Chapter 3

I sat there with the bowl of steaming udon. It smelled heavenly. I stuck the spoon in before tasting the broth. Perfect. The noodles were next as they were firm and just springy enough with a smooth texture.

"Perfect old man."

He smiled "Glad to see you liked it." Strangely I could see karma now. It was strange seeing karma as threads. A small purple hint reflected off the soup.

Udon Lover: "So almost died today. Improved my skills and gained a new one."

Red Devil: "What did you do?"

Udon Lover: "Try facing off against a hundred ghouls and a super ghoul. In your terms I guess it would be a super strong dead apostle."

Red Devil: "Oh"

Megumi: "I can understand."

Unlucky Coward: "Doesn't that make you super strong?"

Udon Lover: "I'm still quite far off from achieving the pinnacle of my chosen sword path."

Udon Lover: "It'll take a while to reach zero and attain true emptiness."

It was at that time, I realised there may be a shortcut to reach emptiness. To reach zero. But wait, hang on.

Udon Lover: "Wait... Megumi, there was a username change option?"

Megumi: "Top right corner first option in settings."

Zenitsu: "Wow it worked."

I tapped before changing my username to Musashi.

Musashi: "Yup, guess I didn't have much time to check the thing out."

Musashi: "Right, Megumi, doesn't your teacher have a domain expansion that uses the concept of infinity?"

Megumi's reply was swift.

Megumi: "He does... Why and how do you know this?"

Rin: "I feel like I'm completely lost here."

Musashi: "Don't worry about it. Megumi can you ask your teacher to help me in training."

Megumi: "I can, when are you coming over anyway?"

Zenitsu: "Wait, Musashi? Like the Miyamoto Musashi?"

Megumi: "... I didn't notice until he pointed it out. You are a swordsman and are aiming for emptiness. Are you actually Miyamoto Musashi?"

Rin: "Wait, he might be the real Musashi? If so please visit me in a few weeks."

I laughed before replying.

Musashi: "No, Musashi is only a namesake the only thing I have for a name, just Musashi and the path that he walked. An inheritance you can say."

Megumi: "I'll see what I can do when you get here. Go get the ghouls."

Kaneki: "I'm half ghoul though."

Megumi: "... Some ghouls."

I laughed as Kaneki simply stared at me working behind the counter. "Don't worry, I just have to fight off Big Madam and then I'll probably make it or die trying to reach zero once I get to Megumi's world.

Big Madam was next on the list, after I healed up a bit. I had only noticed it after a few ghouls had attacked me. The katana I wielded was special. It could clearly cut through the supernatural easily. Or was this perhaps the blade simply being restored to its original form after bathing in blood?

The ghouls from the side of the hunting ground backed away after one of them squealed. "That's him." I stared at him only to see him trembling. "Hey!" I waved and smiled, he flinched. "Do you know where I can find this Big Madam person?"

"An auction you say? In a week you say?"

I patted him on the shoulder "Arigato."

I would train to empty my mind instantly. It would take too long in battle to slowly empty my mind. I would have to do it instantly. I re-read the void book of Musashi. I was stupid. Self hypnosis based on a stance to empty your mind.

"Fifth-Force"

A stance that bolsters power.

Associate the stance with that feeling and flush it all out. The world became different as possibilities were mapped out with the ability to cut and reduce every single possibility to the single correct solution or event.

Mostly I just spend my time hanging out with the ghouls at... "Crud, I still can't remember that shop's name."

"It started with an A."

But yeah apart from Kaneki trying to understand the philosophy of swordsmanship and the meaning of true emptiness and beyond zero. He couldn't understand a damn thing apart form the number zero. I mean before I started it was hard to imagine cutting every thought away but still leaving "something".

Big Madam, one too many screws loose in her head. Definitely needs to go. In fact, needs to go as soon as I'm in the condition to do so. The old man smiled when he realised I was going after the Big Madam.

"Good luck Musashi."

I was severely disappointed with the level of Big Madam. Fat, sloppy, slow and mainly a long distance fighter. There I sat on her fat body with her limbs severed and head resting on the ground and slowly rolling when the wind picked up pace.

Someone drunk on power and hardly trained. Severely disappointing. Well with the card I now held, It was safe to say that I could now enjoy free food and housing. Now was the risky bit.

From what I could understand, Gojo's domain expansion forced a limitless amount of knowledge or thoughts through meaning his domain was effectively the best way to train in a do or die attempt to reach emptiness and zero. Some preliminary training would do as well.

Musashi: "Megumi, I'm coming over now. Want anything? Got this super money card for food."

Megumi: "Fried Chicken the best you can get. Compensation for asking that person."

Musashi: "I'll be there in an hour. Make sure to ask him."

Now which fried chicken?