Arrogance leads to ruin.
By lowering his stance from the very beginning, Lancer found that the 'pressure' on him was greatly reduced.
But just as he was about to press forward again, 'the unexpected' happened.
The entire 'world' seemed to have been paused. This extremely familiar scene gave Lancer a chilling feeling because he had seen this scene before.
"Mission: Choice!"
"Option ①: Power —————— Suffer a heavy injury and undergo surgery to become a half-ghoul. Physical attributes increase by 300%. Obtain kagune 'Rinkaku'."
"Option ②: Human —————— Evade. Mission: Ghoul Hunter SS-rank Ghoul progress +1"
"Countdown ———— 30S"
Ever since he completed the 'Initial Mission' last time, the so-called system had not reacted at all. He had even wondered if it was broken if he couldn't check his physical attribute changes through it.
As the saying goes, 'if it doesn't sing, it will be a blockbuster.' Today, its sudden presence gave him a huge shock.
But no matter how you look at it, this so-called 'choice' is a benefit, right?
Choosing the first option would mean that he might have to follow the 'protagonist's' path.
Following the protagonist's path and his knowledge of the plot would mean his 'future' would be more secure. Furthermore, he would be able to enhance his body and gain new abilities. But... for some reason, his gaze was fixed on Option ②.
Indeed, for some unknown reason, he was chosen by this 'Strongest Lancer System' and came to the world of anime. He might face countless enemies in the future, and an increase in strength would be beneficial and harmless, as long as he gave up his originally insignificant 'conviction'...
In the frozen world, Lancer looked at the floating selection box, his eyes flickering.
One was a shortcut he could easily take by giving up his 'conviction,' while the other was an unknown muddy path. This choice seemed incredibly simple, but it made him extremely conflicted.
The countdown in his ear made his already conflicted feelings even more anxious, but the faces of Touka Kirishima and Ken Kaneki appeared in his mind.
Of course, this wasn't because he was bored and recalling the plot, but because he remembered something.
'Ken Kaneki' had always wanted to return to his original body because he always thought he was 'human.' Even after he later accepted his identity as a 'ghoul,' he still didn't choose to go on a killing spree because he longed for his former life. Touka Kirishima, on the other hand, was even more so. Although she was a ghoul, because of her father's teachings, she longed to be like an ordinary person.
Is strength important?
Yes, it is important because without strength, you will lose the ability to resist. But is strength enough to make a person abandon everything?
Everyone has a different answer to this question, and for Lancer, his answer was self-evident.
What's more, Lancer didn't believe that the best option for this so-called 'choice' was the first one. Otherwise, why would it specifically stop time for him to choose?
Setting aside these grand principles, let's talk about him personally. As an investigator, having gone through so much and seen countless incomplete corpses, how could he choose to become a 'ghoul'?
"So what if the road is muddy? It's not like there's no road..."
He said strange words to himself and raised his head.
"I choose ②!"
As Lancer voice fell, the world that had been paused began to flow again, and a burst of power erupted from Lancer body, pushing him backward violently...
"Bang~!!"
"Buzz~!!"
The moment he retreated, a whoosh came from above his head, and a huge piano fell directly down, but this was not the end.
Safes, refrigerators, TVs, computers... countless pieces of furniture kept falling from above.
Lancer was completely stunned looking at the 'crime scene' in front of him.
It wasn't that he was surprised that Rize Kamishiro was killed in a way similar to a 'plot kill,' after all, in the 'plot,' the other person died from a steel beam falling from a height. What surprised him was why, even though the time was different, the location was different, and he, a 'transmigrator,' was also present, the other person still died in a similar way. What exactly was going on?
The inertia of the world? Or something else that he couldn't understand?
The enemy that was enough to threaten his life was now buried under a 'mountain,' but he was still standing there in a daze.
"Lancer?!"
It wasn't until a slightly panicked shout woke him from his daze.
"Lancer? What happened? Where's the 'Binge Eater'?"
"She's under that pile of things."
Although he didn't know what was going on, he still answered Koutarou Amon question.
And although Koutarou Amon was very concerned about Lancer strange behavior, he decided to deal with the matter at hand first, as he saw the blood seeping out from the cracks. After all, for a CCG investigator, the mission was more important!
However, neither Koutarou Amon, who was inspecting the scene, nor Lancer, who was staring blankly at the scene, noticed that there was still a person standing on a tall building in the distance.
"Tsk~ He actually dodged it. With his physical attributes, the 'experiment' should have been more perfect, right? What a pity..."
After muttering some strange words to himself, the figure turned and left without hesitation.
The death of the 'Binge Eater' was very strange, but after the CCG investigators confirmed that a large electric cart on the 31st floor of the building next to them had indeed lost control, they could only attribute it all to an 'accident.' After all, nothing else could explain what had happened at the scene.
However, the only strange thing was that after the investigators from the 20th ward arrived, the investigators from the headquarters also arrived. According to them, they were a special team from the headquarters responsible for the 'Binge Eater.' Koutarou Amon, who was in charge of the negotiation, naturally felt very strange, but after contacting the headquarters and finding that such a team did exist, he handed the 'Binge Eater's' corpse over to them.
Although investigators could generally use the kagune of the ghouls they hunted to make 'quinques,' it was impossible for an ordinary investigator to be given an 'SS-rank ghoul's' kagune. However, after completing the corpse handover procedure, he originally wanted to continue asking the other party about the so-called 'special operation team,' but 'the unexpected' happened.
"First Class Amon! We found another victim under that pile of things. It's not a ghoul, it's a human! It should be the person Second Class Lancer mentioned in his communication before. He should be an innocent civilian that the 'Binge Eater' was originally going to attack!"
"How badly is he injured?"
"He's seriously injured! He needs immediate rescue!"
"Okay, notify the emergency services..."
"Wait, we have a car. How about we give him a ride?"
Looking at the enthusiastic 'headquarters special member,' Koutarou Amon felt that something was not right, but he remembered that their cars were just ordinary four-wheeled private cars and were completely unable to transport a person. The only thing he could rely on was the person in front of him.
"Then we thank you."
"It's alright. Isn't our goal for joining the CCG to protect ordinary civilians?"
The special member smiled and waved his hand, then had his subordinates lift the dying Ken Kaneki into their car...