Takanashi Haruto felt something was wrong.
Because white characters were still appearing, sliding from the right side of his vision to the left, then disappearing from sight.
[Is this the 13-year-old senior disciple?]
[And 13-year-old Sabito… boo hoo hoo, my precious~]
[Giyuu… hehehe… Giyuu…]
Something unclean had infiltrated.
Haruto frowned, feeling his world suddenly crumble a little.
Why hadn't such bullet comments appeared in his previous 14 years?
He looked towards the wisteria sea, a guess forming in his mind.
Perhaps… he had encountered a plot character here.
Maybe this world really was an anime on a video website, and bullet comments appeared because a plot character showed up.
His previous 14 years of life had no intersection with the plot, so he wasn't part of the anime, and naturally, no bullet comments appeared.
Thinking this, he rubbed his stomach.
Hmm, it seemed his stomach was growling early due to overthinking.
He was subtly glancing around to see if the Ubuyashiki Family had provided a last meal for the young participants in the selection when a line of text scrolling across his vision caught his attention.
[This white-haired guy is so handsome, too bad he's gonna bite the dust next second.]
[Indeed, among this batch, besides Sabito, he's probably the unluckiest. He gets taken out by the Hand Demon the moment they meet.]
White-haired guy… Haruto's gaze slowly scanned the crowd, then he realized… the white-haired guy seemed to be Haruto himself.
Among all the youths present, only he had a head of soft, beautiful, slightly wavy silver-white medium-length hair, with a faint blue tint at the ends… Huh?
Who?
Me?
Gonna bite the dust next second?
Eh? ( º Д º *)??
This isn't right, is it?
Am I not the protagonist?
The text, suspected to be a bullet comment, disappeared from his sight again, as if it had just been a dream of Haruto's.
While he was lost in thought, the Ubuyashiki Family had already announced the official start of the Final Selection, and everyone surged into Fujikasane Mountain.
At this point, if he were to turn and run because of a bullet comment that might or might not be a hallucination… he would be a laughingstock for the rest of his life.
It would also implicate his master who worked diligently in the Swordsmith Village… Haruto gritted his teeth, the two strange fox-masked youths he had seen earlier were already gone.
No choice, he could only take it one step at a time.
Many wisteria flowers grew on the outskirts of Fujikasane Mountain. These flowers were not widely planted by the Ubuyashiki Family for their beauty.
This flower was extremely detested by demons. Demon Slayer Swordsmen captured weak demons and brought them to Fujikasane Mountain, where the wisteria prevented their escape.
However, the central area of Fujikasane Mountain had no wisteria, allowing the captured demons to move freely within it.
Haruto tightened his grip on the nichirin blade in his hand. This was prepared for him by Godou River.
Although Haruto had not yet officially become a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, Godou River still took a portion from his own allowance to forge a nichirin blade for Haruto.
With the blade in his hand, Haruto's heartbeat slowly stabilized.
He could feel that the demonic aura in this forest was very strong.
Are there many demons?
That should be the case. The demons in Fujikasane Mountain are not very strong, otherwise, they wouldn't be used for new recruits' training.
Thinking this, he recalled his daily training and began to seek cover in the mountain forest.
After all, he had to survive here for seven days; supplies and safety were indispensable.
"Ah—"
Haruto looked up. He seemed to hear someone screaming, coming from a very distant place.
Had a prospective swordsman already encountered a demon?
Should he go check?
What if… Haruto shook his head.
"Wasn't I, the white-haired guy, just given a death prophecy? Why am I starting to worry about others again?"
His wooden clogs landed on the ground, crushing dry leaves.
Haruto frowned, closed his eyes, and his consciousness spread out like flowing water.
A heavy thud, accompanied by malicious whispers.
A demon!
He immediately drew his nichirin blade, licking his dry lower lip.
A sharp gust of wind brushed past his ear. Haruto swung his blade in a backhand motion, a bright flash of light cutting through the air but hitting nothing.
Disappeared?
Haruto was startled, then his heart tightened.
A dark green monster, covered in many arms and bulging veins, appeared in his line of sight.
Its body was fat and swollen, and it made heavy footsteps like a toad walking on multiple legs.
