Chapter 441: Newcomer
Day after day slipped by, and nothing much happened in the Dimensional Chat Group during this stretch — not even a single newcomer joined.
Whatever group quests did trigger stayed firmly at Tier 4 or below, nothing of any real seriousness among them.
Living through stretches like this, Ryū felt himself growing lazier by the day — lazy enough that even the Arena started to feel like too much effort.
He finally understood, firsthand, exactly why Umaru lived the way she did — lying down over sitting, sitting over standing, standing over actually walking anywhere.
Because this whole lifestyle of being a salted fish, day in and day out, genuinely... wasn't half bad.
A new day began, and once Ryū woke up naturally, brushed his teeth, and threw together something quick for breakfast, his consciousness slipped into the Dimensional Chat Group.
As usual, the chat was buzzing — and buzzing in that genuinely enjoyable way, too, since every so often some fresh topic would pop up to get everyone talking.
Just riding one of those topics alone could easily burn through several hours.
Eternally Seventeen: Argh, dead again! Ugh, why does the Arena's monster strength always end up just a tiny bit stronger than me? This is impossible, genuinely impossible!
Eternally Seventeen: Admin-sama, couldn't you dial the Arena's monster difficulty down just a notch, so this one could feel what it's like to mow down some actual pushovers for once?
RawrSoFierce: If I had that kind of permission, I'd have done plenty of more important things with it by now.
Edward Newgate: Gurararara, plenty's been happening in my world lately — that little Straw Hat kid actually went and became a pirate after all.
Senbei Is So Tasty: That useless Garp can't raise a grandson to save his life! One grandson ends up adopted by someone else, and now the other one wants to become Pirate King?
Senbei Is So Tasty: I've been seriously considering dragging that Luffy brat into Marine HQ and brainwashing him into a proper, justice-upholding Marine!
Edward Newgate: Gurararara, Ace is my son, and Straw Hat's Ace's little brother — which, functionally, makes him my son too.
Edward Newgate: You want to drag my own son into the Marines? Gurararara, Sengoku old boy, someone's getting a little full of himself lately.
Senbei Is So Tasty: Garp's Luffy's actual grandfather, you know. If you're calling Luffy your son too, doesn't that make you Garp's son by extension?
Edward Newgate: ???
Kaguya-sama: Whitebeard-ojii-sama looks like he wants to argue back, but thinking it over, Sengoku-ojii-sama's family-tree logic actually checks out.
Admiral Kizaru: I've got a sudden feeling these two are about to come to blows. Fight! Fight!
My True Form Is Cola: ...Since when does Kizaru-ojisan enjoy egging people into fights just so he can watch from the sidelines?
Admiral Kizaru: Well, this one's happening regardless, isn't it? Can't stop it, might as well cheer it on and enjoy the show.
Edward Newgate: ...
Edward Newgate: Gurararara, suddenly feeling like a certain monkey-faced someone deserves a beating even more than usual.
Senbei Is So Tasty: Agreed, honestly!
Admiral Kizaru: ...Family emergency, gotta run!
[Ding! "Insect Breathing" has joined the Dimensional Chat Group!]
Just then, a sudden notification chime cut through the chat's usual rhythm.
Eternally Seventeen: Oh? Huh, a new member actually joined? Been a whole month since the last newcomer, hasn't it?
Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit: Welcome, newcomer! This is Ahri, the nine-tailed fox spirit — nice to meet you!
Kaguya-sama: Welcome, newcomer! Post a photo, throws confetti!
Crazy Diamond: "Insect Breathing"? Hm... is our newcomer some kind of bug?
Kaguya-sama: A bug? No problem at all, honestly — this group's got a bit of everything by now!
Insect Breathing: What... is this? Was I attacked by a demon? Is this some kind of illusion?
Insect Breathing: What a formidable Blood Demon Art, affecting my mind without the slightest warning.
RawrSoFierce: "Insect Breathing"? Hm... that sounds familiar!
Kamado Tanjirō: Welcome, newcomer! Wait, does that mean I'm not the newest member anymore?
RawrSoFierce: Right, I remember now — Insect Breathing, that's from Tanjirō's world, isn't it? If I recall, the Demon Slayer Corps in that setting all use different "breathing" styles.
Insect Breathing: ...The Demon Slayer Corps. You know about the Demon Slayer Corps — then you must be one of Kibutsuji Muzan's demons.
RawrSoFierce: Pfft! Newcomer, take a look at the pinned announcement, top right corner — read through that, and you'll understand exactly what's going on here.
Insect Breathing: "..."
"..."
Somewhere in the Demon Slayer world, inside an unremarkable residence, Shinobu Kochō's fine brows drew together.
She focused on the strange presence lodged in her own mind, glancing around in confusion — and found nothing resembling a hallucination at play.
Besides, if whoever was behind this really were one of Muzan's demons, she figured she'd already be dead by now.
Staying cautious regardless, she noticed a small red dot in the upper-right corner of the strange "thing" in her mind.
After a few seconds' hesitation, she tried mentally tapping the red dot.
A pinned announcement, several thousand characters long, unfolded in her mind at once.
No telling how much time passed before Shinobu finally finished reading through the entire thing, line by line.
"A Dimensional Chat Group? A chat group linking different dimensional worlds? This..."
A flicker of genuine surprise crossed Shinobu's face, her usual composed, emotionless smile slipping as she sank into thought.
She found herself wondering whether any of this was actually real. The announcement's contents read as thoroughly genuine, sure.
But some lingering wariness remained in her all the same — probably a side effect of spending so long as a Demon Slayer Corps member, having crossed blades with demons more times than she could count.
Enough that, by now, she approached most things with an instinctive distrust.
Just then, a soft ding sounded in her mind, startling her slightly.
Her consciousness slipped into the Dimensional Chat Group on pure reflex, and she noticed someone had tagged her.
Though she had no real idea how to even read the "@" symbol.
Kamado Tanjirō: @Insect Breathing, um... may I ask, are you also from the Demon Slayer world? Are you one of the Demon Slayer Corps members Admin-sama mentioned?
Shinobu hesitated for a moment, then quietly typed a reply.
Insect Breathing: I'm the Insect Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps. Shinobu Kochō.
"..."