Chapter 1: Adjusting Well To New Life

(I actually felt burnt out with my other fic that's why I'm writing this. But this don't have a permanent schedule or will I be committed to write. I might stop at any moment and switch back to my main fic only.)

*Growl!*

"Mmm…"

I woke up to my stomach growling like a starving lion. I was half awake at this point and dragged myself to the fridge.

*Yawn*

I dragged my feets to the fridge and opened it to find it was empty. I remember there should have been some snacks and beers but it was empty!

"Did Bryan snuck in and raid my fridge again… Goddammit."

While singing curse and profanity toward my next door neighbor and buddy, I saw a wrapped thing and grabbed it. Thinking maybe it's an unfinished Subway sandwich or McDonald's burger.

I felt too lazy to heat it up. So, I just unwrap it and take a bite of the cold ass food. Not my first time doing this and I have no microwave to instantly heat it up.

"Damn… this shit delicious!" My sleepy eyes opened wide with a burst of energy after taking a bite of my food.

I didn't even register the weird texture as I devoured the mystery meat until finished. Then I threw the crumpled wrapper into the trash can and I walked back to my bed to continue grinding my game.

But, when I reached my bed and turned to the side. The spot where the desk where my PC was was gone.

Then it clicked in my head.

"Wait. It's that just a dream. Why am I still here? No, it has to be." I punched my head to wake myself up.

I punched but I still haven't woken up. I tried a few more times before I gave up and accepted the fact that what happened yesterday wasn't a dream.

"Reincarnation… Ha Ha haaa… it isn't funny at all. I'm not a human anymore…"

Not even the realization that I just ate human flesh was able to overcome the fact I wasn't a human anymore.

If I knew this was going to happen, I would have chosen an angel or something as my race instead of a Ghoul that is literally forced to eat humans to survive.

I felt that I should be more upset than this but I am taking the fact rather well…

"Perhaps they even fuck over my mind."

I peek over the side of the curtain and see it's bright outside and it's like any normal day except I don't recognise any words from the sign outside.

No, wait. How am I able to see what's on a sign that I am sure is hundreds of meters away from me?

Then I remember the green bead on my left palm. I lifted it up and a holographic screen appeared. I saw 'Ghoul Physique' in the ability section. I tapped it and it expanded with more information under it.

[Ghoul is roughly seven times better than a normal human in physical capabilities. However, with ingestion of RC cells, this can be increased.]

After reading the description, I guess my body, including my eyesight, are seven times better than a normal human, which explains why I can see a sign board that far away.

Instead of continuing brooding my predicament. I rummaged through the apartment to find an identification ID. I found my wallet that was kept inside a cupboard.

I quickly open the wallet and take a look at my information.

[Name: Rei Sasaki]

[Gender: Male]

[Born: 31/10/2000]

That is the most I could interpret from the Chinese looking letters. But from my own name, I guess this is Japan?

Also, I remember setting my name as Ray. Did it made a mistake?

I tried to find a phone or calendar to find today's date. My phone is easy to find on the bedside table. It's a flip phone and upon opening it, the date for today is 14/08/2016.

So, my age is 16. Don't I have to go to school if my age is still 16?

I can't find any learning material or even a school uniform in the closet.

Anyway, I flip open my phone again and try to check my contact but it was barren with two saved numbers only. First one is labeled 'Akira' and the second is 'Supplier'.

I was tempted to dial the first one but decided not to because I have no idea who they are at all.

Instead, I went and checked the pantry for anything else. I found coffee beans and a bunch of tools to turn the beans into a cup of coffee.

"Odd. If the coffee is here then it means they are drinkable?" I wondered.

I found no other type of beverages except for coffee in this apartment.

*Knock* x3

The sound of knocking at my door shocked me and made me almost jump on my feet. I went and peek on the peephole of my door.

I saw a guy wearing a thick leather jacket and a beanie hat standing in front of my door. His appearance made me immediately assume he is some kind of gang member and I hesitate to open the door.

"Oi Rei! Stop pretending, I know you are behind the door. Open it quickly."

The guy outside demanded but I stayed silent. He then started banging on the door.

"Oi idiot, I don't have time to joke with you. Open up the door, those bastards from other area are hot on my tails. Let me stay for a bit."

I became more hesitant to open the door since he was being pursued by people but he started banging on the door even louder and I was afraid the neighbors might hear it. So, I open the door but with my Kagune ready to be released if he is hostile.

Then I opened the door and let him enter. He quickly closed the door and heaved a sigh of relief.

"Rei, what's wrong with you man?"

