"Bang."
A loud noise echoed on the rooftop.
Su Xiao barely managed to stand, using the Dragon Flash sword to support himself. He was almost at his limit.
In the distance, a large dent appeared on a metal water tank, stained with blood. Ken Kaneki was lying beneath it.
Kaneki looked miserable, covered in sword wounds, with his legs twisted—clearly broken by Su Xiao.
Constantly taking hits had caused Kaneki to collapse first, leading to Su Xiao's victory.
Su Xiao walked slowly toward Kaneki, ready to kill the protagonist of the story.
But after only a few steps, he felt his pants being tugged. Looking down, he saw Touka Kirishima grabbing onto his pant leg.
"You... won't... get away with this."
Touka was lying on the ground, her face still partially covered by the half-mask Kaneki had given her, glaring at Su Xiao with hatred.
"You're wasting my time—three seconds, to be exact. But you seem to have some value."
Suddenly, Su Xiao thought of something. Touka could be considered half of a heroine, the other half being Rize Kamishiro.
In Touka's eyes, filled with despair, Su Xiao raised his blade.
But just as he was about to strike, Su Xiao suddenly jumped to the side, rolling and crouching after the movement.
"Ding, ding, ding..."
More than a dozen sharp red crystal-like spikes were lodged in the spot where Su Xiao had been standing.
If he hadn't dodged in time, he would've been skewered.
A man wearing a black rabbit mask appeared not far away—it was Ayato Kirishima.
At that moment, Ayato's red eyes were burning with anger, but there was also a hint of fear.
He quickly ran over to Touka, silently lifting her onto his back.
Touka clung to Ayato's clothes, her pale hands trembling.
"Let's settle old and new scores together. Last time, you nearly killed me, but you're not in good shape now, are you?"
Ayato spoke through clenched teeth. The hatred of almost being killed himself, combined with the anger of his sister nearly dying, fueled his desire for revenge against Su Xiao.
But the main source of his hatred was his sister's near-death experience. Ayato had joined Aogiri Tree to hone his abilities so he could protect her.
Su Xiao stood up, smiling as he looked at Ayato.
"You can give it a try."
Ayato's sudden arrival had saved Touka's life.
But thinking he could kill Su Xiao was a foolish dream. Though Su Xiao was in poor condition, he still had the ability to turn the tables.
From the treasure chest that had dropped after killing Yamori, Su Xiao had obtained a ring, Howl of the Evil Spirit, which came with a special ability.
Howl (Active): Upon activation, you will ignore all pain for 20 seconds. During this time, each hit you take will increase your attack speed by 5% (capped at 50%). After the effect ends, the speed bonus disappears.
...
As long as Su Xiao activated the Howl ability, he could fight for 20 seconds without feeling any pain.
When he had been at his peak, he had almost killed Ayato in one strike.
Although he was now weakened due to blood loss, he could still take a piece out of Ayato without much trouble.
Su Xiao's calm demeanor made Ayato hesitate.
But retreating now, without even putting up a fight, wasn't something Ayato could accept. So, he began launching a flurry of red crystal-like kagune spikes at Su Xiao.
Su Xiao slashed with his sword, cutting the kagune into tiny fragments.
He pressed his finger to his Bluetooth earpiece and spoke casually.
"Marude, this is White Night. I need backup on the rooftop."
This simple sentence caused Ayato's face to change drastically.
"Tch."
Ayato gave Su Xiao one last unwilling glance but was forced to retreat.
Ken Kaneki was far away, and Su Xiao was between them, so Ayato chose to abandon Kaneki and escape with his sister.
"Backup will reach you in a minute, White Night. Hang in there."
Marude Itsuki was clearly startled by Su Xiao's sudden call for reinforcements.
"The enemy retreated. Threat neutralized."
In a dangerous situation, Su Xiao wasn't the type to stubbornly hold his ground. He hadn't called for backup earlier because he didn't need it.
He also feared that if other investigators killed Kaneki, there would be no treasure chest drop.
This wasn't just a theory—it was a hard lesson learned.
In the 24th Ward, due to Yuna and Arima Kishou's involvement, Su Xiao hadn't seen a single chest drop.
This made him realize that when story characters helped in battles, the drop rate for treasure chests was affected.
It wasn't that no chests dropped at all; the drop rate just became dismal. And with Su Xiao's bad luck lowering his chances even further, the chance of a drop became laughable.
Su Xiao had just had the opportunity to take down Ayato and Touka. After activating Howl, it was possible.
But the Aogiri Tree officers were nearby, and once the Howl effect ended, he would be vulnerable.
Risking his life for a couple of treasure chests wasn't worth it.
Clutching his abdomen with one hand, Su Xiao slowly walked over to Kaneki.
"I won't... lose here."
Kaneki struggled to lift himself, but what greeted him was a flash of a bright blade—merciless.
