"Forget about work, Denji. Let's run away together!"
It was the perfect moment for a confession—a stunning view of the fireworks, an atmosphere thick with tension, and a beautiful purple-haired girl whose eyes were fixed entirely on him. Reze gripped Denji's hand tightly, her gaze brimming with affection.
"We'll go somewhere the Public Safety Bureau can't find us. I'll protect you for the rest of my life."
Reze continued her confession, her tone carrying a decisive strength usually reserved for the hero of a story.
The original Denji would never have known the sheer resolve it took for her to make this decision. But the current Denji, who had already seen how the story was supposed to play out, looked back at Reze with equally deep emotion.
He pulled a pen and a scrap of paper from his pocket. After scribbling a few words, he held it up for the girl to see:
I'm in. And I know a place far, far away.
Reze immediately tensed. Her fingers instinctively flew to the pin on her neck collar.
Why is Denji answering on paper? Is there a Public Safety surveillance team nearby?
Driven by professional instinct, Reze scanned their surroundings, ready to trigger her transformation at a moment's notice. But Denji shook his head and continued writing:
Don't transform. Makima can hear us. We talk through the paper for the important stuff.
Reze's heart sank as the realization hit her.
Has Denji been compromised? Is he under that witch's control?
If that were the case, where could they possibly run? As a Soviet "Weapon Human" agent, Reze understood the full extent of Makima's terror. She wasn't just impossibly powerful; she could spy on the entire world through the ears and eyes of lower life forms.
Against an opponent like that, what was the point of running?
Denji, however, remained confident. He was a transmigrator, a soul granted a "New Game Plus."
A few days ago, the soul of a young man from Earth had merged with Denji's. This new soul shared Denji's core traits: naive, a bit lecherous, fiercely loyal, and easily captivated by a pretty face. While his personality remained largely the same, Denji's mind was suddenly bolstered by the knowledge of a modern education.
More importantly, this transmigrated Denji had read the Chainsaw Man manga. He knew exactly what was coming.
He knew that Makima didn't care about him at all. Like almost everyone else in his life, she only wanted his heart. Furthermore, because he possessed a soul from the 21st century, Denji was able to maintain his own identity and independent thought, despite his infatuation with her. Miss Makima was cute, sure, but staying by her side meant everyone he cared about would die.
But he felt equally hopeless about the world he had landed in.
It was a world where fear birthed Devils—beings so powerful they could snuff out countless lives the moment they appeared. Even as the protagonist with the power of the Chainsaw, all that awaited him was the agonizing loss of his loved ones and a never-ending parade of monsters hunting for his heart.
As Chainsaw Man, Denji wouldn't die easily, but the level of physical and mental torture he would have to endure was beyond human comprehension. Even for ordinary people, life was "Hell Mode." It wasn't just the visible Devils; you could be sitting at home and suddenly become a scapegoat for the Control Devil or get caught in the global collateral damage of the Falling Devil.
I have to get out. I absolutely have to leave!
Denji had been on the verge of a breakdown when he first arrived. Fortunately, a voice had echoed in his mind:
[If the Host is dissatisfied with this world, you may use this body to randomly transmigrate to another world within three days.]
"Hell yeah!"
Denji was ecstatic. Even if the destination was random, he—a guy who grew up on shonen manga—couldn't imagine a world more "shitty" than the world of Chainsaw Man. He still couldn't fathom how this story had even been serialized in Jump.
[If the Host has made his decision, speak the word "Confirm" three times within the three-day window to complete the jump. Note: All sentient life within ten meters of the Host will be transferred as well.]
Oh? It's like a Ryze ultimate from League!
With this information in hand, Denji immediately began listing the people who actually cared about him, rather than the Chainsaw Devil. That was why he was here with Reze.
Tragic endings were impactful, but Denji had no desire to be the star of a tragedy. He remembered the end of the "Reze Arc," where the two lovers never met in that cafe alleyway. He wouldn't abandon this world alone; he wouldn't be the pathetic kid who let a good woman down.
