07. The Three Main Characters

AN: This will be a short 3rd POV. In this case, I will refer to the mc as 'he', while the others will refer to the mc as 'she'. Honestly, I think it doesn't matter whether the mc is he or she since the mc doesn't have gender.

And let me remind you that this isn't a romance novel or gay novel. So, don't expect I'll make the mc to get a wife or wives. There will be some fan services tho. If you want a romance, wait until I write another novel. I had an idea already and it's a harem novel. 

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After Arjun forced Zenitsu into hunting onis, Arjun disappeared the next day. At that moment, Zenitsu still looked around carefully, afraid that more onis would come after him.

He didn't know the reason Arjun forced him to hunt onis, considering those onis would die the moment he passed out, but he was too afraid to ask. He just didn't expect that a cute girl could be so cruel and evil.

"I hope I don't meet her again," Zenitsu muttered.

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The final selection was over, and the results were a bit different. Aside from Arjun and the other four or five who survived in the anime, there were five more people who managed to survive.

Arjun believed that the boar-masked guy had already left first, picked the ore, and descended from the mountain. He couldn't think of any other reason if that wasn't the case.

"Welcome back."

"Being safe and sound is better than anything else."

The surviving participants were greeted by the twins, who spoke in turn. The most interesting reaction came from Zenitsu, who muttered like he was cursing someone.

"Will die, will die, will die, will die, will die. Even if we survive, we'll still die in the end!"

Arjun approached him with a grin, taking a stance as if he wanted to bonk him. Arjun couldn't resist teasing Zenitsu. Seeing Arjun and the bat, Zenitsu immediately stepped back.

"W-what are you doing?" he asked nervously.

"Didn't you just say you will die? I can help you right now. Just think of me as a travel agent to the afterlife."

"No, no, no! I don't want to die."

"Is that so?"

Zenitsu just nodded repeatedly without saying anything.

"Well, if you want to die, you can just call me. I'll help you out."

Everyone was puzzled by their conversation. Even Kanao, who usually didn't care about her surroundings, seemed to be inspecting Arjun.

Just then, the twins began to explain something about the demon slayer's rank, uniform, and the survivor's rank. Suddenly, crows appeared and landed on the survivors' arms. Well, Zenitsu seemed to get a different bird, a sparrow.

When the twins finished their explanation, the boy with Genji's hairstyle yelled.

"I DON'T FUCKING CARE ABOUT THAT! MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE BLADE!"

His name is Genya. He walked toward the white-haired twin with ill intentions, swiftly reaching out his hand to grab the white-haired twin's head. However, a foot kicked his hand from above.

"AGHHH! YOU BITCH!!!"

The one who kicked him was Arjun. Arjun immediately pushed Genya away from the white-haired twin, stating, "There's no way I would pretend to be blind when a guy wants to hurt an innocent, powerless little girl."

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Then, Genya started to attack Arjun. Arjun sidestepped before choking Genya's neck, following the direction of Genya's dash before slamming him to the ground.

"Gahhh!!!"

Not stopping there, Arjun grabbed his collar while giving him a warning.

"Listen, Punk Guy! I don't care whether you want a demon slayer sword or something else. What you wanted to do just now was quite outrageous. Just because you can't get a sword right now, you want to vent your frustration on innocent people? You didn't even consider how weak she is. If so, you should quit becoming a demon slayer, lest I accidentally kill you when you do that again."

That warning sent a chill toward Genya. From what Genya saw, he felt that Arjun's red eyes seemed to shine and were intimidating. Genya couldn't help but to keep silent before Arjun released him.

Meanwhile, Tanjiro looked at Arjun in astonishment.

'She's too fast. What kind of breathing technique was that?'

On the other hand, Kanao widened her eyes because she noticed, with her unique eyes, that Arjun didn't use any breathing technique earlier.

Zenitsu said nothing when he saw Arjun's action, knowing how strong Arjun's blow was.

After Arjun released the grip from Genya, Arjun turned to the twins and said, "Please continue."

The black-haired twin nodded and pointed at the nearby table with a couple of rocks on top of it.

"Please go over there and choose the alloy that will be used to create your sword! The alloy for the sword that will be used to destroy onis and protect yourself will be chosen personally by each of you."

