Lancer's subdued demeanor in the face of Amon Koutarou's questions wasn't due to the disappointment of failing to personally eliminate the Binge Eater, nor was it because he couldn't save Kaneki Ken. After all, he'd already fought with all he had just to survive.
No, the real reason for his strange behavior was something else entirely—the sudden changes occurring in his mind.
[THE ULTIMATE LANCER—FULLY ACTIVATED]
[ATTRIBUTES—UNLOCKED]
[TITLES—UNLOCKED]
[MISSIONS—UNLOCKED]
[SUPPLIES—UNLOCKED]
That mechanical voice continuously echoed in his head, and the floating panel repeatedly refreshed itself before his eyes, leaving him nearly overwhelmed. He discreetly glanced at his phone and, as expected, found its data changing as well.
But why were all these things only activating now? Could it be that the system he previously had was merely a prototype or incomplete?
Unfortunately, just as when he'd first crossed worlds, no matter how he asked, no answer came back.
Sitting in the car returning to the CCG branch, Lancer appeared to be resting with his eyes closed, but in reality, he was meticulously examining these newly unlocked subsystems.
First, the "Attributes" appeared just beneath his "Combat Power" indicator.
[STRENGTH | 20]
[ENDURANCE | 22]
[AGILITY | 27]
[MAGIC | LOCKED]
If previously checking the rise in his "Combat Power" had been his main motivation and joy during daily training, now these specific attributes would allow him to clearly track his improvements.
[SPECIAL TITLE | PREDATOR OF GHOULS | E ]
REDUCED FEAR OF GHOULS | +5% CRITICAL HIT RATE AGAINST GHOULS | +5% QUINQUE ACTIVATION.
[PREDATOR OF GHOULS E→D (162/200)]
SS-RATED GHOUL (BINGE EATER) +100
At some point, he had already completed a "title," which now glittered in his title menu. Besides completed tasks, there were also many other available titles, the simplest of which were easily understandable like "Hundred Man Slayer" or "Thousand Man Slayer," but others made his lips twitch.
...
[TITLE | BULLDOZER | E ]
INCREASED CHARISMA AND ENDURANCE.
[SLEEP WITH 10 WOMEN 0/10]
...
[TITLE | KING'S STOMACH | E ]
EATING INCREASES STAMINA RECOVERY RATE.
[WIN A COMPETITIVE EATING CONTEST (0/1)]
...
[TITLE | MASOCHIST | M ]
DAMAGE SLOWLY INCREASES DEFENSE | DAMAGE RESTORE MAGIC AND STAMINA.
[ENDURE A STRONGER BEING'S ATTACK (0/1000)]
...
The Title section offered an immense selection, which meant he didn't need to rush. Yet many titles felt more humorous than practical to him—of no real benefit at all.
Thus, he shifted his focus to the last two systems.
Missions clearly included the previously received missions such as "FIRST BATTLE" and "SURVIVAL." "FIRST BATTLE" was shown as completed, while "SURVIVAL" remained ongoing.
Unfortunately, no new missions appeared aside from these two. It seemed that although Missions was activated, he didn't have any new ones yet.
However, the last system—Supplies—was the one that truly satisfied him. It included not just ordinary supplies like water, food, and ammunition, but also special items such as "S-rated spear-type Quinques" and "Secret Spear Techniques." The only frustration was that purchases in the Supplies didn't require money but rather something called "Points." So far, he knew of only three ways to obtain these Points:
Acquiring Titles.
Mission Rewards.
Hunting Ghouls.
If he'd previously felt lost after twice being thoroughly suppressed, now at least he had a clear goal.
Indeed, relying solely on the training camp's instructions and his personal skills might not let him quickly catch up to those boss-level existences, but now, he had an "opportunity."
Yet, he also felt strangely perplexed—among all the supplies listed, such as weapons, skills, food, and materials, there seemed to be no mention of things like "Bloodlines"?
Maybe they simply hadn't refreshed yet?
Holding onto hope for the future, Lancer closed his eyes in the car and tried to rest.
The Binge Eater's demise created considerable waves within the CCG. Ever since the rating system was introduced, few S-rated or SS-rated ghouls had ever been successfully exterminated. After all, an SS-rated ghoul was immensely powerful, typically had their own forces, and could easily slip away from even large-scale CCG operations. And though Arima Kishou, the CCG's strongest Special-Class Investigator, possessed overwhelming strength, he was just one man and couldn't chase them all across Tokyo, no matter how desperately the CCG wished otherwise.
Ordinarily, defeating an SS-rated ghoul should've at least guaranteed promotion to Associate Special-Class Investigator, but Lancer's involvement was simply too coincidental. First, he was only a secondary factor in the Binge Eater's death—the primary one was pure misfortune—and secondly, having just been promoted to Rank 2 Investigator, another promotion so quickly felt strange.
But the CCG couldn't completely disregard an Investigator's efforts, so they offered compensation.
First, though promotion was postponed, they promised that if he personally exterminated an S-rated ghoul in the future, he would be immediately promoted to Rank 1 Investigator. Secondly, Headquarters assured Lancer that they would craft a Quinque for him using Kamishiro Rize's Kagune as swiftly as possible.
To Lancer, this was already more than enough. Yet, during the victory banquet held by the 20th Ward Investigators, he suddenly asked a question that puzzled everyone present.
"Do you guys know what happened to that civilian who got dragged into this?"
"Hm… He's probably still recovering in the hospital? Pretty lucky, actually. You arrived just as the ghoul attacked him, and though his injuries were severe, he survived. Still, it's pretty unbelievable—such horrific wounds…"
Amon Koutarou casually answered Lancer's question. Yet Lancer wasn't at all surprised by Amon's remark. After all, if things went according to expectations, that young man's internal organs had already been replaced by Rize's, and his swift recovery could only be attributed to a ghoul's regenerative ability.
As Lancer and Amon whispered quietly, the banquet drew towards its end. Mado Kureo, sitting at the head as commander of the operation, rose to his feet. Once he finished speaking, everyone could disperse.
"Everyone—I hope that when we gather for our next victory banquet, we'll still see each other here!"
This simple sentence reflected the deepest wish of the oddly eccentric man named Mado Kureo. Ever since losing his wife to ghouls, he had walked the path of revenge like a Shura. But even so, from the bottom of his heart, he hoped everyone would survive—he never wanted to see his tragedy repeated.
Such simple words made everyone around the table smile knowingly. They didn't understand the hidden sorrow beneath Mado's words, but his sentiment echoed perfectly with their hearts.
Everyone raised their glasses, whether familiar or not with those beside them, loudly shouted "Kanpai!" and downed their drinks in one go…
---
T/N: AHHHH SO MUCH INFORMATION, i gotta put the system stuff down into a doc