Balancing Mechanism

Open the treasure chest (green)? Yes/No.

Selecting "open," several items appeared in Su Xiao's hands.

You have opened the treasure chest (green) and obtained the following items:

900 Paradise Coin

Kagune Core (S-Rank)

Evil Spirit Roar (Green)

Kagune Core (S-Rank)

Origin: Tokyo Ghoul

Quality: White

Type: Material

Rating: 9 (Note: White items are rated 1 to 10; higher ratings indicate greater value.)

Description: Gecko's Kagune Core. Can be used for equipment forging or transplanted into the body. {After transplanting the Kagune Core into the body, there is a 5% chance of becoming a Ghoul, a 94% chance of death, and a 1% chance of an unknown mutation.}

Selling Price: 1100 Paradise Coin.

Evil Spirit Roar

Origin: Tokyo Ghoul, Ward 13 Jewelry Store

Quality: Green

Category: Ring

Durability: None. (Jewelry-type equipment has no durability and requires no repairs.)

Equip Requirement: 10 or more points in Intelligence.

Equip Effect: Roar (Active). After activating this effect, the user will ignore pain for 20 seconds. During the pain-ignoring period, each attack received increases attack speed by 5%. (Maximum attack speed increase is 50%. This bonus is lost when the Roar effect ends.)

Note: Roar (Active) has a cooldown of 12 hours. Forced consecutive use will result in a state of mental confusion.

Rating: 21 (Note: Green equipment is rated 10 to 30. Green equipment with a rating of 30 will be marked as 'Rare' and will have additional special attributes.)

Description: Let me plunder everything.

Price: 2700 Paradise Coin.

Holding the ring in his hand, Su Xiao pondered for a moment.

This ring didn't boost any stats, but it came with an exceptional ability: ignoring pain for 20 seconds.

That might not sound like much, but pain is no small matter in battle. Intense agony can slow reactions and lead to defeat.

However, permanently losing the ability to feel pain is far from ideal. This short-term pain-negation ability is akin to a potent stimulant.

This ring would allow him to unleash his peak combat power at the brink of death. Though it only lasts 20 seconds, those seconds are invaluable.

When health drops below 10%, a weakened state sets in. Below 5%, most creatures lose the ability to resist.

If Su Xiao's health fell below 5% in battle, he could use this ring to temporarily ignore his body's injuries and fight his enemy to the death.

Slipping the ring onto his finger, Su Xiao felt a strange energy swirling around it. He could activate this peculiar energy at any time.

Enabling the equipment's concealment function, the ring vanished. Su Xiao nodded in satisfaction, then turned his gaze to the Kagune Core in his hand—Gecko's Kagune Core.

The Kagune Core was spherical, about the size of an egg, with crimson veins crawling across its surface. Its overall color was a dark red.

The material felt hard and heavy, bearing no resemblance to an organ. It was more like some kind of solid object.

Su Xiao had no intention of transplanting Gecko's Kagune into his body. Setting aside the absurdly high mortality rate, Ghouls themselves weren't advanced beings—not worth the risk.

He already had a class. He wouldn't choose another bloodline. If the two conflicted, the likelihood of death was extremely high.

As for fusing and mutating into a higher bloodline? That was pure fantasy.

Surviving would already be a stroke of luck. Even if a fusion succeeded, two completely unrelated abilities would only produce junk.

It's like crossing a tiger with a dog—you'd never get an elephant.

He stored the Kagune Core in his Storage Space. Even if it had no use, he could sell it. A white material with a rating of 9 held high value in Reincarnation Paradise, especially materials that could be used to forge weapons. Many people in the trading market would be willing to buy.

Opening this green treasure chest had yielded satisfying results. All in all, his luck was decent.

After opening a few chests, Su Xiao had drawn a few conclusions: creatures that dropped treasure chests were generally stronger, while weaker ones never dropped them at all.

But even if you got a chest, whether you'd receive generous rewards was still uncertain.

After opening the chest, Su Xiao lay down on the bed and fell asleep.

By tomorrow morning, CCG would respond. If anything unexpected happened, Su Xiao would need to quickly join a Ghoul faction. Otherwise, the cost of failing the mission was something he couldn't afford.

Around 7 a.m. the next morning, Su Xiao's door was knocked on.

"Byakuya, word from headquarters has arrived." It was Mado Kureo's voice.

Su Xiao had already washed up and opened the door directly, seeing Mado Kureo in a white robe.

"Did the CCG headquarters approve my joining?"

"Of course."

With a clear answer, Su Xiao felt a bit more at ease.

"Here are your employment documents and ID. I didn't expect your father to be an investigator—that helped a lot with your entry into the CCG."

Su Xiao took the employment documents, and Reincarnation Paradise immediately issued a prompt.

Hunter completes Main Mission (1): Faction Selection. This mission has no reward. Subsequent missions unlocked.

Main Mission (2): Associate Special Investigator.

Difficulty Level: LV.3.

Mission Brief: Quickly rise in rank within the CCG to prepare for subsequent missions.

Mission Info: Use any method to elevate your status—exterminating ghouls, bribery, all means are acceptable.

Mission Time Limit: Twenty days.

Mission Reward: 1 Attribute Point, 1500 Paradise Coin.

Hunter successfully joins the CCG. Faction Contribution Points system activated.

Current Position: Third-Class Investigator. CCG Contribution Points: 0/50. Eliminating ghouls earns Contribution Points. Once full, rank can be promoted.

Contribution Points can also be used to purchase items within the CCG or craft Quinques, etc.

The subsequent mission finally appeared. Based on Reincarnation Paradise's earlier hints, he needed to complete three main missions in total to return to Reincarnation Paradise.

But just as he successfully joined the CCG, Reincarnation Paradise delivered a 'bad news' bulletin.

Announcement: A 'Contractor' has joined a faction. The 'Contractor' can interfere with faction balance. Balance mechanism activated.

This was an announcement, not just a hint to Su Xiao, but also to all Contractors in the ghoul Derivative World.

Except for Su Xiao, all Contractors' Main Mission (1) changed. From the original choice of joining a faction, it became mandatory to join only the ghoul faction.

This was a balancing mechanism of Reincarnation Paradise, to prevent one faction from being too weak.

Su Xiao's expression darkened. He also received a prompt. The situation now was that the CCG side had only him, while all other Contractors were assigned to the ghoul side.

From earlier, Su Xiao had been puzzled about one thing: his identity as a Hunter seemed to only receive preferential treatment within Reincarnation Paradise. In the Derivative World, Reincarnation Paradise treated everyone equally.

Su Xiao didn't complain. This actually made sense. Reincarnation Paradise had always felt to him—cruel, cold, and impartial.

But thinking it over, being alone in the CCG faction wasn't without benefits. At least no other Contractors would interfere.

"Byakuya, the higher-ups have assigned you to Ward 14. The situation there is complicated, and they need your strength."

Mado Kureo showed a regretful expression, because Su Xiao hadn't been assigned to Ward 20.

"Understood. I have a feeling that before long, I'll be back in Ward 20."

Under Mado Kureo's puzzled gaze, Su Xiao took his employment documents and left the Ward 20 CCG branch.

Ward 14 was right next to Ward 20. Sometimes, if the pressure on Ward 14 was too great, the Ward 20 CCG branch would also provide support. This showed that Ward 14 was far from peaceful.

Just before leaving Ward 20, Su Xiao suddenly wondered if he should visit that café called Anteiku, since a large number of ghouls gathered there.

By the way, dear readers, please give a five-star rating.