Tokyo Ghoul: Starting with Kamui!

Uchiha Byakuya's heart leaped with joy. Without hesitation, he selected "Yes"!

[Ding! The host has opened the "Newbie Gift Pack" and received: 100 Attribute Points and System Shop Activation!]

Getting 100 attribute points for free—Byakuya was more than satisfied.

However, he didn't immediately distribute them. Since he hadn't yet determined the optimal balance between Physicality and RC Cells, he decided to hold off for now.

Besides the Newbie Gift Pack, there were other ways he could earn attribute points:

Daily sign-ins with the system

Completing system missions

Killing Ghouls or killing humans

Killing people was something he could not accept on principle—unless the target was truly evil beyond redemption. Otherwise, he couldn't bring himself to take an innocent life.

As for Ghouls, his stance was similar.

The biggest difference between humans and Ghouls lay in their RC Cell Count. In fact, one could argue that RC Cells were the root of all evil in this world.

Once a person's RC Cell Count exceeded a certain threshold, they would lose the ability to consume regular food and could only sustain themselves by eating human flesh.

Even Half-Humans weren't exempt. If their RC Cell Count reached Ghoul levels, they too would be unable to eat normal food.

Moreover, consuming human flesh kept a Ghoul's RC Cells active, allowing them to maintain or even enhance their abilities. The RC cells stored in their bloodstream would be transferred to a special organ known as the Kakuhou, which was arguably a Ghoul's most vital organ.

That being said, as a Half-Human, Byakuya did not possess a Kakuhou.

The harsh reality that "Ghouls must eat human flesh" made them natural enemies of humanity, despite their outward appearance, emotions, and behavior being nearly identical to humans.

Of course, there were innocent Ghouls—such as those who only fed on corpses. Byakuya had no intention of harming Ghouls who had never killed anyone.

His principle was simple: he viewed humans and Ghouls equally and refused to kill innocent people or innocent Ghouls.

Just as Byakuya was lost in thought, Shunji Shiono gave him a reminder.

"Still, I suggest you don't waste too much time on that manuscript. Right now, your priority should be passing your internship evaluation. Work hard, kid."

With that, Shiono returned to his own tasks.

Byakuya merely nodded without saying much.

In the original story, Shiono had also dismissed Yoshimura Eto's manuscript and had nearly thrown it away as trash.

It was only by sheer luck that another editor happened to see it and chewed Shiono out. In the end, Shiono had to scramble to track down Eto, almost missing the chance to discover the genius writer Takatsuki Sen.

But this time, things had changed.

Byakuya had taken the manuscript himself.

One could call it "cutting in," but not exactly—after all, Shiono truly didn't think much of the manuscript in the first place.

Now that he had confirmed the manuscript belonged to Yoshimura Eto, Byakuya immediately stood up.

He stuffed the thick stack of papers into his bag and left the office.

Without a doubt, he was heading straight to find Yoshimura Eto.

On the way, he opened his system panel.

He needed to prepare for his upcoming meeting with her.

Right now, this was still the original plot—

At this point in the timeline—ten years before the main story—Yoshimura Eto was already an SSS-rated Ghoul, the infamous One-Eyed Owl. Both her brutality and level of threat were at the absolute peak.

In this world, the danger level of Ghouls was ranked as follows, from lowest to highest: C, B, A, S, SS, SSS. The SSS ranking was the highest possible threat level, and in most cases, a Ghoul's ranking was directly tied to their combat ability.

If an SSS-rated Eto decided to kill Uchiha Byakuya, there was no question—without relying on Dual Kamui, he would be dead without a doubt.

Of course, he wasn't going to just not use Dual Kamui. He just had to be mindful of its usage. Given his current RC Cell Count, he couldn't afford to activate his Mangekyō Sharingan techniques recklessly.

For now, survival wasn't an issue. Tokyo Ghoul had no known counter to intangibility.

But he couldn't be careless. With his current RC Cell Count, overusing his abilities could easily get him killed.

"I should prioritize investing in RC Cells first..."

Byakuya made his decision.

After analyzing the system mechanics, he discovered that the conversion ratio for RC Cells and Physicality was different.

RC Cells: 1 Attribute Point = +1 RC Cell

Physicality: 1 Attribute Point = +0.1 Physicality

In other words, improving Physicality was ten times more expensive than increasing RC Cells.

Given his current situation, RC Cells took priority. They directly affected how effectively he could use Dual Kamui.

Of course, that didn't mean Physicality was a bad investment—enhancing his body's endurance and regenerative abilities would always be valuable.

[Ding! Attribute points successfully distributed!]

[RC Cell Count +100]

[Attribute Points -100]

Ten minutes earlier—inside Shoei Publishing.

Shunji Shiono was meeting with a visitor—a petite girl with green hair and green eyes. She had delicate and adorable features, slightly messy wavy hair, and looked no older than a middle school student.

This girl was Yoshimura Eto.

"How old are you?"

"Fourteen... years old."

"Hmm..."

Upon hearing her age, Shiono fell silent.

He looked at the thick stack of manuscript pages she had handed over. His mind went blank for a moment.

He still had to prepare for a banquet, not to mention upcoming meetings—he didn't have time to play make-believe with some kid.

Shiono casually skimmed a few pages of the manuscript and gave a half-hearted critique.

"At first glance, the writing seems decent... but it's overly flowery and lacks substance. Feels unnecessarily long-winded."

"That said, for someone your age, I suppose it's not bad."

After offering this dismissive assessment, Shiono placed a business card on the table.

"Here's my card. If you have more works in the future, feel free to contact me."

Truthfully, he hadn't even read the content properly—he just wanted to get rid of her quickly so he could focus on his own work.

"..."

The green-haired girl stared at the business card in silence for a moment.

"Aren't you going to read it first?"

Shiono let out a sigh.

"I have other things to do. This manuscript is way too long..."

"But… it's only been a few minutes..."

"A few minutes is still time. Every minute is precious to us!"

"I... see."

The green-haired girl sighed softly and gave up.

Upon leaving Shoei Publishing, the weather outside was cold and dreary.

She wore only a thin, plain blouse and an old white coat. Her long skirt was patched in several places.

She wrapped a scarf around herself.

Her small, fragile figure looked as if the wind might blow her away at any moment.