Curse of the Eye of the Dead

The little guy with bright orange short hair, his name is Chuya Nakahara.

It's a boy.

I am nine years old this year.

...About nine years old?

Chuuya himself was not too sure.

If it's just that you can't remember your age, it's not surprising, because most of the orphans in the slums are like this.

After all, in this kind of place, helpless children have already tried their best just to survive, and have no spare time to think about other things.

They don't care about the year and month even if they don't celebrate festivals. They generally have no concept of time. Of course, they don't pay much attention to their own age.

What's more, they pay more attention to whether their bodies grow taller and scarier than their actual age.

Age doesn't matter at all.

This place only focuses on strength.

So if asked about their age, more than half of the orphans in the slums can only hesitate to give a vague answer.

Another small group of people will probably try to recall today's date, and then calculate quietly in their hearts, and they will be able to accurately tell their age after a long while.

But the situation is quite special.

He doesn't belong to any of the above.

It's not that this child has forgotten the passage of time because of his poor life, but that he has no memory of before the age of seven at all.

The past of Zhongye in the Central Plains is a blank.

The beginning of his memory only began two years ago.

.

Two years ago, in 2007, the Yokohama concession exploded on the day.

When Zhongya Zhongya opened his eyes for the first time, he was lying naked in the center of the explosion site—the bottom of the huge pit that had not been filled up until now and finally evolved into a gathering place for a new generation of poor people.

He still remembered that the sky was gloomy that day, the air still had the unique smell after the explosion, the smoke and dust filled the air, and there was a little crackling sound of burning flames around him, and there was no other person except himself breathing.

who am I?

Where is this place?

do not know.

There is no answer.

Although he opened his eyes, Nakahara Chuya's thoughts were as chaotic as a ball of wool that had been tossed by a cat.

The orange-red-haired child lay numb on the ground, and after a long while, he curled up jerky. Then, he slowly got up, and countless dust and debris fell from his body.The little guy wobbled, like a newborn fawn, propping up his body with those two legs that seemed to have never stood up.

He maintained his balance with great difficulty, and when he stood firmly, Xiao Zhong also opened his eyes as clear as the sea, looking blankly at the terrible disaster around him.

In front of my eyes, everything was destroyed.

Both buildings and creatures have disappeared completely.

Including what the child wanted to know, his identity and past.

.

Zhongyuan Zhong also left the center of the giant pit after he learned to walk through bumps and bumps.

With his ignorant blue eyes open, he walked aimlessly forward while constantly observing the world.

Zhongya, who is about seven years old in appearance, looks like a newborn cub, and he is very strange to everything around him.

He doesn't know bread, fruit, money, or even the sun and moon in the sky...

But they have diametrically contradictory thinking and analytical abilities.

——He can think, speak, memorize and learn everything in front of him quickly.

But it is a complete stranger to this world.

Zhong also walked to the human gathering place in a daze, and wrapped his slender, thin and dirty body with the tattered military uniform he picked up from nowhere. survived.

But now, what am I going to do?

There is no answer.

Because of the loss of the past, I can't think of any place where I can go.

Fortunately, the human stronghold he went to was [Slum].

There are countless homeless people in the streets and alleys like him.

Chuya found a corner by himself to spend the night curled up, and it wasn't too conspicuous.

Subsequently.

The orange-red-haired kid who is ignorant of the world begins his daily life in the slums alone by virtue of his complete thinking ability and excellent learning ability.

.

A child who knows nothing about the world like a newborn cub, even if he has a complete thinking ability that contradicts it, still has a difficult life.

I have experienced not knowing what I want to eat and almost starved to death, my body was wet by the cold rain on a rainy day and my lips turned white, I couldn’t find a water source and my throat was dry due to thirst, and I was troubled by hooligans... Zhongyuanzhong It's almost like rolling around in a dusty circle in the ordeal of life and death, and finally I barely understand the way of survival of [human beings], and I have survived until now.

But the human world does not seem to be limited to humans.

At least in Zhongyuan Zhongye's eyes, there are still some curious little monsters who like to hide in dark corners.

Those little monsters move and exude an uncomfortable negative aura.Xiaozhong, who was extremely hungry, once caught them and asked passers-by if they could be eaten.

And passers-by looked at him with weird eyes, like looking at a mental patient, "What are you doing holding the air?"

So Zhong also realized it.

It turned out that no one else could see these little monsters except himself.

.

No one taught Zhong how to get food.

