feasting on the flesh between his legs.
The white hyena was merciful; it tore apart the man's flesh swiftly, but the man was just too stubborn to die. His screams echoed like a symphony of rock music across the street.
The good times lasted several minutes, and the hyenas finally started taking turns eating the T-bone meat from the man's body until only a white fiber was left.
The five hyenas began walking in Mickey's direction, and the young man jumped to hide in a garbage bin. The rotten stench emanating from it suggested the presence of baby diapers.
Nevertheless, Mickey had figured out that these creatures relied on their noses more than anything. There was also something he wanted to find out; it was risky, but beneficial to him at this moment, even though it would be riskier in the future.
Looking through the small opening he created with the lid of the garbage bin, Mickey saw the five hyenas walk past him; they didn't even sniff in his direction, as if he had become one with the trash.
Mickey's heart sank. 'I am indeed Gu Mickey.'
Who is Gu Mickey?
A super-weak half-vampire who is fated to die at the hands of Yi Chen's grandparents.
Who is Yi Chen?
The protagonist of a very popular Eastern fantasy anime that finished serializing six years before Mickey's death, called *Immortal Wizard Warlord*, who is destined to end the upcoming Armageddons.
'I don't even know what to feel…'
Mickey felt a little blue, but that was it. He knew his future was as dark as the abyss, but that also made him smile as he jumped out of the garbage bin. "Being a 'true immortal' is not a hopeless dream."
There was also another reason for his smile: "I am a 'half-vampire,' giving me an advantage in this situation."
Being a half-vampire meant one was odorless in both flesh and blood. The only downside was that once a profound beast tasted such blood, it would crave more.
After weighing his pros and cons, Mickey moved to a boutique on the main street. The workers there were all bones.
After changing his clothes and ensuring he didn't smell like a dead rat, Mickey climbed to the top of the boutique to get a perfect view of the only place with science in this world: Acoustic City.
He didn't get a clear view, but he could tell that the attack was only happening in the area he was in. Did this happen in the anime? He didn't know; it had been a long time since he watched it.
'If I remember correctly, the Book Lords live in the inner city, and mortals live on the outskirts, close to the forest, where they are used as the first line of defense against the profound beast tides.'
"At the moment, I am a mortal." Mickey sighed as he looked at the hyenas walking around the boutique. 'Besides having no smell, being a half-vampire is practically useless.'
The black-haired boy continued to watch the movements of the eyeless hyenas with a cold gaze. The boutique was surrounded, and soon some of the hyenas came rushing in.
Mickey heard screams coming in his direction and inwardly cursed his luck.
A few seconds later, an alluring woman in ragged clothes that exposed parts of her fine breasts came rushing in. Seeing Mickey, hope filled her eyes. "Mister! Please save me! I will do anything you want!"
Thanks to his new height of at least 6 feet 5 inches and his average face, most people did not see Mickey as a 17-year-old.
Even though the language the woman shouted in was completely alien to him, Mickey signaled for her to come in his direction.
The woman rushed over and hugged Mickey, pressing her ample chest against him as she caressed his back. "Thank you, Mister! I will always remember this for the rest of my life."
Mickey did not spare a glance at her seductive body and kept his cold gaze fixed on the group of white hyenas that had made their way to the rooftop.
Before the hyenas could advance any further, he pushed the woman toward them. She cursed him in all sorts of ways, but she was the one who had brought the group of hyenas in his direction in the first place.
The hyenas took pity on the woman, making good use of her body and leaving her blood flying around.
One of the hyenas started running in Mickey's direction, and he cursed, "She left her perfume scent on me!"
Mickey began rushing toward the nearby rooftop. In his past life, he used to jump longer distances between rooftops—something like this should be easy!
He wished.
Bam—!
Mickey's forehead crashed against the brick wall of the neighboring building, leaving a flesh wound. What he attempted was not even comparable to a jump; even ten-year-olds could do better.
He fell to the ground with a heavy thud, and his luck seemed to hold as he landed against a white hyena, which cushioned his fall from making direct contact with the asphalt pavement—if you disregarded the fact that the beast had tasted his blood from his bleeding head.
The white hyenas formed a circle around where Mickey had fallen, leaving him no chance t o escape. Despite feeling dizzy, Mickey tried to formulate an escape plan, but he couldn't find any.