I was sweating. Panting and tired but I got another message with an XP notification.

[100 Body XP gained.]

I sighed. With no mention of how far I would need to go for a body level-up, I was left wondering how much more it would take. Gimme a progress bar!

I did keep an internal counter though.

After I recovered my breath, I decided to get up.

I don’t know if it was because of the blood finally circulating through my body or if the anesthesia finally wore off hours later, but I could shakily stand up if I was supporting my weight with my arms.

Even if my quads were turned to jelly.

“Hup!” I got up awkwardly.

A few seconds later, I got into the standing mirror’s view.

“Sheesh. Rindo, you’re a hunk.” I whistled.

I didn’t notice it early because I was carried by Iguchi, but I was pretty tall. Maybe 175-ish centimeters. Beats my previous life by a small bit. Unfortunately, I had a lean build. Definitely not deathly skinny. Yeah, definitely not.

Even then, it sucks to see all those hours in the gym I spent in my previous life wasted. Wasted!

A black overhanging mop for hair. Sunken eyes, pierced ears, and a few tattoos here and there. I didn’t think much of them. Rindo had good taste, that was sure.

It was hard to get a decent look under the dim lighting, but damn, I had a certain vibe to me now. Kind of like one of those early 2000’s rock bands, you know? Honestly, I’d look good drawn on a manga’s front cover.

Struggling back to the bedside, I grabbed the two golden hoops from the cabinet. Fiddling them in my palm, I realized that these were the same pair that Iguchi wore. Rindo and Iguchi… they were pretty close, huh. Saddened, I hooked them onto my earlobes and felt them dangle as I collapsed onto the small old bed.

Enough thinking, time to hit the hay.

I’m pooped.

—

“Argh-huh?” I groaned and blinked awake. “Who the—”

“Yo!” Iguchi intoned as I jolted from how close his face was. “You good, kohai?”

I rubbed my eyes. Yeah, these two were close. “I’m feeling good. Much better actually, I think Doctor Sano’s drugs wore off.”

Iguchi grinned and rummaged through his coat. “Nice. I gotcha’ breakfast.” He said, pulling out a large package wrapped in butcher’s paper.

It smelled good for a second before I realized where I was and what I was. I know Kaneki got a lot of slack from some of the audience for refusing to eat humans after turning into a ghoul but being in person was a lot different. This… was real. I gulped, feeling a little nauseous.

Iguchi turned out to be an observant friend. “Hey, hey! You sure you’re fine?” He asked. Wrinkles appeared on his forehead as he scrunched his eyes and put a hand on my arm.

I nodded, feeling something in my eyes shift. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine. I think I just need some meat.” I lied through my teeth.

C’mon, I told myself. You didn’t even have to see the helpless sap die. Iguchi even brought a piece to my bed.

I breathed heavily as Iguchi set the piece on the cabinet top beside my flip phone and unwrapped the paper.

Blood.

I sniffed. That weirdo Tsukiyama wasn’t lying when he said that some ghouls were easily driven by food. It smelled better than any delicacy I could afford in my last life.

But the sight. It was an arm. Cut at the should. Well, not really cut, probably ripped off by how jagged and torn it was.

“I saved ya’ a nice part. I found this drunkard wandering from a bar to piss in an alley by our hideout. He was askin’ for it at that point. What human wanders round these parts drunk and at night?” Iguchi laughed before handing the arm to me by the wrist.

I obliged and grabbed it. I stared at it deadpan for a while before Iguchi found it odd. “Can’t eat? You used to scarf these down back in the day when we were much more wild without the gang. It was hard to come across safe meals back then.” He said with an almost sad face.

I swallowed again. Saliva lined the back of my throat.

[Hunger: Hungry]

The system almost teased me about the necessity of eating.

Trying to ignore the rising bile in my throat, hunger gnawed at me, but so did the nagging feeling that I wasn’t the same anymore. Was this really who I was now?

