"Have you heard?"
Inside the Paranormal Research Club, Marin leaned in mysteriously, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Heard what?" Miko asked instinctively.
Instead of answering directly, Marin lowered her voice. "You know about that case from a while ago—the missing girls?"
That caught Yukino's attention. She closed her book, her brow furrowing.
"Are you referring to the incident where over twenty girls disappeared within three days?"
She kept up with the news regularly and had read about it.
Marin's eyes lit up, and she nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! That's the one. The case was solved this morning!"
"What exactly happened?" Yukino asked, frowning. Unlike Marin, she didn't use her phone often during school hours and had missed the latest updates.
Eriri and Miko also leaned in, curiosity piqued. Over twenty disappearances in three days wasn't a trivial matter.
"Was it a kidnapping ring?" Eriri speculated.
Marin shook her head gravely. "You'd never guess. It wasn't just a kidnapping."
"One person kidnapped over twenty people in three days?" Miko looked skeptical. "How would no one notice something like that?"
"It's true. They found them in the basement of a restaurant. The owner was behind it."
As she spoke, Marin hugged her arms and shrank slightly, spooked by her own words.
"They said there were people chained up in there, and even corpses—cut open and hanging from iron hooks. They think it was an organ trafficking operation."
"Ugh!"
The girls instantly pictured the horrific scene and grimaced.
Eriri and Miko shuddered.
"That's terrifying."
But for someone who had firsthand experience with the incident, Nanashi had more to add. Calmly, he corrected them.
"It wasn't about organ trafficking. It was cannibalism."
"...Huh?"
Marin stared at him, stunned. "Why would you say that?"
All eyes shifted to Nanashi.
Cannibalism—that word alone was enough to send a chill through the room.
Was someone actually eating people?
Megumi's eyes glimmered as she ventured a guess.
"Is it... something not human?"
Nanashi gave her a thumbs-up. "Bingo. A man-eating monster."
Her intuition had hit the mark.
The others now realized that it might not have been a human eating humans. If a monster had done it, the explanation became disturbingly plausible.
Yukino, while clearly disgusted, couldn't help but press further.
"So, are you saying the restaurant owner was a monster? Or was he feeding people to something else?"
Nanashi answered plainly.
"The owner was the monster—a ghoul."
"A ghoul?" Yukino blinked. "You mean a humanoid creature that eats humans?"
"Or possibly a subspecies," Nanashi explained. "Something that evolved from humans under unknown conditions. Ghouls can only consume human flesh—or that of their own kind. Normal food is completely inedible to them."
Eriri's jaw dropped.
"That's messed up. So... ghouls used to be human?"
"Exactly. Ghouls are twisted beings," Nanashi replied.
He'd seen enough fictional portrayals to know—ghouls weren't just physically deformed. Many of them had distorted minds as well.
"But you're just going to let that thing be locked up like a normal criminal?" Yukino asked, concerned. "Isn't that dangerous?"
Marin glanced down at her phone, rereading the article, then looked up in confusion.
"But the news said the guy was a lunatic, just screaming nonsense. And the girls couldn't remember anything clearly—they only remembered being taken."
"That's my doing."
Nanashi tapped the table. A cup of tea appeared out of thin air. He took a sip before continuing.
"That man was Shizuka-sensei's blind date. I happened to run into him last night and discovered he was a ghoul."
"I altered the memories of the girls to erase the bloody details."
"As for the ghoul... I've placed him under a curse of eternal torment. He now exists in a state between life and death—forever suffering."
"Wait—Shizuka-sensei!?"
Eriri's eyes widened. "Is that why you were at the hotel with her last night?"
"H-Hotel?! With Shizuka-sensei?!" Miko was already unsettled by the talk of man-eating monsters, but this revelation left her completely stunned.
Marin leaned in, grinning devilishly.
"Nanashi-kun~ Something did happen between you two, didn't it?"
Even Yukino glanced over, uncharacteristically curious.
Nanashi rolled his eyes, then flicked Marin on the forehead.
"Don't be ridiculous. Shizuka-sensei was drugged and traumatized. I just brought her to a hotel so she could rest."
"Oww...!" Marin rubbed her forehead and pouted. "Jeez, if there was nothing, you didn't have to hit me!"
Hearing his explanation, Miko and Yukino both let out small sighs of relief.
If something had happened... Yukino wouldn't have interfered. But it was better this way.
She grew concerned again at the mention of ghouls and voiced her worry.
"Are there... a lot of ghouls out there?"
"Not really. So far, only one has appeared in the past few days," Nanashi replied with a sigh.
He had learned the truth from Vinsk's memories.
Ghouls were fundamentally different from evil spirits, filth, onmyoji, or demons.
Take Vinsk, for example.
From what Nanashi saw in his mind, Vinsk had been a perfectly ordinary person in his previous life. There were no memories of living as a ghoul whatsoever.
Then, just three days ago, he awoke—and with that awakening came an entirely new set of memories... the memories of a ghoul.
It was bizarre.
As if the life of a ghoul—completely identical to him—had been forcefully implanted into his body.
He was human. But he'd been overwritten. His past was replaced, and his body mutated.
Before that moment, he had never eaten anyone. His descent into cannibalism only began after the transformation.
At first, Nanashi suspected it was the work of a cognitive doomsday factor. But now, he wasn't so sure.
