That day, a video appears online.
Within an hour it's deleted from all major platforms.
But by then it's too late. Thousands of people had already downloaded it and reshared it on forums and social media, making the video go viral.
Social media soon exploded with millions of comments, and conspiracy theories, fear and panic swirled around the video.
While some say it's fake, probably special effects for a new movie, others swear it's real based on the evacuation that occurred. Though most are just scared.
On television, a news anchor with a serious expression looks at the camera.
"Good evening. We continue our special coverage of the events that shook the 20th Ward this morning. What began as a controlled operation by the Commission of Counter Ghoul has become a national security incident."
The screen splits and next to the man appears a screen with a paused video.
"What you're about to see is footage taken by an unknown witness from the top of a building. We warn you that the images you're about to see may be extremely disturbing."
The video begins playing.
Through the blurry and pixelated zoom, you can see a small figure with blood floating around him as if controlled by telekinesis. The blood moves at high speed toward investigators dressed in white.
The deaths are censored with large black squares that appear and disappear rapidly. But the screams and spurts of blood coming from the sides of the black squares make it clear what's happening.
It's a one-sided massacre.
The men in white fall one by one, unable to defend themselves.
Then the camera stabilizes a bit and the image focuses on a man covered in black armor.
The fight between them is fast and violent. They move so fast the camera can't follow them properly. Only flashes of color and massive destruction everywhere.
The garden is completely destroyed, the walls of neighboring houses are demolished like paper, buildings collapse creating clouds of dust, and the ground is torn up.
On the critical moment when both figures face off. One of them, the smaller one with dark tentacles behind him, manages to pierce the other's chest with fingers transformed into knife-blades.
The armored figure catches his hand firmly, and in a quick movement cuts off the small figure's head.
The small figure's head flies through the air.
And the image cuts right when the armored figure puts his hand in the headless body's chest and rips out his heart.
The screen returns to the news anchor. His face is now even paler than before, and his voice has a slight tremor as he begins to speak.
"Despite how incredible it may seem, what we've witnessed is real according to several verified sources and the state itself."
He pauses while pulling out a white sheet with trembling hands.
"The Commission of Counter Ghoul has issued an official statement classifying the ghoul in the video with the name 'Bloody Ghoul.' They've assigned it the SS Rank category. It's considered an extreme threat to society."
"Now, we report with deep regret on the fate of Special Class Investigator Itsuki Yamamoto. According to the official CCG report, although Investigator Yamamoto managed to eliminate the target, he succumbed to his severe injuries shortly after the battle."
A photo of Yamamoto, in an impeccable uniform with a serious look, appears in a corner of the screen.
"Investigator Yamamoto will be remembered as a hero who gave his life for everyone's safety. His bravery and sacrifice prevented a grave threat from being unleashed on our city. A memorial service will be held in his honor in the coming days."
The television turns off.
In the window glass, a small eye blinks once.
The eye remains there for a second, fixing its red iris on the frightened family inside who had watched the news with horror, before vanishing without a trace.
Walking down the street at night, Arata pulls a hood over his head, hiding his face.
He'd just watched that news broadcast through his All-Seeing Eye.
In fact, he was the one who recorded everything.
He'd done it when he arrived at the residential area where Touka lived. Seeing people being quietly evacuated, he'd been alarmed and had a feeling something bad was happening to Touka. After all, she was the only ghoul living around here.
Stealing a phone from someone distracted, he quickly got ahead while using duct tape to attach the phone to an All-Seeing Eye.
Fortunately the eye wasn't alive or conscious, otherwise it would've complained all day about how its creator was treating it.
When he arrived at the operation scene, he'd already positioned that eye on top of a distant building to record everything.
After killing the investigators and injuring Yamamoto, he faked his own death.
At that moment Yamamoto had intentionally created an opening to make Arata fall into his trap.
But Arata knew about Yamamoto's intention through the emotional frequency he detected.
Even so, he'd allowed the Special Class Investigator to decapitate him and rip out his heart.