I have the power to take myself and the people I care about most to another world. Are you willing to give up everything you have here to fly away with me?
Denji wrote the words out. Reze's eyes welled with tears as she read them. For her, there was nothing to think about.
Everything I have in this world?
Does he mean the superiors who treat me like a tool? My purpose as a living weapon? Or my past, filled with nothing but horrific experiments?
The only thing I have left to love in this world is Denji!
She wanted to escape her past. She wanted to be a "country mouse" with Denji, living a life without worries. She grabbed the pen and wrote: I'm in!
The girl who had played so many roles and killed so many people as a tool never expected to find a chance at redemption like this.
Suddenly, her sharp hearing picked up footsteps and the voices of another man and woman.
"Why did Denji call us here all of a sudden?"
"Who knows? Maybe he ran into some trouble."
A handsome man with a topknot and a girl with horns appeared on the mountain path. Reze immediately went on high alert. However, Denji gently took her hand and pointed to the paper:
Don't be afraid. They're my family. Like you, they're important to me. Let's all leave together.
"Mhm. Together!" Reze nodded obediently.
"Denji? What are you doing here? Who's the girl?"
As Hayakawa Aki and Power approached him, Denji spoke the first command with absolute certainty.
"Confirm."
A ten-meter radius centered on Denji began to glow. Power looked on with a mix of confusion and curiosity, while Aki instinctively tried to back away—only to be held in place by a sudden invisible tether.
"Confirm!"
Denji, now partially transformed, repeated the command. The light grew blinding. Aki was bewildered, Power was still acting like a fool, but Reze wore an expression of pure happiness and longing.
Simultaneously, the eyes of a bird nearby shifted into a pattern of concentric circles.
A woman's face with a zipper running down the center suddenly emerged from the ground. A man with half a shark's head for a face lunged out of the shadows toward Denji.
"Lord Chainsaw!"
"Confirm!"
Before Makima's subordinates could fully manifest, Denji shouted the final command. The entire group vanished instantly.
A moment later, the woman with the zipper fully emerged from the earth. The zipper split her body in half, and a red-haired woman of stunning elegance stepped out from within.
Staring at the now-empty mountainside, Makima—who was always the picture of calm—looked genuinely lost, as if she had suddenly lost her dream and her purpose in life. She reached out through the eyes of countless animals, scouring the globe, but the Chainsaw Devil was gone.
Aki, the Shark Fiend, the Blood Fiend, and the Soviet Weapon Human had all vanished without a trace.
Makima felt a profound sense of loss—but her grief was for Pochita, never for Denji.
And that was exactly why Denji had chosen to run.
Terra, Year 1096. A slum alleyway in the nomadic city of Lungmen.
Two rival gangs were in the middle of a brutal turf war. This was the world of Arknights, a place that was every bit as ruthless as the one they had left.
In all of Terra, with the exception of the paradise that was Laterano, the prosperous city of Lungmen was considered the best place to be. But Laterano turned away outsiders, while Lungmen was a hub of commerce. Consequently, the city was flooded with refugees seeking sanctuary.
Lungmen couldn't provide a decent life for everyone. Thus, the city was split into two worlds, governed by two powerful figures who maintained a tacit understanding.
The wealthy and the white-collar workers enjoyed Lungmen's prosperity, while the gangs in the slums reverted to beasts, fighting for every inch of survival. But these people had no choice; the world outside Lungmen was even worse. Rather than returning to the wastes, it was more practical to just kill the person in front of you.
"You Wildcat bastards! How dare you try to take the Iron Anchor's turf? We're gonna gut every last one of you Felines!"
Just as one side was faltering and the bloodbath reached its climax, a figure appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the gore-splattered alley.
Denji stood there in his white T-shirt, a look of confusion on his face. He didn't know where he was, and he didn't know why he appeared to be alone. He only remembered a voice ringing in his head during the final moments of the jump:
[Passengers will be transported to the location most compatible with their nature.]
"The place most compatible with my nature... is a slum?"
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