I forced myself to take a bite. The blood was hot, fresh, and it coursed down my throat, setting something inside of me alight. I couldn’t stop.

“Good. Ya’ need some meat to recover fast, man. I kinda lied earlier saying I took more jobs to pay for your recovery with the doc’. I did take more jobs, but I also took a loan from the boss. I like the doc’ but he doesn’t run cheap, especially since he’s the only one round these parts that's a ghoul with the know-how.”

I half-listened but that was enough to make me take another bite. Then another. Iguchi did all this to save his friend. Sadly, it was futile because I was the one who woke up instead of the original Rindo.

But I’ll return the favor. I’ll live. I couldn’t be the friend he couldn’t remember, but I’ll still live. How couldn’t I after hearing that?

…The arm was almost gone now. I didn’t even leave the bones. The last remnants of blood spiraled around my finger and I decided to look them dry.

“Did you eat too?” I asked.

Iguchi pulled a chair from the outside in the meantime and was seated with the back facing towards me. “Yeah. I had my fill already. Don’t worry about me for now. Recover fast. As long as we’re alive, we can keep workin’ to our goal.”

I frowned.

Iguchi traced my expression and sure enough, he frowned too. I feel bad for him.

It probably just hit home for Iguchi that the friend Rindo was to him simply wasn’t there anymore.

“It’s fine,” Iguchi muttered.

“You good, Aniki?” I asked, earning a chuckle from him.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m good. I just needa’ while gettin’ used to this.” Iguchi sighed. “You have his voice, his face, his earrings, his everything, but it’s not the same. Like I can hear and see little bits of him for a second then not in the next. It ain’t your fault though. Nah, couldn’t be.”

I wiped the blood from my mouth with my arm. “If you don’t mind telling me, what were we working towards?” I asked.

“Heh. You’re being so nice to me, kohai!” Iguchi snarked before he paused. It looked like he was reminiscing about something I couldn’t remember.

“To be bigshots. The major leagues. Whatever ya’ wanna call it. Run the 14th Ward together.” Iguchi finally said boastfully. “Thank about all the good shit we’ll have. We don’t have ta’ worry about the doves. Other ghouls. Anybody.”

My face sank before my mouth opened and I blurted out laughing. That goal was just like Iguchi — that was plain to see despite how little I’ve known him. Flashy and lofty.

“Whatcha’ laughin’ at?” Iguchi laughed with me.

“Nah, I was just thinkin’ it’s a little too big of a dream compared to now. Look at this room I’m in!”

Iguchi roared with laughter. “You should see mine! I sold my fuckin’ bed to one of the newer members sayin’ I got a new one — I don’t! I’m sleepin’ on rocks! We’re broke!”

If there was one thing cemented in my head so far, it was that Iguchi’s a good guy.

—

A week passed.

I was working out in my room and browsing my phone between rests while Iguchi was out again like usual. He said he’d be back for the night with another meal if he wasn’t to held up in other duties.

It was a long and monotonous day, but I learned a lot.

While it took a small while to work around the flip phone, it was pretty self-explanatory once I got the hang of it. A relic compared to the sleek smartphones I was used to, but functional enough. Then again, I did fiddle with my parents’ flip phones when I was a kid in my last life.

I scrolled through a contact list. It was only a handful of names, some were nicknames. Unfortunately, none of them hinted about my blood family. I sighed. It’s a common fate in Tokyo Ghoul. Fathers and mothers dying to hunt and provide for their children and dying in the process. Or one family member being ousted as a ghoul and forced to go on the run either together or separately.

Tired of brooding over bad thoughts, I kept going through more names.

“Boss Kiryu,” “Iguchi,” “Tatsu-san,” “Kaname-san.” “Shuuji (Kohai),” and “Hannya-gal.” I hovered over the last one, curiosity piqued but decided against calling. Whoever Hannya-gal was, I didn’t want to spring a call to them no matter how interesting the saved contact sounded.

Though with this many people saved on my phone, it’s a little weird that no one has knocked on his door yet.

