"I remember everything."
Renji looked at the paper, then at Reze, and his heart instantly began to pound.
Reze remembered everything. That meant many questions were about to be answered. Because in the original work, her backstory was set outside of Tokyo—outside of Japan, with ties to another country.
Reze's true identity should have been a Soviet spy, not a spy for Man's Religion.
It was only because her cognition, like the Angel Devil's, had been altered—forcibly linking her background to Man's Religion.
"Sigh. These past two days, because I was busy dealing with the Public Safety Bureau, I was late for work many times in a row. The landlady mercilessly deducted a lot of my wages. Just thinking about it now makes my heart ache terribly."
Reze complained, then pulled the paper back from Renji's hand and flipped to a new page.
Next, she wrote down everything she knew—all her memories from before her cognition was altered—and handed the paper back.
Renji took it, took a deep breath, composed himself, and after reading for a long time, finally grasped the general gist.
Reze was originally a Soviet spy, known as a "guinea pig." Until one day, her female superior in the Soviet Union gave her a new mission.
Her superior told Reze that the legendary male—Renji—would arrive somewhere in Tokyo, Japan, within the next year.
Find Renji, by any means necessary. The best scenario was to bring him back to the Soviet Union. Even if unsuccessful, the worst method was to kill him, cut off his male organ, bring it back, and completely destroy the corpse.
Upon receiving the order, Reze arrived in Tokyo in advance to stake out, preparing to bring Renji back to the Soviet Union. But without any warning, a golden light suddenly descended.
Reze's memory was modified by the golden light. Her cognition was altered. The Soviet Union and Man's Religion in her memory overlapped, and the figure of her superior also overlapped with Kishibe—the Hunger Devil—who had been the closest in location.
What was outside the barrier of the uninhabited zone? Ruins?
No. Outside the barrier were other cities. Japan was normal—outside were cities like Osaka, Yokohama, Fukuoka, Kobe, Kawasaki. It should have been this way, until the golden light descended.
Reze didn't know what this golden light was. She couldn't figure it out. Her last memory only went as far as the golden light descending from the sky, obscuring her vision. By the time she came to her senses, her cognition had already been modified.
Although her cognition was modified, her mission remained unchanged. Everything still proceeded as usual—the mission to cut off Renji's male organ continued.
Reze happened to encounter Renji on the street. At the time, he was working part-time, handing out flyers. Because of his special appeal to women, just his voice made women like him very much, so he was surrounded by many.
"Could this guy be the man?"
When this doubtful thought appeared in her mind, the concept of a male presence began to invade Reze's body. She immediately had a slight reaction, and her heart pounded fiercely.
"That's right. This guy is definitely the man."
Following Renji all the way home—he was still living in a rented apartment at the time—Reze found a coffee shop nearby, downstairs from his building, and started working there.
And so the story of the coffee shop, the school rooftop, the festival, and everything up until now, had all happened.
"Coming to the coffee shop every day, I don't even know what to order anymore. Desserts get boring after two or three times—just thinking about that taste makes my teeth ache."
Renji spoke, his excited mood having calmed down considerably. Because most of the questions that troubled him could basically be explained.
It was because of that inexplicable golden light, descending from the sky, that Japan had turned into its current state—most cities "destroyed," leaving only Tokyo and Kyoto.
Renji suddenly thought of Quanxi again. Since Reze was like this, would Quanxi be the same?
According to the original Chainsaw Man, counting Reze, there should be four groups of people coming to fight for his male organ this time.
Reze from the Soviet Union, Quanxi from China, and the Undead Three Brothers from America.
Oh, no—this world had gender-bent, so it should be the Undead Three Sisters now.
And the Master from Germany—Santa Claus.
Reze had come to Tokyo to stake out in advance, and Quanxi had also come. So, under normal circumstances, the Undead Three Sisters and Santa Claus should have arrived as well.
Reze's situation had just been mentioned. After Quanxi's cognition was modified by the golden light, her identity became a top mercenary.
Then the Undead Three Sisters and Santa Claus's identity cognition should also have been modified by the golden light. What had they become? And where were they now?
Also, setting aside the Chainsaw Man worldview for now, there was also the issue of Gojo Satoru and the Jujutsu Kaisen worldview.
Renji thought carefully again and wrote down a new set of questions on the paper.
It was about jujutsu and cursed spirits in Jujutsu Kaisen, asking Reze if she knew anything—especially about Japan.
Because according to the Jujutsu Kaisen setting, Tengen had used a barrier to envelop all the world's cursed energy within Japan, so jujutsu sorcerers and cursed spirits almost only appeared in Japan.
Reze took the paper, looked at the questions, thought carefully, shook her head, and wrote a few words.
[Ding~ Detected Reze's confused emotional state. System rewards 10 points.]
Despite the system prompt, Renji still felt a headache when he saw it. The paper read:
"Never heard of it."
Someone like Reze should absolutely have heard of the various things that happened in the Jujutsu Kaisen worldview.
Huh…?
No, that wasn't right…
The Jujutsu Kaisen worldview was more modern. Was there a country called the Soviet Union there?
But in the Chainsaw Man worldview, Reze's background and country clearly stated the existence of the Soviet Union.
And Gojo Satoru had said that she was blasted in from outside… but she also clearly said that she couldn't cross worlds…
Outside…
Suddenly, a ridiculous idea appeared in Renji's mind.
There was nothing outside the barrier, so it was impossible for Gojo Satoru to live there.
So that meant—outside Japan, at the end of the ocean—
Could there be another Japan?
After all, Gojo Satoru in Jujutsu Kaisen was Japanese, and she spoke Japanese. If she didn't live in Japan, where else could she live?
Or was it outside…
He couldn't figure it out. Couldn't imagine it at all.
Shaking his head, he simply stopped thinking about it. What lay outside Japan—these things could not be imagined without seeing them firsthand.
Renji rubbed his forehead and said,
"Let's stop here for today. I feel sleepy. I'm going back to rest."
[Ding~ Detected Reze's disappointed emotional state. System rewards 10 points.]
"Huh…? So early? Do you want to stay? It's almost time to get off work. After work, do you want to come to my place to play? I rented a room in the same apartment building you used to live in. Do you want to see it? I'll cook for you."
Renji collected all the papers and shook his head in refusal.
"Tomorrow. I'm a bit tired today. By the way… can you cook?"
"Mhm. I've been trained in that. This strawberry cake was made by me."
Renji, holding the papers, was about to stand up and go to the restroom to call Himeno.
At that moment, he suddenly felt something extend from under the table—landing directly on his crotch.
He looked at Reze. She was holding her head, smiling at him mischievously.
Patreon Rene_chan