Its small, fierce eyes looked over, meeting Haruto's directly.
"Hmm?"
Haruto's hand, gripping the blade, trembled uncontrollably.
This was his first time seeing a demon.
No matter how many powerful swordsmen he had seen casually slaying demons like dogs, this was his first time seeing a real demon.
Especially such a… hideously ugly demon… beautiful female demons from Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio who seduce down-and-out scholars simply don't exist!
Haruto's Adam's apple bobbed, forcibly suppressing the urge to vomit.
His heart pounded wildly in his chest, and his limbs were already somewhat sore and weak before the fight even began.
No, this is not a weak demon at all!
The demon, covered in hands, stood far away, its mouth unknown, and let out a low voice.
"Is it another year of selection…?"
"Unknowingly, I've been imprisoned here for nearly 40 years…"
Haruto's misty blue pupils suddenly contracted.
40 years?!
How could a demon that had lived for 40 years be placed here!
According to the Ubuyashiki Family's introduction, these demons were clearly ones that had only eaten two or three people!
"40 years…"
The demon seemed to recall something, then gritted its teeth and said, "I haven't seen any of Urokodaki's fox boys yet, so I'll grudgingly let you be the first lucky one to enter my belly this year."
Fox boys?!
Haruto didn't have time to think much. The moment the Hand Demon finished speaking, without giving anyone a chance to react, a dark green hand flew through the air!
"Slash! Slash!"
Haruto reacted in time, swinging his nichirin blade and immediately severing the flying hand!
But instantly, dark green muscles surged from the smooth cross-section, and a new hand reappeared, grabbing towards Haruto's head!
Haruto immediately jumped back, narrowly dodging the demon's hand attack.
He heavily pushed off a tree trunk behind him with his toes, swung his blade, and lunged forward!
"Hiss—"
As he inhaled and exhaled, a scorching aura gathered in his chest.
The tightly gripped nichirin blade also turned fiery red.
"Flame Breathing, Second Form…"
The fiery red nichirin blade sliced upward through the air, creating a dazzling, fiery red arc.
"Rising Scorching Sun!"
The intense flames seared the dark green muscles, quickly severing the demon's hand that had not yet retracted.
Haruto heard something leaping through the bushes. Was it a person? Or another demon?
The Hand Demon, whose arm had been severed, seemed to feel no pain. Haruto's body paused in mid-air, then he lunged forward without hesitation.
The blade changed direction in the air, his strongest killing move already prepared.
"Flame Breathing, Fifth Form!"
The swinging nichirin blade let out a burning roar in the air. The blade trembled slightly, somewhat strained, somewhat forced.
But in the end, a fierce fiery tiger still leaped from the blade's tip, charging directly at the Hand Demon!
"—Blazing Tiger!"
The fierce fiery tiger pounced on the Hand Demon with overwhelming momentum, its flames illuminating the dim forest.
Haruto's heart suddenly tightened.
What he had initially thought was the Hand Demon's bloated fat neck—it wasn't fat at all!
Instead, the creature had folded many of its arms, layer upon layer, to embrace its own head!
This cunning fellow!
In that case, the Blazing Tiger, which he had barely managed to unleash, would… "Watch out!"
A sudden urgent voice reached his ear.
Footsteps shuffled in the forest nearby. A youth with flesh-colored long hair and a fox mask leaped high, his long blade cutting a blue ripple through the air!
It turned out that, at some unknown moment, a thick cluster of arms had evaded Haruto's gaze and burst from the ground, striking directly at him!
"Thump!"
Something broke.
Haruto looked down. A dark green arm, stained with his own flesh and blood, withdrew from his chest, leaving behind a head-sized empty cavity.
It's over, I'm barbecued.
Haruto felt a chill from his chest all the way to the back of his head.
The fox-masked youth's cry seemed to still be in his ears, yet also far away in the sky.
The white-haired youth slumped to the ground, his beautiful misty blue eyes gradually losing their light.
A 40-year-old old demon ambushed a two-and-a-half-year trainee like me… You rotten Ubuyashiki Family.
Takanashi Haruto died.
The End.