"Please… please… don't…"
The man in the gray business suit struggled desperately.
Blood soaked his clothing.
His body dangled helplessly in midair.
A massive claw made from scarlet, viscous symbiote matter wrapped tightly around his throat, lifting him off the ground.
His legs kicked uselessly.
His voice came out in broken gasps.
Several steps away—
Ren stood with one hand pressed against his forehead.
He looked utterly speechless.
Why did things like this always happen to him?
…
Just minutes earlier—
Everything had been going perfectly.
The prospective tenant had been polite.
Articulate.
He even praised the apartment's modern layout and convenient location.
Ren had quietly felt relieved.
Maybe this time the apartment would finally be rented.
But the moment he turned to retrieve the rental contract—
The man's eyes suddenly flashed crimson.
In a tearing burst of fabric—
Two grotesque kagune erupted from the man's lower back.
They resembled curved scorpion tails.
Sharp.
Flexible.
And unmistakably lethal.
It was a rinkaku-type kagune, typical of predatory ghouls in Tokyo Ghoul.
The attack was swift.
Precise.
A killing strike aimed directly at Ren's spine.
But the attacker never reached him.
Carnage moved faster.
A single crimson tendril slammed the ghoul into the wall with crushing force.
…
"L-let me go…"
The man's voice trembled weakly.
"I have money… lots of money…"
"I'll give you everything…"
Ren slowly lowered his hand from his forehead.
Then—
He smiled.
A deep, distorted voice spoke instead of him.
The scarlet symbiote surged across his body instantly.
A towering crimson silhouette formed behind him.
Carnage.
Its monstrous head lowered until it nearly touched the man's face.
Those enormous pale eyes stared at him.
Unblinking.
A long crimson tongue slowly slid across its razor teeth.
"Eyes… lungs… pancreas…"
"So many delicious pieces."
The creature tilted its head slightly.
"Where should I begin…?"
The man's pupils expanded in pure terror.
His thoughts collapsed into chaos.
A strangled scream caught in his throat.
The next moment—
His vision vanished.
Swallowed completely by darkness.
And red.
…
Moments later—
The crimson symbiote receded like a falling tide.
Carnage's massive form melted back into Ren's body.
Silence returned to the ruined apartment.
Ren looked around slowly.
The walls were cracked.
Blood splattered across the ceiling.
The polished floor was covered with dark purple liquid and fragments of shattered kagune tissue.
The metallic scent of blood filled the air.
"…Tch."
He rubbed his temples in irritation.
Then dragged himself over to the only intact sofa and collapsed into it.
The couch creaked under his weight.
He stared at the blood-stained ceiling.
His eyes were empty.
Full of exhausted despair.
"Well… that's great."
His voice sounded defeated.
"Not only did I fail to rent the apartment…"
"…now I have to clean the entire place again."
Killing was simple.
Living afterward—
Was not.
The smell of blood continued to irritate his senses.
Inside his mind—
Carnage suddenly spoke.
[…Hic…]
Its voice carried lazy satisfaction.
[The taste… was acceptable…]
[But the energy content was low…]
[Not as satisfying as the last one…]
"Shut up."
Ren snapped internally.
"Stop reviewing your meals."
"And look at the mess you made."
His eyes moved across the room.
Claw marks across the walls.
Kagune fragments scattered across the floor.
Dark stains everywhere.
"This house is completely ruined."
Carnage sounded confused.
[Ruined?]
[Everything was cleaned.]
[The insect is gone.]
Ren's eye twitched.
"…You mean the corpse."
Carnage paused.
Then replied casually.
[Oh.]
[Those remaining pieces.]
The moment Carnage's consciousness faded—
Something strange happened.
Small clumps of crimson symbiote matter appeared from beneath Ren's skin.
From his hands.
From the back of his neck.
Each one was no larger than a ping-pong ball.
But they moved independently.
The small crimson organisms crawled across the room.
The moment they touched blood or kagune fragments—
They expanded rapidly.
Like hungry sponges.
Absorbing everything.
Within seconds—
The blood.
The tissue.
The organic residue—
All disappeared.
The crimson spheres shrank again.
Then slipped back into Ren's body.
The room suddenly looked dramatically cleaner.
Only faint stains and structural damage remained.
Ren slowly sat upright.
His exhaustion vanished.
"…What?"
He stared at the wall where the ghoul had been crushed earlier.
There should have been a horrific mess.
Instead—
Only cracked plaster remained.
His pupils narrowed.
The last time Carnage fought like this—
Cleanup had taken hours.
But now…
"You evolved?"
He asked quietly.
Carnage responded lazily.
[Energy… should not be wasted…]
[Absorption is more efficient.]
[The previous feast improved digestion…]
[Hic.]
Ren stared at his hand.
Opening and closing his fingers slowly.
He could feel the symbiote beneath his skin.
Dormant.
But stronger.
"At least…"
"…cleaning will be easier now."
…
Even so—
The apartment was still a disaster.
Cracked walls.
Deep claw gouges.
Scratched floors.
Damaged furniture.
Repair costs alone would be enormous.
Ren rubbed his forehead in frustration.
Then slumped back into the sofa again.
Fighting ghouls was easy.
Handling real-world consequences—
Was exhausting.
Carnage suddenly suggested helpfully.
[Eat the wall too.]
[Problem solved.]
Ren snorted.
"You can do that?"
Carnage paused.
Then replied flatly.
[…No.]
He sighed.
"…Then shut up and sleep."
He pulled out his phone.
Scrolling through his contacts.
Eventually—
His finger stopped on a single name.
Yoshimura.
He stared at the screen quietly.