Episode 74: What's wrong isn't me, what's wrong is the world
"Ding! The live broadcast cooldown is complete."
"Ding! The live broadcast entrance is reopened."
"Ding! This live broadcast content is " Dimensional World Inventory "
" " Top Ten Famous Scenes " "
"Ding! Seventh Scene: " What's Wrong Isn't Me, What's Wrong Is The World, The Little Angel's Awakening.""
~Dimensional livestream, Chat Room~
[ Tanya von Degurechaff (Youjo Senki): "The little angel's awakening?" ]
[ Tanya von Degurechaff (Youjo Senki): This time, will it be another god? ]
[ Yuri Nakamura (Angel Beats): "That god from before... never mind, that doesn't count." ]
[ Yuri Nakamura (Angel Beats): "This time, will a real god appear?" ]
[ Aqua (KonoSuba): "Huh? Are you talking about me?" ]
[ Kazuma Satou (KonoSuba): "What else would they be talking about?" ]
[ Jashin-chan (Dropkick on My Devil): "Little angel? It won't be those annoying guys, will it?" ]
[ Yurine Hanazono (Dropkick on My Devil): "(?｀Д? ) "]
[ Jashin-chan (Dropkick on My Devil): "Ow, ow, ow, ow!" ]
[ Yurine Hanazono (Dropkick on My Devil): "You're still bullying someone who's already so pathetic? Looks like we can have an extra meal tonight." ]
[ Keqing (Genshin Impact): "Although I don't understand what an angel is, saying 'What's Wrong Isn't Me, What's Wrong Is The World' is a bit irresponsible." ]
[ Mikoto Misaka (A Certain Magical Index): "That's right, it's a bit too much like shirking responsibility." ]
[ Tohsaka Rin (Type-Moon): "I feel like I've heard that phrase somewhere before, like it happened right beside me." ]
[ Tohsaka Rin (Type-Moon): "How strange." ]
[ Emiya Shirou (Type-Moon): "..." ]
[ .....]
『 The screen began to play. The place that appeared before them was particularly empty, like a room hidden in the shadows.
The surroundings were a pitch-black ceiling, domed like a vault, while the floor was pure white, cold, and spread out without a trace of life.
The walls felt like they were all curving outwards, enclosing this space.
But even in such a bizarre room, a sense of indescribable danger and eeriness permeated every moment.
In the center of the room was a chair, on which sat a black-haired young man.
At this moment, his hands were tightly bound to the chair, and his legs were also tightly wrapped with steel wires, fixed to the chair legs.
The young man's head was lowered, making it impossible to see what expression he had at the moment.
But...
The young man's entire body exuded a terrifying appearance.
His toes seemed to be without skin, and the bright red flesh was exposed, looking quite horrifying.
Seeing the young man's miserable state, everyone couldn't help but feel a sense of sympathy and pity.
But before they could express their emotions.
They saw the young man's freshly cut flesh, which was slowly healing at this moment.
It seemed that this young man was not an ordinary person.
After all, how could an ordinary person recover so quickly?
The young man, tightly bound to the chair, was limp all over, his hands and feet beaten to a bloody pulp.
On his face, a look of pain was revealed.
He clearly saw the wounds on his hands and feet.
The blood in his body seemed to be continuously draining, and he was tied to the chair, unable to stop it, unable to break free and escape, unable to heal himself.
Just as his expression was unbearable with pain, a man on the other side was watching this scene with interest.
"Hehehe, this is too interesting."
This person was wearing a white suit with a dark red shirt inside, revealing a hint of strangeness.
Paired with a green vest, the purple and red patterns on his tie looked particularly fitting on him.
He was wearing a pair of green leather shoes.
His short yellow hair, crimson eyes, and high, broad nose bridge.
Seeing this scene, everyone suddenly realized that it was this seemingly well-dressed man who had inflicted all sorts of torture on the boy in the chair.
This man was a member of the ghoul organization "Aogiri Tree" in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
His real name was Yakumo Oomori, but now, everyone called him by another name - Jason.
At this moment, the commentator's voice in the livestream room sounded.
Speaking of which, why did Jason lock this young man here?
The reason was that not long ago, people from "Aogiri Tree" came to this peaceful district,
Their purpose was to search for clues related to Rize Kamishiro, or rather, to find someone with her scent.
Following all the clues, they pinpointed the young man, Ken Kaneki.
After confirming the target, the people from "Aogiri Tree" didn't say a word and directly smashed the cafe in the peaceful district.
Ken Kaneki, who was in the cafe at the time, was knocked unconscious and taken away by the other party. 』
『 .....』
~Dimensional livestream, Chat Room~
[ Umaru Doma (Himouto): "They just took him away like that?" ]
[ Umaru Doma (Himouto): "They just robbed him in broad daylight?" ]
[ Mikoto Misaka (A Certain Magical Index): "Despicable fellow." ]
[ Oyama Mahiro (Onimai): "That's too audacious." ]
[ Kirishima Touka (Tokyo Ghoul): "...." ]
[ .....]
