"Sir, your coffee. Please enjoy."
"Hmm... Thank you."
He Xi Qianyu pushed aside his jumbled thoughts and gently lifted his head, sizing up the staff member in front of him.
—Her light purple hair cascaded like a thin veil over her right eye, and her delicate features appeared exceptionally soft under the dim, yellow lights of the Anteiku Coffee Shop.
The only drawback was the girl's demeanor; her indifferent expression cast a veil of aloofness over her.
Even though this wasn't their first meeting, He Xi Qianyu still felt a sense of wonder.
It wasn't because of her beauty—although Kirishima Touka was indeed very pretty—but what interested He Xi Qianyu more was her identity.
The female protagonist of "Tokyo Ghoul."
...
Despite his inner reluctance, He Xi Qianyu had to face the absurd reality.
He had transmigrated.
There was no sudden death from staying up late, nor was there a truck that couldn't brake on the highway.
He simply woke up from a normal sleep and found himself in another world.
The familiar scene before him was the Anteiku Coffee Shop in Ward 20 from "Tokyo Ghoul."
—On the surface, it was a coffee shop, but in reality, it was a Ghoul mutual aid organization and social venue centered around the manager, dedicated to helping the Ghoul community integrate more naturally and stably into society.
Of course, as a coffee shop on the surface, human customers like him occasionally came in.
The manager of the Anteiku Coffee Shop was named Fangcun Gongshan, whose true identity was the administrator of Ward 20, an SSS-rank Ghoul known as the "Non-Killing Owl," currently atoning for the killings he committed in his youth.
But even as an administrator, he couldn't completely prohibit Ghouls from preying on humans; at most, he could set a rule for Ghouls: "a maximum of one person per month."
Most Ghouls in Ward 20 adhered to this rule, and even if they were dissatisfied, they dared not show it, fearing the manager's strength.
At least, on the surface, that was the case.
...
"Is there something on my face?" Kirishima Touka's cold voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Ah... sorry, you look a lot like a friend I know..."
Qianyu, realizing he had been staring at her face, gave an awkward laugh.
Kirishima Touka turned away indifferently, holding the tray, her purple hair tracing a sharp arc.
"This is difficult..."
His fingertips unconsciously tapped the rim of the cup, and He Xi Qianyu sighed.
What worried him was not the transmigration itself, but the immediate danger he faced.
From the moment he stepped into the Anteiku Coffee Shop, he had noticed two undisguised greedy gazes from the corner—two men, one stout and one thin, at the window table, their eyes scanning him like a lamb to the slaughter, occasionally wiping their mouths, openly revealing their hunger.
They were practically about to reveal their Kōkaku.
In this situation, even he, no matter how slow-witted, should have realized something was amiss.
Clearly, these two Ghouls, who had been hungry for a long time, had already targeted him.
He Xi Qianyu quietly pondered ways to escape.
He was safe for now, at least under the deterrence of the manager—the SSS-rank "Non-Killing Owl." These two Ghouls would absolutely not dare to cause trouble in the Anteiku Coffee Shop, but similarly, he couldn't hide in the Anteiku Coffee Shop forever.
He Xi Qianyu looked out the window.
The sky cast a brilliant afterglow, painting the world in golden hues.
It was getting dark, meaning the Anteiku Coffee Shop was about to close.
Without the protection of the Anteiku Coffee Shop, he would inevitably confront the two Ghouls.
Generally speaking, apart from Ghoul Search Officers carrying Kōkaku, ordinary humans were indeed like lambs to the slaughter in front of Ghouls, but He Xi Qianyu was not without a trump card.
He was a transmigrator.
And just like many transmigrator predecessors, he naturally had a system.
"System."
A translucent light screen unfolded before his eyes:
["Name: He Xi Qianyu"]
["Race: Human"]
["Ability: Japanese Language Proficiency"]
["Items: lethal injection × 3, Injector Gun × 1"]
["Evaluation: Your delicious flesh makes you a tasty lunch in the eyes of Ghouls~"]
["Exchange Points: 0"]
["Not yet checked in today"]
The system currently had only two functions: daily check-in and the system store.
Japanese Language Proficiency was initially provided, while the lethal injection and Injector Gun were obtained from the Newbie Gift Pack .
["Item: lethal injection"]
["Note: A syringe (with a specially made needle) mixed with various chemical agents, capable of easily killing an ordinary person, and also possessing a certain degree of lethality against Ghouls... probably?"]
The evaluation was useful, but not much; the system's so-called "certain degree of lethality" was still unknown.
Ghouls' physical abilities far exceeded those of normal humans; it was hard to say whether the lethal injection would even work after being shot, not to mention that as an ordinary college student in his previous life, he hadn't undergone professional training, making it even harder to land all three lethal injections, and Ghouls even had Kouink to defend against attacks...
He was a terrible shot even in FPS games, let alone in reality.
The items in the system store were dazzling, but with zero exchange points, he couldn't do anything.
He could only hope for today's check-in opportunity.
If he still couldn't get anything useful, he would most likely not survive the night.
...
"System, check in."
Realizing this was his last chance, He Xi Qian Yu took a deep breath and immediately, without hesitation, used today's check-in opportunity.
As the system interface flashed with a white light, the check-in reward appeared in Qianyu's eyes.
["Item: Symbiote 'Venom' (Fragment)"]
["Note: Unconscious symbiote tissue from the Marvel Universe, may cause unknown reactions."]
He could even get something like this? He Xi Qian Yu was a bit surprised; he had originally thought he could only get conventional items similar to the lethal injection.
...
He Xi Qian Yu looked around. Aside from the two Ghouls occasionally glancing over, no one else noticed him.
Taking advantage of the moment when the two Ghouls looked away, he quickly extracted the check-in reward from the system space—the system humanely placed it in a sealed bottle.
He carefully took the sealed bottle from the system space; inside, a black, asphalt-like liquid was eerily squirming.
Gazing at this small blob of black liquid that seemed to be alive, He Xi Qian Yu's mouth twitched.
He knew Venom; he had seen the movies and comics, but this thing in front of him just looked... not very smart.
Symbiotes could only exist and move in liquid form without combining with a host; only after combining with a host could they survive long-term and provide immense power to the host.
And this small blob of "Venom" tissue in front of him didn't even have self-awareness, let alone merge with him. In other words, this thing was almost useless for his current predicament.
It seemed that the only thing he could use to protect himself was the three lethal injections.
"Wait... lethal injection?"
Qianyu suddenly thought of a possibility.
He gently opened the bottle cap, his gaze fixed on the black liquid. After much internal struggle and hesitation, he finally mustered the courage to pour it all into his mouth, chewed a few times with difficulty, and then swallowed it with coffee.
The peculiar taste was like a mix of chocolate and mint, truly unappetizing.
"Just consider it insurance..."
Afterward, He Xi Qian Yu sat quietly in his seat, feeling the subtle changes within his body.
Hmm... he felt no changes at all.
As expected.
He hadn't really expected anything from directly eating the symbiote; this was his last "insurance" for himself.
Though he wasn't even sure if this "insurance" would work.
...
As the last ray of sunset was swallowed by the night, He Xi Qian Yu drained the remaining coffee and then pushed open the glass door with the wind chimes.
The damp night wind blew in his face, and from behind him came the sound of chairs moving—the two hungry predators had indeed followed him out.