He turned to me and pulled off his beanie hat while questioning me with a frown.

"First you missed our hunt last night and those fuckers stole our hunting ground. Now you are acting weird."

He asked but I didn't know how to answer him. Instead, he peek into my apartment and saw it looking like someone had ransacked my place with everything thrown around on the ground.

"What happened to you man? Did someone attack you in your home?"

He pushed me aside and checked my apartment but found no sign of struggle except for stuff being scattered all over the place.

After finished checking, he turned back to me and saw me stare at him silently.

"What's wrong with you today?" He sighed.

"I was worried that's why I came and checked up on you…"

He said and opened his jacket before taking a seat on the edge of my bed because there wasn't any chair to sit on.

"I am fine."

I responded but he frowned even deeper.

"Don't lie to me Rei. I knew you long enough to know you are acting weird."

"No, it was nothing. Just a nightmare." I responded quickly.

"Nightmare?" He gave me a suspicious stare but dropped it moments later.

"Well, I won't pry too much into your personal issue but we need to fight back those bastards from the east that stole our hunting ground."

He dropped the matter but didn't look convinced at my excuse at all.

"Tonight after dark. I will be waiting at the usual coffee shop."

I felt the green bead pulsate slightly which indicates a notification. I nodded back at the guy as he put back on his beanie hat and jacket before he left.

Once he left, I opened the menu and looked at the red dot on the Quest Log. I tapped it and saw a new entry.

[Defending Hunting Ground]

-Meet up with your partner, Akira at the coffee shop.

-???

I then switched over to the map and saw an exclamation mark floating on a blank location on the map which indicates I have yet to visit the location.

Well, at least now I know how useful this Quest Log thing is. Not only does it show the location I need to go, it also reveals that the guy I just met is Akira from my Contact.

I also have to be thankful that the previous owner of this body is not a social person.

———

Four hours later, the day is getting dark and the time is 6:12pm.

I put on a shirt then a gray hoodie jacket and a black jogger pants with sneakers. I also took the mask that I found in the cupboard where the socks and underwear are.

The mask is just a common tactical black mask that can easily be bought online that covers the lower half of my face. I assumed I would need this to cover my identity because I was literally going to kill people.

After done dressing up, I went down to the street and made my way to this coffee shop with the help of the map.

(The Holographic screen is visible to him only coz magic… He probably will wear a watch to make it less conspicuous when activating the bead.)

More than ten minutes later, I arrived at a coffee shop. I don't know the name because it's in Japanese. But somehow I can understand when people talk in Japanese.

I push open the door and it rings the bell. I walked in as a waitress came forward and led me to a seat to take my order. I looked around for Akira and didn't find him. So, I followed the waitress and ordered whatever she recommended because I can't read and there aren't any pictures to make ordering easier.

I heard her say black coffee which I nodded and she returned to her job.

(No it's not Anteiku. This isn't Tokyo Ghoul world, instead it's an OC world where I will mix worlds)

I waited for a while before Akira did show up and ordered 'the usual' as he sat in front of me.

"Did I make you wait for too long?" He asked

I shake my head and take a sip of my coffee. He nodded and looked around for a bit before he calmed down.

"Good. So, I hope you are ready. Kiko is waiting at the rendezvous point for us, scouting ahead."

"We need to worry not only about our rival but also the hunters."

I silently nodded again. Not exactly sure what I am signing up for and decided to cross the bridge when I get there.

After we finished drinking, we left the cafe when he paid for the coffee. I followed behind him into the back alley and we climbed up to the roof to move easier.

Thanks to Ghoul Physique, I could perform acrobat moves previously unthinkable as we zip through the sky.

(I would like to add here that Rei/Ray had his mind modified to make him accept the Ghoul instinct and power more easily. For example, his reluctance to eat humans will be numbed and violence becomes more natural and acceptable. Yeah, not gonna write long ass development to get him to this point.)

When we stopped, he made a call to this person called Kiko and we put on our mask before jumping a few more buildings before we stopped on one that had a girl dressed rather lightly unlike Akira and me. On her face is a white mask with black star and two holes for her eyes.

"What is the status?" Akira landed on the roof and asked.

"Both of them arrived and started hunting for people." Kiko said with a trace of anger and dissatisfaction in her voice.

"Mhm. Let's go. I take the front while both of you assist me as usual."

"Okay." x2

Then all three of us followed the direction given by Kiko as he jumped through buildings until we arrived at the location.

"Nooo! Help! Don't kill me!"

A piercing cry of a terrified man was heard as soon as we arrived.

I saw a ghoul with purple kagune out from the back of his hip stabbed his prey before the prey released his death wail.

