Bleach: No cheat codes, he joined Aizen's side.

Chapter 109, Section 108: A World Constructed from the Illusion

Ding!
As the elevator doors opened, Higashino Shuichi looked at the crowd filing out in front of him, feeling somewhat dazed.

Why is he here?
This looks like the place where he worked in his previous life?
Turning around, I saw a crowded lobby on the first floor, with a long line of people behind me.

Some people were looking down at their phones, some had bread in their mouths, some were flipping through documents, and some were touching up their makeup in their mirrors.

Everything felt so familiar, yet so strange.

"Hey, are you going up or not? If not, move aside and stop blocking the way, okay? People are going to be late for work, okay?!"

Suddenly, the building security guard's voice urged him from behind, and Higashino instinctively followed the crowd into the elevator.

Is he here to work?

Higashino Shuichi was bewildered.

It seems like this: I get up at six o'clock every morning, squeeze onto the earliest subway, and arrive at the company building at 8:51. Then I queue for eight minutes for an elevator, just in time to clock in.

This is true every single day, without exception.

As the elevator doors were about to close, the security guard outside was still cursing at him. Suddenly, the lights inside the elevator flickered, followed by a violent shaking. Without warning, the elevator plummeted to the ground floor.

Countless screams instantly echoed inside the elevator.

There was an accident? But shouldn't this be the first floor?
In an instant, several questions surfaced in Higashino Shuichi's mind, but for some reason, he did not feel the slightest bit of panic in this situation.

My heart was already racing due to weightlessness.

However, Higashino Shuichi's mind remained incredibly clear and calm.

And seemingly driven by his subconscious, Higashino Shuichi's right hand quickly opened downwards while he chanted,

"Binding Spell Number Thirty-Seven: Hanging Star!"

As soon as the words were spoken, out of sight of those inside the elevator, in the pitch-black elevator shaft, a net of spiritual energy instantly formed, just in time to catch the rapidly falling elevator and attempt to slow its descent so that it would not crash into the ground at the speed of free fall.

But it was no use; the elevator eventually landed on the ground.

The lights went out, and darkness descended.

Higashino Hideaki felt a violent impact on his body, and then all he could see was blood, chunks of flesh, and his splattered brain matter.

Death has never come as swiftly and unstoppably as it has this time.

When Higashino Shuichi regained consciousness, he found himself still in the elevator. Around him, people were calling for help, praying, crying, and some were even recording their last words on their phones.
But Shuichi Higashino raised his right hand in front of him, chanting, "Binding Spell: Hanging Star."

Because of the sudden collapse of his body and the inexplicable return of consciousness, he seemed to remember that he had transmigrated to the world of Bleach, become a Shinigami, joined Aizen's side, and became an undercover agent. After assisting Kisuke Urahara in his betrayal, he voluntarily entered Hollowfication.

Therefore, he should be in the inner world created by the virtual being within his own body right now.

Normally, he shouldn't have experienced amnesia after entering this place. However, Higashino Shuichi thought that he had entered the Hollowfication state by completely exhausting his own power, which might be the reason for his amnesia.

But what exactly happened just now?

Is his memory malfunctioning again?

Or is it a fact that actually happened?
Higashino Shuichi was at a loss for a moment, because his brain's memory had only just returned, so he couldn't determine whether the fleeting image of death he had just seen was his imagination.

Because at this moment, there was no blood or severed limbs inside the elevator, as if nothing had just happened, and the entire elevator had landed smoothly with his help.

Higashino Shuichi reached for his waist and, sure enough, there it was—his Zanpakuto.

Just now, I simply ignored its existence subconsciously.

Soon, amidst the noise and anxious sounds, the elevator doors opened, revealing the familiar and endearing orange uniforms.

Higashino Shuichi did not choose to use his Zanpakuto to forcibly break open the elevator, nor did he choose to use Kido to get out.

Because this world is strange, no one finds it odd that he carries a Zanpakuto; it seems everyone takes it for granted.

Furthermore, the void within him is also quite strange.

To this day, Higashino Shuichi has not yet discovered his existence.

Although Shuichi Higashino knew that the Bankai of a Zanpakuto did not always involve fighting against one's own Zanpakuto.

Because mastering Bankai is essentially the process of allowing a Shinigami to deeply understand their own power.