~Tokyo Ghoul World~
~Anteiku Cafe~
When Touka saw what was happening in the cafe, she was instantly stunned.
"They actually just charged into our store to kidnapped someone?"
Then, her gaze shifted to the manager on the other side, and she asked,
"Manager, what should we do now?"
Manager Yoshimura Kuzen lowered his head and said softly,
"This kind of thing is impossible to guard against. Aogiri Tree's power is not something a few of us can withstand."
"Then..."
Renji Yomo also looked at the manager.
In the end, Manager Yoshimura placed his hope on the ongoing livestream.
"We need to find another way, but I believe the situation in the livestream can help us find new countermeasures."
With Aogiri Tree's ability, it's unlikely that this group of people can hide Ken Kaneki from their thorough search.
Moreover, constantly hiding is not a solution; a way to completely solve the problem is needed.
On the other side, the little angel Kaneki who was walking on the road, seeing his future self being kidnapped like this, was instantly panicked.
"I, I was captured like this?"
"What should I do?"
At this time, he had no idea how to avoid this from happening.
But his feet unconsciously ran towards the cafe.
.....
『 In the Screen, they took Ken Kaneki all the way out of the place called Anteiku, and then went straight to Aogiri Tree's base.
After arriving there, Ken Kaneki hadn't thought about escaping, and he tried many times, but each time he failed.
Once, while trying to escape, he unfortunately got spotted by a supervillain in the organization, a guy nicknamed Jason.
As a result, Ken Kaneki was captured by this guy and taken to a dark room, and then he was subjected to torture day and night...
On the other side, at this time, something even more outrageous happened.
That is to say, many of the staff at Anteiku, upon hearing that Ken Kaneki was being tormented, decided to go rescue him.
Whether it was a coincidence or fate, on the day they planned to set out,
The CCG also happened to decide to fight Aogiri Tree.
Thus, the tormented Ken Kaneki, who was trapped, happened to have two groups of people planning to rescue him.
The place they were currently in was right outside the entrance of the Aogiri Tree organization.
These three forces were fighting in chaos.
While the outside was a fierce battle, the inside of Aogiri Tree's base was not much better.
All of this was simply hell for Ken Kaneki.
His body was being tormented by that perverted Jason as he pleased, and the parts of his body were being shattered again and again.
Although after enduring that inhuman pain, everything would slowly recover through his own ability.
But the pain of recovery, like a root, remained in Ken Kaneki's body, refusing to dissipate.
"Hehehe," Jason said with a cold laugh at this moment, "How about it, you should be thinking of giving up now, right?"
"With your insignificant strength, it's impossible to slip away from under our noses."
As he spoke, Jason was wearing fingerless gloves that enhanced his strength and holding a large pair of pliers that looked terrifying just by looking at them.
On his face, he was wearing a mask like other ghouls, but his mask, fitting his nickname "Jason", was in the shape of a baseball bat.
Suddenly, the large pliers in Jason's hand fiercely clamped Ken Kaneki's neck, instantly making him unable to breathe from the pain and powerless to resist.
As Ken Kaneki was being tortured, Jason's cold voice echoed in the small, dark room:
"Come on, answer this, what's 1000 minus 7?" 』
『 .....』
~Dimensional livestream, Chat Room~
[ Saitama (One Punch Man): "Huh? Why ask this question at this time?" ]
[ Bang (One Punch Man): "Perhaps, it's to keep people awake, so that they can be tortured better. If you answer correctly, you feel pain, if you answer incorrectly, you feel pain yourself." ]
[ Esdeath (Akame Ga Kill): "Hehehe, a good method." ]
[ Keqing (Genshin Impact): "This, this too...." ]
Keqing felt her worldview being refreshed today...
But how could Ken Kaneki, whose throat was currently clamped by the large iron pliers in Jason's hand and couldn't make a sound, answer this question?
All he could do was stare at the other party with wide, terrified eyes.
This might be useless,
But perhaps it could allow him to retain a tiny bit of dignity in the face of impending death.
.....
『 "Hey, what's wrong with you? Why aren't you answering my question?"
Seeing Ken Kaneki silent, Jason didn't get angry, but instead smiled and leaned closer to him.
"That's not good, little guy~..."
"You can't even do such a simple math problem? Do you need my help?"
"If you don't say anything, I'll assume you agree~"
As soon as Jason finished speaking, he used a little force with his wrist.
The cold, large iron pliers instantly applied immense force.
"Ah!!!"... With a scream, a piece of tender flesh was forcibly torn off Ken Kaneki's body.
What followed was a surge of blood.
This blood immediately dyed the entire room crimson and also made Ken Kaneki feel a piercing pain.
"Ah!!!! Ah, ah, ah, ah!!!" He screamed in pain, just making this sound had used up all his strength.
Even if his mouth was wide open, the severe pain had made him unable to make a louder sound.