An execution method that would undoubtedly be the downfall of any ghoul. For him it's nothing now that he's a vampire with absurd regenerative capabilities.
Once all that was done, this afternoon at noon he quickly edited the video with the stolen phone. Not that he's a video editing expert, but basic functions like cutting and trimming are easy to use.
He removed all the parts where Touka appeared.
And cutting the video right when he died, he uploaded it to the internet from a secure network so they couldn't trace him.
He's aware that his own existence as a high-level ghoul set off all the alarms in the 20th Ward.
Therefore, he couldn't just sit back and do nothing.
So the plan he made was the simplest yet riskiest. Create a ghoul so powerful and terrifying it would divert all CCG attention toward him.
A perfect decoy that can kill a Special Class Investigator.
A monster that's now officially dead.
With this video, Arata accomplished several things at once.
First, now that everyone believes the Bloody Ghoul is dead, the CCG will stop focusing so much on the 20th Ward, and will stop prioritizing sending strong Investigators.
That means Touka is out of the spotlight for now.
Second, he's completely controlled the narrative. The CCG can't simply hide the truth when millions have already seen the video.
Previously the existence of ghouls was already known, though much of humanity still doubted. However, this is the first time they've seen how far a ghoul can go.
Not a monster that just hunts, but monsters that can have destructive forces on a massive scale.
People are scared, but they're also alert. That fear is a weapon he's placed in everyone's hands.
However, Arata isn't that stupid. He knows the CCG won't swallow it so easily. After all they're professinals, and their job is hunting monsters. It's normal for them to suspect.
But the CCG has a problem. They can't say "Oh, actually, the Bloody Ghoul isn't dead." If they did, the whole world would panic.
The government won't allow it. People want a simple story where the bad monster died, where the human hero killed it. End of story.
So even if they have suspicions, they can't do anything publicly. They have to follow the story Arata himself has created for them.
However, the video also serves them.
They used it to show humans they're not defenseless. That a human with proper equipment can kill an SS Rank ghoul. This generates public confidence in the CCG.
And that Investigator Yamamoto died, he becomes a martyr.
His death inspires others to join the CCG, inspires others not to be afraid, and inspires others to fight.
So although they lost a valuable Special Class Investigator, they've gained much more in propaganda.
Arata knows this, but he's also gaining something.
He's bought time.
In that time, he can become stronger, he can protect those he cares about, and he can properly prepare for the chaos that's coming.
×××
Touka is lying on the bed in a hotel Arata paid for.
The room is small and clean, with closed curtains keeping the moonlight out.
Everything is silent.
The TV on the room's wall has just turned off.
On the dark screen, she can still see the reflection of her own face.
The news left her speechless.
She turns to look at the white ceiling.
"Idiot."
She realized something when she saw the news.
That video showing the battle, stopping at his death, Arata did it thinking of her.
With that kind of thought, her heart feels warm, while at the same time something like a heavy stone weighs on her chest.
She never asked him to do something like that. Becoming a bigger monster just to protect her...
Now he's a ghost. An SS Rank ghoul who's officially dead.
On the other hand...
She's a homeless ghoul girl.
Her normal life has vanished, because she can no longer go back to school, can't walk the streets like before, and can't meet with her human friend.
Facing that idea, she's suddenly hit by loneliness.
Her human friend was her connection to the normal world.
Despite all of Arata's efforts to protect her until now, he can't save that connection.
Because like Yoshimura said, the CCG already has Touka's data.
From the moment they suspected her and evacuated her neighbors without telling her.
The moment she goes out on the street and interacts with the normal world, she'll be hunted by the CCG.
Touka slowly sits up and pulling the curtain aside slightly, she looks through the window at the houses and buildings around.
"Where are you, Arata?"
×××
Meanwhile...
Arata stands with his hands shoved in his pants pockets.
In front of him is a large glass building. It's imposing, modern, and completely silent at this hour of night.
On the front, a large metal plaque shines.
"Commission of Counter Ghoul - 20th Ward Branch."
×××
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