The nature of this ghoul "awakening" was far stranger than expected.
It felt like two identical isotopes had been fused together.
"I've already suppressed global consciousness on a large scale," Nanashi said, rubbing his temples.
"And so far, no other ghouls have surfaced."
He gave a pointed reminder.
"Still, stay alert. The people around you could mutate at any time."
His eyes landed on Miko.
"Especially you. If you're ever in danger, contact any of us immediately."
Miko nodded timidly.
"Got it."
Everyone exchanged glances, recognizing the danger. The existence of ghouls was more unsettling than they'd thought.
This incident had also made one thing clear to Nanashi—this doomsday was going to be anything but simple. He needed to grow stronger.
He opened the chat group's personal panel:
[Human]: Nanashi
[Points]: 7.52 million
[Doomsday]: Omitted
[Abilities]:
B-Rank:
Physical Enhancement (Lv4)
Five Thunders (Lv4)
Six Styles (Lv4)
Armament Haki (Lv4)
Observation Haki (Lv4)
A-Rank:
Intuition (Lv4)
S-Rank:
Gem Vector Manipulation (Lv6)
Zanpakutō Archon (Lv6)
Gluttony (1v6)
SS-Rank:
Mystic Eyes of Death (Lv7)
Chaos Wings (Lv6)
Currently, he had 7.52m Doomsday Points left.
If he wanted to upgrade the Mystic Eyes of Death to Lv8...
He checked the cost—25 million points.
A number far out of reach for now.
After some thought, he decided to focus on boosting his other abilities instead.
Chaos Wings could be upgraded through faith and sin, but as they were mostly supportive in nature, there was no rush.
He turned his attention to his S-Rank abilities.
After browsing for a while, he decided to level up the seasoned powerhouse: Gem Vector Manipulation.
[Ding! You have consumed 5 million Doomsday Points to improve your ability!]
[Gem Vector Manipulation increased to Lv7!]
He checked if it could be enhanced further.
It was still upgradeable—good.
There didn't seem to be any barriers stopping him from pushing an S-Rank ability to Lv8. But beyond S-Rank... the gap between tiers was clearly enormous.
"...Still 2.52 million left. Let's spin the roulette."
A long-overdue moment of fun.
Before spinning, Nanashi called Megumi, Yukino, and Eriri to come over.
Marin and Miko watched the group curiously.
"What are you up to now?" Eriri asked, already annoyed. She knew Nanashi hadn't come home the night before. Kanae had told her he was at a hotel, tending to Shizuka-sensei.
Nanashi patted his lap and grinned.
"Come on, Eriri. Sit here."
"No way!" she huffed and turned away.
"Not up to you."
The little tsundere flared up—but Nanashi wasn't fazed. He simply scooped her up and plopped her on his lap.
"You jerk!" she growled, squirming and biting his neck in protest. If her fangs were just a little sharper, it would've looked like a vampire feasting on its prey.
Then, he pulled Megumi and Yukino close—one in each arm. Neither resisted.
"Nanashi, what are you doing?" Megumi asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"Absorbing the heroine's luck," he said with a mysterious smirk.
And with that, the roulette began.
As expected, the first nine spins yielded either nothing or junk—barely anything useful for combat. One result was even a pack of Military Ration Pills with no clear purpose.
Then came the tenth spin.
He felt it—the soft hum of a guaranteed pull.
[Ding! Congratulations! You've obtained the item: Perfect Floating Fruit!]
[Item]: Perfect Floating Fruit
[Effect]: Grants the A-Rank ability: Perfect Floating Fruit upon consumption.
"!!"
Nanashi's eyes lit up with excitement.
This was different from the direct fusion-type Devil Fruits like those possessed by Nami or Shinobu—this was a usable item.
He could gain an ability just by eating it. And even if he didn't need it himself, someone else from his team could use it.
(Nice... this is a great start.)
He wasn't done yet.
"Keep spinning!"
Another ten spins. Another stroke of luck.
[Ding! Congratulations on obtaining the item: Perfect Substitute Arrow!]
[Item]: Perfect Substitute Arrow
[Effect]: Guarantees 100% awakening of a Stand between levels C and A. One-time use.
"A Stand Arrow from JoJo!?"
Still, it wasn't quite the original. More of a replica—a guaranteed-use prop that activated a Stand at lower tiers.
The catch was clear: it only awakened Stands up to A-rank. If it could guarantee an S-rank Stand, he would've used it on the spot.
"I'll stash it for now."
The battle wasn't over.
Round 3!
Once again, the first few spins produced mostly junk. A small comfort came in the form of a few magic beans.
Then came the tenth spin.
The roulette slowed… slower… until it stopped.
[Ding! Congratulations on obtaining the item: Infinity Gem – Space Stone!]
[Item]: Infinity Gem – Space Stone
[Effect]: Grants the perfect user complete spatial manipulation—instant teleportation of self or objects, full spatial control according to will.
"...!!!"
Nanashi was stunned.
The Infinity Stones!?
The Space Stone!?
From Marvel's universe no less.
By lore, Infinity Stones were useless outside their original universe... but this one had been granted by the Doomsday Chat Group. Surely that bypassed the usual limitations?
He grinned.
[Megumi Kato from Passerby Heroine.]