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It had been 15 days since the final selection.

Currently, I hunted some onis as usual. After getting bored, I rested on the nearby riverbank while grilling my meat. Well, since I could mimic a human after consuming one, my five senses also returned. And, of course, I enjoyed my sense of taste by cooking my meals.

Just as I finished my meal, someone from the swordsmith village appeared before me. The man covered his face with a funny mask. Based on what I knew from the anime, all swordsmiths from that village used that kind of mask. I didn't know the reason, though. Probably, it was used to hide their identity.

"Huft. Brat. Looking for you is a pain in the ass. Why did you keep running around here and there without stopping? Do you understand how tired I am?"

Honestly, I didn't know how to make an excuse for that person's outburst. Because I tried to get stronger by killing onis, I purposely avoided the talking crow that should have been following me. After all, I had to hide my abilities before I'm strong enough. And then, I eventually forgot that a swordsmith should be looking for me.

"I'm sorry!" I could only apologize.

"Fine. I'm not that angry. I understand that you don't have a place to live. But, don't you need to sleep? I don't believe you can sleep outside when onis roam around at night."

"Hehe. I'm used to it. At least I can sleep around 2 hours in the morning." Of course, I lied. As a slime, I didn't really need to sleep. But, there was no way I would tell him that I didn't need to sleep, right?

"Anyway, my name is Gantetsu. I'm the one responsible for forging your sword. Here's your Nichirin Sword." With that said, Gantetsu handed a katana in its sheath to me. Then, he said, "Draw it! I want to know what color your sword will be."

I drew the katana from its sheath. It was the usual color of iron at first. But then, it gradually changed color. The back of the sword was blue, the blade edge to the curved edge was red, and in between was a lightning pattern in purple.

Gantetsu was puzzled by that rare color combination. And more importantly…

"Huh? Why does its color seem to be similar to your metal bat? Don't tell me…"

"Yes. It is made with the same materials as the sword. I heard that the Nichirin Sword used a special ore and sand containing sunlight energy or something. So, I gathered a lot of those materials from the top of a certain mountain and asked someone to make it into a metal bat. After all, carrying a sword is somewhat forbidden, but the metal bat certainly is not."

I didn't completely lie to him. And a metal bat was easier to make than the sword. However, I had a sword now, so I could replicate a similar sword at will as long as I still had the materials. I didn't need to worry about breaking my sword as well.

"And you used that to kill Onis? How is that possible? After all, you had to cut their neck to kill them."

"Ah, I found a way to kill." Then, I described the way I killed an oni at the final selection. Gantetsu seemed surprised by my explanation. He just didn't expect that what I did was also possible to kill the oni. However, the drawback was too big. If the oni was too strong, a metal bat couldn't be used to kill an oni. I also understood that. That was why I decided to participate in the final selection, a way to get the Nichirin Sword for free.

"Your decision is correct. I can say that you're lucky as, up until now, you've only met the weaker ones. But, if you kill more and more, you might attract the attention of the stronger ones. And it would be dangerous. Sigh. Even a Hashira was killed by a powerful oni."

"Hashira?" I pretended to ask, although I already knew about that.

"The Hashira are the highest-ranking Demon Slayers in the Demon Slayer Corps. In other words, they are the strongest forces of the Demon Slayer Corps. Anyway, your sword color was rare. The color of the sword represents a breathing technique that is suitable for you. But, I've never seen this kind of color. What breathing technique do you use?"

"I didn't use any. For now, I guess."

"And you can kill an oni with your bat? This is the first time I've heard something so absurd."

"What would you expect? After all, a human turned into an oni is already absurd enough."

"Can't deny it…"

We talked and joked for a while before Gantetsu bid farewell. And then, the talking crow gave me the first mission as a demon slayer.

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A few days later at noon, I was relaxing by the riverbank while fishing. I took care of an oni last night to complete my second mission. The oni was so weak that it wasn't worth mentioning. I guess I didn't get a main character template just yet.

Why fishing? Well, there was no internet or smartphone in this era. So, the only amusement I had was fishing.

Just then, "South, south. The next location is south," the talking crow seemed to tell me another mission.