Did they know I was here? Iguchi didn’t say if he told the rest of the Kurokumo that I was back. A whole weeks passed…

Then again, this room was far away from the rest of the gang as far as I could tell.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Next set. I set an alarm on my phone.

I shot up from the bed and got to my feet. I began to do some bodyweight squats. Turns out I was now strong enough to do basic compound exercises. While lifting my legs and working my horrible mobility gave me smidges of XP after a while of doing it, actual direct exercise was a whole other class. The system needed me to push myself.

The first time I did an actual squat, I gained XP that rep and the five after it. Now obviously… I could only do one rep at a time a couple days ago. Again, the system wouldn’t reward me unless I truly exerted myself.

Thankfully I figured out the cheat method to recover and do another set! Throw some naps in there and solid food to digest. Ever since then, I’ve been banging these out without being put out of commission.

However, that also heightened the amount of reps needed for XP.

So here I am, positioning my behind over the bed in case I fell, I slowly squatted and then lifted. Over and over again until I hit fifteen hard-earned reps, the last rep had me shaking. “Hoo boy, that’s enough. Y-ya’ did good, Rindo.” I grunted to myself.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

I wheezed and plopped back onto the bed. Who cares about sweat on the already dirty bed at this point? I didn’t.

[100 Body XP gained.]

I smiled as another notification popped up. Although I didn’t know how much longer it would take, I knew I was getting closer. Like working towards beating a difficult boss in a Souls—

‘RING’ ‘RING’ ‘RING’

“Huh?” I wheezed out, still exhausted.

It was my flip phone. It wasn’t the usual alarm sound.

I stretched across the bed and flipped it open. My eyes narrowed at the glowing contact name — Tatsu-san.

Who’s that? Well, no better time now to figure out.

Exhaling sharply, I pressed the button to answer the call and brought it to my ear.

"Yo, 'bout time ya picked up!" came a loud, gravelly voice through the speaker, so loud it crackled. I winced, pulling the phone away from my ear. The volume was maxed out, and the voice seemed to reverberate through the room.

"Uh..." I grumbled, squinting at the phone as if it could explain anything. "Who’s this?"

The voice on the other end barked out a laugh. "Who’s this?! Fuck, Ichi-chan wasn’t lyin’! Ya really lost it, huh? Guess you’ll figure it out soon enough!"

Before I could respond, the line went dead with a sharp click. I stared at the phone, brows furrowed. So much for Tatsu-san. And who’s Ichi-chan? It sounded cute. It couldn’t be this guy’s nickname for Iguchi… right?

The thoughts that followed were short-lived. I heard the faint sound of hurried footsteps from down the hallway, growing louder and more distinct with each passing second. My stomach tightened as they approached my room.

I swung my legs off the bed and stood up quickly, my body still aching from earlier. The flip phone was still clutched in my hand, and I already had an idea of what was coming behind the door.

THUD. A sharp knock rattled my door.

"Rindo-kohai, it’s me!" a familiar voice hollered—it was Iguchi. Relief washed over me for a brief moment before another, deeper voice followed.

"Your callin him kohai!? Ha! I didn’t believe it over the phone, but you weren’t lyin’, Ichi-chan!" The voice somehow managed to sound even more like a stereotypical Japanese delinquent than I thought possible. Also, that proved my earlier guess, I guess this Tatsu-san really was calling Iguchi a nickname.

The door creaked as it started to open, unprompted. I hadn’t locked it.

Iguchi peeked his head in first, grinning nervously. "Hey, hey, don’t freak out, a’ight?"

Before I could respond, a towering figure stepped in behind him. The man—no, the beast of a man—had a shaven head and a scar cutting across his left brow and lip. His arms were thick, covered in tattoos that snaked their way up to his neck. He had the kind of presence that made the room feel smaller.

"You." He jabbed a finger in my direction, his eyes narrowing. "You’ve got some explainin’ to do."