He also had trouble identifying what was and wasn't edible—the kid didn't even know bread, and at one point confusedly referred to a slice of bread held by a passer-by as a "square board."*1

Chuya initially only imitated.He imitated the tramp to catch fish in the river and birds on the wall to make a living, but fish and birds were not so easy to catch, so he was hungry most of the time.

He has lost a lot of weight, almost skinny.

When the hunger reached a certain level, Zhong Yuanzhong also set his sights on those little monsters.

however.

Little monsters can't eat.

Because I can't digest it.

And the taste is really disgusting.

These little monsters are weak, but unkillable by accident.

Whether it is stoned, stabbed with a rusty knife, or crushed with their natural ability to manipulate gravity, these little monsters will be restored again and again.

In trying to eat a little monster like a fish out of the water because of hunger, and finally vomited it out after a long time of nausea, he also summed it up with a deadpan face.

It was also noticed in the book that these little monsters like to stick to humans.

Especially like to stick to those who are full of malice or depressed people.

He once watched the whole process of the little monster being transferred from a person's shoulder to another emotionally broken woman, and watched the little monster transfer from the woman's body to the back of another even more dead man.

That's why Zhong also guessed that these little monsters would continue to transfer to more desperate people.

It's like being attracted to negative emotions.

But no little monster is willing to approach Chuya.

They instinctively avoided him and were unwilling to approach him. If they were caught by Chuya, they would struggle wildly and restlessly.Just as Zhongyuan didn't like these little monsters full of negativity, little monsters didn't like Zhongye either.

In conclusion, after observing the last, we also draw conclusions.

These little monsters like to hang out in bad places, they can't eat or kill them.

So the Central Plains also used them as warning signs, and would not touch these little monsters on weekdays unless necessary.

He gradually shifted the scope of activities.

As a result, the original destiny was derailed.

.

In January 2008, the weather was very cold, and there was a rare heavy snowfall in Yokohama.

In the Central Plains, who did not know the changes of the seasons and was almost frozen to death in the cold winter, he also found a source of supplies suitable for his own struggle at the critical moment.

That is there are deathmatch matches in the ghetto.

——Prohibition of hot weapons, except for a hundred taboos, regardless of life or death.

This is a spontaneous activity organized by slum residents in order to get more supplies.

Put food, medicine, clothing and other living materials as reward chips to invite others to fight, and the winner can get what the loser has.

However, this is generally an adult activity.

Because children are far inferior to adults in terms of physical fitness and strength, they often only end up in death.

But Zhong, who lacked common sense, also recklessly got involved.

He took a fish he caught from the unfrozen river as a bargaining chip, and among the countless adults who stared at him and expressed their willingness to compete with him, he chose a hooligan wearing a thick winter coat.

He narrowly won by relying on rusty, unrevealed abilities.

Then, amidst the shocked expressions of the adults, he once again pushed down all his resources in a desperate manner.

Zhong is also very smart, he didn't expose his abilities too much.

And every time he wins, he will put all his supplies on his side, attracting those greedy adults like a bold gambler... and then win again and again.

He knocked down all the adults who tried to use up his strength with crowd tactics. After getting enough food, clothes, and medicine for which he didn't know why, and accurately estimated his remaining strength, the little Zhong also directly He ran away with his things in his arms, avoiding those bastards who wanted to gang up and grab his supplies because of repentance.

Zhong also escaped.

He also finally had the resources to survive the dreaded winter.

.

Nakahara also met the Akutagawa brothers and sisters in this cold winter.

The situation when we first met was not so harmonious.

Because the boy with white skin as lifeless as snow was caught trying to steal the medicine in Zhongye's bag.

Zhongya, who was in much better physical condition than the opponent, held down the ice-cold wrist of the opponent, and the moment the power was activated, he fell directly onto the snow.

Zhong Ye stared at the other party vigilantly, and then he was slightly stunned after seeing the person coming.

It was an equally thin child, a little younger than Zhongye, who looked to be only five or six years old.

——Wearing an extremely thin and ill-fitting shirt, with a head of pure black hair, only the ends of the temples are snow-white, and his eyes are also pitch black without any highlights.

The other party stared at Chuya with a particularly fierce gaze.

They fought.

Nakahara Chuya, who has the ability to manipulate gravity, fought with Akutagawa Ryunosuke, who has the ability to [use clothing as a medium to form a cloth blade to attack].

The result was a big win for the former.

The black-haired child was crushed to the ground, unable to move at all.

Zhong didn't play hard.

Especially after discovering that the other party also possesses supernatural powers, when he was slightly stunned, he restrained his strength with a slightly joyful mood.

