1 A Child Reborn in Gore

(This is a prologue-esque chapter.)

The first thing I felt was the warm liquid running over my face. Then it was the metallic smell I knew was blood. Then came the questions about how I knew what blood smells like.

Then it was about who am I? I felt like my name started with a 'K' but other than that...nothing. I vaguely recall being a teenager. Whether I was nineteen or thirteen, I did not know, it was an unknown to me. Whoever 'me' is.

Other information came into my head about a certain manga called 'Tokyo Ghoul'. It was a pretty grim manga about an 18-year-old called Ken Kaneki and his struggles with being turned into a ghoul.

Ghouls are creatures who feed on human flesh. You could say they were the natural predators for Humans as they couldn't eat anything but Humans. Well, they could still drink water and coffee. Pretty weird, honestly.

I don't have enough memories to facilitate many opinions but I know this world is down-right wacky.

Wiping the sticky substance from my eyes I opened them to see one thing:

Gore.

Blood coated everything around me, including myself. I looked down at my hands and found them slick with the red liquid.

But I was fine. I was not injured in any way, shape or form. Not much could be said for the two corpses in front of me.

A man and a woman who were torn to bits, with even more bits missing. A Ghoul had attacked them for food. I couldn't bring myself to hate Ghouls for this fact; they were only doing what Humans did to cattle and other animals we breed for food purposes. Though this didn't mean I would ever let a Ghoul eat me purely because it was only doing what it was born to do. I would kill it. Would anyone go along with someone else's wishes so selflessly? The short answer is no. At least from what I feel.

Which begs the question, why do I feel like this?

Urgh, this is annoying...having feelings without the necessary memories to back up why I feel as such is as frustrating as it is mysterious.

Looking at the gore in front of me I felt no change to my countenance and I had to wonder, once again, who was I? To be so unaffected by such a scene...I would have to have been something very callous, no?

...Weird. I don't feel callous. My emotions are free and I don't feel like I'm suppressing myself mentally or emotionally. Maybe I was a Soldier? Someone used to the grittiness of the world's underbelly? This truly is annoying.

"Oh? Despite seeing your parents in such a state, you're not crying or making much of a fuss? Did I break ya, kid?" a deep gruff voice spoke from above me and I looked up to see a lanky man with unkempt black hair and two eyes which shone with red light while simultaneously looking shrouded in darkness. For clarification's sake, his irises were red while his sclera we were black.

A Ghoul.

Also, these two were my parents? That's...that is a shame. I feel like I would enjoy having a parent once again. Something tells me that I didn't have much so to speak when it comes to parentage in my old life.

Standing up, I realized my relatively short stature compared to the rest of the items in the house and once again looked down at my hands.

Ah. I'm a kid.

Then some memories came flooding in. Only small ones. My current age, where I live, where my school is. I felt something get attached to my mind which gave me...hatred, fear, anger, helplessness, a feeling of weakness. Things I felt I knew all too well.

This new...addition to my mind gave me a reason. Kill Ghouls. To avenge my parents, I will kill Ghouls.

Of course, I did not concede to this thought but I kept it in the back of my head before staring at the Ghoul.

"You have had your meal, so please spare me," my high-pitched voice was even and calm and I saw how taken aback the Ghoul was, so I picked my next words carefully, "The neighbors would have heard the noise and the screaming. They have more than likely called the Police and they will have told the CCG to send Investigators to, well, investigate. If you do not leave soon, they will arrive and you will possibly die."

Finishing this I just stared at the Ghoul as I continued suppressing the urge to scream at the Ghoul. To rage at it with all the profanities my apparently 9-year-old mind could think up. I could not allow myself to be influenced by the prior emotions of this body. Not right now, at least.

Right now I needed to be calm, collected, and be in control of the situation.

I had no way of fighting this Ghoul. I was a child. Not that it mattered as most Ghouls have no problem overpowering adult Humans. I'm pretty sure even Ghoul children can overpower adult Humans.

I saw the Ghoul drop to the ground in front of me and it gave me the chance to see his hands holding a long, pale leg. A leg with multiple bites taken from it. 'My' mother's leg.

Once I realized that the emotions were acting up with even more fervor than before.

But I kept a tight grip on them, pushing them down deep within my mind. I'm sorry for suppressing your emotions but for the time being, they are detriments to me.

...I'm going crazy. I'm pretty much apologizing to myself. These emotions are mine but my mind is different. The kid I once was has merged with someone or something and gained memories of what looks like the future...? I don't know.

...Annoying. Annoying. Annoying. Annoying. Annoying.

Once again, this is very fucking annoying. Not knowing things is annoying me to the very core of my being.

"I guess you're right, kid. Thanks for the heads up~" he smiled cheerily at me, showing his bloodied teeth before he rushed out of the room. But before I even got the chance to take a breath of relief, something popped up in front of me, causing me to flinch and slip on the blood coating the floor and making it slick.

My head hit the ground and it took me a little while to clear my head and lift myself with my arms pressed against the ground behind me for support. With my body stable, I looked at the thing that made me flinch.

[Congratulations Host, you've survived your first encounter with a Ghoul despite being a young, weak little human! Do you wish to activate the Strongest Dove System? Y/N]

I felt filled with a weird sense of humor when I looked at this screen in front of me. It seemed I knew what this was. The humor was replaced by the instinct to press yes, but I had a question first.

"Can you answer a question for me...system?" I spoke lowly, not wanting to make too much noise just in case someone could hear me. As a reply to my question, another screen popped up in front of me.

[Yes.]

"Will you detriment or cause harm to me in any way, shape or form? Either directly or indirectly?"

[No. I would not harm my Host. I must help you become stronger. That is all. I could not make you stronger if I were to detriment you, no?]

I didn't know whether or not it was telling the truth but honestly? What choice did I have? Not take a chance at something that would make me stronger? In a world full of Humanoid Beings who want to eat Humans? I might not have memories but even I can tell that it would be dumb to turn away this system.

Plus, my instincts are telling me to just press the damn 'Y', and my emotions are begging me to take whatever chance I can get when it comes to getting stronger.

So I pressed the 'Y'.

[System Installing...Installing...Installed!]

[Status Scan Underway...Scanning...Scanning...Scanning...Scan Complete!]

[Open Status? Y/N]

Clicking the 'Y' all the other screens disappeared and another one took its place.

Name: N/A

Age: 9

Race: Human

Level: 9

Constitution: 1

Dexterity: 1

Intelligence: 6

Senses: 5

(Average Stats for the Average Human Adult: 5 (Except for Intelligence which is variable from person to person.))

Average Stats for the Average Ghoul Adult: 30-35 (Except for Intelligence which is variable from person to person.))

Average Stats for the Average Dove: 10-15 (Except for Intelligence which is variable from person to person.))

[For stellar performance against your first Ghoul, you will be given a free perk for each of your stats. Do you wish to proceed? Y/N]

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