"Explain’ what!?" I snapped. “Also quiet down. You damn near blew out my ear over the phone.”

Iguchi stepped between us. "Relax, Tatsu-san. He doesn’t remember ya’.”

“That! Y’all should’ve told me yesterday!” Tatsu said.

“Geez, settle down ya’ fuckin’ baby.” Iguchi groaned. “I already said I’m sorry.”

I sat there dumbstruck. Really? This giant guy was pissed because nobody told him just a week earlier? Actually, no that sounded bad. Just because he’s big doesn’t mean his feelings can’t be.

“Tatsu.” The giant guy said bluntly. “Just Tatsu. I’ll show ya’ the rest of our small group in a bit. We haven’t forgiven you for what cha’ did. We thought you died!”

“Huh?” I blurted. “Can you tell me more?”

Honestly, I didn’t know what happened with the original Rindo other than that he had an accident from the CCG. Those doves don’t have anything better to do than seek out the troublemakers amongst ghouls.

Tatsu frowned. That scar on his lip looked massive when his mouth was stretched.

“Ya’ went solo. For a couple of weeks at least. We thought you went into hiding and left the gang, but Ichi-chan figured out somethin’ from one of the higher-ups that you were doing something sketchy. He couldn’t find anythin’ else though..” Tatsu huffed and plopped into the chair Iguchi pulled in this morning. He almost broke the legs with his weight.

“I don’t know anything about it.” I sighed.

“Agh! Fuck. This is annoying. It feels like the western block turned to hot shit since ya’ went AWOL. Just get better. Damn, Ichi-chan you tryna’ take it easy on him? Keepin’ him hold up alone?” Tatsu complained.

Iguchi pulled another chair from god knows where outside and sat down. Is this going to be a meetup room from now on? Just who’s gonna pop in tomorrow?

“He’s weak. Really weak. Can’t even stand—”

“Nah, I could stand.” I cut Iguchi off, earning raised eyebrows.

“Really?” Iguchi looked satisfied. “Nice, it’s gotta be that arm I gave ya’, it was high quality. Although you could last on that for a while, if you’re trying to heal then you gotta overeat your fill.”

“I’ll help. Drunken hobos aren’t gonna cut it, let's get some good stuff. Our next job aint til next week anyway. Let’s go.” Tatsu muttered. It looked like he was counting and putting together a small group to help. He looks like the caring type to go overboard quickly. Shoot, was he going to assemble a massive group just to hunt food for me?

“It wasn’t no damn hobo! Also, don’t bring too many, man. I can see the look in ya’ eyes.” Iguchi eyed down Tatsu.

Nice. Looks like we’re both on the same page.

“Just the group. They’re at Aku’s Cafe right now, we’ll join them there. Hopefully bring in some food for the Kurokumo’s stash with some leftovers for Rindo too.” Tatsu said.

Iguchi nodded and stood. “See ya’ soon, Rindo-kohai.” He grinned.

Tatsu cringed. “See ya’ too. I’ll ask ya’ more later. With the others too.” He said before slapping Iguchi’s near-bald head on their way out.

I waved them goodbye. They looked fun. Rindo’s made some good connections. I heard before in my previous life that you can judge the character of somebody pretty well just by reading their close friends and relationships. As far as I can tell, Rindo’s pretty good. Well, obviously excluding the murder and sketchy stuff he did for the Kurokumo gang. Good as good could be for a ghoul in a gang.

“Hup.” I got to my feet. Gotta grind out these levels.

—

[Body Skill Level Up!]

“Finally!” I exclaimed, raising a valiant hand from the ground. I made sure to count all the XP I gained so far. 1000 in total. I couldn’t even fall back to the bed after these hard sets. Unfortunately, the ground was gross. Damn it Rindo, you disgusting ghoul.

I pulled my attention away from the floor and to the status screen, quickly throwing the alert to the side, opening my stats.

[Body: 1]

“What does Body level 1 do—” I clenched my fist and opened it. I did it twice before I uttered, “Oooh? Oh ho, this is good shit.”