"Shink."
A spray of blood filled the air as Kaneki's head, full of disbelief, flew from his body.
With Kaneki dead, Reincarnation Paradise displayed several notifications.
[You have killed the story protagonist: Ken Kaneki (20% progression).]
[Ken Kaneki was a story protagonist (1/3). You have gained 10% of the World's Source. Total World's Source obtained: 24.3%.]
[You have received a Blue Chest.]
[You have activated Achievement Quest: Anti-Hero.]
[Achievement Quest: Anti-Hero] (10% complete)]
[Difficulty Level: Lv. 4—Lv.?]
[Quest Description: A story protagonist? No more than a passing soul beneath my blade. Even if you are the child of this derived world, Anti-Hero will shatter all notions of fate-bound narratives.]
[Quest Information: Each time you kill a story protagonist, you will gain a corresponding amount of progress based on the protagonist's luck, power, background, etc.]
[Quest Deadline: None.]
[Quest Reward: Calculated based on final completion level (minimum reward: blue-quality equipment or items, maximum reward: ???).]
...
After killing Kaneki, Su Xiao realized he wasn't the typical "child of the world" protagonist. Reincarnation Paradise had already hinted at this.
In fact, Kaneki was only nominally the story's protagonist.
Before becoming a ghoul, Kaneki couldn't be killed.
Afterward, his life or death no longer mattered.
Kaneki had a tragic fate. As the protagonist, his survival became unimportant after the story began. Other protagonists, like Naruto or Luffy, were treated like the world's golden children.
Now, Su Xiao stood alone on the rooftop, the crisis over.
He glanced at Kaneki's corpse. They hadn't had any real personal grudge. They were simply enemies. Whether Kaneki was the protagonist of this world didn't matter—his mental state earlier meant that sparing him would only lead to trouble later.
Su Xiao had killed Nishiki Nishio and still needed to stay in the world of ghouls for a while. He wouldn't give Kaneki the chance to grow stronger and seek revenge—that would be the dumbest decision.
When cutting weeds, it's essential to pull up the roots. If not for the high risk, even Touka wouldn't have escaped.
Just as Su Xiao was about to leave the rooftop, another notification from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[Ken Kaneki is dead. The power of destiny is being redistributed.]
[The power of destiny has been reassigned. New story protagonists: Touka Kirishima (1/2), Rize Kamishiro (1/2).]
This was a global announcement, received by all other contractors.
Han Yu and the others, who had already retreated, were startled but quickly composed themselves.
In Reincarnation Paradise, the death of story protagonists was not uncommon. The stronger the protagonist's luck, the higher the chance they'd die because their chest drops were often several levels above their power.
Su Xiao raised an eyebrow at the message. As expected, Kaneki wasn't a true protagonist. The moment he died, someone else took his place.
"Team One, cleared. Target area secure."
"Team Two, cleared..."
Reports came through Su Xiao's earpiece. The opening of the public channel meant only one thing—the operation was over, and they had won.
"We've won."
Marude's voice was calm, but Su Xiao could hear the restrained excitement.
In their battles against ghouls, the CCG rarely won, given how much weaker human bodies were compared to ghouls.
After Marude declared victory, Su Xiao received a notification of mission completion.
[Faction Quest: Cover Operation (Complete)]
[Difficulty Level: Lv. 4.]
[Quest Description: Assist the Special Countermeasures Squad in defeating Aogiri Tree and ensure your side's victory.]
[Quest Information: CCG faction quest, not counted toward completion rating.]
[Quest Deadline: Until the end of the 11th Ward operation.]
[Quest Reward: 10,000 faction contribution points.]
[Failure penalty: None.]
[Click Yes/No to complete the task. Upon completion, you will receive 10,000 faction contribution points.]
...
Su Xiao chose to complete it, and his CCG contribution points became:
[Senior Investigator, Contribution 17,723/10,000. Yes/No to promote.]
He obviously chose promotion. To exchange for that blue-quality potion, he needed the prerequisite rank of Associate Special-Class Investigator.
Based on past experience, he would soon be promoted to Associate Special-Class Investigator, but Su Xiao noticed something.
Although he rose quickly through the ranks, he didn't have much real power.
This was normal. He had only joined the CCG recently, and his rapid promotion was due to the influence of Reincarnation Paradise.
Su Xiao didn't care about holding power. He was more focused on returning to the temporary branch in Area 24 to exchange for the blue-quality [Human Genetic Enhancement Serum].
With the boosts to Strength +2 and Stamina +4, Su Xiao's combat power would increase significantly. After that, when facing the coffee shop Manager, the outcome would be far different from the current one.
(End of Chapter)
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Translator's Note :- I am Not that familiar with a lot of the fictional worlds mentioned in the story. So if I make a mistake naming something please correct me by writing a paragraph comment on the mistake. Thank you.