"Can you shut up for a bit? I can't concentrate," I replied in a somewhat annoyed tone. 

But the bird didn't care and urged me, "Caw caw… Hurry up, hurry up! You have to move forward to the next location!"

"Is it urgent? Do I have to do it alone?" 

If what I thought was right, it was probably the same mission as Tanjiro. But, I had to make sure.

"Caw!! There will be three demon slayers this time."

Sure enough. It was probably the three of them.

"Then, why hurry? I bet they could take care of the oni by themselves."

"Caw caw…" Because I didn't stand up immediately, the crow pecked me continuously. Left with no other choice, I packed my things and went to the location the crow told me about beforehand.

I arrived at the location after running lightly for an hour. The place was an abandoned house in the middle of the forest. The crow said that the oni was inside. But, looking at the sun above, I thought that it would be a brilliant idea if I just demolished the house. But, based on the position of the sun, I felt like it was around 3 pm.

'I'm not too late, right? Depending on the situation, after I got inside, I had to absorb it or fight it.'

Then, I sensed something, making me turn my gaze to the nearby tree. 'Oh, isn't that the wooden box with Nezuko inside it?'

I shook my head. I thought it might be better to end this mission in an instant. Just as I was about to enter the house, Zenitsu and a little kid were thrown out from inside.

"Huh?"

Seeing them, I knew I was late. Zenitsu fell to the ground with a thud, making him unconscious. Meanwhile, a little kid beside him seemed to be worried about Zenitsu. After shaking Zenitsu for a couple of times, he finally woke up.

Zenitsu, if you dislike this kind of thing, it's better for you to keep sleeping. You're not a brave guy, for now. Just a little guy with an excessive inferiority complex.

Too bad, Zenitsu didn't act as I expected. He woke up albeit confused about what happened. Then, the little kid beside him explained how they managed to get out.

"Pig Assault, pig assault!"

Just then, a muscular young man wearing a boar mask, covering his head completely, appeared. Each hand held a uniquely shaped katana.

"Hahahaha! The great Inosuke detects the presence of an oni!"

As I expected, this dude is too loud. Inosuke glanced left and right after perceiving something.

"Ah, that person is…the one that qualified and the fastest person during the final selection. After leaving that forest, he took the ore and went down the mountain without paying attention to the others. In short, he's a hotheaded person." Zenitsu said after noticing Inosuke.

Oh. It seemed my guess was correct. No wonder I didn't see him at that time.

Then, Inosuke's gaze landed on a wooden box below the shade of trees. Detecting the thing inside without seeing is quite something.

Brandishing his serrated Nichirin Swords, he dashed toward the box while laughing.

"Hahaha! Found you!"

Zenitsu seemed to understand what Inosuke wanted to do. But he remembered what Tanjiro told him. So, he jumped in between Inosuke and the wooden box.

"Stop! I won't allow you to lay your hand on this box! This is Tanjiro's most precious possession!"

Based on what I knew about Zenitsu, I believe he was more powerful than Inosuke if he was serious. However, I doubted that Zenitsu would use his breathing technique against Inosuke.

"Hey, hey. What are you talking about? Don't you know that there's an oni inside the box?"

"I knew that from the very beginning!!!" Zenitsu let out his outburst. "My hearing sense is sensitive. And you know, an oni's sound and a human's sound are fundamentally different from each other! That's why… I want to… I want to ask Tanjiro about this, face to face! So you should just get the hell out of the way first!"

"Hoho…Then, I'll beat you first before killing this oni."

With that said, Inosuke launched a kick toward Zenitsu's face. Zenitsu could see this clearly. If he wanted to dodge, he could have done that. Instead, he just closed his eyes while protecting the box.

I couldn't stay still after seeing this. So, the moment his kick was about to land on Zenitsu, I grabbed Inosuke's leg and yeeted him away.

Inosuke wasn't wrong since onis could live by eating humans. And as someone who was raised by an animal in the forest, his instincts told him that onis were dangerous creatures and they should be killed the moment he saw them.

Well, if I didn't have the knowledge from the anime and only saw the oni as a monster, I might absorb this oni called Nezuko, either to gain exp points or something else.