(Brain storage area~~)
(PS: A reminder in advance—this book has undergone heavy revisions, which caused some old chapter comments to disappear or become misaligned.)
"Hayakawa Aki."
A young man with handsome features, black hair, green eyes, and a slightly youthful face introduced himself coldly to Otonashi Chiya.
Because from this moment on, the two of them would be partners.
"My name is Otonashi Chiya. For this commission, we'll be working together. Please take care of me."
Otonashi Chiya smiled as he extended his hand toward Hayakawa Aki.
Hayakawa Aki looked at the hand hesitantly for a moment, as if unsure, before finally reaching out and shaking it.
Faced with Hayakawa Aki's cold and hard-to-approach demeanor, Otonashi Chiya felt no dislike.
Because he was a transmigrator.
He knew very well what kind of person Hayakawa Aki truly was, and he also knew exactly what had caused him to become this way.
This was the world of Chainsaw Man.
He was currently in Tokyo, Japan, and the timeline was 1993, not 1997 like in the original main storyline.
That meant Hayakawa Aki had not yet tied his hair into a topknot, nor had he become a Public Safety Devil Hunter. At this time, he was still a private devil hunter.
"Your eyes… that should be your devil power, right?"
From the very beginning, Hayakawa Aki had been paying attention to the other man's blood-red eyes. Within those pupils were strange patterns that made them look highly unusual.
"That's right."
Otonashi Chiya did not deny it.
But in reality, this was the cheat he had received upon transmigrating—
The Mangekyō Sharingan: Kamui.
And not just one.
Dual Kamui.
In a world like Chainsaw Man—one similar to modern society, yet plagued by countless monsters known as "devils"—surviving without a cheat would be extremely difficult.
Devils are born from human fear of all things in the world. Animals, plants, concepts—everything. The more terrifying something is perceived to be, the stronger the devil associated with that name becomes.
From weak devils like the Chicken Devil or Apple Devil, to terrifying beings like the Darkness Devil or the Death Devil—there are all kinds of bizarre devils.
Otonashi Chiya had watched both Naruto and Chainsaw Man, and he knew very well that spatial-time techniques like Dual Kamui were absurdly overpowered in any world.
At the same time, they also came with enormous side effects.
After all, this wasn't an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Even a single Kamui consumed an outrageous amount of energy—let alone two.
But it wasn't unsolvable.
The system was fairly considerate.
[Host: Otonashi Chiya]
[Strength: 10 (Average human: 10)]
[Speed: 11 (Average human: 10)]
[Vitality: 12 (Average human: 10)]
[Unassigned Attribute Points: 1]
With a thought, the system panel appeared before Otonashi Chiya's eyes. No one else could see it but him.
Strength and speed were self-explanatory.
The "Vitality" stat, however, was more complex—it affected life force and self-healing ability. Simply put, life force meant HP.
Originally, the cost of using the Sharingan was something else entirely, but the system had changed it.
Now, activating the eyes consumed life force and ocular power.
So the solution was simple: increase the "Vitality" stat.
Once Vitality was high enough, he could freely use the Kamui ocular technique. His entire body—including his eyes—would be able to regenerate, unless he was killed outright or permanently blinded.
So the most important thing was how to obtain attribute points. There weren't many ways to do so—one was by hunting devils, and the other was by unlocking achievements.
At the moment, the single attribute point he had was obtained when he first met Hayakawa Aki.
[Ding! The host has activated the achievement "Partnering with Hayakawa Aki."
Attribute Points gained: 2!]
Now that he had officially teamed up with Hayakawa Aki, he gained another two attribute points.
"Unfortunately, the number of achievements that can be unlocked is limited, and the system doesn't specify which achievements are available. Hunting devils is still the most reliable method…"
Otonashi Chiya muttered to himself.
That was why the first thing he did after transmigrating was to find a civilian base—a hub formed by private devil hunters. These places specialized in posting devil-hunting commissions and also served as places for rest and entertainment.
Since ordinary human weapons were ineffective against brutal and powerful devils, the special profession of devil hunter gradually emerged. By forming contracts with devils and obtaining their power, humans could gain the ability to hunt devils.
Of course, forming a contract with a devil always came at a price—at best, losing part of one's body; at worst, paying with one's life.
Devil hunters were divided into civilian and Public Safety branches. Public Safety devil hunters were generally stronger and more professional, being an official unit established by the Japanese government, and the threshold to join them was high.
Civilian devil hunters, on the other hand, had a much lower barrier to entry. As long as one could obtain power through a devil contract and had the ability to hunt devils, it was enough. As a result, civilian bases were a chaotic mix of people.
What surprised Otonashi Chiya was that shortly after arriving at the civilian base, he happened to run into Hayakawa Aki, an important supporting character in the original story.
At the time, Hayakawa Aki was taking on a commission, but the requirement was that at least two civilian devil hunters work together. For a while, no one seemed willing to partner with him, so Otonashi Chiya took the initiative.
"But let me make this clear first—the target of this commission is no simple opponent. If you end up dragging me down, I won't look after you."
Hayakawa Aki said bluntly in a cold tone.
Although he urgently needed a temporary partner, he had never seen the white-clad youth in front of him before. The registration information showed that the other party was a newcomer who had never carried out a commission.
His words weren't pleasant to hear, but he was being direct—this hunt would be dangerous, and he hoped the other party would back out while he still could.
"It's fine. I'll do my best not to hold you back."
Otonashi Chiya replied with the same gentle smile.
"..."
Hayakawa Aki fell silent and said nothing more.
Hopefully this guy survives…
"That guy with the Hayakawa surname is really cold—someone's actually willing to partner with him?"
"That kid with him looks really unfamiliar. Probably a newcomer who just arrived today. No wonder."
"Even though I don't like Hayakawa Aki either, I have to admit he's strong. A newbie daring to go on a mission with him really isn't afraid of death…"
"..."
At this moment, Otonashi Chiya could faintly hear the surrounding civilian devil hunters discussing him and Hayakawa Aki.
He glanced over at them. After meeting his Mangekyō Sharingan gaze for a brief moment, they all hurriedly looked away in panic and fear.
They felt that if they kept staring at the strange eyes of this young man any longer, they would be pulled in—perhaps even lose themselves.
As a result, none of them dared to casually gossip about this mysterious and peculiar youth again.
Speaking of which, Otonashi Chiya's Dual Kamui couldn't be freely turned on and off, but it also didn't constantly drain energy like Kakashi's. This was considered a benefit granted by the system. His fluency in Japanese was also something the system had given him.
Hayakawa Aki noticed everyone's reaction as well. It was also his first time seeing such a strange kind of devil power.
Still… a newcomer with no real combat experience felt pretty unreliable.