Prologue: Lost and Soon to Be Killed
"Who was I?" Masamune asked the air once again, not expecting an answer—especially not from "him". Whenever he questioned that, he was referring both to who he had been and who he was now.
He had been a university student who devoured manga, comics, movies, and series all day long. He remembered how, before falling asleep, he had been rereading the books of a story that had always intrigued him: Akame ga Kill, its prequel Akame ga Kill Zero, and its sequel Hinowa ga Yuku.
The story told of how the world's largest and most advanced nation rotted in corruption, becoming a living hell. Human-shaped monsters ruled, and the weak were daily victims of the depraved nobility and upper class. A revolutionary army fought to overthrow the worst of them, aided by a group of assassins who would be remembered thanks to a certain red-eyed killer—most of whom wouldn't survive.
In nature, there were the so-called "dangerous creatures," which made a pack of wolves seem harmless and a bear look like a mere stuffed toy. From their flesh, blood, skin, and bones, the empire's powerful Teigu were forged, along with their lesser counterparts—the Shingu and the Meihou of the Wakoku nations.
The ultimate fate of this conflict was the most bittersweet victory one could imagine for all involved. Whether or not the country had truly changed was left open to interpretation. But seeing the types of people on both sides, one could already foresee a terrible decline into future conflicts and the possibility of another war. There was even foreshadowing of a nation destined to become another living hell—one nearly as brutal—waiting for the protagonist in the future. A story that never continue.
For Akame.
Her miserable childhood, being sold to become a weapon, the deep loneliness of her path littered with dead and lost friends, the suffering inflicted by the weapon's cursed tattoos, slowly killing her and stripping away her humanity. It did not paint a good life for someone who changed a nation and became the most dangerous assassin of all.
A story filled with action and drama—an amazing tale, for someone who wasn't part of that world.
Ironically, the young man now known as Masamune was no longer so lucky, as this was now his reality—especially since that very protagonist and her friends would soon become his executioners, along with the caravan of "actors" and "dancers" who had helped him escape the forest.
"Why me?" he screamed in his mind, watching Akame's expert sword movements and Tsukushi's graceful contortions, impressing his unsuspecting comrades, ready for the next show. They had no idea what a grave mistake they had made in allowing these girls to accompany them.
He had arrived in this world with no special abilities, as far as he had experienced, and he was clearly incapable of facing an elite group of young assassins coming for their heads. If he didn't act soon, they were all going to die—and the story would go on as if nothing had happened, erasing the existence of a man who never was.
Perhaps he would die by beheading, gunshot, crushing, impalement, dislocation, pulverization, strangulation.
Finding out who he had been would have to wait. And "his" help would be necessary.
For now, the most important thing was to survive the past of this story—Akame ga Kill Zero, the beginning of a professional assassin and the first deaths that marked the history of this world.
"It won't be easy to save someone from their fate, Masamune. But if even the slightest chance exists… won't we take it?" said the voice in our conscience.
And the mask in his bag was calling him.
Extra: Continuing HDxB. Just translating some of the other stories i made. Thanks for the patience.