"Did you just want to steal this?" Zhong didn't let go of the black-haired child, just took out the box of medicine from the bag and asked.

"..."

"What is this thing? I've eaten it before. It's very bitter. It doesn't look like food." Zhong, who couldn't understand the explanation, continued to ask.

"..." The black-haired child pursed his lips expressionlessly, before answering in a hoarse voice after a long time, "That's medicine."

"medicine?"

"Antipyretics."

"Anti-fever medicine...?" Zhong Ye imitated the other party and repeated, and then seriously thought about the meaning.

The black-haired child couldn't help but glanced at the other party strangely, as if a little surprised.

But he explained anyway.

Maybe it's the idea of ​​delaying time.

The black-haired child said: "...it is something that can cure diseases and save lives."

.

Akutagawa Ryunosuke was about six years old when he met Nakahara Nakaya.

It was a terrible winter.

Six-year-old Ryunosuke's only remaining relative, his four-year-old sister Akutagawa Gin, has a fever.

In the slums, it's still winter... it's almost a death sentence.

Akutagawa Ryunosuke looked at his sister silently, silently left all the clothes to her, and hid her.

And he himself left without hesitation, looking for something that could save his sister.

Warm clothes, food...and, of course, medicine.

However, medicines are too precious for the unemployed vagrants with no or very low income in the slums, not to mention the high price, and they are also difficult to find-there are only black clinics in the slums that charge exorbitant prices, and the nearest pharmacy in the city It's far away.

Of course, it is even more difficult for homeless orphans who have no money to get medicine.

Akutagawa Ryunosuke's ability is still very weak.

There are only a few cloth blades to control, and they are not strong enough. There is almost no chance of winning a one-on-one with an adult holding a weapon. Only by surprise can you gain an advantage.

Therefore, fighting games in the slums have never been in his consideration, and Yin has always stopped him from going.

But if the supplies are not found today, Akutagawa will probably risk his life to gamble once.

Only the younger sister...he had to protect it desperately.

Akutagawa Ryunosuke has heard of Nakahara Chuya.

The other party has recently become famous.

I heard that it was a child of seven or eight years old, but he won over a dozen adults and got a lot of good things.

When Akutagawa Ryunosuke met Chuya for the first time on the way to find supplies, he recognized him keenly.

——After all, the other party's gorgeous hair color that almost doesn't fit in the slums is too dazzling.

Akutagawa didn't want to provoke the other party, but his eyes inadvertently noticed the medicine in the worn-out bag that Chuya was carrying.

That's a fever reducer.

Akutagawa had seen this packaging before, so he recognized it immediately.

Maybe they are both children, the appearance is too deceptive, Akutagawa Ryunosuke hesitated for a long time, and finally chose to take the risk to steal the medicine back from the other party.

He failed.

He was discovered the moment he touched the bag, and he was thrown into the snow before he even had time to use his abilities.

However, after learning the reason why he stole the medicine, Zhong Yuan withdrew his gravity ability and chose to give him the medicine.

Akutagawa Ryunosuke propped up his body and sat on the ground, staring blankly at the antipyretic medicine thrown into his hand by the other party, his dark eyes were wide open, and he looked at Chuya with a rather shocked expression.

"...You want to give this to me?"

"Because I don't need this thing. If I need it urgently, I won't give it to you."

"But do you know how much this box of medicine can be exchanged from other people?"

"I don't know about it, but I have enough food to survive." The young Zhongyuan Zhongya said calmly, "But if you can't get it... your sister will probably die of illness, right?"

death.

In this area, this winter, new bodies have been found almost every day.

Zhong Yuanzhong has seen many, but he has never taken it for granted.

Akutagawa Ryunosuke slowly tightened his hands, grabbed the box of medicine, then looked at the other party expressionlessly for a while,

In the end, as if he was burned by the other party's too dazzling orange-red hair that was as bright as the sun, he ran away without looking back.

.

Ryunosuke is the first person with supernatural powers other than himself that Chuya encountered.

For Chuya, who is like a newborn cub and has no past memory at all, it is natural to pay attention to the other party who also has strange abilities.

The three of them eventually developed into a companionship... a week later.

It was the eight-year-old Nakahara Nakaya who offered a companion invitation to the young Akutagawa brothers and sisters.

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The author has something to say:

*1 From Fumino's official Chuya 16-year-old bonus Shirase's description.

It's really pitiful to call a slice of bread a square plank... Chuya really almost starved himself to death when he was born.