Chapter 12: Ghoul × Human
Su Xiao stood behind a large tree, watching the high school girl ghoul begin to dispose of the bodies at the scene.
To be fair, the high school girl’s technique was quite skilled. She first cleaned up the large pool of blood on the ground, then dragged the two corpses.
“Gulp.”
A swallowing sound came from her as she stared at the human corpse before her. The hunger in her stomach tormented her.
“This is the last time. I won’t eat raw meat again. I’m not a beast.”
The high school girl reached out toward the corpse, blood staining her fair hand.
“Are you planning to eat in front of me?”
Su Xiao stepped out from behind the tree trunk.
For some reason, the high school girl’s body trembled. Her red eyes and kagune retracted simultaneously. The bloodstained hand was quickly hidden behind her back as she wiped it frantically, looking panicked.
“Who are you? How did you get here?”
“CCG, Third-Class Investigator, Bai Ye.”
[Dragon-Slaying Flash] appeared in Su Xiao’s hand, the gleaming blade reflecting a cold glint under the moonlight.
“A CCG investigator… It’s finally come to this.”
The high school girl lowered her head, her hidden hand dropping to her side, still stained with blood that hadn’t been wiped clean.
Her kagune and red eyes reappeared. This ghoul’s kagune was a tail-type, located at the base of her spine, with two strands as thick as fingers.
“You’ve seen my face. I’m Chika. The one who’ll kill you.”
Chika’s delicate features twisted. This ghoul still had some humanity, but she was a ghoul nonetheless.
“This park is your hunting ground, isn’t it? Based on your earlier actions, you lure in lecherous men. What about those missing female students?”
Su Xiao’s question directly enraged Chika.
“Those sows sell their bodies for a bit of money. They have human identities—why can’t they find someone they love and live quietly?
That’s right, I envy them. I envy them for being human. Every time, I tear them apart and cook them.”
Most ghouls, due to their long-term consumption of humans, have somewhat twisted minds. After all, the difference between humans and ghouls isn’t that great.
Su Xiao understood the cause. The ghoul he was looking for was none other than Chika.
“You have ten seconds to leave your last words.”
Chika was stunned, then looked at Su Xiao with amusement.
“You’re just a Third-Class Investigator, and you’re telling me to leave last words? With that broken sword in your hand? That thing can’t hurt me.”
“What a bizarre last words.”
With that, Su Xiao charged forward, blade in hand.
Sounds of fighting, screams, and crying…
A minute later, the forest fell silent. Chika lay covered in blood on the ground, her kagune severed, both arms missing.
“It hurts so much… So this is what injury feels like. No wonder those prey scream so loudly.”
Tears streaked Chika’s face. She was a ghoul between A and S rank, and Su Xiao had taken her down in a few strikes.
“Are you going to kill me?”
Su Xiao remained silent, standing beside Chika, raising [Dragon-Slaying Flash].
“Is it really wrong to live as a ghoul? Haha… Eating people raw really does bring retribution.”
“That’s none of my concern. Just a mission. Farewell.”
The long blade fell, blood splattering.
[You have killed S- rank Ghoul, Chika.]
[Chika is a regular ghoul. Obtained World Source 0.5%. Total World Source obtained: 5.7%.]
[Your talent ‘Soul Devourer’ activated. Permanently increased Mana Points by 7. Current Mana Points: 170.]
[Obtained 40 CCG Contribution Points.]
Although Chika was an S- rank ghoul, she didn’t drop a treasure chest.
This wasn’t surprising. The gap in strength between Chika and Su Xiao was too large. As seen from the World Source obtained, Chika had little impact on the plot.
The reason the Lizard had dropped a green chest wasn’t due to strength, but because of its close connection to the original story.
Su Xiao pulled out a CCG-specific phone, dialed, explained the situation to the 14th Ward Branch, and hung up.
He didn’t need to handle the rest. CCG would send someone to dispose of Chika’s body. Once her kagune sac was extracted, he could earn some Contribution Points.
Of course, he could also keep the kagune sac and spend Contribution Points to have it made into a koukaku.
An S- rank kagune sac would likely produce white-grade equipment, so Su Xiao chose to turn it in for 10 Contribution Points.
This brought his Contribution Points to: Third-Class Investigator (Contribution Points 50/50). Yes/No to promote.
He selected promotion, but his rank didn’t change. Reincarnation Paradise gave a prompt.
[Waiting for feedback from CCG Headquarters. Estimated time: 3 hours.]
Promotion wasn’t just about selecting it; he needed notification from CCG Headquarters.
With Reincarnation Paradise’s influence, becoming a Second-Class Investigator was certain.
Without that influence, it might take Su Xiao years to reach First-Class Investigator.
That had nothing to do with how many ghouls he eliminated—it was a matter of seniority.
Now, with Reincarnation Paradise’s influence, seniority was bypassed. Su Xiao only needed to hunt a large number of ghouls.
