Ghoul Humans

Chapter 44: Ghoul × Human

Su Xiao stood behind a large tree. After observing for a moment, he stepped out from behind the trunk.

His sudden appearance startled the high school girl. Her crimson eyes and kagune retracted at the same time, her expression slightly flustered.

"Who are you, and how did you get here?"

"CCG, Third-Class Investigator, Byakuya."

Dragon Slayer Flash appeared in Su Xiao's hand, its gleaming blade catching a sliver of moonlight.

"A CCG investigator... it finally came to this."

The high school girl lowered her head. The hand behind her back dropped, blood still un-wiped on her palm.

Her kagune and crimson eyes reappeared. This ghoul's kagune was a tail-type, emerging from the base of her spine—two strands, each only as thick as a finger.

"You've seen my face. I'm Chinatsu, the one who kills you."

Chinatsu's delicate features twisted. This ghoul still had some humanity left, but she was a ghoul nonetheless.

"This park is your hunting ground, isn't it?"

Su Xiao had a basic grasp of the situation. The ghoul he was looking for was the Chinatsu in front of him.

"Ten seconds to leave your last words."

Chinatsu froze, 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 knife in your hand? That thing can't hurt me."

"What a bizarre last wish."

With that, Su Xiao charged forward, blade in hand.

Fighting, screaming, crying...

A minute later, the forest fell silent. Chinatsu lay on the ground, drenched in blood. Her kagune had been severed, and both arms were missing.

"It hurts~, so this is what it feels like to be hurt. No wonder those prey screamed so loud."

Tears clung to the corners of Chinatsu's eyes. She was a ghoul between A and S rank—Su Xiao had finished her in a few slashes.

"Are you going to kill me?"

Su Xiao said nothing. He stood beside Chinatsu and raised Dragon Slash Flash.

"Is it really wrong to live as a ghoul? Haha~, eating people raw really does bring retribution."

"None of my concern. Just a mission. Farewell."

The long blade fell. Blood splattered.

You have killed S-rank ghoul, Chinatsu.

Chinatsu was a common ghoul. World Source obtained: 0.5%. Total World Source obtained: 5.7%.

Your talent 'Spirit Eater' has activated. Permanently increased 7 Mana Points. Current Mana Points: 170.

Obtained 40 CCG Contribution Points.

Although Chinatsu was an S-rank ghoul, she did not drop a Treasure Chest.

This was not unexpected. The gap in strength between Chinatsu and Su Xiao was too large. As the World Source obtained indicated, Chinatsu had little impact on the plot.

The reason Gecko dropped a green Treasure Chest wasn't because of his strength, but because of his close connection to the original story.

Su Xiao pulled out the CCG's dedicated phone, dialed, explained the situation to the Ward 14 branch, and hung up.

He didn't need to handle the rest. CCG would send someone to deal with Chinatsu's body. Once her kakuhou was extracted, he could earn some Contribution Points.

Of course, he could also keep the kakuhou and spend Contribution Points to have it made into a Quinque.

A Quinque made from an S-rank kakuhou would likely be a white-grade piece of equipment, so Su Xiao chose to turn in the kakuhou for 10 Contribution Points.

With that, Su Xiao's Contribution Points became: Third-Class Investigator (Contribution Points 50/50). Yes/No to promote rank.

He selected promotion. No change in rank occurred. Reincarnation Paradise gave a prompt.

Awaiting feedback from CCG Headquarters. Estimated time: 3 hours.

Promotion wasn't just a matter of selecting it—he needed notification from CCG Headquarters.

With Reincarnation Paradise's influence, promotion to Second-Class Investigator was certain.

Without Reincarnation Paradise's influence, it might have taken Su Xiao several years to rise to Senior Investigator.

That had nothing to do with how many ghouls he exterminated—it was a matter of seniority.

Now, with Reincarnation Paradise's influence, the seniority issue was bypassed. Su Xiao only needed to hunt ghouls in large numbers.

Even so, rising to Senior Investigator wouldn't be easy.

CCG Investigators had six ranks, from lowest to highest: Third-Class Investigator, Second-Class Investigator, First-Class Investigator, Senior Investigator, Associate Special Class Investigator, and Special Class Investigator.

Third-Class was the weakest, Special Class the strongest.

When Su Xiao returned to the Ward 14 branch, Shinohara Yukinori approached him directly.

"That's the gist of it. The ghoul has been eliminated. Are there any others that need to be dealt with?"

Su Xiao recounted the events to Shinohara Yukinori, who nodded in response.