Why did I clench my fist you ask? Because it stopped feeling weak. My legs felt tired, but not the same weakness as before. Only the wear and tear you get from exercise that goes away eventually. I got up from the dirty ground and proved my point. To put it plainly, I don’t feel… sickly. It’s like I’ve already gone through weeks of rehab instantaneously and reached ground zero.

That's great news!

But the bad news was that I was hungry. I don’t want to sound like a spoiled brat here, but that promised meal… when is it coming?

[Hunger: Peckish]

I narrowed my eyes at the mention but as I inspected my status below, I found something new. Turns out the good news didn’t want to stop and I got something pleasantly welcomed — a progress bar! It was fuckin’ hidden somewhere in the dark HUD screen unlocked when I levelled. Weird, but welcome. I could see all XP’s now, even my character XP. Hehe.

Going back to Body, it’s at 0 XP, but the max was at 2000 XP.

Assuming this continues over and over, then the leveling system is pretty self-explanatory. Though what's the level limit? If it's the tweaked from the game, then 60? Actually, will I get bonus skill effect if I hit level 5 and the other increments of 5? No way to know unless I grind.

I grabbed my phone to pull the time — 8:55 PM.

No better time now than to finally do some upper body work. Pushups and some dips.

—

*RING RING RING*

“ARGH!” I grunted from my knees. I had one hand on the ground. My chest pounded and heaved in the air. Exercise never gets any easier unless you get complacent.

My phone rang and I grabbed it. I lowered the volume in case a certain giant was trying to communicate, but it was just Iguchi. I answered. “What’s up?”

“Headin’ in. Don’t be naked or somethin’.” Iguchi said bluntly.

Thoughtful and considerate.

I bent my legs up and down for a bit to stretch. I needed my flexibility to improve too. Lying down in a coma does not help your joints at all…

In moments I heard chatter reverberate through my walls along with a plethora of steps.

The creaky door swung open with Iguchi heading the group behind him. “Yosh! I got you a leg this time.” He grinned.

“Welcome in,” I said and looked at the handful behind Iguchi.

The giant, Tatsu-san.

Then a new face. It was a tall-ish man but not on the same level of Tatsu. Flowing bleached hair that reached his nape. Slitted eyebrows and a piercing there too. A sharp, handsome face. Maybe a little sleazy. Also in his early or mid twenties. Around his waist were four hannya masks’, each differing in color and size. I recognized Iguchi’s mask there.

“Rindo-san, you’re back from the dead?” The blonde guy asked. He dragged in another crummy wooden chair behind.

“You are…?” I asked.

“Kaname-desuuuu” He said before lazily stretching out on his chair.

I recalled that on my contacts and nodded. “Yeah, back from the dead if you wanna call it that.”

Kaname grinned. “O’course that’s what I’ll call it. Nobody told you yet? I remember seeing Iguchi-san runnin’ to Doctor Sano’s place while your hands and legs were flopping everywhere. Blood spillin’ everywhere.”

Before I could register Kaname’s words, a skittish teen awkwardly stood between me and Kaname. Straight as an arrow. He looked like he wanted to say something so I just waited.

“Uh-Uhm, Rindo-Aniki! Congratulations on your recovery!” The guy chirped.

Weirdo. I put together that this was probably the original Rindo’s kohai, Shuuji. So I guessed. “...Shuuji?”

The chipper teen beamed. “Yes, Aniki—”

“Shut ya’ trap Shuuji.” Tatsu smacked him on the head and slid a chair behind his ass.

There was still one more face. A masked girl this time. A white-silver hannya half-mask was adorned on the lower half of her face. “Hey… Rindo-kun. Welcome back.” She said quietly.

I narrowed my eyes slightly. No way, right?

“...Hannya-gal–”

THRASH. SWIIIP.

A kagune unleashed from her left shoulder — an ukaku. Immediately a projectile whizzled past my ear, clipping my hair.

