"Hiss... it hurts, Merlin's beard, my head feels like it's splitting open!"
On the cold asphalt, a blond, blue-eyed boy clutched his head and struggled to sit up, forcing himself out of unconsciousness.
The harsh sunlight stabbed into his eyes, making his already throbbing skull buzz violently, as if countless ants were pounding gongs and drums inside his head.
His name was Louis, a transmigrator whose soul came from the twenty-first century, trapped in the body of an eleven-year-old boy.
At this moment, Louis's mind was filled with nothing but bewilderment and confusion.
Just five minutes ago, he had been eagerly anticipating his future in the magical world.
In his previous life, he had been an ordinary college student. While trying to save a child crossing the road, he had been sent to another world by an out-of-control truck.
Fortunately, he had transmigrated into a young wizard with the same name, living in Surrey, England. Not long ago, he had celebrated his eleventh birthday and successfully received an admission letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
For a hardcore Harry Potter fan, this was nothing short of a jackpot-level dream start.
After purchasing all his school supplies in Diagon Alley, he had taken his suitcase and, with a sense of pilgrimage-like excitement, arrived at King's Cross Station. Taking a deep breath, he charged straight toward the wall between Platforms Nine and Ten.
And then;
He was sent flying.
In the most literal sense.
With a loud bang and stars exploding in his vision, he felt like an egg smashing against a wall before blacking out completely.
"So, where exactly did I get knocked to?"
Louis shook his still-dizzy head and forced himself to stand. But the moment he clearly saw his surroundings, a chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.
"Wait, what the hell is this place?"
Before him stretched a wide yet deathly silent street. Cars lay overturned, fire hydrants smashed, debris scattered everywhere.
Broken glass and abandoned newspapers littered the sidewalk. When the wind blew, dust rose into the air, carrying with it a strange stench, the metallic smell of rust mixed with something rotten.
The architecture was completely wrong.
Towering skyscrapers pierced the clouds, and massive billboards covered the buildings, plastered with unfamiliar faces and English brand names he couldn't recognize.
It was unmistakably a modern city, yet it felt like a place long abandoned, steeped in an eerie, heart-chilling desolation.
Enduring the pounding in his head, Louis staggered toward his luggage.
The vintage leather suitcase lay safely on the ground, several textbooks scattered beside it. He hurriedly picked them up and stuffed them back inside.
At that moment, a low, beast-like groan drifted toward him with the wind.
Louis snapped his head up and looked toward the far end of the street.
A staggering figure emerged from around the corner, advancing slowly toward him. The man wore a tattered suit; one arm twisted at a grotesque angle, and dark red stains smeared his face.
Louis's heart skipped a beat.
Then a second figure appeared.
A third.
More and more figures emerged from between buildings and from behind abandoned cars, shuffling forward.
Without exception, their movements were stiff, their expressions vacant. Meaningless groans spilled from their mouths, like puppets being dragged along by invisible strings.
Memories from his previous life, long buried, surged back into his mind like a tidal wave.
Resident Evil. Dead Rising. The Walking Dead.
"No, this can't be…"
Louis's face went deathly pale as an absurd thought surfaced, one that nearly made his knees give out.
"I was supposed to go to Hogwarts, not some damn apocalypse like Raccoon City!"
He cursed under his breath, but this was clearly not the time for despair.
As someone who had watched countless zombie movies, Louis knew one thing very well: a living person standing out in the open like this was a beacon, a top-tier delicacy.
Almost instantly, survival instinct overwhelmed shock and panic.
His mind began working at full speed. His blue eyes swept calmly across the surroundings, rapidly mapping out an escape route.
Fifty meters ahead and slightly to the left, an office building with shattered glass doors.
That was the nearest cover.
He grabbed his suitcase and was about to move when sudden, sharp gunfire erupted behind him.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The shots tore through the silence.
The Walkers closest to Louis collapsed, blood and bone bursting from their skulls.
Startled, Louis turned around.
A tall man in a police uniform stood there, revolver in hand. His eyes were sharp and alert as he scanned the surroundings while running toward Louis.
"Hey! Kid! Are you okay?!" the man shouted.
Before he could answer, the man had already reached him, grabbed his arm, and practically hauled him up, dragging him toward the office building.
"Damn it, move! The gunshots will draw more Walkers!"
The man's grip was astonishingly strong. Louis stumbled along, barely able to keep up.
In the chaos, he managed to glance back once.
Just as expected, Walkers were pouring out from all directions, converging toward the sound of the gunfire in a dense, horrifying mass.
They rushed into the office building one after another. The man quickly shoved a sofa and a filing cabinet against the shattered glass doors, barricading them.
"Safe for now."
Leaning against the door, the man gasped for breath. Then he turned, studying Louis sharply.
"Kid, why are you alone in a place like this?"
"I… I don't even know where this is," Louis replied, panting. "I think, I'm lost."
"Lost? Ha. Hell of a time for that."
The man holstered his revolver. "Name's Shane Walsh, Deputy Sheriff, King County Sheriff's Office. Listen, kid, it's dangerous out there. You stick with me, understand?"
'Shane Walsh, King County.'
Louis's pupils contracted.
A horrifying yet undeniable conclusion formed in his mind.
This was the world of The Walking Dead.
Where was Hogwarts? Where were Voldemort, the Ministry of Magic, and the chosen-one drama?!
How did he go from magical Britain straight into a zombie apocalypse?!
Louis felt dizzy again, but he forced himself to remain calm, unwilling to show anything strange in front of the man who had just saved his life.
"Alright, Officer Shane. I understand."
Shane gave him a surprised, approving glance.
"Good. Stay here and don't move. I'll check for another exit." He patted Louis's shoulder. "Don't worry. I've got you."
Gun raised, Shane cautiously moved toward the stairwell.
Once he was gone, Louis immediately slumped against the cold wall, breathing heavily.
"Life is way too hard on me."
Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, he forced a bitter smile.
The only good news was that, he knew The Walking Dead's storyline fairly well.
If his magic had vanished during this second transmigration, he could at least rely on his foreknowledge to find some reliable "babysitters."
After all, there was no way an unarmed eleven-year-old could survive alone in this world.
Bracing himself for the worst, Louis hugged his precious suitcase and flipped open the latches.
Everything inside was his current lifeline.
Neatly arranged were the Complete Set of Hogwarts First-Year Textbooks:
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1, History of Magic, Magical Theory, A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, along with several extracurricular books such as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and The Encyclopedia of Practical Spells.
Beside the books rested a long velvet box.
Inside lay a thirteen-inch ebony wand, its core a Thunderbird tail feather, quietly radiating a dangerous, powerful aura.
Finally, his fingers brushed against the silver fabric at the bottom of the case, smooth and fluid like moonlight.
The Invisibility Cloak.
There was no doubt about it.
His magic was still here.
This was truly a blessing in disguise.
Yet the distant sounds of Walkers quickly cooled his excitement.
Even with magic intact, he didn't know a single spell. For now, the wand was almost useless.
A wizard's suitcase. A full set of magical theory textbooks. An unused wand. And one priceless artifact that might just keep him alive.
"Fine," Louis exhaled slowly, despair giving way to resolve. "Better than nothing."