Even so, reaching First-Class Investigator wouldn’t be easy.
CCG investigators had six ranks, from lowest to highest: Third-Class Investigator, Second-Class Investigator, First-Class Investigator, First-Class Investigator (Senior), Associate Special-Class Investigator, and Special-Class Investigator.
Third-Class was the weakest, Special-Class the strongest.
When Su Xiao returned to the 14th Ward Branch, Shinohara Yukinori approached him.
“That’s the gist of it. The ghoul has been eliminated. Are there any other ghouls to deal with?”
Su Xiao recounted the events, and Shinohara nodded.
“I’ve already reported your solo elimination of an S- rank ghoul to Headquarters. Barring any issues, you should be promoted to Second-Class Investigator ahead of schedule. After all, with your abilities, Third-Class is far too low.
No, even Second-Class is a bit low, but without sufficient merit, Headquarters won’t promote you further.”
Su Xiao said nothing. He just wanted to continue hunting the next ghoul.
Currently, aside from him, all other contractors were assigned to the ghoul faction. That meant his target, Contractor No. 12470, was also in the ghoul faction.
Given the two main missions (1.2), the next main mission (3) was likely a confrontation-type task. Otherwise, there was no need to split into two factions and activate the balance mechanism.
“In that case, Special-Class Shinohara, could you provide me with more ghoul locations?”
Completing Main Mission (2) early would definitely bring great benefits.
“Hmm, that’s a good idea. But you need rest now—it’s already 10 PM.
Also, I have a favor to ask you tomorrow morning. Or rather, Mr. Mado has a favor to ask.”
Su Xiao was puzzled but didn’t press further. After saying goodbye to Shinohara, he went to the dormitory assigned to him by the 14th Ward CCG Branch, located on the 16th floor.
---
11th Ward, Ota District.
As the stronghold of Aogiri Tree, the 11th Ward was now almost a human no-go zone.
Aogiri Tree had repeatedly attacked the 11th Ward CCG Branch, weakening human forces to the extreme. Only near the 11th Ward CCG Branch did a few scattered civilians live, constantly on edge.
These civilians weren’t there willingly. They were trapped. The ghouls of the 11th Ward had them cornered, using them as emergency “food supplies.” Only investigators with sufficient strength could freely enter or leave the 11th Ward.
The ghouls living here relied on “imported” human meat, showing just how dangerous the 11th Ward was.
At this moment, in a dilapidated building on the outskirts of the 11th Ward, over twenty humans were gathered.
These twenty-plus people weren’t from a single faction. They were divided into three groups, each varying in size. These were the contractors of the ghoul faction.
“Cold Fish, stop your nonsense. The balance mechanism is just because CCG is currently stronger than Aogiri Tree. Some ridiculously overpowered contractor? Don’t set up imaginary enemies for me.”
A hot-tempered young man with fiery red short hair looked disdainfully at Cold Fish.
Cold Fish sneered and shook his head. If the other party weren’t a fire mage, he wouldn’t have bothered to seek an alliance.
“Blaze, don’t think that just because I came to you for an alliance, you can act arrogant.”
Cold Fish tapped his staff on the ground, and a thin layer of ice spread from under his feet. He was also a mage, but an ice mage—weak in damage but strong in control.
“If we weren’t on the same side, I’d wipe you out right now.”
Blaze gripped his short staff tightly, and a wave of heat spread, with sparks appearing around him.
Blaze’s aura made Cold Fish’s expression change.
“This feeling… Have you already found a staff suited to your element?”
Cold Fish looked at the short staff in Blaze’s hand.
The staff looked crude, like a fire poker, but at its tip was embedded a fingernail-sized red crystal, with what seemed like flames burning inside.
Blaze looked slightly smug, casting a contemptuous glance at Cold Fish’s staff.
“This treasure cost me 14,000 Paradise Coins. That’s my total income from two worlds, including the fee for carrying people.”
Blaze’s face showed pain, but also excitement.
“Lucky bastard.”
Cold Fish was full of envy.
Shaking his head, Cold Fish pulled a small camcorder from his storage space and tossed it to Blaze.
Blaze caught it, fiddled with it, and his expression changed drastically.
The camcorder recorded Su Xiao instantly killing the Lizard and dominating Rize.
Though Blaze had a hot temper, he wasn’t brainless. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gathered a temporary adventure group of ten people.
“Let’s ally, Cold Fish. We have to cooperate in this derivative world, or that freak will kill us all. Slaughtering an S-rank ghoul… Damn, how did a monster like that get into the Ghoul world? That guy’s at least Level 7 or above.
I’ll show my sincerity first—an important piece of intel. The third part of the main mission is a confrontation task. I paid 400 Paradise Coins for that info.”
Cold Fish breathed a sigh of relief. If they allied with Blaze, they might have a chance.
PS: (Seeing readers asking for a group, here it is: 534789565. The group is full of ‘pure’ ‘good kids’~.)