“What was that for!?” I yelped. Looking behind me, I saw a glassy red feather embedded into the already dinged-up wall.

“Stupid.” Was all she said.

Iguchi grabbed her hand. “Atsushi. I already told you—”

A mistake.

She whipped her hand away from Iguchi and threatened to launch another feather into Iguchi. She cursed him in Japanese as my befuddled head translated those harsh words I dare not think of. The fuckin gall of this gal.

“Stop messing up this room! It’s already messed up as it is and I’m broke!” I groaned.

Thankfully she settled down as Tatsu pulled her a chair.

Kaname look amused. Actually, no. He looked like he was holding back tears of laughter.

Shuuji wasn’t doing any better. He’s still awkwardly twiddling his thumbs, somehow ignoring the senseless outburst of hannya-gal—no, Atsushi. I wonder what it means — outlandish mood swings, maybe?

“Well,” Iguchi sighed and sat on his backward chair. “Rindo-kohai, this is the group—”

“Kohai!?” Atsushi screamed.

She wanted to say some more words but Tatsu eyed her down and she settled. I wasn’t surprised. Look at the size of the fella! Let alone that scarred and rough face. Was he the same age as me and the others, excluding the younger Shuuji? No way, right? RIGHT?!

“As I was sayin’... this is the group,” Igushi said before Tatsu tossed me something from beneath his black leather jacket.

“A leg.” Tatsu sighed. “We found some more drunkards so it might not taste as good but it's the best we could do. The doves are prowling our western block a lot more now.”

I was going to open my mouth to ask something but Shuuji went first. “Atsushi-aneki got it. It was a lady she led to an abandoned warehouse.” He answered my question before I could ask it.

It’s a little weird, but I’d like to know about the person before I eat a part of them. “Thanks.”

Shuuji smiled again. “No problem, Aniki!”

A stifled a sigh and got to eating. I was starving. The others chatted amongst themselves while I occupied myself.

Same thing as last time, the limb was wrapped in butcher paper. Was it the last means of concealment in case they were found with meat? I unwrapped the string and took a deep whiff of the sweet scent. I felt something stir in my eyes — at this point I figured it was my kakugan, or eye shifting from normal to black sclera and a striking blood-red pupil.

My ears perked when I heard a quiet sniffle from Atsushi as the others bickered and chatted. Okayyyy…?

I brought the bloodied thigh to my mouth and started eating. It wasn’t anything special but I guess the group effort among them made it so. After a week of eating, I’ve gotten used to it. Instead of pushing the fact it was human flesh aside in my head, I accepted it. I acknowledged it. It wasn’t right any other way, it simply was the world I woke up in.

“Hey, Rindo-san, do you really not remember much? Are our faces familiar?” Kaname asked as I ate.

I shook my head and scratched my head. “Nah. Sorry, but I can’t sieve you guys through any memories.”

“Huh. I was meaning to ask, and so were we, but… do you know anything about how you got into that incident with the doves?”

So it was the doves who rendered the original Rindo to this state? Or I guess in a way, killed him?

The five of them looked at me curiously.

“I don’t.” I frowned. “I-I don’t know anything. I woke up in a weird place and I saw the doc’ and Iguchi. That’s all I know now.”

Frowns pulled at the lips of everyone. Well not Atsushi, but even behind her half-mask I could tell she was frowning too. I felt bad for these people. They lost a dear friend and I took his place.

“It’s fine,” Kaname said. “Doesn’t matter if you don’t remember who did it.”

Wait, what?

“Mm.” Atsushi hummed. “I’ll find them and send a feather through their necks.”

Huh?

“I’ll fuckin’ tear their guts out,” Tatsu mumbled.

Wait, wait, calm down you guys.

“The doves will pay for what they did to Aniki!” Shuuji muttered through gritted teeth.

Even this timid fool?!

“Yep. We’ll get 'em.” Iguchi nodded.

You too!?

From me to the original Rindo — you have some interesting friends.