"You single-handedly took down an S-class ghoul. I've already reported it to the main office. If nothing goes wrong, you should be promoted to Second Class Investigator ahead of schedule. After all, with your abilities, Third Class is a waste. No, even Second Class is somewhat beneath you, but without sufficient merit, the main office won't elevate your rank."

Su Xiao said nothing. For now, he only wanted to continue hunting down the next ghoul.

The current situation was that, aside from him, all Contractors had been assigned to the ghoul faction. That meant his target, Contractor No. 12470, was also in the ghoul faction.

Judging by the two main quests (1.2), the next main quest (3) was highly likely to be a PvP-style mission. Otherwise, there was no reason to split into two factions and activate a balance mechanism.

"In that case, Special Class Investigator Shinohara, why not provide me with more ghoul locations?"

Completing main quest (2) early would definitely yield significant benefits.

"Hmm, that's one approach. But what you need now is rest. It's already 10 PM. Besides, I have a favor to ask of you tomorrow morning—or rather, Mado-san has a favor to ask."

Su Xiao was puzzled but didn't press further. After bidding farewell to Shinohara Yukinori, he headed to the dormitory assigned to him by the Ward 14 CCG branch, located on the 16th floor of the building.

Ward 11, Ota Ward.

As the stronghold of Aogiri Tree, Ward 11 had become nearly a no-go zone for humans.

Aogiri Tree had repeatedly attacked the Ward 11 CCG branch, crippling human influence in the area. Only a handful of civilians lived scattered near the branch, constantly on edge.

These civilians weren't there by choice. They were trapped. The ghouls of Ward 11 had penned them in, treating them as emergency "rations." Only Investigators with enough strength could freely enter or leave Ward 11.

For ghouls living here, human meat was "imported"—a clear sign of just how dangerous Ward 11 was.

At this moment, in an abandoned building on the outskirts of Ward 11, over twenty humans had gathered.

These twenty-plus individuals weren't from a single faction. They were split into three groups, each varying in size. These were the Contractors of the ghoul faction.

"Han Yu, stop your nonsense. The balance mechanism is only because CCG's current strength surpasses Aogiri Tree. Some freakishly overpowered Contractor? Don't set up imaginary enemies for me here."

A hot-tempered young man with fiery red spiky hair sneered at Han Yu.

Han Yu let out a cold laugh and shook his head. If the other party weren't a Fire Mage, he wouldn't have bothered seeking an alliance in the first place.

"Bao Huo, don't think that just because I approached you for an alliance, you can act arrogant."

Han Yu tapped his staff against the ground. A thin layer of ice spread from beneath his feet. Han Yu was also a mage—an Ice Mage, weak in dealing damage but strong in control.

"If we weren't on the same side, I'd wipe you out right now."

Bao Huo tightened his grip on the Short Staff in his hand. A wave of heat radiated from him, and sparks of fire flickered around his body.

The pressure from Bao Huo made Han Yu's expression shift.

"That feeling... Have you already found a staff suited to your element?"

Han Yu's gaze locked onto the Short Staff in Bao Huo's hand.

The staff looked crude, like a charred fire poker. But at its tip was embedded a Red Crystal the size of a fingernail, with what seemed like flames burning inside.

Bao Huo looked slightly smug, casting a disdainful glance at Han Yu's staff.

"This treasure cost me 14,000 Paradise Coins. That's my total earnings from two worlds, including the fees from carrying people."

Bao Huo's face twisted in pain, though excitement flickered beneath it.

"Lucky bastard."

Han Yu's eyes were full of envy.

Shaking his head, Han Yu pulled a small camcorder from his Storage Space and tossed it to Bao Huo.

Bao Huo caught it, fiddled with it for a moment, and his expression shifted dramatically.

The camcorder recorded Su Xiao instantly killing Gecko and thrashing Rize.

Despite his fiery temper, Bao Huo wasn't brainless. Otherwise, he wouldn't have managed to gather a temporary Adventurer Team of ten people.

"Let's form an alliance, Han Yu. In this Derivative World, we have to cooperate. Otherwise, we'll all be killed by that freak. Slaughtering an S-class ghoul—damn it. How did a monster like that end up in this ghoul world? That guy's at least Lv.7 or higher. I'll show my sincerity first: an important piece of intel. The third phase of the main quest is a PvP mission. I paid 400 Paradise Coins for this info."

Han Yu let out a sigh of relief. If he allied with Bao Huo, they might still have a chance.