Chapter 92. The Answer

“Pleasure doing business with you!” Muyang said with a cheerful smile. Then he turned toward the doorway and added, “You don’t need to hide there, Miss Waitress. I noticed you’ve been watching me ever since I came in.”

With that, Muyang walked to the door, patted Touka on the shoulder, and went on, “From now on, take care to manage your expressions. Don’t let your thoughts show all over your face.”

He continued downstairs, where he saw Kaneki working as a waiter. Kaneki looked at Muyang, clearly hoping for some explanation. Muyang smiled at him and said, “Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Muyang. I am neither a ghoul nor a human. I belong to a special kind of being. The Shepherds are a ghoul organization of middling strength, and I am their leader. Among ghouls, I’m known as the Master of Shepherds, or simply the Shepherd.”

Kaneki was full of questions after hearing this, and Muyang noticed, smiling gently as he had expected this reaction. He said to Kaneki, “I know you have a lot of questions. No rush. Let’s go to the second floor, and I’ll answer them one by one. Also, Miss Waitress, please bring me a latte, thank you.” Naturally, he was calling to Touka.

Muyang returned to the second floor of the Antique Café.

“Manager, this time it’s Kaneki who wants to ask me something. It’s not convenient to talk downstairs, so I’ll borrow this room for a bit. Thank you,” Muyang said to the manager once more.

“Of course, Muyang, take your time. It’s a lot to take in all at once, and I suppose Kaneki doesn’t know much about your affairs, either,” the manager replied with a smile as he left the room.

“Muyang, when did you become a ghoul?” Kaneki asked directly.

“Kaneki,” Muyang replied, “as I just explained, I am neither a ghoul nor a human. Now, I am an immortal being. As for when the change happened, I can’t quite remember myself.”

“Neither a ghoul nor a human? Are you like me? Is immortality just the regenerative power of ghouls?” Kaneki pressed on.

“No, I’m not like you, Kaneki. Even if it’s hard for you to accept right now, you need to know the truth. You are a ghoul now—a very special one—because you were once human and then transformed. I was never a ghoul, and my immortality isn’t the rapid healing of ghouls. It simply means I cannot die,” Muyang explained.

“Then is there any way I can become human again?” Kaneki asked.

“I’m sorry, but as far as I know, there’s no way for you to return to being human,” Muyang answered.

“Why! If a human can be made into a ghoul, why can’t a ghoul be turned back into a human?” Kaneki’s voice grew tense, not with excitement, but with bitter frustration.

“Kaneki, think of it like a game—you can fight monsters and level up, but you can’t downgrade, because the designer never considered anyone would want to. Likewise, researchers have never tried to find a way to turn ghouls back into humans. At least for now, there’s no method,” Muyang said.

“Muyang, do you mean there might be hope for me to become human again in the future?” Kaneki asked, his emotions gradually settling.

“Yes, there might be hope in the future. But even if you become human again, what then? If you face the same situation once more, how will you protect yourself? Rely on the CCG? They might handle low-level ghouls, but when it comes to the high-level ones, only a handful of top investigators can cope,” Muyang replied…