Just like Shuichi Higashino's own Zanpakuto, it can be finally released through repeated trials.

But Shuichi Higashino never expected that mastering the ability to become ethereal could be done in this way.

In other words, whether it's the Shikai, Bankai, or Hollowfication of a Zanpakuto, it's essentially a process of recognizing one's own power.

And this process is never bound by any particular form.

Therefore, Higashino Shuichi also wanted to know what this void inside him was, and what it wanted to do to him. Higashino Shuichi had a vague guess.

It's not that half a piece of the Hogyoku can't allow a Shinigami to achieve the final, perfect Hollowfication, but rather that half a piece of the Hogyoku cannot directly enable a Shinigami to directly recognize and fully understand the full power of their Hollowfication.

Because the essence of Arrancar's Resurrection is returning to its original form.

For a Shinigami, this is essentially the process of recognizing the full power of their Zanpakuto during Bankai.

Therefore, as long as Shuichi Higashino can complete this process of cognition and understanding, even if he is currently achieving Hollowfication using half of the Hogyoku, he should eventually have the opportunity to achieve perfect Hollowfication without relying on the power of the complete Hogyoku.

In other words, it means mastering the art of returning the blade to its original state.

With this suspicion in mind, Higashino Shuichi decided to play along with the virtual being inside him for a while.

He wanted to see just how good that illusion really was.

Give me your hand!

Seeing the right hand extended to him by the man in the orange uniform, Higashino Shuichi reached out and grasped it.

With a forceful push, he was freed from the trapped elevator.

The accident was neither a major nor a minor incident, but because it did not cause any casualties or serious economic losses, the police unexpectedly only took some statements at the scene and then let Higashino Shuichi and his group leave.

As for where Higashino Shuichi can go after leaving?
Naturally, I would go to work at the company.

The evil capitalists still wouldn't allow him to rest under these circumstances, and even deducted a day's full attendance bonus from Higashino Shuichi because he was late for clocking in.

Fortunately, Higashino Shuichi knew that this was just his inner world, not the real world.

Otherwise, he would really thank him.

"At The International 6 (TI6) that just concluded in Seattle, the Chinese team Wings fought their way through the competition and won the world championship."

"In the recently concluded human-machine Go competition, AlphaGo, the latest generation of artificial intelligence machine created by XX company, successfully defeated the current world's number one Go player."

"In the recently concluded 20th World Cup, the German team won the world championship."

Sitting at his workstation, Higashino Shuichi leisurely slacked off while browsing information about the world.

As he expected, this was a virtual world within him, a fabricated world constructed based on Higashino Shuichi's own memories.

Therefore, it is impossible for any information outside of Higashino Shuichi's own memories to appear in this world.

Therefore, this information is chaotic and disordered.

So what exactly does he want to do?

Having realized this, Higashino Shuichi became even more confused.

The behavior of the ethereal being within him is truly illogical.

However, Higashino Shuichi quickly came up with another explanation.

Could it be that this kind of behavioral logic contains a false sense of self-defense?

Higashino Shuichi's consideration was not without basis, as his own Zanpakuto's Bankai was exactly like that.

But if that's really the case...
Higashino glanced at his colleagues who seemed to be busy working, and silently drew his Zanpakuto.

"Advance, soldiers! Those who command armies govern people!"

He stabbed his colleague in the body.

Then, nothing happens.

Not only did no spirit beings appear, but the colleague who had been stabbed through the chest by Higashino Hideichi also seemed completely unaware, calmly raising his head to ask Higashino Hideichi a question.
"Are you standing here because you need something?"

Higashino Shuichi shook his head and drew his sword.

The colleague collapsed to the ground instantly and disappeared.

But soon, a brand new, identical colleague reappeared and continued the work of the previous one.

"So, is this a world that operates entirely according to predetermined rules?"

Upon witnessing this scene, Higashino Shuichi had a sudden realization.

In this world constructed by the ethereal being within him, Higashino Shuichi's own abilities cannot disrupt its own operating rules. Only when this world attempts to forcibly pull him, an outsider who does not belong to the world's operating scope, can he briefly influence this world.

However, this is the impact.
Higashino Shuichi considered some possibilities, but more events were needed to verify them.

(End of this chapter)