Arrogance brings destruction.
The moment Lancer lowered his posture—truly lowered it—he felt the "pressure" lift slightly from his heart.
But just as he pushed forward again, ready to clash—
An "accident" occurred.
The entire world seemed to be placed on pause.
This overwhelmingly familiar scene made Lancer's skin crawl, because he had witnessed it once before.
[MISSION: CHOICE!]
[OPTION ①: POWER]
SUFFER CRITICAL INJURY, UNDERGO SURGERY, BECOME A HALF-GHOUL.
(PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES +300% | OBTAIN RINKAKU KAGUNE.)
[OPTION ②: HUMAN]
(MISSION ISSUED: EVADE | GHOUL PREDATOR PROFICIENCY +1)
[COUNTDOWN: 30 SECONDS.]
Ever since completing the "FIRST BATTLE" mission, that so‑called system had gone completely silent. If not for the fact he could still use it to check his physical stats, Lancer would've assumed it had broken entirely.
Silent for so long—only to suddenly flare to life now.
It startled him more than he liked to admit.
But no matter how he viewed it, this "choice" looked like a straight-up benefit, didn't it?
If he picked the first option, he would essentially inherit the "main character's route."
Follow the protagonist's path, plus his own partial plot knowledge—his future would be far more secure. His body would strengthen; he'd gain new abilities.
Yet… for some reason, his eyes kept drifting back to Option ②.
True, he didn't know why he had been randomly chosen by this system, or why he'd been dropped into a two-dimensional world. Maybe someday he'd face countless enemies. Power would only help him. As long as he abandoned that pointless "conviction"…
Frozen in the still world, Lancer stared at the floating choice menu, his eyes flickering.
A path, which was a shortcut as long as he is able to give up his "convinction."
The other was full of uncertainties, a muddy road.
It seemed simple on the surface—yet tearing him apart inside.
The ticking of the countdown made his anxiety boil.
Yet in his mind appeared the faces of Kirishima Touka and Kaneki Ken.
No, he wasn't suddenly reminiscing about the plot.
He remembered something else.
Kaneki Ken desperately wanted to regain his human body, because he always believed he was "human."
Even after accepting he was a ghoul, he still didn't choose to kill recklessly—because he longed for the life he had before.
As for Kirishima Touka, that was even simpler.
Though a ghoul, she longed—deep down—to live like a normal human, shaped by her father's teachings.
Is strength important?
Yes.
Without strength, you lose the power to resist.
But is strength enough to make a person abandon who they were?
Everyone has their own views and answers.
But for Lancer, the answer was self-evident.
Besides, Lancer didn't believe Option ① was truly the "optimal" choice.
If it were, why freeze time and force him to choose?
And beyond all that—putting aside lofty ideals—Lancer was an Investigator. After everything he had seen, after witnessing countless mutilated corpses, how could he possibly choose to become a ghoul?
"What's wrong with a muddy road? It's still a road…"
Muttering something strange under his breath, he raised his head.
I CHOOSE TO STAY HUMAN!
The moment he decided, the world snapped back into motion—and a surge of force erupted inside his body, violently flinging him backward—
BANG—!!
Whuuum!!
Just as he retreated, a massive piano plummeted from above, smashing into the spot where he had been standing a split second earlier.
And it didn't stop there.
A safe.
A refrigerator.
A television.
A computer—
Countless pieces of furniture came crashing down in an avalanche.
Staring at the carnage before him—the "crime scene" in utter ruins—Lancer froze completely.
He wasn't shocked that Kamishiro Rize had been killed in a manner resembling a "plot kill."
After all, in the original story she was killed by falling steel beams.
No—he was shocked because:
Different time.
Different place.
A world already changed by his existence.
And yet Rize still died in an almost identical way.
What on earth was this?
World inertia?
Some kind of narrative correction?
Something beyond his understanding entirely?
His greatest threat, one who could easily kill him, had just been buried under a mountain of debris—yet he stood there stupidly, unable to move.
"Lancer?!"
A panicked shout finally snapped him out of his daze.
"Lancer? What happened here? Where's the Binge Eater?!"
"Under that pile."
He answered Amon Koutarou's question honestly, though he had no idea how to explain any of this.
Amon, seeing Lancer's strange expression, felt worried—but the smell of fresh blood seeping through the cracks demanded priority. As an Investigator, the mission came first.
Neither he nor Lancer noticed that atop a distant building...
A single figure stood watching.
"tsk… He actually dodged it. Given his physical potential, the 'experiment' could have been far more perfect. What a shame…"
Muttering something bizarre, the silhouette turned and left decisively.
The Binge Eater's death was extremely suspicious.
But after confirming that a large electric-powered cart had malfunctioned on the 31st floor of the nearby building, the CCG could only classify the whole event as an "accident."
There was no other explanation that fit the scene.
The only oddity was that shortly after the 20th Ward Investigators arrived, HQ's Investigators also showed up.
They claimed to be a special unit assigned specifically to handle the Binge Eater.
Amon found this suspicious, of course.
But after calling HQ and confirming such a unit really existed, he turned over the Binge Eater's body.
Ordinary Investigators could request to have the Kagune of ghouls they defeated made into Quinques—but an S‑rated ghoul's Kagune was far too valuable to hand over casually.
After completing the official handover procedures, Amon had intended to question this "special unit" further—
But another "accident" occurred.
"Investigator Amon! We found another victim beneath the debris—it's a human, not a ghoul! Most likely the civilian Investigator Lancer mentioned earlier, the original target of the Binge Eater's attack!"
"What's his condition?"
"Severely injured! Needs immediate medical attention!"
"All right—call the med—"
"Wait, we have a vehicle. We can transport him. Let us handle it."
The enthusiastic "HQ agent" spoke with a smile, and Amon felt a faint unease.
Still, their own vehicles were ordinary four-wheel civilian cars—they lacked any capability for emergency transport.
They had no choice but to rely on the newcomers.
"Then we're in your debt."
"No need to thank us. We joined the CCG to protect civilians, didn't we?"
The agent waved it off lightly, then signaled his subordinates to load the barely conscious Kaneki Ken into their car…
---
A/N: Hmm… I feel like nobody noticed the "clues" I left before. Let me explain.
Back when the protagonist chose the "mission rewards," he already displayed a tendency to "value the present over distant futures."
Indeed, being a ghoul comes with great advantages, but that presumes one has a future at all.
All of us readers are observers, but Lancer is not.
He's only an ordinary man who just crossed into this world. His goal isn't to save the world—it's simply to survive.
Maybe my writing wasn't strong enough to fully express the weight of that decision… sigh.
T/N: itsss okayy i like that he stayed human :3