But this was far from expressing the pain he was currently enduring.
He was like a fish that had just been pulled out of the water by a fisherman, gasping for air with its gills caught.
However, such a tragic scene, in Jason's eyes, made him laugh even more wildly.
"Hahahaha! Yes, that's it!"
"This feeling, I really like it, it should be this feeling!"
The madness revealed in his words was like a fanatic seeing a long-desired holy object.
On the other side, Ken Kaneki's eyes were wide and round, as if they were about to pop out,
Full of despair and terror.
"Hahahaha! Kaneki, you look so funny." Jason, holding the pliers, let out another sinister laugh at this moment.
Then, he once again slammed the pliers into Ken Kaneki's mouth.
Then, with a gentle squeeze,
After hearing a "crack" sound.
Everyone saw a surge of blood spurt out again, and once again, an organ seemed to have been forcibly crushed.
The young man, tightly bound, couldn't help but let out a painful whimper.
However, this time, because there were pliers in his mouth, he could no longer make the previous screams.
Therefore, everyone could only hear a series of continuous whimpers now.
At this instant, everyone was staring at the two figures on the screen.
Ken Kaneki's sobs, one after another, formed a sharp contrast with Jason's unrestrained wild laughter.
"I, I want to go home..." The little angel Kaneki, who was crying heartbrokenly, couldn't help but think to himself.
As he let out painful wails, he desperately struggled to escape the control of Jason's large pliers, relying on his survival instinct.
However, at this moment, Ken Kaneki had no possibility of escaping from here.
He was completely fixed to the chair by Jason, and even moving an inch was a luxury.
But, under this strict restraint, a strong wave of dizziness suddenly struck the little angel Kaneki's mind.
His vision suddenly turned black, and in an instant, his heart was overwhelmed by extreme despair.
"Why, why did things turn out like this..." The little angel Kaneki pondered repeatedly in his heart.
But every time he wanted to say something, he wanted to do something,
His mouth was already tightly closed by Jason's large pliers,
His body was also tightly bound to the chair,
It felt like a centipede had crawled into his ear, and the intense discomfort exacerbated the severe pain in his head.
Even so, he could no longer make any sound,
On his face, only a deathly pale remained,
That was despair, the sense of impending death, surging in his heart.
Although he was a ghoul and possessed strong recovery ability,
At this moment, Ken Kaneki felt the shadow of death enveloping his heart for the first time.
"Could it be that everything is going to end here..."
It was truly pitiful.
He, who was originally human, became a ghoul due to an accident,
He was hunted by the human organization CCG, and was now even being so cruelly tortured by his own kind.
Such a tragic fate would probably make one laugh bitterly, wouldn't it?
Thinking of this, a tear rolled down the corner of Ken Kaneki's eye.
At this moment, even if he had been holding back his tears before,
Tears now silently rolled down.
At this moment, Ken Kaneki's heart was filled with an indescribable sense of exhaustion.
So, he simply closed his eyes, planning to accept the arrival of death.
But just as his eyelids closed, what appeared before him was not the expected darkness,
Nor was it this cold little room he was in.
Instead, scenes from his life, one after another, surged like a revolving lantern.
"Speaking of which, are you really willing to continue living like this, intending to harm others, or being harmed by others?"
A figure that felt both familiar and unfamiliar appeared before him.
It was the woman he had once deeply loved, and also feared - Rize Kamishiro. 』
『 .....』
~Tokyo Ghoul World~
~Anteiku Cafe~
Everyone was stunned when they clearly saw the woman who appeared before them.
"This is the Binge Eater?"
"Didn't they say she was missing before?"
Renji Yomo's eyes flashed with curiosity,
"Why would she appear in Kaneki's memory?"
Not long ago, after she went out with Kaneki, she disappeared as if she had vanished into thin air, and there had been no news since.
It seemed that after being seriously injured, she had disappeared from this city.
Everyone thought she was either dead or truly missing.
Who would have thought that the person he feared the most back then, Kaneki, would still retain memories of her in the future?
At this moment, the manager, who was wiping coffee cups, looked up and expressed his opinion:
"It seems there's a conspiracy here that we don't understand."
As soon as he said this, there was silence all around.
For them, a group of ghouls who only sought a peaceful life, the successive conspiracies had already left them mentally exhausted.
Not to mention, the future conspiracies that would make their peaceful lives disappear...
.....
『 At that time, when the other party posed that question, Ken Kaneki did not directly respond to her inquiry.
Facing her, Ken Kaneki chose silence.
Seeing this situation, the other party immediately understood.
"Ah, it seems my guess is probably correct, isn't it?" Rize Kamishiro sighed softly.
In her eyes, a trace of sadness involuntarily flashed.
"You are really a boring guy."
"So, for so long, you have been unwilling to accept me, always resisting becoming a true ghoul."
"Even now, being tortured like this by that guy named Jason, you haven't felt any anger."
"Only endless fear, always occupying your heart." 』
『 .....』