"A hot dog?!" Denji stared at the sandwich in his hand, aghast. "Is there a dog in this?!"
"Um, there should be, since it's called that..." The girl faltered, then quickly regained her composure. "Burgers are round, you know? This is long. A long sandwich is a hot dog."
"Gah—" Denji eyed the girl warily.
This woman was terrifying. Not only did she know this wasn't a burger, she even knew what kind of dog it was, when he'd never even heard of such a thing!
That fatso was truly heartless, selling dog as bread filling!
Denji didn't eat dog. He considered throwing the sandwich away, but it had cost him a beating, and it would fill his stomach. He hesitated.
He decided to address a more pressing matter before deciding the sandwich's fate. He pointed at the girl, demanding, "Give me back Pochita."
"But he wants to come home with me." The girl clutched the struggling Pochita innocently.
"Does he look like he wants to go home with you?! Give him back! You're suffocating him!"
After a brief struggle, Denji retrieved Pochita. Seeing the girl's lingering gaze on his companion, he protectively turned, shielding Pochita from her view.
"Don't be so tense. I just think he's cute. I wanted to pet him some more," the girl said, brushing her wet hair aside as she looked at Denji with interest. "So, can I pet him a little longer? Please?"
"Pochita is my partner, not a toy!" Denji bristled. Her casual tone, as if discussing a pet, infuriated him.
This woman was worse than a devil!
"Hmm… You're hungry, aren't you?" Seeing Denji's wary expression, the girl brightened after a moment of thought. "Let me pet Pochita, and I'll buy you dinner. How about that?"
"Dinner?!" Denji's heart leaped. He and Pochita hadn't eaten in two days, not even crusts.
But he quickly dismissed the tempting offer. No way. Pochita was his beloved friend, family, brother. He wouldn't sell him out for food—
"I'll buy you real burgers."
"So this is a real burger..." Minutes later, sitting in McDonald's, Denji stared blankly at his tray.
A small square box held ketchup. Those long, thin things were… french fries? He recognized the cola; he'd tasted some once, discarded and half-full, in a park.
And this round thing… was a burger?
Bread, fried chicken, ketchup, lettuce, pickles... Amazing.
Denji swallowed, tempted by the aroma.
"What's wrong? Aren't you going to eat?" The girl across from him, petting Pochita, smiled at the stunned Denji. "Doesn't it suit your taste?"
"No, it's just... Eating this much at once... Isn't it a bit extravagant...?" This food, converted to bread crusts, could probably feed him and Pochita for a week.
"Don't worry, eat your fill." The girl fed Pochita a french fry, her eyes crinkling in amusement at the devil's happy reaction. "Eat as much as you want. We can get a doggy bag later."
A doggy bag…?
Suddenly, the girl holding Pochita transformed in Denji's eyes into the Madonna cradling the baby Jesus.
He had been wrong to think she was worse than a devil!
As Denji devoured his burger, the girl smiled genuinely.
[Target Denji's favorability increased. Current favorability: 4]
[Current target energy charge efficiency: 400%]
Finally, a favorability increase.
This girl, of course, was Li Bei's second clone, named Shoko.
This was the world of Chainsaw Man, the source of the Tomato Devil Lihua had defeated.
This world resembled modern Earth, but it was plagued by creatures called Devils. Each Devil bore a name representing a concept or thing from the real world. The more fear associated with the name, the stronger the Devil.
Few people feared fried chicken, so a Chicken Devil would be weak. But snakes, war, bombs – things that instilled fear – resulted in powerful Devils.
Devils healed by consuming human blood. Even fatal wounds could be instantly mended with a bit of blood. Devils inhabiting human corpses were called Fiends. Denji, the protagonist, merged with his Devil partner, Pochita, upon death, becoming Chainsaw Man.
Shoko knew all this thanks to Li Bei reading the Chainsaw Man manga in his spare time.
Thankfully, he'd finished Part 1 before creating this character. Otherwise, he'd be relying on Gao Ming's secondhand information again, like in the Honkai-verse.
Now, having absorbed the manga, Shoko had a plan: become the heroine!
Chainsaw Man lacked a clear female lead. Makima was more of a villain, Power a sister figure, and Reze's early demise limited her role.
Plus, all those women had ulterior motives regarding Denji.
This manga needed a selfless, supportive, non-malicious female lead.
And Shoko was ready to step up.
Who says bad girls can't be heroines?!
She even shared some similarities with Denji. Despite her confident pronouncements, she was unfamiliar with many things in the human world, not even knowing what a real hot dog looked like…
A perfect persona for a tragic death.
This time, she would be the perfect, unassuming, kind-hearted woman. She would farm energy, then die tragically and reap a massive reward back on Earth—Just kidding.
Being a nice girl would only yield a one-time energy boost.
But with a little manipulation...