行尸走肉第3季

Ryan felt the familiar haze surround his brain and tried to recall what he had been doing before.

A memory came to him, he was strapped down to a chair in a dark room while some voice gave him commands, then everything turned black.

'I must be in another dream,' He thought.

Ryan tried to activate his mental defenses to ward off the haze, but to his dismay, he couldn't conjure any energy in this dreamlike state.

The setting of the dream was the room he had just come from, but the "him" in the vision didn't seem as conscious as he had been.

He saw his eyes rolled to the back of his head and droll oozing from the corner of his mouth.

Long whip marks covered his chest, and he saw countless scars covering his body.

Most of the scars were old, but the new whip marks caused them to tear open, leaking blood from the openings.

"Are you prepared to receive a protocol?" The same feminine voice he had heard previously sounded in the room, sending a shiver into Ryan's soul.

"I will receive," He heard himself gurgle out.

"Protocol Z is the name of this protocol. Acknowledge the name."

"Protocol Z," He said.

"When this protocol is activated, you will REMEMBER your childhood from birth to age five, and nothing else."

"Do you understand?"

"Subject one understands."

Suddenly a machine from the side moved, and a whip appeared above his body and slapped down.

"Your name is Anthony Dire. Do you understand?" The feminine voice asked.

"Anthony Dire understands."

===

Gasping and sitting up, Ryan looked down at his chest.

In the later part of the dream, he had been thrust into his younger body.

Sensing what the previous him felt was something Ryan never wanted to experience again.

"I have to find that woman and make her pay." He swore, gritting his teeth as anger burned inside him.

Looking around, Ryan slowly relaxed when he saw the familiar environment of his room.

Suddenly widening his eyes, he opened his wristband interface to check the time, "Oh crap, I only have 3 hours left!"

Running out of his dorm room, he was stepping out of the door when he saw a group of six enhancers standing outside.

One of the boys spotted him and exclaimed, "Hey, that's him!"

Hearing the exclamation, the other five boys turned towards him.

Frowning, Ryan examined the boys in front of him.

They looked like typical douchebags that you would find pushing some kid against a locker at school.

However, these weren't any ordinary douchebags. They were rich!

Ryan stared greedily at what was hanging on four of their pouches, "Spatial bags," Ryan murmured.

"What did you say, orphan?" A big guy who looked like a failed bodybuilder strode towards him. His chest was puffed out, and he flared out his arms, trying to make himself look more intimidating.

"Do you think you have permission to speak to us just because you got into this academy?" He said, attempting to push Ryan over.

Seeing Ryan not fall over, the man tried again, but as hard as he pushed, he seemed to be pressed against a wall.

"He's got some type of defensive treasure." The man said, scoffing and walking away.

Frowning, a man who looked like the leader said, "I have something to deal with it, but I'd rather not waste it on scum like him," he eyed Ryan for a second before breaking out in an amicable smile, "My friend, I have a proposition."

Ryan looked at the man in wonder. He had heard Aliza say the phrase, "An idiot who can't figure out how to walk can only be saved by the size of his fathers. . . wallet."

The first time she said it, he had been certain the last word was different, but he soon understood it to mean a rich son who grew up sucking off his father's. . . money.

In his previous life, he had never encountered someone who fit those criteria but judging by their spatial bags, the clothes they wore, and the pendants on their shirts, he was sure they fit the bill.

For a second, Ryan thought he recognized the leader's pendant but put off that thought for now.

Slightly smiling, Ryan said, "What would this proposition entail?"

"Who do you think you're talking to?" The man who tried to push Ryan earlier huffed, "Just because Lord Gregory Vanroth doesn't deem you worthy enough to use such a valuable treasure, you think you're worthy to speak to him without addressing him properly?"

"Calm down, Illius. I'm sure our friend here is just eager to work with someone as great as me."

"Oh, so you're the guy who's in first place," Ryan recalled checking the ranking list a week ago and seeing Gregory Vanroth as the first name.

Seeing Gregory stiffen, Ryan couldn't suppress a smile as he realized this man wasn't in first place anymore.

Pulling up the ranking on his bracelet, Ryan saw Gregory Vanroth sitting comfortably at…

"10th place?" Ryan said, holding his stomach as he laughed.

Suddenly he looked at the number nine and said, "What happened to your lordship?" Ryan said, "Did you come to me for advice?"

"My student seems to be ranked higher than you, after all."

Sitting firmly above Lord Gregory in ninth place was Ryan's wannabe student, Cole Gallop.

Red in the face, Gregory clenched his fist as he tried to calm his furry. "No, I did not," He said through gritted teeth, "I came to invite you to spend the next hours with us."

"Hm," Ryan touched his chin, pretending to ponder about the offer, "I'll have to pass," he finally said.

"Do you have a sister by chance, Gregory?" Ryan suddenly asked, "I'd rather spend my time with her."

Gregory looked confused at Ryan, but one of his goons behind him chortled, "Yeah, he does!"

"But she's way out of your league. She's ranked in the top 100 in the first year!"

Ryan had only asked in jest but hearing the goons reply, he focused on him and asked, "You wouldn't happen to have her dorm number, would you?"

Gregory turned around to shout for his servant to stop, but he wasn't in time.

"She's ranked 58th, so she's in room A58, obviously!"

"What's wrong, boss?" The man asked, looking over at the enraged Gregory.

Gregory screamed and unleashed his pent-up rage on his servant, taking out an object no bigger than a USB drive and throwing it at him.

What Ryan expected didn't happen as the pellet-shaped object detonated, and a boom shook the sidewalk, debris flying everywhere.

Ryan averted his gaze as the light became too bright to look directly at.

Hearing the rumbles fade, Ryan looked back only to stare in shock as he saw burnt body parts scattered in several directions.