Another ghoul was standing nearby, waiting for the prey to die so he could start eating.

"Let's go."

Akira whispered and his kagune pierce out from his shoulder blade and spiraled around the start before it turned into a long spike.

Kiko's kagune sprouts out from the back of her hil into a long barbed tail. I also released mine. The pain will take time to get used to as I flinched.

Akira jumped in and surprised the ghoul that hadn't released his kagune.

"Watch out!"

The ghoul with his kagune out pushed his buddy away and attacked Akira but he deflected the strike.

Kiko went in and slammed her barbed tail down at the disoriented ghoul which succeeded.

I joined in to secure the kill by stabbing my four tentacles that were aimed for his fatal points but a wing kagune sprouted out and shot shards of his kagune at us like guns.

Kiko evaded quickly but my reaction was slow and got hit by a few shards before I managed to jump away.

"Kiko swap."

"Okay."

Kiko and Akira switched their opponents.

Akira now is with me as he expands his kagune to form a shield that blocks the shards.

"Attack him when he stops shooting. Ukaku types don't have the stamina to attack for a long time." He whispered.

Akira charged forward and lunged at the ghoul, pinning his wing to the wall and sealed his movements.

I take this opportunity and crush his head like a watermelon with all four of my kagune appendages.

"Aniki !!!"

The ghoul that Kiko is stalling suddenly went berserk as he howled.

"Stop dallying and help Kiko!" Akira's shout snapped me out from my state of high caused by my victory.

The ghoul slammed Kiko with his kagune, throwing her to the nearby wall and even formed a crater on the wall.

The berserked ghoul charged toward me with his kagune that was emitting purple haze that looked like fire which reflected his state of mind.

"Die!"

The ghoul almost reached me as I stood there dumbly, remembering that I just killed a person.

"Snap out of it Rei! Kill it quick!" Akira ordered.

Akira defended against the onslaught of attack with his kagune that was glowing dimmer because his koukaku kagune also takes a lot of stamina to use as it is incredibly dense which also means it's heavy.

I sprung up to the air with the help of my kagune and landed behind him to stab all four of my kagune to tear him apart. Making an incredibly messy scene. Akira took the opportunity while the ghoul was stunned and stabbed its throat with his kagune, killing it for good.

Finally both are killed and Kiko recovered from the slam to the wall. Akira and Kiko collect the prey of the two ghoul. While Akira told me to extract the ghouls Kakuhou, the RC cell sac that releases kagune. He told me to dispose of it to deny the hunters materials to create more Anti-Ghoul weapons.

When I took the organ out, the green bead pulsed again and I opened the menu to see a description.

[Kakuhou]

A special organ present only in Ghouls species which store RC cells that will form kagune and passively strengthen their physique.

-Can be consumed to increase the quality and quantity of another Ghoul's RC cells.

-Can be used to craft Quinque, Anti-Ghoul armament.

"Okay. We are done for tonight. Great job everyone." Akira praised me and Kiko.

"As usual, come collect your portions the next day and we are dismissed for tonight, rest well and we will hunt again in a week."

Akira said and left with the prey. Kiko gave me a glance and nodded before she also left. I pocketed both Kakuhou before I also left the scene.

———

When I get back, I dump the Kakuhou into a plastic bag and into the fridge before I went for a long dip in the shower to calm my mind.

While dipping inside the warm water, I remember during the battle where I realized that something was wrong with my head. I didn't feel hesitation at all when fighting or killing another Ghoul. I don't feel any hesitation to resort to such violence.

Maybe it's because some of the old memories of the body's former owner merged with mine. This is the only logical conclusion I could come up with.

After soaking for a while longer, I finish my bath and wipe myself dry before putting on a boxer.

I went back to the fridge and took the Kakuhous to take a look at it once more.

-Can be consumed to increase the quality and quantity of another Ghoul's RC cells.

*Gulp*

So, eating this can raise my power… I guess this is what the description of Ghoul species means. A cannibalistic species that eats humans to survive but can also eat their own to get stronger.

I took a sniff at the sacs and it didn't smell bad or good.

"Fuck it. I do this for power. I do this for power." I continue my chant in my mind as I put one on my mouth before taking a bite.

*Munch* x5

It honestly didn't taste bad or good just like its smell. It tastes like bland boiled chicken breast meat.

I proceed to eat the second one which tastes the same except a tiny hint of flavor that I cannot identify. It leaves an odd aftertaste in my mouth.

After I'm done eating, I rinse my mouth with water, brush my teeth before going to sleep.

—————